The Biosphere

What is Ecology?
Ecology the scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment, or surroundings.

Biosphere the combined portions of the planet in which all of the life exists, including land, water, and air, or atmosphere. It extends from about 8 km above Earths surface to 11 km below the ocean surface.

Levels of Organization
To understand relationships within the biosphere, ecologists ask questions about events and organisms that range in complexity from a single individual to the entire biosphere.

Levels of Organization
Species - a group of organisms so similar to one another that they can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Populations groups of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area.
These clams that live near an ocean vent constitute a population

Communities different populations that live together in a defined area.

Levels of Organization
Ecosystem a collection of all organisms that live in a particular place, together with their nonliving, or physical, environment.

Biome a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities.

Ecological Methods
Regardless of the tools they use, scientists conduct modern ecological research using three basic approaches: observing, experimenting, and modeling. All of these approaches rely on the application of scientific methods to guide ecological inquiry.

Energy Flow
Sunlight is the main energy source for life on Earth. Some types of organisms rely on the energy stored in inorganic chemical compounds. Autotrophs plants, some algae and certain bacteria can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use that energy to produce food. Producers organisms that make their own food (autotrophs).

Energy Flow With NO Light!

Thermal vent

Chemosynthesis when organisms use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates. Such as sulfur bacteria converting sulfur compounds into carbohydrates around thermal vents in the ocean. Ex: Chemosynthetic Bacteria

Energy Flow From the Sun

Photosynthesis the conversion of light energy into chemical energy which is stored within organic compounds.

Energy Flow Consumers

Heterotrophs organisms that rely on other organisms for their energy and food supply; also known as consumers.

Consumers include animals, bacteria & fungi

Energy Flow Consumer Types

Herbivores animals that obtain energy by eating only plants. Ex: cows & caterpillars Carnivores organisms that obtain energy by eating animals. Ex: snakes, dogs & owls Omnivores organisms that obtain energy by eating both plants and animals. Ex: humans, bears & crows Detritivores organisms that feed on plants and animal remains and dead matter (detritus). Ex: mites, earthworms & snails Decomposers break down organic matter. Ex: bacteria & fungi

Feeding Relationships
Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction, from the sun or inorganic compounds to autotrophs (producers) and then to various heterotrophs (consumers).

Food chain a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten.

TROPHIC LEVEL

Trophic Levels
Each step in a food chain or food web is called a trophic level. Producers make up the first trophic level. Consumers make up the second, third, or higher trophic levels. Consumers depend on the trophic level below it for energy.
Carnivore Carnivore

Quaternary consumers

Carnivore Tertiary consumers

Carnivore

Carnivore

Secondary consumers Carnivore

Primary consumers Herbivore Zooplankton

Producers Plant A TERRESTRIAL FOOD CHAIN Phytoplankton AN AQUATIC FOOD CHAIN

Food Web the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem form a network of complex interactions; the interactions of all the food chains in an ecosystem.

Tertiary and secondary consumers

Wastes and dead organisms

Secondary and primary consumers

Primary consumers

Producers (Plants, algae, phytoplankton) Detritivores (Prokaryotes, fungi, certain animals)

Ecological Pyramids
An ecological pyramid is a diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food chain or food web. Energy Pyramid shows the relative amount of energy available at each trophic level. Only about 10 % of the energy available within one trophic level is transferred to organisms at the next trophic level.

Ecological Pyramids
Biomass the total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level. Biomass is usually expressed in terms of grams of organic matter per unit area.

Cycles of Matter
Unlike the one-way flow of energy, matter is recycled within and between ecosystems. Biogeochemical cycle process in which elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another.

Water Cycle
Solar heat Net movement of water vapor by wind (36)

Water vapor over the sea

Water vapor over the land

Precipitation over the sea (283)

Evaporation from the sea (319)

Evaporation and transpiration (59)

Precipitation over the land (95)

Oceans

Flow of water from land to sea (36)

Surface water and groundwater

Water Cycle
Evaporation the process by which water changes from liquid form to an atmosphere gas. Transpiration when water enters the atmosphere by evaporating from leaves of plants.

Nutrient Cycles
Nutrients all the chemical substances that an organism needs to sustain life. Every living organism needs nutrients to build tissues and carry out essential life functions. Like water, nutrients are passed between organisms and the environment through biochemical cycles.

