Communities: distinct groups & plants & animals living together

Living things that fit into the communities are said to have adapted to the community

Emergent plants: roots at pond bed & stem & leaves break though the water surface (hydrosphere) into the atmosphere

Submergent plants: plants growing beneath the water surface

diatoms: algae cells formed through mitosis --> sunlight penetrates almost all levels of ponds

Pond plants & pond animals adapt to life in the pond community

Community food energy flow:

Food chain: Sunlight --> photosynthesis --> plant energy --> herbivores (1st order consumers) --> omnivores & carnivores (2nd order consumers) --> predators (3rd order consumers)

Food web: combinations of different food chains

Forest community:

Interdependencies between plants & animals at every layer

Forest layers from top to bottom:

canopy: tree-tops --> understory: shelter from direct sunlight & but still high enpugh for birds to breed --> shrubs: woody --> herb: green plants with soft stems --> litter-soil layer: lowest, fundamentals --> bodies & waste products

Scavenger: animal that eats dead & decaying materials

Fungi --> enzymes --> break down dead matter --> absorbed by fungi roots --> enriches the soil --> returning nutrients for the growing plants

Grassland community interaction:

US Great Plains: shortgrass communities

US Prairies: midgrass & tallgrass regions to the east

Interaction: any contact between living organisms

Flowers --> bees --> spiders & birds

Food chain: one pattern of interaction formed by the grassland community

Sunlight --> grasses --> Prairie dogs --> hawk