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Chapter 3 Part 1 Ecosystems: What are they and how do they work?

Chapter 3 Part 1 Ecosystems: What are they and how do they work?. Environmental Science Miller. Figure 4-5 Page 59. WHAT IS ECOLOGY? Study of connections in nature. Greek  oikos “ house” “place to live”

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Chapter 3 Part 1 Ecosystems: What are they and how do they work?

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  1. Chapter 3 Part 1 Ecosystems: What are they and how do they work? Environmental Science Miller

  2. Figure 4-5Page 59

  3. WHAT IS ECOLOGY? Study of connections in nature. Greek  oikos “ house” “place to live” The study of how organisms interact with one another and with their non-living environment Ecologist Try to understand the interactions among organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems and the biosphere. 3-1 Nature of Ecology

  4. Animation Levels of organization interaction. Click to view animation.

  5. Page 23 • Organism any form of life • Cell the basic unit of life in organisms. • Single cells bacteria • Multicellular humans • Are classified into species groups of organisms that resemble one another in terms of their appearance, behavior, chemistry, and genetic makeup. • Reproduce sexually sperm and egg • Potentially breed with one another to produce fertile offspring • How many species are on the earth? • Estimate3.6 million to 100million • Most of them microorganisms • Biologist have identified 1.4 million Biosphere Biosphere Ecosystems Communities Populations Organisms

  6. (a) Eukaryotic Cell Figure 4-3a Page 58 Energy conversion Nucleus (informationstorage) Cell membrane (transport of raw materials and finished products) Protein construction Packaging

  7. (b) Prokaryotic Cell Figure 4-3b Page 58 DNA(information storage, no nucleus) Cell membrane (transport of raw materialsand finishedproducts) Protein construction and energy conversion occur without specialized internal structures

  8. Figure 3-2 Known species1,412,000 Other animals281,000 Fungi69,000 Insects751,000 Prokaryotes4,800 Plants248,400 Protists57,700 • WHICH SPECIES RULE THE WORLD? • Multitudes of tiny microbes such as bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and yeast. • How microbes benefit us • Help produce bread, cheese, berr, wine etc. • Bacteria and fungi decompose organic waste to aid plants in taking up the nutrients • Bacteria help purify the water • Disease fighting microbes make penicillin

  9. Page 23 • POPULATIONS, COMMUNITIES, AND ECOSYSTEMS • Population a group of interacting individuals of the same species occupying a specific area • Can vary slightly in genetic make-up humans • This variation is termed genetic diversity • The place where a population lives habitat • May be as large as the ocean blue whale • May be as small as a termites intestine bacteria • Community consists of all populations of different species of plants, animals, and microorganisms living and interacting in an area. • Ecosystem is a community of different species interacting wth one another and with their physical environmentmatter and energy. • Can range in size from a • puddle. Stream • Patch of woods an entire forest • Biosphereall the earth’s ecosystems together Biosphere Biosphere Ecosystems Communities Populations Organisms

  10. 3-2 The Earth’s Life Support Systems FOUR SPHERES The earth is made up of interconnected spherical layers that contain air, water, soil, minerals, and life. Atmosphere thin envelope or membrane of air around the planet. Troposhere 11 miles above sea level Contains the majority of the planet’s air Nitrogen 78% Oxygen 21% Stratosphere 11 30 miles above sea level Lower portion contains ozone O3 Filter out most of the sun’s harmful UV rays. Allows life to exist on land and sea Hydrosphere  earth’s water Includes: liquid water, ice, and water vapor in the atmosphere. Lithosphere the earth’s crust and upper mantle. The most inner part of earth consist of a hot core followed by the mantle consisting mostly of rocks. Biosphere all of the earth’s ecosystems together. All the parts of the biosphere are interconnected just like your body. The goal of ecology is to understand the interactions in this thin , life-supporting global skin or membrane of air, water, soil, and organisms.

  11. Figure 4-7Page 60 Oceanic crust Continental crust Biosphere Vegetation and animals Lithosphere Upper mantle Soil Crust Asthenosphere Rock Lower mantle Core Mantle Crust (soil and rock) Biosphere (Living and dead organisms) Atmosphere (air) Lithosphere (crust, top of upper mantle) Hydrosphere (water)

  12. WHAT SUSTAINS LIFE ON EARTH? Three interconnected factors The one way flow of high-quality energy from the sun through materials and living things in their feeding interactions, into the environment into low quality energy (heat disperesed into air), and eventually back into space as heat. Energy is not recycled. The cycling of matter (atoms, ions, or compounds needed for survival by living organisms) through part of the biosphere. Nutrients on earth must be recycled in order to support life. Gravity, allows the planet to hold on to its atmosphere and enables the movement of chemicals between the air, water, soil, and organisms in the matter cycle

