Ecosystem

 An ecosystem is an area in which there

exists relationships between living
organisms themselves and the living
organisms and the non-living
environment.
 Some examples of ecosystems are: a river,
a grassland, a fallen rock.
 The study of all the relationships in an
ecosystem is called ecology.
 From it is clear that the ecosystem is
made up of 2 components.
 The living components are also called
biotic components or factors.
 The non-living components are also
called abiotic components or factors.
 The biotic components are the plants and
animals.
 It also includes organisms such as the fungi
and lichens as well as the very small
organisms like bacteria.
 The bacteria are so small that it can be seen
only with a microscope.
 Such organisms that are invisible to the
naked eye are called micro-organisms.
 Some algae and fungi are also examples of
micro-organisms.
 Producers:
These are biotic factors that have the ability
to make their own food (autotrophic).
They are able to do this by absorbing energy
from the sun using green chlorophyll.
The process by which they are able to
manufacture their own food by using the
radiant energy is called photosynthesis.
 Consumers:
These are organisms that are unable to
manufacture their own food.
(heterotrophic)
Are you able to tell why?
There are 3 categories of consumers.
These 3 categories are:
Herbivores: these are organism
that obtain their food from plant
matter.
Can you list some examples?
 Carnivores:these are the organism that
feed on animal matter only. Name some
examples.
 Omnivores: these are organisms that feed
on both plant and animal matter.
 List some examples.
 These are organisms that feed on dead organic
matter.
 They are usually micro-organisms .
 But some decomposers can be macroscopic e.g.
earthworms.
 Name some examples of decomposers.
 As they break down the bodies of the dead organic
matter they release important substances back into
the environment.
 These substances then can be used by producers.
 Water, carbon dioxide, mineral salts and energy in
the form of heat are some of the substances that are
released by decomposers.
Explain why decomposers are important to the
environment.
 They are important because they release
important nutrients e.g. carbon dioxide, heat
energy, water and mineral salts back into the
soil so that it can be used by other green
plants.
 Abioticfactors can be placed into 3 groups.
 These 3 groups are :
Climatic factors.
Edaphic factors
Physiographic factors

We shall look at all these factors.

