Biology Chapter 4
Name______________________________
Class __________________
Date ______________
Chapter 4
Ecosystems and Communities
Section 4–1 The Role of Climate
(pages 87–89)
This section explains how the greenhouse effect maintains the biosphere’s temperature range. It also describes Earth’s three main climate zones.
What Is Climate?
(page 87)
1. How is weather different from climate?
Weather is the day-to-day condition of Earth’s
atmosphere at a particular time and place, while climate is the average, year-to-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in a particular region.
2. What factors cause climate? Factors include the trapping of heat by the atmosphere, the transport of heat by winds and ocean currents, …show more content…
Complete the table about factors that influence ecosystems.
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE ECOSYSTEMS
Type of Factor
Definition
Examples
Biotic factors
Biological influences on organisms within an ecosystem
Birds, trees, mushrooms, bacteria; the whole ecological community
Abiotic factors
Physical, or nonliving, factors that shape ecosystems
Climate, wind, nutrient availability, soil type, sunlight
2. What do the biotic and abiotic factors together determine? Together they determine the survival and growth of an organism and the productivity of the ecosystem in which the organism lives. The Niche
(pages 91–92)
3. What is a niche? A niche is the full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions.
4. In what ways is food part of an organism’s niche? Its niche includes the type of food the
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
organism eats, how it obtains its food, and which other species use the organism for food.
5. Circle the letter of each sentence that is true about niches.
a. Different species can share the same niche in the same habitat.
b. No two species can share the same niche in the same
Class __________________
Date ______________
Chapter 4
Ecosystems and Communities
Section 4–1 The Role of Climate
(pages 87–89)
This section explains how the greenhouse effect maintains the biosphere’s temperature range. It also describes Earth’s three main climate zones.
What Is Climate?
(page 87)
1. How is weather different from climate?
Weather is the day-to-day condition of Earth’s
atmosphere at a particular time and place, while climate is the average, year-to-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in a particular region.
2. What factors cause climate? Factors include the trapping of heat by the atmosphere, the transport of heat by winds and ocean currents, …show more content…
Complete the table about factors that influence ecosystems.
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE ECOSYSTEMS
Type of Factor
Definition
Examples
Biotic factors
Biological influences on organisms within an ecosystem
Birds, trees, mushrooms, bacteria; the whole ecological community
Abiotic factors
Physical, or nonliving, factors that shape ecosystems
Climate, wind, nutrient availability, soil type, sunlight
2. What do the biotic and abiotic factors together determine? Together they determine the survival and growth of an organism and the productivity of the ecosystem in which the organism lives. The Niche
(pages 91–92)
3. What is a niche? A niche is the full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions.
4. In what ways is food part of an organism’s niche? Its niche includes the type of food the
© Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
organism eats, how it obtains its food, and which other species use the organism for food.
5. Circle the letter of each sentence that is true about niches.
a. Different species can share the same niche in the same habitat.
b. No two species can share the same niche in the same