Chapter 3: Ecosystems and Energy Master Presentation

1. Chapter 3: Ecosystems and Energy Master Presentation The coral reef community can teach us a lot about how energy flows through an ecosystem. Corals have the most species of all aquatic ecosystems

2. Overview of Chapter 3 What is Ecology? The Energy of Life Laws of Thermodynamics Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration Flow of Energy Through Ecosystems Producers, Consumers & Decomposers Ecological Pyramid Ecosystem Productivity

3. Ecology Ecology “eco” house & “logy” study of The study of interactions among and between organisms in their abiotic environment Biotic - living environment Includes all organisms Abiotic - non living or physical environment Includes living space, sunlight, soil, precipitation, etc.

4. Ecological Levels… • The Earth’s biosphere (living realm) includes many sub-categories. Some of these are: • Organisms and species • Ecosystems • Communities • Cells • Atoms • Populations • Also….the biosphere is constantly interacting with the physical components of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere

5. Let’s see if you can organize yourselves into a logical order…. • Each person takes a term, and then compares it to all others. • Organize the class from smallest concept to largest • Decide what terms are part of the study of Ecology • Complete the matching activity

6. Ecology Definitions Species A group of similar organisms whose members freely interbreed Population A group of organisms of the same species that occupy that live in the same area at the same time Community Al the populations of different species that live and interact in the same area at the same time Ecosystem A community and its physical (abiotic) environment Landscape Several interacting ecosystems

7. Ecology Ecologists are interested in the levels of life above that of organism

8. Ecology Biosphere contains earth’s communities, ecosystems and landscapes, and includes: • Atmosphere - gaseous envelope surrounding earth • Hydrosphere - earth’s supply of water • Lithosphere - soil and rock of the earth’s crust

10. The Chesapeake Bay ecosystem: • The Chesapeake Bay is a special place! • It is an estuary just like the lower to mid Hudson! It is under the influence of tides! • It represents a subtle shift from salt water to brackish water to fresh water, which changes with the tides and changes with precipitation levels. • It contains salt marsh aquatic communities with surrounding meadow, wetlands, and forested areas (also similar to the Hudson) • It provides ecologists with a great case study to examine multiple interactions among organisms and between the organisms, the ecosystem, and of course….. HUMANS!

11. A typical Chesapeake Bay food web…..See how all the organisms interact with one another and with the physical surroundings and components of air, water, and land?????

12. Chesapeake Bay - plants • Cordgrass is the dominant plant…suited to salty conditions • Nitrates and phosphates from treated sewage and agriculture promote rapid growth of cordgrass and algae • Cordgrass and algae are eaten directly by some organisms • Insects and birds are the dominant animal forms • Mosquitoes, horseflies, sparrows, gulls, clapper rails (birds),

13. Chesapeake Bay - animals • Insects and birds are the dominant animal forms • Mosquitoes, horseflies, sparrows, gulls, clapper rails • The marsh contains shrimp, lobster, crab, barnacles, worms, clams and snails….using the cordgrass for cover to hide from predators and to reproduce • Sea trout, Atlantic croaker, striped bass, bluefish and many other fish use the marsh as a nursery (eels too)

15. Chesapeake Bay - animals • No amphibians due to saltwater, but a few reptiles can be found…including diamondback terrapin sea turtles. • Water snakes prey on fish; other snakes live in the surrounding dry areas • Meadow voles move into and out of the marsh constantly (they are excellent swimmers)…eating insects, leaves, and the cordgrass • Otherwise, there are millions of microorganisms and macroinvertebrates that serve to complete the complex, interacting food web of the Chesapeake Bay!

17. Thermodynamics, Photosynthesis, Cellular Respiration, and Chemosynthesis Ahmad Tipu and Kenny Godwin

18. What is Thermodynamics? It is the study of energy and its transformations. Scientists use the word “system” during thermodynamic work refer to a group of atoms, molecules, or objects when they are being studied. Everything that is not involved in the study is the surroundings. The systems then get broken down into two systems, open and closed.

