Chapter 4: Ecosystems & Communities Climate & Ecological Succession

Daily Question: Define in your own words climate. Define in your own words weather.

1. What Is Climate? In the atmosphere, several environmental factors combine to produce weather and climate.

1. What Is Climate? A. Weather : the day-to-day condition of the earth’s atmosphere at a particular place and time.

1. What Is Climate? B. Climate: the average, year-after-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in a particular region. 1. Usually caused by temperature, precipitation, latitude, ocean currents, and the trapping of heat by the atmosphere.

2. The Greenhouse Effect The Earth’s temperatures are maintained at a suitable range for life because of the atmosphere. A. Key concept: Carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and a few other atmospheric gases trap heat energy from the sun and maintain Earth’s temperature range.

2. The Greenhouse Effect B. The gases act like the glass windows of a greenhouse, trapping the heat energy of sunlight inside the Earth’s atmosphere. C. The natural situation of heat retention by this layer of greenhouse gases is called the greenhouse effect. (See page 87 in the textbook )

3. Latitude’s Effect on Climate The Earth is a sphere that is tilted on its axis. This causes solar radiation to strike different parts of the surface at angles that vary throughout the year. Key concept: The Earth has 3 main climate zones: polar, temperate, and tropical.

4. Heat Transport in the Biosphere Streamlike movements of water that occur at or near the surface of the ocean are called surface currents. Surface currents are wind driven and result from global wind patterns. Surface currents can be warm or cold water currents. However, currents of warm water and currents of cold water do not readily mix with one another.

4. Heat Transport in the Biosphere

What Did You Learn? Write down the difference between weather and climate.

5. What Shapes an Ecosystem? Biotic and Abiotic factors An organism’s niche (what the organism does for the ecosystem; how it fits into the ecosystem and food web) Community interactions (Mutualism, Commensalism, Parasitism, Predation)

6. Ecological Succession Key concept: Ecosystems are constantly changing in response to both natural and human disturbances. As an ecosystem changes, the older inhabitants die out gradually. This allows new organisms to move in, changing the community.

6. Ecological Succession A. Definition: The series of predictable changes that occurs in a community over time B. Primary Succession: Succession that occurs on land surfaces where no soil exists.

6. Ecological Succession 1. Example: A volcano erupts. Primary succession takes place on the surfaces of the lava that builds new islands or covers the old landscape with lava rock and ash. 2. The first species to populate the are called pioneer species.

6. Ecological Succession 3. The pioneer species on volcanic rocks are often lichens. a) Lichens are made up of a fungus and a type of algae. b) They can grow on bare rock, and break up the rocks as they grow. c) When they die, they become organic material to help form soil for plant growth.

6. Ecological Succession C. Secondary Succession: Restoration of an ecosystem to its original condition through community interactions. 1. Example: When woodlands are cleared for farming or burned in a wildfire, the area undergoes secondary succession to make trees grow again in the area.

6. Ecological Succession 2. Healthy ecosystems usually recover from natural disturbances because of the way components of the system interact. 3. Ecosystems may or may not recover from long-term human driven disturbances.

6. Ecological Succession 4. Succession happens in any ecosystem. ( see pages 96 & 97 for marine succession)