Presentation about Ecosystems and their qualities and inhabitants.

1. Ecosystems
and their qualities and inhabitants
By Bailey Mooney

2. All photos were taken by me at the California
Science Center. The photos taken are of the
Ecosystems exhibit at the center.

3. What is an ecosystem?
an ecosystem is a collection of nonliving and living parts of an environment,
and the relationships that are between them

4. Types of Ecosystems
There are many different types of ecosystems.
There are Kelp Forests, Deserts, Rot, Poles,
Cities, Islands, Rivers, and Rocky Shores.
There are lots of species in each ecosystem,
and they all work together with their ecosystem
so that they can thrive and survive in their
environment.

5. Kelp Forests
“Anchored to the rocky bottom, kelp forests protect and nurture a diversity of marine life.”

6. “Giant Kelp is a type of algae. Most algae are small, with only one cell, but giant
kelp has many parts.” The different parts of kelp are the canopy, which provides
shade; the blades, which make most of the food; the frond; the stipes, which is
the stem; the float, which are filled with gas; the sporophylls, which are low
blades; and the holdfast, which is the part that clings to the sea floor. Kelp
needs sunlight, water motion, nutrients, and the rocky sea floor to survive.

7. Giant Kelp grows in very cool waters throughout the world.

8. The oceanic food chain

9. Deserts“In the dry, hot extremes of the desert, life has adapted to stand still until the parched landscape
cools.”

10. What makes a desert?
All deserts are very dry, and to qualify as one, they must get less than 10 in. of
rain per year, and much of that water is evaporated. Some deserts have lots of
plants, while some are just a barren sand stretch.

11. “Delve into the desert”
Rainfall is very rare in the desert, temperatures are extreme, but still, there can
be many forms of life in a desert. Some plants and animals have adapted to the
temperatures and other conditions. Some of them can find places to hide out
when it is too hot or dry.

12. A form of life within the desert
The cactus is a good example of a desert plant. It has adapted to the dry desert
weather. Its waxy skin is able to lock in moisture, reflect light, and it protects the
plant from winds. There are strong cells inside that are able to hold lots of
water.The plant is able to keep its pores closed during the day, but it opens
them at night to take in carbon dioxide in the cooler air. The cactus protects
itself from predators with its prickly spines.

13. Flash Floods
Sometimes, heavy rainfall can lead to floods called flash floods. The soil cannot
soak up all of the water, so the runoff heads down and they gather. This build
up of water is called a flash flood, because they happen so quickly, and they
can be very dangerous.

14. Droughts
Droughts can happen easily too, because there is so little rain. But most plants
have adapted to the droughts, and can “wait them out.” Sometimes, if it is too
dry one year, flowers won’t bloom, but will wait until the next year, when it is
wetter, to bloom. The seeds of the flowers have tough coating to protect them
from drying out. Every 10 to 20 years, the temperatures will be just right, and all
the flowers will bloom.

15. Human Relationships to the deserts
Our activities as humans can easily disturb or destroy ecosystems. We
sometimes put our damaging trash and waste into deserts and use them as our
landfills.

16. Rot
“Rotting plants and animals enrich soil from which new life grows.”

17. We need rot to survive
If animals and plants didn’t rot, they would stay on top of the soil when they
died and that would be terrible. Because of rotting, the planet can stay clean.
Rotting enriches the soil, because the plants and animals add nutrients to it.

18. Life depends on rot

19. Poles
“At the frozen ends of the Earth, species adapt to survive the cold, dry, howling
polar winds.”

20. The Poles’ Climate
The bright white snow and ice reflects light, so instead of soaking up heat, the
sun’s hot light gets reflected back into space. But the atmosphere can
sometimes bounce the heat back onto the poles, which causes ice to melt.

21. Antarctic vs. Arctic
Both are freezing, dry, and very windy. The arctic is surrounded mostly by land,
while the antarctic is surrounded mostly by ocean. Because of these
differences, the climate of both is very different. The Arctic ocean is 30 degrees
F, but this is warmer than the air. The antarctic is much colder.

22. AdaptationsAll the plants and animals of the chilly poles must be adapted to the cold
weather.

23. Cities“Urban ecosystems support large human populations but in the process create
many ecological challenges.”

24. The Urban EcosystemCities rely on technology and innovation, instead of nature. But cities are still a
kind of ecosystem, they have living and nonliving that interact in complex
ways.

25. Landfills
This is the amount of plastic that the average american citizen uses in one year

26. Islands
“Isolated communities, like those on islands, evolve in unique ways.”

27. Fish living in islands

28. Evolution
In the Galapagos Islands, where Darwin made famous discoveries, there are
13 different finch species. Each species has a beak that can do something
unique. Every year two scientists study the birds a see which species has
survived, or see which species natural selection has overcome.

29. Volcanic Activity
“In 1883 a volcano blasted all life from the island of Krakatau.” Then a new
island made of the ashes formed. Scientists wondered if life would form again.
Seeds from other islands were able to blow over to Krakatau and form plants.

30. Rivers
“Flowing rivers of water, ice, air, and lava carve landscapes, carry materials,
and connect ecosystems.”

31. Other Flows
Rivers are not the only things that carve and erode the landscapes around
them. Lava, and ice do too. But rivers are perhaps the most common of the 3.

32. Sharing rivers
Sometimes, it’s hard for two species to survive in one river. This is called
survival of the fittest, or a struggle for survival. Eventually, the fittest species
wins and the other is subject to natural selection.

33. Rocky Shores
“Plants and animals that live along the rocky shore adapt to high and low tides,
pounding waves and a constant fight for space.”

34. Ecosystems Work Together
There are many different kinds of ecosystems,
some are extreme, but some aren’t. Whether
they are hard to survive in or not, the animals
that live in them have adapted to their
surroundings beautifully, and work with their
ecosystems to help keep everything flowing
smoothly.

35. By Bailey Mooney