Unit 6. Ecosystems Around The World: A Food Web

Unit 6.
Ecosystems around the world

Do you remember? (SB page 54)
● A food chain is a model of how food passes through a number of living organisms in an
ecosystem. ● Plant → rabbit → fox (there are also many other possibilities).
● Producer: an organism that produces food (usually using energy from sunlight).
Consumer: an organism that consumes food because it cannot make its own.
Herbivore: a consumer that eats only plants.
Omnivore: a consumer that eats both plants and animals.
Carnivore: a consumer that eats only other animals.
Predator: an animal that hunts other animals.
Prey: an animal that is hunted by other animals.
consumer, arranged in a line so it looks like a chain.
A food web is made from food chains linked together by organisms that are found in two or
more food chains.
● Microorganisms are very important in a habitat as they break down the bodies and wastes
of living things as they feed. They then release minerals back into the soil for plants to use.
Science in context (page 56)
● A habitat is a place where an organism lives.
● The environment is the surroundings in which an organism lives. The habitat is in the
environment.
● A food chain is made from a producer, a primary consumer, and a secondary
Exploring ecosystems (Questions within unit)
2 The number of species living in a place increased as he moved from the north to the
tropics.
3 That different bird species were found in different regions of the Earth.
4 The secondary source was Sclater’s biogeographical realms. The first-hand experience
was the observations he made of animals during his travels.
5 Could the oyster banks on the German coast be farmed?
The rainforest ecosystem (page 58)
6 name some large rainforests such as the Amazon in South America.
The desert eco
Unit 6. Ecosystems around the world
A poison in the food chain
14.Construct the food chain investigated in Clear Lake.
Plankton → small fish → large fish → grebes.
15.Why did the grebe die?
They ate fish that had a high concentration of DDT in their tissues. The poison was stored in
the bird’s body until its concentration was so high that it was fatal (it killed them by
poisoning them).
16.How are the lives of people who live by polluted river put to risk?
Heavy metals in the water can cause cancer. PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls)and mercury
pass into food chains and can cause permanent damage, and even death, if living things in
the river are used for food.
17 The water flowing through a village has such low levels of mercury in it that it was
considered safe to drink. Many of the villagers showed signs of mercury poisoning. How
could this be?
They ate fish which contained large amounts of mercury that had passed up the food chain
and become concentrated in the fishes’ bodies
Unit 6. Ecosystems around the world

End of chapter questions (SB page 70)
1 Name two ecosystems found on land on earth?
Deserts and rainforests.
2 Name four habitats in ocean ecosystem.
intertidal zone, coastal zone, open sea zone, twilight zone, dark zone.
3 What is a toxin?
A toxin is a poisonous substance.
4 How are toxins harmful to living things in an ecosystem?
Living things can take in toxins, and the build-up of toxins in living things
(bioaccumulation) can damage and stop life processes in cells.
5 Name a few toxins that can damage an ecosystem.
pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides.
6 What does bio accumulation mean?
The build-up of toxins in living things.
7 What is an invasive species?
An invasive species is a species that does not naturally occur in an ecosystem and which,
when introduced to that ecosystem, causes damage to it.
8 Give some examples of invasive species.
To control the population of wild rabbits, foxes or cats were introduced in Australia. But
marsupials were killed and started disappearing as they were an easy catch. Other examples
are pampas grass, and cane toads (Rhinella marina) in Australia.
9 How can an invasive species damage an ecosystem? Give more than one examples.
Invasive species, such as pampas grass, can take up natural resources that other species
need to survive, such as light and nutrients.
Invasive species can also kill off native species that are not used to predators, for example,
in the case of foxes and marsupials in Australia.
10. Marsupials are pouched mammals, animals that usually have a pouch on the abdomen
of the female which covers the teats and serves to carry the young. kangaroos, wallabies,
the koala, and opossums are some examples.
WORK BOOK
The ecosystem you live in
1
a. The number of living species in a place increase as you move from the north to the
tropics.
b. huge areas of land and oceans.
c. Ecology.
2 a An ecosystem is made up of a community of living things and their environment, and
how they are linked together through the movement of nutrients and energy (as shown
in food chains and webs). An ecosystem can be divided into many habitats.
b A habitat is a place where a living organism lives.
Three examples of ecosystems

3. a Labels from the top down: emergent, canopy, understory, undergrowth.
b. fungi, wild pigs, deer, leeches, ticks, pitcher plants.
c Canopy.
d Emergent layer.
4. Dunes, areas of rock and thin soil, oases.
5 a. Rocky shore, sandy shore.
b. Sunlit zone. There is enough light for microscopic plants to make food.
In the other zones there is not enough light for them to make food
Modelling an ecosystem V. Imp
6. A – carbon dioxide B – oxygen C – producers D – minerals E – primary consumers
F – decomposers G – secondary consumers
7 a. Poison.
b. i herbicide, fungicide, insecticide.
ii Herbicide (killing weeds), fungicide (killing fungi), insecticide (killing insects).
c. The building up of toxins in the body of an animal.
d. It can kill the animal in which there is a high concentration of toxins.
8 a. DDT.
b. Gnat larvae.
c. It was eaten by small fish which were then eaten by larger fish which were then
eaten by water birds called grebes. The amount of DDT in the birds became so large it killed
them.
9 a. A species which enters an ecosystem in which it is not naturally found and causes
damage to that ecosystem.
b. rabbit, fox, pampas grass.
c. It competes with them for light and nutrients in the soil.
10. The signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) is larger and, when competing for
the same food, may push the smaller native species out of the way and starve
them.
It also burrows in riverbanks and may destroy the holes where the young
native species need to shelter to survive. This may result in the young native
species being killed.
The signal crayfish also carries a disease which is fatal to the native species.
11. The ecologist should set up pitfall traps throughout the woodland (perhaps 4–5 metres
apart. They should be emptied every morning and reset three times. This procedure should
be repeated monthly throughout the year. If the trap results show that A is trapped
regularly throughout the year (or matching a known seasonal variation) and B is only
trapped occasionally at this time with no increase of numbers, then B may be a species that
is naturally found in the woodland, but only as a small population. If the numbers of B
increase over this time, then the beetle could be an invasive species. If the numbers of A
decrease as the numbers of B increase, then it could be described as a harmful invasive
species.
ESTEAM Part 2 Need to know questions

Reflection Journal
Write a reflective journal entry about how learning about different ecosystems has changed
your perspective on the natural world and human impacts.
6.1 Describe an ecosystem close to your home using as many words as you can from the
vocabulary of ecology.
6.2 Find out about the use of pesticides and fertilisers in your country and what controls are
in place to minimise environmental damage.

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Unit 6.

Ecosystems around the world

Unit 6. Ecosystems around the world

Three examples of ecosystems

ESTEAM Part 2 Need to know questions

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