ECOSYSTEMSBy: Kathy Turnbull

According to “The Economy of Nature, 6th Edition” an ecosystem

is

An assemblage of organisms

Together with

Their physical

And chemical environments.

So soil

water

light

and nutrients

as well as any living organism

are part of the ecosystem

http://reference.findtarget.com/search/Biocoenosis/

This classification is between a community

which is only the biotic element in a given

area

http://chickenshort.blogspot.com/2007/12/concept-for-opening-shot.html

and landscapes

which are many ecosystems combined

together

As far as the scale of ecosystems

they are the smallest of the large scale

classifications

When studying these ecosystems

you examine not only organism

to organism interactions

but also organism to environment interactions

The principle source of energy in an ecosystem

is the energy

from sunlight

converted into sugar

by plants

and other photosynthetic

organisms

http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/ecosystems.htm

This energy is not recycled

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/carbon_cycle4.php

in an ecosystem like nutrients

http://www.pleasanton.k12.ca.us/avhsstudent/47228/bio/Cycles.html

and some other elements are

http://schoolworkhelper.net/2011/01/energy-movement-in-ecosystems-trophic-energy-pyramid/

As energy goes up the different levels in a

food web

the less an organism gains in energy

from eating an organism in the

trophic level before it

So energy travels

through an ecosystem

and exits as heat

unlike the transfer of water

and other nutrients

With water

and other nutrients

you have the water cycle

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/carbon_cycle4.php

the carbon cycle

http://www.pleasanton.k12.ca.us/avhsstudent/47228/bio/Cycles.html

the nitrogen cycle

http://vincejtremante.tripod.com/cycles/phosphours.htm

the phosphorous cycle

and other cycles specific to particular

nutrients.

Within these cycles the amount of the

nutrient

changes in particular organisms

and location

but the total amount of the nutrient in the cycle does not change

All of these variables

result in many different ecosystems

throughout

the world

The systems of classifying ecosystems

begin with deciding

whether it is a terrestrial

or an aquatic ecosystem

Then the ecosystem is further classified into

http://earth.rice.edu/mtpe/bio/biosphere/topics/biomes/biomes_map.html

basically the same classifications as

biomes

forest

http://weathersavvy.com/Q-Climate_Deserts1.html

desert

http://www.esa.org/tiee/vol/v5/practice/dalgleish/abstract.html

grasslands

and mountain for terrestrial ecosystems

Forest

http://home.nps.gov/band/naturescience/montane.htm

and grasslands can be further broken down

into

tropical evergreen

http://envis.maharashtra.gov.in/envis_data/files/TropicalDryDeciduousForestsofVidarbha.JPG

tropical deciduous

temperate evergreen

temperate deciduous

Taiga. http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/nelson_lau4/Picea_glauca_taiga.jpg

taiga

http://www.cbc.ca/sevenwonders/wonder_prairie_skies.html

prairie

http://room42.wikispaces.com/Savanna+Climate

and savanna

The aquatic ecosystems are either

marine

or freshwater

The different types of marine ecosystems

are oceanic

http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0078802849/student_view0/unit1/chapter3/section3/s

elf-check_quizzes-english.html

profundal

http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/long_nico/

benthic

intertidal

http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/transformations/coastal_research/estuary.html

estuaries

http://science.kennesaw.edu/~jdirnber/oceanography/LecuturesOceanogr/LecSaltMarsh/LecSaltMarsh.html

salt marshes

http://www.coralreefinfo.com/

coral reefs

http://web.uvic.ca/sciweb/photos-hydrothermal-vents.html

and hydro-thermal vents

The fresh-water ecosystems are lentic

lotic

and wetlands

Now let’s take a photographic journey

through the ecosystem at St. Simon’s Island,

Georgia.

In conclusion ecosystems

are a classification involving the abiotic

and biotic components of an area

so basically communities

and their environment

There are many ecosystems ranging in

size from a field

to the ocean.

And ecosystems

are all around you

CreditsPictures FromKathy TurnbullVirginia Moorehttp://web.uvic.ca/sciweb/photos-hydrothermal-vents.htmlhttp://www.coralreefinfo.com/http://science.kennesaw.edu/~jdirnber/oceanography/LecuturesOceanogr/LecSaltMarsh/LecSaltMarsh.htmlhttp://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/transformations/coastal_research/estuary.htmlhttp://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/long_nico/http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0078802849/student_view0/unit1/chapter3/section3/self-check_quizzes-english.htmlhttp://room42.wikispaces.com/Savanna+Climatehttp://www.cbc.ca/sevenwonders/wonder_prairie_skies.htmlTaiga. http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/nelson_lau4/Picea_glauca_taiga.jpghttp://envis.maharashtra.gov.in/envis_data/files/TropicalDryDeciduousForestsofVidarbha.JPGhttp://home.nps.gov/band/naturescience/montane.htmhttp://www.esa.org/tiee/vol/v5/practice/dalgleish/abstract.htmlhttp://weathersavvy.com/Q-Climate_Deserts1.htmlhttp://earth.rice.edu/mtpe/bio/biosphere/topics/biomes/biomes_map.htmlhttp://vincejtremante.tripod.com/cycles/phosphours.htmhttp://www.pleasanton.k12.ca.us/avhsstudent/47228/bio/Cycles.htmlhttp://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/carbon_cycle4.phphttp://www.all-water.org/H2O_Images/Water_cycle.pnghttp://schoolworkhelper.net/2011/01/energy-movement-in-ecosystems-trophic-energy-pyramid/http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/ecosystems.htmhttp://reference.findtarget.com/search/Biocoenosis/Information fromThe Economy of Nature, 6th Edition by Robert E. Ricklefshttp://www.climate.org/topics/ecosystems/index.htmlMusic fromAlvin Ting PlayingBig Bang’s Koe wo Kikasete2PM’s HeartbeatSmr00 PlayingAn original piece2PM’s I Hate You

Without UTik- Tok ftr.Yoon Eun Hye

2AM’s I Was WrongCan’t Let You Go Even If I Die