1 / 34

Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future Richard T. Wright

Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future Richard T. Wright. Chapter 2. Ecosystems: What They Are PPT by Clark E. Adams. The Organization of Ecosystems. A description of ecosystems The structure of ecosystems The relationship between ecosystems and biomes

lavonn
Download Presentation

Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future Richard T. Wright

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future Richard T. Wright Chapter 2 Ecosystems: What They Are PPT by Clark E. Adams

  2. The Organization of Ecosystems • A description of ecosystems • The structure of ecosystems • The relationship between ecosystems and biomes • Human impacts on ecosystem structure

  3. Ecosystem Types in the United States • Coasts and oceans • Farmlands • Forests • Fresh waters • Grasslands and shrub lands • Urban and suburban areas

  4. Ecosystems: A Description • Biotic communities: grouping or assemblage of plants, animals, and microbes • Species: different kinds of plants, animals, and microbes in the community • Populations: number of individuals that make up the interbreeding, reproducing group • Associations: how a biotic community fits into the landscape

  5. Abiotics (moisture and temperature) predict (+ moisture = forest) Plants (temperature = forest type) predict Animals (lynx or bobcat) How Ecosystems Are Formed

  6. Ecosystems • A grouping of plants, animals, and microbes occupying an explicit unit of space and interacting with each other and their environment

  7. Ecotone: transitional region between different ecosystems • Shares many of the species and characteristics of both ecosystems • May also include unique conditions that support distinctive plant and animal species

  8. Ecotone: transitional region between different ecosystems • Shares many of the species and characteristics of both ecosystems • May also include unique conditions that support distinctive plant and animal species

  9. Topics on Ecosystem Structure • Trophic categories • Trophic relationships: food chains, food webs, trophic levels • Nonfeeding relationships: symbiosis • Abiotic factors

  10. Autotrophs = Producers = Self feeders

  11. Inorganic Oxygen Carbon dioxide Nitrogen Water pH Organic All living things Products of living things Inorganic and Organic

  12. Consumers = Heterotrophs • Primary consumers = herbivores = rabbits: eat plant material • Secondary consumers = carnivores = predators = coyotes: prey are herbivores and other animals • Parasites = predator = either plant or animal: prey are plants or animals • Detritus feeders and decomposers = bacteria and fungi: prey are plants or animals

  13. Trophic Categories

  14. Third-order Consumer Secondary Consumer Primary Consumer Producer Trophic Levels: Food Chain

  15. Match Organisms with Trophic Level(s)

  16. Match Organisms with Trophic Level(s)

  17. Trophic Relationships among Producers and Consumers

  18. Food Webs

  19. Third-order Consumer 1 Kcal - 10x Secondary Consumer 10 Kcal - 10x Primary Consumer 100 Kcal - 100x Trophic Level Energy Flow 10,000 Kcal Producer

  20. 5 4 3 2 1 Trophic Levels: Pyramid of Biomass Which level is occupied by: producers? primary consumers? secondary consumers? third-order consumers?

  21. 5 4 3 2 1 Trophic Levels: Pyramid of Energy Which level is occupied by: producers? primary consumers? secondary consumers? third-order consumers?

  22. Symbiosis: Living Together • + and + = Mutualism. Both species benefit by the interaction between the two species: yucca plant and Pronuba moth • + and 0 = Commensalism. One species benefits from the interaction and the other is unaffected: remora fish and shark

  23. Symbiosis: Living Together • + and – = One species benefits from the interaction and the other is adversely affected. Examples are predation, parasitism, and disease. • – and – = Competition. Both species are adversely affected by the interaction.

  24. Resource Partitioning

  25. Law of Limiting Factors

  26. Application of the Law of Limiting Factors • Compare the “tolerance” differences for a trout and a catfish using water: • temperature (cold or warm). • oxygen concentration (high or low). • salinity (high or low).

  27. From Ecosystems to Global Biomes • The role of climate • Microclimate and other abiotic factors • Biotic factors • Physical barriers

  28. Climate and Major Biomes

  29. High A D C Temperature B E Low High Identify Biomes A to E Based on Temperature and Precipitation Levels: Answers on Next Slide Precipitation

  30. Answers to Previous Slide • A has high temperature and low moisture = hot desert • B has low temperature and low moisture = cold desert (tundra with permafrost) • C has medium temperatures and moisture = grassland • D has high temperature and moisture = rain forest • E has low temperature and high precipitation = arctic poles

  31. Abiotic Effects of Latitude and Altitude

  32. The Human Factor • Three revolutions • Neolithic • Industrial • Environmental

  33. How Humans Modify Their Physical Environments to Meet Their Needs • Produce abundant food • Control water flow rate and direction • Overcome predation and disease • Construct our own ecosystems • Overcome competition with other species

  34. End of Chapter 2

More Related