 Temperature:
Remember the places closer to the equator are
warmer than those places near the poles.
The temperature of an area can determine the
plant life growing in that area.
Animals are also affected by the temperature.
Ectothermic animals rely on the external
temperatures to determine their body
temperatures. Their temperatures vary with
the outside temperature.
Endothermic animals generate heat internally
and generally maintain a constant
temperature.
Some animals like the ectohermic animals
become inactive in the cold winter months
because the temperatures are so low.
Some of these animals hibernate to overcome
the cold weather.
Some animals like the snail also become
dormant (aestivate) when the weather is
very dry.
*
Some plants experience excessive water loss
as a result of the high temperature.
The process responsible for this high water loss
is called transpiration.
However plants have many adaptations to
reduce the water loss.
The picture alongside shows
some of these adaptations.
Can you explain these adaptations ?
Adaptation of plants to reduce water loss
 Leaves are long and thin to reduce the surface area to
reduce water loss.
 Leaves are covered with a thick cuticle to reduce
water loss.
 Leaves have more stomata on the lower surface to
reduce water loss by transpiration and these stomata
may be sunken.
 Leaves may be covered by tiny white hairs to reflect
the sunlight so that water loss can be reduced.
 Some leaves maybe reduced to thorns to reduce the
surface area exposed to the sun thereby reducing
water loss.
 Stems may be able to store water to survive the dry
months.
 Define the following terms:
1. Hibernation
2. Aestivation
3. Transpiration
4. Exothermic
5. Endothermic
 Differentiate between the following terms
1. Hibernate and aestivate
2. Ectothermic and endothermic
 Explain how animals are able to overcome
adverse weather conditions.
 Definitions:
1. An inactive state that enables animals survive
the cold winter months.
2. An inactive state that enables animals survive
the hot, dry months.
3. The loss of water in the form of water vapour
from the aerial parts of the plant especially
the stomata.
4. Animals whose body temperature changes
with the temperature of the environment.
5. Animals whose body temperature remains
constant.
 Differences
Hibernation is an inactive state to survive the
cold winter months, while aestivation is and
inactive state to survive the hot, dry months.
Exothermic animals are animals whose body
temperature changes with that of the
surrounding while endothermic animals are
those whose body temperature remains
constant.
 Adaptations to adverse conditions
Some animals e.g. dog curl up in cold weather
so that the long fur is exposed to the cold
wind keeping them warm.
Animals may aestivate to escape hot, dry
conditions, while others may hibernate to
survive cold winter conditions.
Some animals go into the burrows to escape
the heat e.g. Ground squirrels.
 Light
Light is needed by green plants for the process of
photosynthesis.
Plants will always be in competition with each
other for light.
Here are some examples:
When plants are crowded together they will grow
thin and tall in the hopes of receiving light.
Some plants will climb on others in an attempt to
reach the light. Example: vines
Still others will grow on larger trees to reach the
sunlight. Example: epiphytes
This is an example of an
epiphyte.
It grows on the larger tree
only to get to the
sunlight.
It does not depend on the
tree for any nutrients.
All nutrients and water
comes from the rainwater.
It only uses the tree for
support.
Vines also only use the other
plant for support.
It is not dependent on the
tree for food, it only uses
the tree to reach the
sunlight.
 Water is used by both plants and animals for
many different physiological processes.
 Plants need water for photosynthesis.
 While animals need water for digestion and
transport of food and wastes.
 Therefore plants will adapted to absorb and
retain as much water as possible while
animals try to retain as much water as
possible.
 Hydrophytes are plants that live in water or
around large amounts of water.
 These plants are adapted to live in water in the
following ways:
They do not have root hairs because water is
absorbed through the roots, stems and leaves.
They do not have conducting tissue because each
organ is able to absorb water.
Supporting tissue is also absent because the plant is
supported by the water.
Since water loss by transpiration is not a problem
these plants lack some the adaptations of
terrestrial plants, for example the leaves of these
plants do not have cuticles.
Try this question:
Explain the value of the hydrophytes not having a
cuticle
Here are two pictures of
hydrophytes
As you can see some of them
have
only their roots in water, while
the
others have only their leaves
and
flowers floating on the surface.
Some
Hydrophytes are also submerged
in the water.
 Terrestrial plants are plants that live on land.
 The biggest problem facing these plants is the
lack of water.
 These plants have to be able to absorb water
and keep the water they absorb.
 Plants can be grouped according to their water
needs:
a. Hydrophytes: plants that need an abundance of
water
b. Mesophytes: plants that need a moderate amount
of water
c. Xerophytes.: plants that can live with very little
water.
 Xerophytes are adapted to live in extremely
dry conditions in the following way:
Some plants have leaves that are very close
to
each other. These leaves overlap each
other and
reduces the surface area exposed to the
sunlight.
This would reduce water loss.
In some xerophytes like the one
alongside these leaves have been
reduced to thorns. Can you
explain why this is an advantage
for this plant?
 Some of these plants have very thick waxy
cuticles. Can you explain the purpose of this
cuticle.
They also have more stomata on the
lower surface than upper. Why?
The stomata may also be sunken. Can
you explain how this reduces water
loss.
 The xerophytes have thick cuticles to reduce
water loss by transpiration.
 There are more stomata on the lower
surface to reduce water loss by
transpiration
 Sunken stomata are present to reduce
transpiration and therefore water loss.
 Aquatic animals are those animals that live
in water.
 Terrestrial animals are those animals that
live on land.
 These animals have special features,
structures and behavior that enables them
to live in their particular habitat.
 These animals are adapted to live in water.
 They have gills that enable them to extract
oxygen from water.
 They also have fins to enable them to swim
and maintain their balance in water.
Some aquatic animals
are able to breathe by
means of lungs,
example dolphin,
whales and seals.
  Some animals are able to live in dry areas.
 Here are some examples:

Camels are able to live for

long periods without
water

sects have exoskeletons that

elp to reduce water loss by
vapouration
 The kangaroo rat is able to go long
periods without water. It obtains
its water from the food it eats.

Reptiles are able to reduce water loss because

they are covered by dry horny scales
 The atmosphere contains air,a mixture of gases.
 Some of the more important gases that make up
the air are: oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen
and water vapour.
 The composition of these gases are about 78%
nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 0.03% carbon
dioxide.
 Oxygen is required by the both plants and
animals for the process of cellular respiration.
 During the process of photosynthesis plants
absorb carbon dioxide, which is a requirement
of photosynthesis.
 Nitrogen is required by plants to
manufacture proteins.
 However plants cannot absorb nitrogen as
the N2 gas as it occurs in the atmosphere.
 Plants are only able to absorb nitrogen as a
nitrate.
 Therefore the nitrogen has to be first
converted to nitrate before it can be
absorbed.
 Remember animals get their nitrogen from
the plants they eat or other animals that
may have eaten plants.
 Young and green plants have
stomata on their leaves and
stems for gas exchange.
Stomata are tiny openings
that allow gases to enter
and leave.