  13. Figure 4-8Page 60 Carbon cycle Phosphorus cycle Nitrogen cycle Water cycle Oxygen cycle Heat in the environment Heat Heat Heat

  14. WHAT HAPPENS TO SOLAR ENERGY REACHING THE EARTH? Solar energy flowing through the biosphere warms the atmosphere, evaporates and recycles water, generates winds, and supports plant growth. Much of the energy is Reflected away or absorbed by chemicals in the planet’s atmosphere. Solar radiation making it through the atmospheres degraded into longer-wavelength infrared radiations. Encounters the greenhouse gases Water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. in the troposphere. The infrared radiation increases the kinetic potential of the greenhouse gases helping warm the earth’s surface+ the troposphere Without these gases (greenhouse effect) the earth would be too cold for life

  15. Figure 4-9Page 61 Solar radiation Energy in = Energy out Reflected by atmosphere (34%) Radiated by atmosphere as heat (66%) UV radiation Lower stratosphere (ozone layer) Visible light Greenhouse effect Troposphere Absorbed by ozone Heat Absorbed by the earth Heat radiated by the earth Earth

  16. Animation Sun to earth animation. Click to view animation.

  17. WHY IS THE EARTH SO FAVORABLE FOR LIFE? The earth’s temperature range, distance from the sun, and the size result in conditions that are affordable for life as we know it. Life on earth depends on Liquid water Temperature Gravity gases

  18. 3-3 Ecosystem Components BIOMES AND AQUATIC LIFE ZONES Life exists on land systems called biomes and in freshwater and ocean aquatic life zones. Biomes the terrestrial portion of the biosphere. Forest, deserts, grasslands Characterized by a distinct Climate Specific species adapted to it (especially vegetation) Aquatic life zones Freshwater life zones Ocean or marine life zones Coral reefs, coastal estuaries, and deep ocean

  19. Figure 4-10Page 62 Coastal chaparral and scrub Coniferous forest Desert Coniferous forest Prairie grassland Deciduous forest Appalachian Mountains Mississippi River Valley Great Plains Rocky Mountains Great American Desert Sierra Nevada Mountains Coastal mountain ranges 15,000 ft 10,000 ft Average annual precipitation 5,000 ft 100-125 cm (40-50 in.) 75-100 cm (30-40 in.) 50-75 cm (20-30 in.) 25-50 cm (10-20 in.) Below 25 cm (0-10 in.)

  20. NONLIVING COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEMS Ecosystems consist of non-living (abiotic) and living (biotic) components. The living and the living components make up the biosphere and the ecosystems. Abiotic non-living Water Air Nutrients Solar energy Biotic living Plants Animals And microbes Look at figure 3-9 and 3-10. Note how the abiotic components are essential to the biotic components.

  21. Figure3-9 Sun Producers (rooted plants) Producers (phytoplankton) Primary consumers (zooplankton) Secondary consumers (fish) Dissolved chemicals Tertiary consumers (turtles) Sediment Decomposers (bacteria and fungi)

  22. Figure 3-10 Sun Oxygen (O2) Producer Carbon dioxide (CO2) Secondary consumer (fox) Primary consumer (rabbit) Producers Falling leaves and twigs Precipitation Soil decomposers Soluble mineral nutrients Water

  23. FACTORS THAT LIMIT POPULATION GROWTH Availability of matter and energy resources can limit the number of organisms in a population. Limiting factors a variety of factors can affect the number of organisms in a population. This is an ecological principle known as the limiting factor principle Too much or too little of any abiotic factor can limit or prevent growth of a population, even if all other factors are at or near the optimal range of tolerance. Factors: Land precipitation Lack of water in a desert Soil poor in nutrients Farmer phosphorus poor oil even if all other nutrients are present ( nitrogen, potassium, water etc.) Aquatic life zones Temperature fig 3-11 Sunlight Nutrient availability Dissolved oxygenThe amount of dissolved oxygen gas dissolved in a given volume of water at a particular temperature and pressure. Salinity the amounts of various inorganic minerals or salts dissolved in a given volume of water

  24. Animation The role of organisms in an ecosystem Click to view animation.

  25. Figure 3-11 Lower limit of tolerance Upper limit of tolerance No organisms Few organisms Few organisms No organisms Abundance of organisms Population Size Zone of intolerance Zone of physiological stress Optimum range Zone of physiological stress Zone of intolerance Low Temperature High

  26. BIOLOGICAL COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEMS: Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers. Some organisms in ecosystems produce food, while others consume it. Producers (autotrophs) make their own food from compounds obtained from their environment. Capture sunlight to make complex compounds glucose photosynthesis Green plants Algae Phytoplankton Chemosynthesis producer, mostly bacteria, convert simple compounds from their environment into more complex nutrient compounds without sunlight. Consumers (heterotrophs) organisms in an ecosystem that obtain energy and nutrients by feeding on other organisms or remains. Decomposers specialized consumers that recycle organic matter into ecosystems Dead organic matter  detritus The organic matter is released into soil and water where producers can obtain them plants Bacteria Fungi Omnivores feed on both plants and animals Pigs Rats Foxes Bears Detritivores detritus feeders and decomposers that feed on detritus. Producers, consumers, and decomposers use the chemical energy obtained from organic matter to fuel their life processes. Aerobic respiration energy is released by using oxygen to convert organic nutrients into carbon dioxide and water.