19. Closed System A closed system is self-contained and isolated. Energy is not exchanged between a closed system and its surroundings. The thermos bottle is an approximation of a closed system. Closed systems are rare in nature.

20. Open System Energy is exchanged between an open system and its surroundings. Earth is an open system because it receives energy from the sun, and this energy eventually escapes when it dissipates into space.

21. First Law Of Thermodynamics An organism may absorb energy from its surroundings, or it may give up some energy into its surroundings, but the total energy content of the organism and its surroundings is always the same. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, although it can change from one form to another. The energy in the universe 15 to 20 billion years ago is the same amount of energy present today. This happens to the energy of any system if the surroundings are constant. An organism cannot create the energy it requires to live, it must capture the energy from the environment to use for biological work, this requires the transformation of energy from one form to another.

22. Second Law Of Thermodynamics The amount of usable energy available to do work in the universe decreases overtime. Whenever we transfer energy it is an inefficient process and energy is lost as heat. No process requiring an energy conversion is ever 100% efficient because much of the energy is dispersed as heat, increasing entropy

23. What is Entropy? It is the measure of disorder or randomness. Organized energy has low entropy. Disorganized energy like heat, has high entropy. Entropy is continuously increasing in the universe in all natural processes. Entropy is not reversible.

24. Photosynthesis is the process by which light energy taken from the sun is converted into chemical energy in the form of of glucose. In this process carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight are taken in and through a series of steps glucose is formed with water and oxygen as by products. Many plants, a few algae, and some bacteria perform this process in order to supply themselves with a supply of energy to be used as needed. Photosynthesis Equation for Photosynthesis: 6CO2 + 12H2O + radiant energy (sunlight) C6H1206 + 6H2O + 6O2

25. Cellular Respiration In order to release stored chemical energy many plants and animals go through through the process of aerobic cellular respiration in which molecules such as glucose are broken down for energy. When the glucose is broken down in this process energy is released and the glucose is broken down into carbon dioxide and water. There are some organisms which do not use oxygen for cellular respiration and they go through the process of anaerobic cellular respiration. Equation: C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O 6CO2 + 12H2O + Energy

26. Chemosynthesis Chemosynthesis is when organisms make organic compounds by using energy derived from reactions involving inorganic chemicals. In nature this most commonly occurs in deep sea hydrothermal vents which spew out water heated by radioactive rocks in the earth. There is no sunlight available so many of the organisms cannot perform photosynthesis. Bacteria living near these vents possess enzymes have enzymes which they use to make the inorganic molecule hydrogen sulfide react with oxygen and produce water, sulfur, or sulfate These reactions produce energy for the rest of the deep sea ecosystem and allows the rest of the creatures to survive in a world without light.

27. Deep Sea Vents Video http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-videos/hydrothermal-vent-creatures -

28. Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers By: Sean Behuniak and Logan Mongelli

29. Producers Also known as autotrophs(Greek for self nourishment) manufacture their energy from simple inorganic substances usually CO2 and water, generally using the energy of sunlight or better known as the process of photosynthesis They produce their own food in their bodies becoming potential food sources or other organisms They are the beginning of the food web as well as the beginning of the energy flow ex. cordgrass, algae, photosynthetic bacteria

30. Consumers Also known as Heterotrophs, Consumers use the bodies of other organisms as their source of food, energy, and bodybuilding materials Consumers that eat producers are primary consumers or herbivores ex. Rabbits and Deer ex. Marsh Periwinkle -snail that feeds on algae in a salt marsh ecosystem Secondary Consumers eat primary consumers Tertiary Consumers eat secondary consumers -Both are flesh-eating carnivores that eat other animals ex. Lions, lizards, spiders Omnivores are consumers that eat a variety of organisms, both plant and animals ex. Bears, Pigs and Humans

31. Also called saprotrophs are heterotrophs that break down dead organic material and use those nutrients to supply their own bodies They release CO2 and salts that producers can use ex:Bacteria, Fungi These examples clear the way for other decomposers such as termites Decomposers