 Woody plants have tiny pores called lenticels on their

stems for gaseous exchange.
 Hydrophytes absorb gases through their
entire body surface because there is less
dissolved gases in water than in air.
They are able to do this because their
surface is not covered by cuticle.
Lenticels
 Explain how lenticels and stomata are
similar in their function but different in
their structure,
 Both the lenticels and stomata are used for
the exchange of gases in plants. But the
stomata are pores that are found in the
stems and leaves of herbaceous plants, while
lenticels are pores found on the stems of
plants that have undergone secondary
thickening.
  Aquatic animals have many
different adaptations for
absorbing gases the most
common being the gills of
fish. These gills have a
large surface area therefore as much
oxygen can be absorbed.
 Water beetles take air bubbles
under water for gaseous exchange
This is a diagram of the spotted water
beetle the blue bubble at the back is
a part of the air bubble taken under
water for gaseous exchange
 There are 3 types of soil: sand, loam and clay.
 Plants generally grow best in loam soil because it has a
good water holding capacity, and is well aerated. It
also has a high humus content.
 The loam soil has a good water holding capacity
because it is made up of medium sized particles.
 Plants don’t grow well in sandy soil because the soil is
very loose and does not offer much anchorage.
 The large particles of sandy soil provides it with a poor
water holding capacity.
 Clay is made up of very fine particles that become
sticky when wet.
 Therefore it has a high water holding capacity.
 It is not good for plants because the roots can become
waterlogged.
 The pH scale can be used to measure the acidity
or alkalinity of substances in solution.
 An example of a pH scale is shown below.

 Different plants require soil with different pH to

survive.
 Most plants prefer slightly acidic to neutral soil
while other plants require alkaline soil.
 Physiographic factors are those factors that
deal with the physical nature of the area.
 Example of such factors are slope of land,
altitude and for our studies position of area
in relation to sun.
 The physiographic factors that we will
discuss are:
a) Aspect
b) Altitude.
 Aspect refers to the direction a slope faces.
 In the southern hemisphere the suns rays come
from the north therefore the north facing areas
receive more light than the south facing slopes.
 The north facing areas would be warmer and
drier than south facing slopes.
 The north facing areas are drier because of
increased evaporation.
 Therefore shade loving plants like ferns would be
found on the south facing slopes and xerophytes
would be found on the drier, warmer slopes.
 The south facing slopes would have more plant
and animal life because more water is available.
 Altitude refers to the height of the land above
sea level.
 The climate of areas found at higher altitudes is
very different from places at lower altitude.
 The areas at higher altitude have lower
temperatures, atmospheric pressure and are
exposed to stronger winds.
 While those areas at lower altitudes have
warmer temperatures, higher atmospheric
pressures and lighter winds.
 These differences means that the plant and
animal life in these areas are very different
from each other.
 Pine trees that grow on the slopes of mountains
are cone shaped to allow the snow to fall off.
They have very well developed roots to absorb
whatever little water that may be available.
 Green and black mambas are found in the
warmer coastal areas while the Berg adder is
found more commonly in the cooler
mountainous areas.
 Fish like the trout are found in rivers at high
altitude because these waters are colder.
 People living in the coastal areas have difficulty
in breathing in the higher inland areas
because of the lower pressure and therefore
less oxygen at the higher altitudes.
 Winter –hibernation, Summer- aestivation.
 Summer rainfall vs winter rainfall and growth
 Deciduous vs evergreen plants
 Winds during spring linked to wind
pollination.
 Activity 3.2.8
 Page 246
 Ecosystem: an area in which there are
relationships between the living organisms
themselves and their non-living environment.
 Ecology: a study of all the relationships within
an ecosystem.
 Abiotic: non living factors of an ecosystem
 Biotic: living factors of an ecosystem.
 Micro-organism: organisms that are so small
that they can only be seen under a microscope.
 Producers: organisms that are able to
manufacture their own food using the radiant
energy of the sun.
 Consumers: these are organisms that are unable
to manufacture their on own food.
 Photosynthesis: process during which green
plants use the radiant energy of the sun to
make their own food.
 Decomposers: organisms that break down
dead and decaying matter, releasing
nutrients so that they, maybe re-used.
 Herbivores: organisms that feed on plant
matter only.
 Carnivores: organisms that feed on animal
matter only.
 Omnivores: organisms that feed on both
plant and animal matter.
 Ectothermic: these are organisms whose
body temperature changes with the
temperature of the surroundings.
 Endothermic: these are organisms whose
body temperature remains constant.
 Transpiration: process during which plants
loose water in the form of water vapour from
the stomata.
 Terrestrial: these are plants and animals
that live on land.
 Aquatic: these are plants and animals that
live in water.
 Xerophytes: these are plants that live in
areas with very little or no water.
 Mesophytes: these are plants that live in
areas of moderate water supply.
 Hydrophytes: these are plants that live in
areas that contain large amounts of water.
 Acidity: substances with a pH less than 7.
 Alkalinity: substances in solution that have
a pH of more than 7.
 Aspect: the direction a slope faces.
 Altitude: height of the land above sea level.