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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

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Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future Richard T. Wright

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  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

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