Unit A Lesson A1 What is an Ecosystem
Completion requirements
Lesson A1: What Is an Ecosystem?
Video Lesson
Watch the following video to see an excellent example of an Alberta ecosystem and to learn some basic ecosystem terms.
Lesson A1: What Is an Ecosystem?
How Big is an Ecosystem?
An ecosystem has almost no size limit. It can be as big as the planet itself. It can be so small you need a microscope to see it. A large ecosystem can be made of many smaller ones.
An ecosystem has almost no size limit. It can be as big as the planet itself. It can be so small you need a microscope to see it. A large ecosystem can be made of many smaller ones.
Reading and Materials for This Lesson
Science in Action 7
Materials:
Science in Action 7
Reading: Pages 9–12
Materials:
No other materials are needed for this lesson.
Figure A.1.1.1 – Even a small puddle can be a temporary ecosystem for insects, tadpoles, and birds.
Figure A.1.1.2 – The ocean is home to large and complex ecosystems.
Tiny Ecosystems . . . on and in You!
You are not alone. Many kinds of bacteria live in your nose, on your skin, and in your gut. Not all bacteria are bad! Many help you digest your food. Others make vitamins that you need. Some help you fight infections from bad bacteria. At least one thousand species of bacteria live inside your intestine – Wow! There is no oxygen or sunlight here. These tiny organisms must get their energy from sugars in your food. This small, warm, wet, and dark environment is an example of an ecosystem.
Ecosystems always involve interaction. For example, most of the bacteria to which you are first exposed in life come from your mother. Later, you try new foods and put things in your mouth when you play. These activities introduce new kinds of bacteria. As a result, everyone’s gut bacteria ecosystem becomes as unique as a fingerprint. This makes for very interesting ecosystem differences! Those differences become even more interesting when we consider the wide variety of ecosystems on Earth.
You are not alone. Many kinds of bacteria live in your nose, on your skin, and in your gut. Not all bacteria are bad! Many help you digest your food. Others make vitamins that you need. Some help you fight infections from bad bacteria. At least one thousand species of bacteria live inside your intestine – Wow! There is no oxygen or sunlight here. These tiny organisms must get their energy from sugars in your food. This small, warm, wet, and dark environment is an example of an ecosystem.
Ecosystems always involve interaction. For example, most of the bacteria to which you are first exposed in life come from your mother. Later, you try new foods and put things in your mouth when you play. These activities introduce new kinds of bacteria. As a result, everyone’s gut bacteria ecosystem becomes as unique as a fingerprint. This makes for very interesting ecosystem differences! Those differences become even more interesting when we consider the wide variety of ecosystems on Earth.
Figure A.1.1.3 – These tube-shaped bacteria live in your intestine.
Figure A.1.1.4 – These strange bacteria live on your skin.
Watch More
You Are Your Microbes
In this animated video, you will learn about the diverse ecosystem inside your gut. Because communities of bacteria help us digest our food, keeping this ecosystem healthy is important.
In this animated video, you will learn about the diverse ecosystem inside your gut. Because communities of bacteria help us digest our food, keeping this ecosystem healthy is important.
Biosphere 2 – An Artificial Ecosystem
We can think of Earth as Biosphere 1. We all live in the largest ecosystem. Organisms have been living and evolving here for billions of years.
Biosphere 2 is the ultimate ecosystem experiment. Scientists attempt to take Earth’s ecosystem and squeeze it into a big jar, so to speak. It’s the largest man-made ecosystem on Earth. It can even sustain a small community of humans. Scientists here can explore the web of interactions among organisms and their environment. In addition, they can explore how a closed biosphere might be used if we build colonies on other planets as humans explore space.
We can think of Earth as Biosphere 1. We all live in the largest ecosystem. Organisms have been living and evolving here for billions of years.
Biosphere 2 is the ultimate ecosystem experiment. Scientists attempt to take Earth’s ecosystem and squeeze it into a big jar, so to speak. It’s the largest man-made ecosystem on Earth. It can even sustain a small community of humans. Scientists here can explore the web of interactions among organisms and their environment. In addition, they can explore how a closed biosphere might be used if we build colonies on other planets as humans explore space.
Figure A.1.1.5 – Biosphere 2 is a closed ecosystem, used to study how ecosystems work. Photo by
Dr. Starbuck.
Earth’s First Ecosystem?
What does it mean to be an ecosystem? Most ecosystems rely on energy from the Sun. What about places where there is no sunlight? What if the temperature is hotter than boiling water? Nothing could live there, right?
No plant could survive in the deep ocean without sunlight. In this ecosystem, bacteria take on the roles of plants, turning basic chemicals into food.. Communities of shrimp, crabs, tubeworms, clams, slugs anemones, and fish rely on the bacteria for food. The poisonous chemicals, heat, and pressure would kill most organisms on Earth. These special organisms thrive in this strange ecosystem.
What does it mean to be an ecosystem? Most ecosystems rely on energy from the Sun. What about places where there is no sunlight? What if the temperature is hotter than boiling water? Nothing could live there, right?
No plant could survive in the deep ocean without sunlight. In this ecosystem, bacteria take on the roles of plants, turning basic chemicals into food.. Communities of shrimp, crabs, tubeworms, clams, slugs anemones, and fish rely on the bacteria for food. The poisonous chemicals, heat, and pressure would kill most organisms on Earth. These special organisms thrive in this strange ecosystem.
Figure A.1.1.6 – Superheated water billows from a geothermal vent deep in the ocean.
Figure A.1.1.7 – Even here, deep in the ocean, an ecosystem thrives.
