Transcript 2.4 Ecosystem Services

2.4 Ecosystem Services
(Pages 69-77)
Homework: Page 78 #1-8
• When a species
occupies its niche, it
provides ecosystem
services for other
organisms.
• Forests influence
climate and play a vital
role in the regulation of
watersheds.
• Insects provide many
ecosystem services,
including pollination
and decomposition.
• The health of migratory bird
populations is dependent on the
health of the ecosystems they visit
during their migration.
• Ecological
connectivity means
that international cooperation is
necessary to keep
ecosystems
sustainable.
• Visual beauty and
spiritual appreciation
are two services that
ecosystems provide
for humans.
The Ecosystem Services
Provided by Forests:
1. What are ecosystem services?
Ecosystem services are the benefits
experienced by organisms, including
humans that are provided by
sustainable ecosystems.
2. List examples of ecosystem services
provided by the biosphere.
a) The cycling of nutrients.
b) The provision of food and water.
c) The conversion of atmospheric
carbon into biomass (climate and
weather)
d) The pollination of crops and natural
vegetation.
e) The balance of processes such as
growth and decomposition.
f) The provision of beauty and
spirituality.
3. Briefly describe how forests can influence climate.
• Trees extract huge amounts of water from
the soil.
• On hot days, much of this water escapes
through the leaves, adding water vapour to the
atmosphere.
• This helps reduce temperature and form rain
clouds.
• When large forested area are cleared, the local
precipitation drops and the climate gets hotter.
• Trees help purify the air by reducing the
amount of CO2 in the atmosphere
Insects and Ecosystems
Services:
4. Explain the process of pollination. Give
three examples of pollinators .
• Pollination takes place when a male
pollen from one flower fertilizes the
female ovary in another flower of the
same species (cross pollination)
• or when a flower pollinates themselves
or another flower from the same plant
(self pollination).
• Three examples of pollinators
are………..
5. What is decomposition? List examples of
insects that aid in the decomposition of organic
wastes.
• Decomposition is a 5th ecological
relationship; it is known as the
breakdown of organic wastes and dead
organisms.
• Examples that aid in the decomposition
of organic wastes are insects, bacteria
& fungi
6. What ecosystem services do insects
provide?
The ecosystem services that insects
provide are:
1. The decomposition of organic
wastes and dead organisms
2. Nutrients cycling
The Role of Migratory Birds:
7. What ecosystem service do aerial
insectivores provide?
Aerial insectivores consume insects that
are considered pests of crops and trees.
(they consume flying insects especially
insects above trees).
8. Describe what graph in figure 2.25 shows.
The graph shows the decline of bird
species that eat flying insects because
of poorly regulated use of insecticides
& habitat destruction.
What insect do you see on this
flower? _______________