EcosystemsEcosystemsCommunities interact with their environmentCommunities interact with their environment

Living things don’t just interact with each other in a community.

cc licensed flickr photo by jfortugaleza: http://flickr.com/photos/30594175@N05/3230112383/

They also interact with the non-living components of their

environment

Ecosystem - an area in which a community interacts with its non-living

environment

Two components of an ecosystem:

biotic - living (i.e. the community)abiotic - non-living

Matter within an ecosystem is recycled in biogeochemical cycles.

cc licensed flickr photo by lanier67: http://flickr.com/photos/lanier67/184302007/

pathway through which a chemical element or substance moves through both biotic and abiotic components

Evaporation - liquid water absorbs heat to become water vapour

Condensation - water vapour in air condenses into tiny liquid water droplets

Evapotranspiration - water evaporates from the leaves of plants

Sublimation - solid ice/snow turns directly into gaseous water vapour.

Precipitation - water droplets in air fall to surface of earth as liquid rain or solid snow/hail.

Infiltration - liquid water seeps into soil to become groundwater

Discharge - groundwater drains into rivers or lakes

Storage - water can remain for extended periods in underground reservoirs called aquifers.