Watch More
Pescadero Basin
A geothermal vent is one of the harshest places on Earth. Scientists were very surprised to find life in such a place. Watch this video to learn about the organisms that call this place home. This bizarre ecosystem may have been the first ecosystem on Earth.
A geothermal vent is one of the harshest places on Earth. Scientists were very surprised to find life in such a place. Watch this video to learn about the organisms that call this place home. This bizarre ecosystem may have been the first ecosystem on Earth.
Figure A.1.1.8 – Divers can see spectacular colours in a coral reef ecosystem.
Figure A.1.1.9 – Various species call this reef home.
Coral Reefs: An Ecosystem We Rarely See
The oceans are ecosystems, but they also are home to very interesting more specific ecosystems that rarely are seen because they are under the water. This includes coral reefs. Although coral may appear to be rock, coral actually is a living organism. Our attention usually is on the homes they build, but these coral make their homes by secreting hard calcium around themselves. This protects them, and they spend most of their time waving their tiny tentacles in the water, either catching small bits of food or making their own food with the help of other organisms in their tissues that produce food from sunlight.
The coral form the base of an entire ecosystem. Creatures such as the parrotfish (Fig. A.1.1.10) actually eat the coral by grinding the hard calcium coral skeleton (their homes) with strong teeth to extract the living tissue inside – and spitting out the hard bits, of course.
The oceans are ecosystems, but they also are home to very interesting more specific ecosystems that rarely are seen because they are under the water. This includes coral reefs. Although coral may appear to be rock, coral actually is a living organism. Our attention usually is on the homes they build, but these coral make their homes by secreting hard calcium around themselves. This protects them, and they spend most of their time waving their tiny tentacles in the water, either catching small bits of food or making their own food with the help of other organisms in their tissues that produce food from sunlight.
The coral form the base of an entire ecosystem. Creatures such as the parrotfish (Fig. A.1.1.10) actually eat the coral by grinding the hard calcium coral skeleton (their homes) with strong teeth to extract the living tissue inside – and spitting out the hard bits, of course.
Figure A.1.1.10 – Parrotfish are seen often in coral reef ecosystems.
This illustrates two important terms used to describe ecosystems. Non-living things, such as the calcium skeletons spit out by the parrotfish, are known as abiotic factors. The living things, such as the parrotfish, are biotic factors.
Many types of fish live in coral reefs. Together, all the various fish along with all the living things in the ecosystem that interact are a community. However, if we consider only the similar-looking fish that can reproduce, we are talking about a species of fish. A group of the same species in the same area, such as a school of blue tangs (Fig. A.1.1.11), is called a population. All the fish, corals, seawater, and the sunlight filtering down are parts of this ecosystem.
Many types of fish live in coral reefs. Together, all the various fish along with all the living things in the ecosystem that interact are a community. However, if we consider only the similar-looking fish that can reproduce, we are talking about a species of fish. A group of the same species in the same area, such as a school of blue tangs (Fig. A.1.1.11), is called a population. All the fish, corals, seawater, and the sunlight filtering down are parts of this ecosystem.
Figure A.1.1.11 – A school of blue tangs swim across a coral reef.
Alberta Ecosystems:
My Grandpa’s Farm
My Grandpa’s Farm
Alberta is rich with interesting natural ecosystems and it is made even more interesting because of the changes that humans have made to nature. Farms are one of the places where people have changed the natural ecosystem. In many parts of Alberta, farmland exists right next to natural, undisturbed ecosystems.
Make sure you have understood everything in this lesson. Use the Self-Check below, and the Self-Check & Lesson Review Tips to guide your learning.
Unit A Lesson 1 Self-Check
Instructions
Complete the following 6 steps.
Don't skip steps – if you do them in order, you will confirm your
understanding of this lesson and create a study bank for the future.
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- COMPARE your answers with the suggested "Self-Check Quiz Answers" below. WAIT! You didn't skip step 2, did you? It's very important to carefully write out your own answers before checking the suggested answers.
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REVISE your quiz answers if you need to. If you answered all the questions correctly, you can skip this step. Revise means to change, fix, and add extra notes if you need to. This quiz is NOT FOR MARKS, so it is perfectly OK to correct
any mistakes you made. This will make your self-check quiz an excellent study tool you can use later.
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Self-Check Time!
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Self-Check Quiz Answers
Click each of the suggested answers below, and carefully compare your answers to the suggested answers.
If you have not done the quiz yet – STOP – and go back to step 1 above. Do not look at the answers without first trying the questions.
Absolutely! A row of peas, for example, is a population of organisms. Insects often are found in vegetable gardens; they interact with each other and the plants. Worms tunnel through the soil. Their waste provides nutrients for the plants. The
pea vines use water from the soil.
A community is made of various populations. A population is a group of only one kind of species. An ecosystem contains a community of biotic factors (living organisms) that live among abiotic factors (non-living things) such as rocks, soil,
sunlight, and water.
This question has many possible answers. Your answer should explain how two organisms interact with each other in an ecosystem. One example might be a pea plant in a garden ecosystem. The pea plant leaves are eaten by a grasshopper. Another
example is a fox catching and eating a mouse in a forest ecosystem.
The rocks and logs are not living; therefore, they are abiotic factors.
This is an ecosystem, but it is a very simple one. It contains a community of just one organism. (The plants are plastic.) The lizard interacts with the sand in its terrarium. It drinks water from its bowl, and it eats the dead bugs some person
gives it. It basks under the warmth of its heat lamp. The lizard normally would live in a more complex ecosystem in its native desert.