NS5: UNIT 6: THE BIOSPHERE

 

UNIT 6: THE BIOSPHERE

       5.1. Who´s eating who?

       5.2. The loss of biodiversity.

    

5.1. Who´s eating who?.

- Every organism need food to live.

- As a result, we can find food chain and food web in an ecosystem.

 

Ø Food chain

-        A  food chain is made up of the following levels: producers, consumers and decomposers.

 

a)  Producers.- They make their own food through the photosynthesis. Examples: algae and plants.

 

b)  Consumers.- They eat other living things. They can be: primary consumers, secundary consumers and tertiary consumers.

 

-        Primary consumers.- They are herbivores and omnivores. They eat producers. Example: cow.

 

-        Secundary consumers.- They are carnivores and omnivores. They eat primary consumers. Example: fox.

-        Tertiary consumers.- They are carnivores and omnivores. They eat secundary consumers. Example: snakes.

 

c)   Decomposers.- They live on the remains of other living things. Most of them are fungi and bacteria.

 

Ø Food web

- Most living things are part of more than one food chain.

- There are more than one food chain in the same ecosystem interacting each other.

 

5.2. The loss of biodiversity.

- There is a loss of biodiversity when every single member of a specie desappear. It is called extinction.

 

Ø Biodiversity loss: causes and effects

 

-        CAUSES:

-There are many causes which produce extinction but the most important one is  the behavior of the human beings. Some examples are: pollution and hunting animals.

 

-        EFFECTS:             

-The most important effects are: climate change and the alteration of hábitats.

 

Ø Protecting biodiversity

 

-        There are endangered species which are in danger of extinction.

-        There are wildlife protection groups who protect endagered animals. Some examples are: Iberian Lyns and Iberian imperial Eagle.

-        There are places where they are protected such as: National Parks and Biosphere reserves.