  27. Figure 4-14Page 64 Sugar Maple

  28. Figure 4-15Page 66 Soil and water nutrients Decomposers (bacteria, fungi) Break down organic matter for recycling Consumers Feeding on Dead Organisms or the Organic Wastes of Living Organisms Producers (plants and phytoplankton) Consumers Feeding on Living Organisms Scavengers (vultures, hyenas) Detritus Feeders (crabs, termites) Primary Consumers Feeding on Producers (rabbits, zooplankton) Secondary & Higher Consumers Feeding on Other Consumers (foxes, turtles, hawks)

  29. Figure 4-16Page 66 Detritus feeders Decomposers Bark beetle engraving Carpenter ant galleries Termite and carpenter ant work Long-horned beetle holes Dry rot fungus Wood reduced to powder Mushroom Powder broken down by decomposers into plant nutrients in soil Time progression

  30. Figure 4-17Page 67 Heat Heat Heat Heat Heat Abiotic chemicals (carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, minerals) Solar energy Decomposers (bacteria, fungus) Producers (plants) Consumers (herbivores, carnivores)

  31. BIODIVERSITY: A CRUCIAL RESOURCE A vital renewable resource is the biodiversity found in the earth’s variety of gene, species, ecosystems, and ecosystem processes. Biological diversity biodiversity variety of different species (species diversity), genetically variable among individuals within each species (genetic diversity), variety of ecosystems (ecological diversity), and functions such as energy flow and matter cycling needed for the survival of species and biological communities. (functional diversity). earth’s most important renewable resources The biological wealth or capita that helps keep us alive Supplies us with  food, wood, fibers, energy, raw materials, industrial chemicals and medicine Preserves the quality of air and water Maintain the fertility of soils , dispose of wastes, and control population of pests that attack crop and forests Is a Renewable resource

  32. 3-4 Energy Flow In Ecosystems FOOD CHAIN AND FOOD WEBS Food chain and food webs show how eaters, the eaten, and the decomposed are connected to one another in the ecosystem. Food chain a sequence of organisms, each of which serves as a source of food for the next Determines how energy flows from one organism to the next

  33. Figure 3-16 First Trophic Level Second Trophic Level Third Trophic Level Fourth Trophic Level Producers (plants) Primary consumers (herbivores) Secondary consumers (carnivores) Tertiary consumers (top carnivores) Heat Heat Heat Heat Solar energy FOOD CHAIN AND FOOD WEBS Heat Heat Heat Heat Heat Detritivores (decomposers and detritus feeders)

  34. FOOD CHAIN AND FOOD WEBS Each organism in the food chain is assigned a feeding level trophic level all organisms that are the same number of energy transfers away from the original source of energy that enters an ecosystem Example Producers First trophic level Herbivores Primary consumers Second trophic level Carnivore Secondary consumer Third trophic level Top Carnivore Tertiary consumer Fourth trophic level True ecosystems are more complex One organism feeds on several organisms Food web a complex network of interconnected food chains

  35. Figure 3-16 First Trophic Level Second Trophic Level Third Trophic Level Fourth Trophic Level Producers (plants) Primary consumers (herbivores) Secondary consumers (carnivores) Tertiary consumers (top carnivores) Heat Heat Heat Heat Solar energy FOOD CHAIN AND FOOD WEBS Heat Heat Heat Heat Heat Detritivores (decomposers and detritus feeders)

  36. Animation Prairie trophic levels interaction. Click to view animation.

  37. Figure 4-19Page 69 Humans Blue whale Sperm whale Killer whale Elephant seal Crabeater seal Leopard seal Emperor penguin Adélie penguins Petrel Squid Fish Carnivorous plankton Herbivorous zooplankton Krill Phytoplankton

  38. ENERGY FLOW IN ECOSYSTEMS There is a decreases in the amount of energy available in each succeeding organism in a food chain or web. Each trophic level in a food chain or web contains a certain amount of biomass the dry weight of all organic matter contained in its organisms. Stored chemical energy is transferred from one organism to the other The transfer of chemical energy may cause some the energy to be lost as heat and organic waste Ecological efficiency percentage of usable energy transferred from one trophic level to the next. In a pyramid of energy flow, each trophic level has 10% ecological efficiency 90% loss Fig 3-19

