Exploring the Dynamic Biosphere: Life's Integrative System on Earth

2. The biosphere is simply "life on Earth"—the sum total, that is, of all living things on Earth. Yet the whole is more than the sum of the parts: not only is the biosphere an integrated system whose many components fit together in complex ways, but it also works, in turn, in concert with the other major earth systems. The latter include the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere, through which circulate the chemical elements and compounds essential to life. Among these elements is carbon, a part of all living things, which also cycles through the nonliving realms of soil, water, and air—just one of many vital biogeo-chemical cycles. • As for the compounds on which life depends, none is more important than water, which, though it is the focal point of the hydrosphere, passes through the various earth systems as well. • Organisms participate in the hydrologic cycle by providing moisture to the air through the process of transpiration, and they likewise benefit from the downward movement of moisture in the form of precipitation. These and many other interactions make it easy to see why scientists speak of Earth as a system—and why some go even further and call it a living thing.

4. Biosphere, the earth's relatively thin zone of air, soil, and water that is capable of supporting life, ranging from about 10 km into the atmosphere to the deepest ocean floor. Life in this zone depends on the sun's energy and on the circulation of heat and essential nutrients. The only known exception is deep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystems, which depend entirely on the earth's energy. The biosphere remained sufficiently stable for hundreds of millions of years to sustain the evolution of today's life forms. Large-scale divisions of the biosphere into regions of different growth patterns are called biomes

5. Biosphere is consisting of lot of different BIOMS and ECOSYSTEMS Ecosystem means organisms living in a particular environment, such as a forest or a coral reef, and the physical parts of the environment that affect them. . The ecosystem concept fits into an ordered view of nature that was developed by scientists to simplify the study of the relationships between organisms and their physical environment, a field known as ecology. At the top of the hierarchy is the planet’s entire living environment, known as the biosphere Within this biosphere are several large categories of living communities known as biomes that are usually characterized by their dominant vegetation, such as grasslands, tropical forests, or deserts. The biomes are in turn made up of ecosystems. The living, or biotic, parts of an ecosystem, such as the plants, animals, and bacteria found in soil, are known as a community. The physical surroundings, or abiotic components, such as the minerals found in the soil, are known as the environment or habitat. Any given place may have several different ecosystems that vary in size and complexity. A tropical island, for example, may have a rain forest ecosystem that covers hundreds of square miles, a mangrove swamp ecosystem along the coast, and an underwater coral reef ecosystem. No matter how the size or complexity of an ecosystem is characterized, all ecosystems exhibit a constant exchange of matter and energy between the biotic and abiotic community. Ecosystem components are so interconnected that a change in any one component of an ecosystem will cause subsequent changes throughout the system. Ecosystems

6. In ecology, a biome is a major regional group of distinctive plant and animal communities best adapted to the region's physical natural environment, latitude, altitude, and terrain. • A biome is made up of communities at stable steady state and all associated transitional, disturbed, or degraded, vegetation, fauna and soils, but can often be identified by the climax vegetation type. • A fundamental classification of biomes is into: • Terrestrial(or continental) biomes and • 2. Aquatic biomes.

7. Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants, and is, by far, the most abundant biotic element of the biosphere Vegetation serves several critical functions in the biosphere, at all possible spatial scales • regulates the flow of numerous biogeochemical cycles most critically those of water, carbon, and nitrogen; it is also of great importance in local and global energy balances • Second, vegetation strongly affects soil characteristics, including soil volume, chemistry and texture, which feed back to affect various vegetational characteristics, including productivity and structure • Third, vegetation serves as wildlife habitat and the energy source for the vast array of animal species on the planet

8. Division of vegetation according to biomes 1.Equatorial zone There is a high concentration of lianas, orchids, mushrooms, shade-loving plants, In Equatorial zone we can find rainforests which are marked as “lungs of the Earth” efficiently recycling the air, producing oxygen instead of carbon dioxide). 2.Subequatorial zone The most specific flora species for this zone mentioned are acacia trees, baobab trees, palms, drought-resistant bushes,xerophythic plants – drought loving plants with deep roots, pyrophytic plants – resistant to fire, with fast regeneration after being burned 3. Tropical zone There is a high concentration of cactuses, thorny (sharp) bushes, drought-resistant bushes, clumps of grass

9. 4. Subtropical zone The most specific flora species for this zone arewild olives, cork oaks, thymes, redwoods, pines, cedars, evergreen oaks, plants with tuberous roots 5. Moderate zone Steppes or prairies are specific for this climatic zone containing grasses, chestnuts, maples, xerophytic and pyrophytic plants,oaks, limes, elms, beeches, mushrooms, herbs 6. Polar zone Polar zone containsmainly grass in summer and few species in winter (dwarfed willow or salix) Polar zone = Permafrost.

10. Explanation Fauna is a collective term for animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora. Flora, fauna and other forms of life such as fungi are collectively referred to as BIOTA Division of fauna Cryofauna are animals that live in, or very close to, ice Cryptofauna are animals that are rarely seen and may be extinct or mythological. Epifauna are non-photosynthetic, benthic organisms that live upon the surface of sediments or soils Infauna are aquatic organisms that live within particulate media such as sediments or soil Macrofauna are benthic or soil organisms which are at least several centimeters in length Megafauna are large animals of any particular region or time. For example, Australian megafauna Meiofauna are small benthic invertebrates (bezstavovce) that live in both marine and fresh water environments Mesofauna are macroscopic soil invertebrates such as arthropods, earthworms and nematodes Microfauna are microscopic or very small animals (usually including protozoans and very small animals such as rotifers

11. Division of vegetation according tobiomes 1. Equatorial zone The most specific animal species for this zone mentioned are gorillas, chimpanzees and parrots occurring in Congo basin mainly. Than tarantulas, leaf monkeys and piranhas occurring in Amazon basin + lot of insect species everywhere. 2. Subequatorial zone I this zone fauna is very diverse, containing African lions, elephants, panthers, hippopotamuses, rhinoceros, gazelles. Than there is a lot of leaf monkeys in Amazon basin. A lot of asian panther and tigers are also belonging to this biome + lot of rodent species everywhere 3. Tropical zone In this zone with desert climate and extremely dry areas there are a lot of snakes, camels, scorpions and gnawers,

12. 4. Subtropical zone Basic species typical for this zone are lizards, sea-gulls, squirrels, chameleons, echidnas, mouflons 5. Moderate zone Steppes or prairies are specific for this climatic zone. In steppes rodent species and pheasant are very common. Than in moderate zone there are a lot of bucks and deeres, wild boars, foxes, woodpeckers, hawks, snails living in deciduous forest . In boreal forest there is a high concentration of elks, squirrels, owls, lynxes, chamoise. 6. Polar zone Falcons, polar rabbits, polar fox, buck caribous, polar bears, seals are typical for this polar zone