ECOSYSTEM

WHAT IS AN ECOSYSTEM ?

Ecosystem consists of the biological

community that occurs in some locale, and the physical and chemical factors that make up its non-living or abiotic environment.

LAND BIOMES

Biomes are the major regional groupings of plants and animals discernible at a global scale

-distribution of patterns are correlated with regional climate patterns and identified according to the climax vegetation type

MAJOR BIOMES

Deserts Forests Grasslands Tundra Aquatic

DESERTS

DESERTS

Deserts cover about one fifth of the Earth’s surface and occur where rainfall is less than 50cm/year

Most desert occur at low altitudes Most desert have considerable amount

of specialized vegetation, as well as specialized vertebrate and invertebrate animals

TYPES OF DESERT

Hot and drySemiaridCoastalcold

Hot and Dry Desert

HOT AND DRY DESERT

Temperature -Desert surface receive a little more

than twice the solar radiation received by humid regions and lose almost twice as much heat at night.

-Many mean annual temperature range from 20-25ºC

-The extreme maximum ranges from 43.5-49ºC

Precipitation Rainfall is usually very low concentrated in

short bursts between long rainless periodSoils Soils are course-textured, shallow, rocky

or gravely with good drainage and have no subsurface water

Plants Canopy in most desert is very rare Plants are mainly ground-hugging and

short woody trees

Semiarid Desert

SEMIARID DESERT

Temperature -summer temperature usually average

between 21-27ºCPrecipitation -condensation of dew caused by night cooling

may equal or exceed the rainfall received by same deserts

Plants -many plants have silvery or glossy leaves ,

allowing them to reflect more radiant energy

Coastal Desert

COASTAL DESERT

Temperature -the cool winters of coastal deserts are

followed by moderately long , warm summers

Plants -extensive root systems close to the

surface where they can take advantage of any rain showers

Cold Desert

COLD DESERT

Temperature-cold winters with snowfall and high

overall rainfall throughout the winter and occasionally over the summer

Precipitation-winters received quite a bit snowSoil-heavy, silty and salty

Rainforest

RAINFOREST

Rainforest are very dense, warm and wet forest.

A rain forest is often referred to as jungle.

Rainforest contains patches of jungle , but

mainly they are more open

Amazon Rainforest

AMAZON RAINFOREST

Amazon rain forest is found in South America.

It covers about two thirds the size of the US.

The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world

Grasslands

GRASSLANDS

Grasslands are found in both temperate and tropical regions of the world but the ecosystems are slightly varying. This area mainly comprises of grasses with very little amount of shrubs and trees. Main vegetation is grasses, legumes and plants belonging to composite family. Many grazing animals, herbivores and insectivores are found in grasslands.

THREE MAIN TYPES OF GRASSLANDS

Tropical Temperature

Tropical grassland

TROPICAL GRASSLAND

Tropical grassland is also called savannas, cover much of Africa and parts of India, Australia and South America

they are covered clumps of grasses as short as few centimeters or as tall as ten feet with acacia, baobab, and palm trees interpersed.

Temperate Grasslands

Temperate Grasslands

TEMPERATE GRASSLANDS

Cover vast expanses of plains and gently rolling hills in the interiors of North and South America Europe , and Asia.

Winters are bitterly cold, summers are hot and dry and annual precipitation is fairly sparse and unevenly through the year

Tundra Biome

TUNDRA BIOME

Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes. Tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturi, meaning treeless plain. It is noted for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons. Dead organic material functions as a nutrient pool. The two major nutrients are nitrogen and phosphorus. Nitrogen is created by biological fixation, and phosphorus is created by precipitation.

Characteristics of tundra include: Extremely cold climate Low biotic diversity Simple vegetation structure Limitation of drainage Short season of growth and reproduction Energy and nutrients in the form of dead

organic material Large population oscillations

Aquatic Ecosystem

AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM

An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem in a body of water. Communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment live in aquatic ecosystems. The two main types of aquatic ecosystems are marine ecosystems and freshwater ecosystems.

Marine Ecosystem

MARINE ECOSYSTEM

Marine ecosystems cover approximately 71% of the Earth's surface and contain approximately 97% of the planet's water. They generate 32% of the world's net primary production.[1] They are distinguished from freshwater ecosystems by the presence of dissolved compounds, especially salts, in the water. Approximately 85% of the dissolved materials in seawater are sodium andchlorine. Seawater has an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand (ppt) of water. Actual salinity varies among different marine ecosystems

Marine ecosystems can be divided into many zones depending upon water depth and shoreline features. The oceanic zone is the vast open part of the ocean where animals such as whales, sharks, and tuna live

Fresh Water Ecosystem

FRESH WATER ECOSYSTEM

Freshwater ecosystems cover 0.80% of the Earth's surface and inhabit 0.009% of its total water. They generate nearly 3% of its net primary production.[1]

 Freshwater ecosystems contain 41% of the world's known fish species

There are three basic types of freshwater ecosystems:

Lentic: slow-moving water, including pools, ponds, and lakes.

River : rapidly-moving water, for example streams and rivers.

Wetlands: areas where the soil is saturated or inundated for at least part of the time

LAKE ECOSYSTEM

Lake ecosystems can be divided into zones. One common system divides lakes into three zones. The first, the littoral zone, is the shallow zone near the shore. This is where rooted wetland plants occur. The offshore is divided into two further zones, an open water zone and a deep water zone. In the open water zone sunlight supports photosynthetic algae, and the species that feed upon them. In the deep water zone, sunlight is not available and the food web is based on detritus entering from the littoral and photic zones.

RIVER ECOSYSTEM

River ecosystems are prime examples of lotic ecosystems. Lotic refers to flowing water, from the Latin lotus, to wash. Lotic waters range fromsprings only a few centimeters wide to major rivers kilometers in width.[3] Much of this article applies to lotic ecosystems in general, including related lotic systems such as streams and springs.

WETLANDS

Wetlands are dominated by vascular plants that have adapted to saturated soil.[7] There are four main types of wetlands: swamp, marsh, fen and bog. Wetlands are the most productive natural ecosystems in the world because of the proximity of water and soil. Hence they support large numbers of plant and animal species. Due to their productivity, wetlands are often converted into dry land with dykes and drains and used for agricultural purposes.