  39. Figure 3-19 Heat Heat Heat Heat Heat Tertiary consumers (human) Decomposers 10 Secondary consumers (perch) 100 Primary consumers (zooplankton) 1,000 10,000 Usable energy available at each tropic level (in kilocalories) Producers (phytoplankton)

  40. Figure 4-21Page 70 © 2004 Brooks/Cole – Thomson Learning Top carnivores Decomposers/detritivores 21 Carnivores 5,060 383 Herbivores 3,368 20,810 Producers

  41. PRODUCTIVITY OF PRODUCERS Different ecosystems use solar energy to produce and use biomass at different rates. Gross primary productivity GPP the rate at which an ecosystem's producers convert solar energy into chemical energy as biomass Net primary productivity NPP the rate at which producers use photosynthesis to store energy minus the rate at which they use some of the stored energy through aerobic respiration. Limits the numbers of consumers

  42. Figure 4-23Page 71 Sun Photosynthesis Energy lost &unavailable toconsumers Respiration Gross primaryproduction Net primaryproduction(energyavailable toconsumers) Growth and reproduction

  43. Animation Energy flow in Silver Springs animation. Click to view animation.

  44. Figure 4-24Page 72 Terrestrial Ecosystems Swamps and marshes Tropical rain forest Temperate forest Northern coniferous forest (taiga) Savanna Agricultural land Woodland and shrubland Temperate grassland Tundra (arctic and alpine) Desert scrub Extreme desert Aquatic Ecosystems Estuaries Lakes and streams Continental shelf Open ocean 800 1,600 2,400 3,200 4,000 4,800 5,600 6,400 7,200 8,000 8,800 9,600 Average net primary productivity (kcal/m2/yr)

  45. 3-5 Soils WHAT IS SOIL AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT Soil is a slowly renewed resource that provides most of the nutrients needed for plant growth and helps purify water. Soil Thin covering over most of the land Base of life on land Provides nutrients ofr plant growth Filters water Decompose and recycles biodegradable wastes Water recycling and storage process Helps controls earths climate Removes carbon Comprised of complex mixture Eroded rock Mineral nutrients Decaying organic matter Water Air Billions of living organisms Renewable slowly Depends on climate 4inches can take 15 yars to hundreds of years Non-renewable human interactions Soil erosion

  46. Figure 3-22 Mosaic of closely packed pebbles, boulders Alkaline, dark, and rich in humus Weak humus- mineral mixture Dry, brown to reddish-brown, with variable accumulations of clay, calcium carbonate, and soluble salts Clay, calcium compounds Desert Soil (hot, dry climate) Grassland Soil (semiarid climate)

  47. Figure 3-22 Forest litter leaf mold Acid litter and humus Acidic light- colored humus Humus-mineral mixture Light-colored and acidic Light, grayish- brown, silt loam Iron and aluminum compounds mixed with clay Dark brown firm clay Humus and iron and aluminum compounds Tropical Rain Forest Soil (humid, tropical climate) Deciduous Forest Soil (humid, mild climate) Coniferous Forest Soil (humid, cold climate)

  48. 3-6 Matter Cycling in Ecosystems NUTRIENT CYCLES: GLOBAL CYCLING Global cycles recycle nutrients from the earth’s ai, land water and living organisms and in the process connect past, present and future forms of life. Nutrient cycles biogeochemical cyclesnutrients, ions, and molecules are continuously recycled in the air, water, soil, rock, and living organisms. Can be driven directly or indirectly by Solar energy and gravity Include Carbon Oxygen Nitrogen Phosphorus Hydrologic cycles

  49. Figure 3-24 Condensation Rain clouds Transpiration Evaporation Transpiration from plants Precipitation to land Precipitation Precipitation Evaporation from land Evaporation from ocean Surface runoff (rapid) Runoff Precipitation to ocean Surface runoff (rapid) Infiltration and Percolation Groundwater movement (slow) Ocean storage THE WATER CYCLE A vast global cycle collects, purifies, distributes, and recycles the earth’s fixed supply of water. • Hydrologic water cycle collects, purifies, and distributes the earth’s fixed supply of water. • Solar energy evaporates water atmospheric water • 84% from oceans

  50. Figure 3-25 THE CARBON CYCLE Carbon recycles through the earth’s air, water, soil, and living organisms. The carbon cycle is based on carbon dioxide. Diffusion between atmosphere and ocean Combustion of fossil fuels Carbon dioxide dissolved in ocean water photosynthesis aerobic respiration Marine food webs Producers, consumers, decomposers, detritivores incorporation into sediments uplifting over geologic time death, sedimentation sedimentation Marine sediments, including formations with fossil fuels

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