32. More Examples

33. Energy Flow: The passage of energy in a one-way direction through an ecosystem Trophic Level: An organism’s position in a food chain, which is determined by its feeding relationships Food Web: A representation of the interlocking food chains that connect all organisms in an ecosystem Helpful Definitions

34. Path of Energy Flow Energy flow occurs in food chains in which energy moves through the organism in sequence Each level in a food chain or link is a trophic level Organisms are assigned their trophic level based on the number of energy transfer steps to that trophic level Ecosystem’s have different complexities due to the fact that organism soften gain energy from multiple sources This process is very inefficient and energy is lost at every level due to factors such as hunting, reproduction and respiration for some examples

35. Path of Energy Diagram

36. Diagram of Energy Loss

38. Hunting of the Baleen Whales -Being a major consumer of the krill population, by reducing the amount of whales, Humans have allowed the Krill population to skyrocket and in turn has allow other krill consuming populations to grow Thinning of the ozone layer -Because of Human induced ozone layer thinning, more U.V radiation(specifically over the Antarctic) has been able to reach the surface of the Earth. This in turn can damage, kill, and possibly eliminate algae in the Southern Ocean which forms the base of this ecosystems food web. Commercial Fishing of Krill for fishmeal for aquaculture industries -Many scientists fear that this could damage many Krill consuming species in this ecosystem as well as the ecosystem itself How Humans have affected the Antarctic Food Web

39. ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS By: Sabrina Blanke and Samantha LaMonica

40. What is an ecological pyramid? the flow of energy that goes from one trophic level to the next in a food pyramid - a result of the second law of thermodynamics (the entropy of a system never decreases) graphically represent the energy values of each trophic level 3 MAIN TYPES: 1. Pyramid of Numbers 2. Pyramid of Biomass 3. Pyramid of Energy

41. Pyramid of Numbers shows the number of organisms at each trophic level of a given ecosystem organisms at the bottom are the most abundant, fewer organisms as the the pyramid progresses upwards inverted pyramids are where higher trophic levels have more organisms than lower ones, found in decomposers and parasites limited help because they do not show the biomass of the organisms and do not show the amount of energy transferred

42. Pyramid of Biomass illustrates the total biomass at each successive trophic level biomass is an estimate of the total mass or amount of living material. It measures the amount of fixed energy at a particular time units of measure for biomass vary, it is represented as: 1. Total Volume 2. Dry Weight 3. Live Weight

43. Pyramid of Energy this illustrates the energy content of the biomass of each trophic level often expressed as kilocalories per square meter per year begin with large bases and get progressively smaller energy pyramids show that most energy dissipates into the environment when going from one trophic level to the next

44. Chapter 3! By: Jayvon Johnson and Rebekah Levine

45. Ecosystem Productivity Net primary productivity = GPP - Plant cellular respiration (plant growth/unit area/ (total (/unit area/unit time) unit time) photosynthesis/ unit area/unit time)

46. GPP & NPP GPP = Gross Primary Productivity: The rate at which energy is captured during photosynthesis. NPP = Net Primary Productivity: Energy in plant tissues after cellular respiration has occured. Amount of biomass found in excess of that broken down by a plant’s cellular respiration. Rate at which organic matter is actually incorporated into plant tissues for growth. • GPP & NPP: • Referred to as primary because plants occupy the first trophic level in food webs. • Expressed as energy/unit area/unit time or as dry weight.

47. What is NPP Energy & What Is It For? Available as food for an ecosystem’s consumers. Consumers us most of the energy for cellular respiration to contract muscles and to maintain and repair cells and tissues. Energy that is left is used for growth and production of young,secondary productivity. Ex: Extended Drought Secondary productivity is any environmental factor that limits an ecosystem’s primary productivity.

48. Cellular Respiration Photosynthesis in reverse -O2 absorbed and CO2 released -breakdown food and energy is released -glucose broken down into H2O, CO2, and energy -releases energy as ATP molecules

50. Human Impact on Net Primary Productivity Humans consume far more of earth’s resources than any other of the millions of animal species. College students like Peter Vitousek, Stuart Rojstaczer, etc. did some research on this impact.