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Ecological principles. Systems, Diversity, and Human Interactions. What is Ecology? . Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with on another and with their nonliving environment. Connections in nature
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Ecological principles Systems, Diversity, and Human Interactions
What is Ecology? • Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with on another and with their nonliving environment. • Connections in nature • Ecologists focus on understanding interactions among organisms, a population, a community, an ecosystem and the biosphere! • All of which we will examine!!
What are Organisms?? • Organisms are any form of life. • One cell to multi-cellular species. • If you look in the mirror you will see 10 trillion cells and about 200 different types of cells… all having different functions! • How many different species on Earth? • Estimated = 3.6 million to 100 million • So far we know 1.4 million (mostly insects!)
Case Study: Have you thanked the insects Today? • Read Page 55 then take five minutes to answer the portfolio question: Journal Entry #1.
Organisms make up a Population • A population is a group of interacting individuals of the same species that occupy a specific area. • The place or environment where they live is its habitat. • It may be as large as an ocean or as small as the intestine in a termite!! • The area over which we can find a species is called its distribution or its range.
What is a community? • A community, or biological community, consists of all the populations of the different species living and interacting within an area. • It is very complex and contains plants, animals, and many microorganisms.
What are Ecosystems? • An Ecosystem is a community of different species that are interacting with one another but also with their physical environment of matter and energy • They can be natural or man made. • Man made would be crop fields, farm ponds, and reservoirs. • All the Earth’s ecosystems together make up the biosphere.
Systems within the Biosphere • All of the earth’s ecosystems combined make up the biosphere. This includes ecosystems in the air, land and sea – the Earth’s life support systems.
But what if we change a component within an Ecosystem: • Eachcomponent of an ecosystem is important to the preservation and the health of the ecosystem. • When you change one factor you may create a domino affect – massive changes elsewhere. If the temperature of earth changes it impacts the development of species. Since they are all linked this will in turn affect all other species in the ecosystem.
Humans interactions with an ecosystem • Natural balance (characterized by the carrying capacity of a species) shifts when humans interact. • Sustainable practices are humans ways of minimizing their impact on the ecosystem and maintaining that natural balance.
Eutrophication • Eutrophication is a syndrome of ecosystem responses to human activities that fertilize water bodies with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), often leading to changes in animal and plant populations and degradation of water and habitat quality.
Nitrogen and phosphorus are essential components of structural proteins, enzymes, cell membranes, nucleic acids, and molecules that play a role in photosynthesis and other cellular functions .
Pristine aquatic ecosystems function in approximate steady state in which primary production of new plant biomass is sustained by N and P released as byproducts of microbial and animal metabolism.
Humans disrupt this balance by adding N and P to the water systems. • Nutrient enrichment of marine waters promotes the growth of algae. • The algae fuels bacterial growth in bottom waters and sediments.
Then…. • Bacterial metabolism consumes oxygen. • Bottom waters become hypoxic (low in oxygen) or anoxic (devoid of oxygen), creating conditions stressful or even lethal for marine invertebrates and fish.
Possible Results • Seagrass populations decrease due to unavailability of light. Ecosystem balance is effected. • Some phytoplankton species excrete large quantities of mucilage during blooms that is whipped into foam by wind mixing and washes ashore, making beaches undesirable for holiday visitors.
Other phytoplankton (cyanobacteria) species produce toxic chemicals that can impair respiratory, nervous, digestive and reproductive system function, and even cause death of fish, shellfish, seabirds, mammals, and humans.
The economic impacts of harmful algal blooms can be severe as tourism is lost and shellfish harvest and fishing are closed across increasingly widespread marine regions. • Rivers and streams damage result in loss of fish stocks!
Nitrogen Eutrophication… • Portfolio: Bringing Dead Zones back to Life – article and Questions.
The Earth is made up of Four Major Layers: The Earth is made up of interconnected spherical layers that contain air, water, soil, minerals and life.
1. Atmosphere (air) • The thin membrane of air around the planet. • The atmosphere is made up of two parts (for our purpose): • Troposphere: The bottom layer just above sea level. It contains most of the earth’s nitrogen and oxygen – and is where the weather occurs. • Stratosphere: This is the upper layer. It contains mostly ozone (O3), which helps to filter out the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.
2. Hydrosphere – water • The hydrosphere consists of the Earth’s water - it is found as liquid water (surface and undergound), as ice (polar ice, icebergs and ice in frozen soil), and as water vapour.
3. Lithosphere – crust • The lithosphere is made up of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle. • It contains non-renewable fossil fuels, minerals and nutrients for plant growth.
4. Biosphere - (living and dead organisms) • The biosphere is where all living organisms exist and interact with one another and with non-living things. • The biosphere includes most of the hydrosphere (water), parts of the atmosphere (air), and lithosphere (soil).
All life exists in the biosphere… • In order for life to exist organisms need to obtain nutrients and minerals for growth and maintenance. • The Earth is a closed system; therefore, everything needs to be recycled once an organisms dies… it has to be broken down and released back into the ‘web of life’.
Carbon cycle • Carbon is the basic building block of the carbohydrates, fats, proteins, DNA, and other organic compounds necessary for life. • The carbon cycle is based on CO2 from the aerobic respiration of organisms, volcanic eruptions, the weathering of carbonate rocks, and the burning of carbon containing compounds. • Aerobic respiration breaks down glucose and converts the carbon to the CO2 which is released into the troposphere.
Nitrogen Cycle • Nitrogen is the atmosphere’s most abundant element (78%). • It is a crucial component of proteins, many vitamins, and the nucleic acids DNA and RNA. • However, N2 (gas) cannot be absorbed and used directly as a nutrient by plants or animals. • The nitrogen cycle converts it to a usable form.
Phosphorus Cycle • Phosphorus is typically found as a solid form in rocks and salts in the Earth’s crust and very little circulates the atmosphere. • As weathering and erosion occur phosphorus is released into soil water, lakes, and rivers as phosphate ions that can be taken up by plants – which are then eaten by other organisms.
Sulphur Cycle • Sulphur enters the atmosphere through natural sources and human activity. • It can create many problems for organisms and water systems as it falls from the atmosphere as acid precipitation.
Water Cycle • One of the most important cycles on the Earth!! • The water cycle recycles the fixed supply of the Earth’s water. • It falls to the Earth in forms of precipitation and cycles through plants and animals. • It is different from other cycles as the chemical (H2O) stays unchanged but merely transforms from one state to another.
What are the Major Biological Components of Ecosystems? • Organisms on our planet either produce or consume food. • Producers, also known as autotrophs, make food from the environment • Plants, algae, and phytoplankton are the key producers in the biosphere. • Producers make glucose (a carbohydrate) through a process known as photosynthesis. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYbMPwmwx88&feature=related
All other organisms… Consumers • Consumers = heterotrophs • They obtain energy and nutrients from feeding on other organisms or remains. • Decomposers are consumers that recycle organic matter (which we seen in cycles). • Breakdown dead organic material = detritus! • In natural ecosystems there is little to no waste as one organism’s waste serves as a resource for another.
Energy passed on… • All producers, consumers, and decomposers use the chemical energy in glucose to fuel all their life processes. • The survival of all individuals depends on the flow of matter and energy through its body. • As an ecosystem, the whole survives primarily through the recycling of matter and the one-way energy flow. • Food chains • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_RBHfjZsUQ&feature=fvsr
Energy Flow in Ecosystems • All organisms, essentially, are food for other organisms within an ecosystem. • Complete the assignment on Food Chains and Webs + Energy Flow in Ecosystems.
