Ecosystem Interactions

Ecosystem: Living and non-

living things that interact in an environment

Terrestrial Ecosystems• LAND

Freshwater Ecosystems• Lakes, streams, and marshes

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/117-1715_IMG.JPG/220px-117-1715_IMG.JPG

Marine Ecosystems• Salt water • Includes Estuaries

Photo by CBF Member Steve Aprile,

Estuary – Where land and fresh water meet the sea

Estuary

Ocean

Nutrients wash into the

streams when it rains

Then flow into the estuary

Ocean water mixes in with

the freshwater

Chesapeake Bay• Largest Estuary in the U.S. (3rd largest in the world)• Nutrients washed in from the land support life• Organisms must be specially adapted to the ever-changing mixture of salt and fresh water.

Chesapeake Bay Watershed:

All water in Ashburn eventually flows into the Bay.

Chesapeake Bay Fast Facts:

• Home to 2,700 species of plants and animals

• Averages only 21 feet deep

• Annual rest stop for migrating birds

• One of the most productive habitats on Earth

• ½ of its water comes from the Atlantic Ocean,

the other ½ from rivers and streams

• Over 17 million people live in the watershed

• The watershed loses 100 acres of forest per day to development

Baltimore

Washington, DC

Ashburn

Underwater Plants:

• There are 80,000 acres of underwater grasses• The shallow water lets the sunshine through• Nutrients are constantly flowing in from streams• Grasses provide shelter, oxygen and food for

animals• Grass roots hold soil in place

Underwater Plants:

• PRODUCER – Make food with energy from sun. CO2WS GO

• CONSUMER – Eat other organisms to get energy. GO CO2W + ATP

• DECOMPOSER – Break down dead organisms’ cells

Web Notes

WHAT IS A CHAIN? A series of objects connected one after

the other.FOOD CHAIN – list of food from the producer to the final consumer.

WHAT IS A WEB? -Interwoven pattern.-complicated

relationshipFOOD WEB – all of the

interrelated food chains in an ecological community.

The arrow always points in the direction of energy flow.

POINT TO WHO IS GETTING THE ENERGY!

PRODUCERThe base of all

food webs.

Energy comes from the sun.

CONSUMER -- Eats other organisms for energy.

PRIMARY – eats producersSECONDARY – eats primary

consumersTERTIARY – eats secondary consumersQUATERNARY – eats tertiary

consumers

• 100% • 10% • 1% • 0.001%

A LOT of Energy is lost when you transfer the energy from one level to the next – as much as 90% or more per transfer!

.1% .01%