Carbon Cycle
CO2 in atmosphere Burning Cellular respiration Plants, algae, cyanobacteria Photosynthesis Higher-level consumers

Wood and fossil fuels

Primary consumers

Decomposition Detritivores (soil microbes and others)

Detritus

Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen is plentiful in the atmosphere as N2 But plants cannot use N2 Nitrogen Fixation Various bacteria in soil (and legume root nodules) convert N2 to nitrogen compounds that plants can use Ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3) Some bacteria break down organic matter and recycle nitrogen as ammonium or nitrate to plants Denitrification Other bacteria return N2 to the atmosphere by converting nitrates into N2

Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen (N2) in atmosphere

Assimilation by plants

Amino acids and proteins in plants and animals

Nitrogen fixation

Denitrifying bacteria

Detritus

Nitrates (NO3) Detritivores

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules of legumes

Nitrifying bacteria

Decomposition Nitrogen fixation Ammonium (NH4+)

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria in soil

Phosphorus Cycle
Phosphates (compounds containing PO43-) and other minerals are added to the soil by the gradual weathering of rock. Consumers obtain phosphorus in organic form from plants. Phosphates are returned to the soil through excretion by animals and the actions of decomposers. Phosphorus is essential to living organisms because it forms part of important life-sustaining molecules such as DNA & RNA.

Phosphorus Cycle

Uplifting of rock Weathering of rock Phosphates in rock Runoff

Phosphates in organic compounds

Animals Plants

Detritus Phosphates in solution Phosphates in soil (inorganic) Decomposition Rock Precipitated (solid) phosphates

Detritivores in soil

Nutrient Limitation
Primary productivity the rate at which matter is created by producers. Limiting nutrients single nutrient that either is scarce or cycles very slowly, limiting the growth of organisms in an ecosystem.

Algal bloom the result of runoff from heavily fertilized fields the result is often immediate increase in the amount of algae and other producers.

Ecosystems & Communities

What is Climate?
Weather the day-to-day condition of Earths atmosphere at a particular time and place. Climate refers to the average, year-after-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in a particular region.

The Greenhouse Effect

Carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and a few other atmospheric gases trap heat energy and maintain Earths temperature range. Greenhouse effect natural situation in which heat is retained in Earths atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases.

The Greenhouse Effect

Light
GREENHOUSE EFFECT: CO2 lets sunlight through but retains the heat generated by the sun
Adding CO2 to the air increases the greenhouse effect Removal of CO2 from the air by photosynthesizing plants and algae decreases the greenhouse effect

CO2 Heat CO2 CO2

The Effect of Latitude on Climate

As a result of differences in latitude and thus the angle of heating. Earth has three main climate zones: polar, temperate, and tropical.

The Effect of Latitude on Climate

Polar zones cold areas where the suns rays strike Earth at very low angles. Temperate zones sit between the polar zones and the tropics. Because temperate zones are more affected by the changing angle of the sun over the course of a year, the climate in these zones ranges from hot to cold, depending on the season. Tropical zone or tropics, is near the equator, between 23.5 North and 23.5 South latitudes. Direct sunlight year-round, makes the climate almost always warm.

Heat Transport in the Biosphere

What Shapes an Ecosystem?

Biotic Factors biological influences on organisms within an ecosystem. (living factors) Abiotic Factors physical, or nonliving factors that shape an ecosystem. Together, biotic and abiotic factors determine the survival and growth of an organism and the productivity of the ecosystem in which the organism lives.

What Shapes an Ecosystem?

Habitat the area where an organism lives. Includes both biotic and abiotic factors. Niche is the full range of physical and biological conditions in which the organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions. Realized Niche the range of resources an organism actually uses. Fundamental niche - the range of conditions that a species can potentially tolerate and the range of resources it can potentially use.

Community Interactions
Community interactions, such as competition, predation, and various forms of symbiosis, can powerfully affect an ecosystem. Resource refers to any necessity of life, such as water, nutrients, light, food, or space.

Community Interactions
Competitive Exclusion Principle states that no two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat

La Palma, Dominican Republic competition for food is minimized because each lizard species perches in a certain microhabitat (niche).

Community Interactions
Predation the interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism. Studies show that predation can actually help maintain diversity. Gray wolves were killed out in many parts of North America. What happened to deer and herbivore populations? What happened to many plant species in North American ecosystems?

Community Interactions
Mimicry a harmless species resembles a poisonous or distasteful species. Batesian mimicry a palatable or harmless species mimics the an unpalatable or harmful model.

Mllerian mimicry two or more unpalatable species resemble each other.

Community Interactions
Camouflage or cryptic coloration a passive defense that makes potential prey difficult to spot against its background.

Aposematic coloration warning coloration; seen in animals with effective chemical defenses.

Symbiosis
Any relationship in which two species live closely together. Mutualism both species benefit from the relationship.

Symbiosis
Commensalism one member of the association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed.

Symbiosis
Parasitism one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it.

Ecological Succession
Ecosystems are constantly changing in response to natural and human disturbances. As an ecosystem changes, older inhabitants gradually die out and new organisms move in, causing further changes in the community. Ecological succession a series of predictable changes that occurs in a community over time.

Ecological Succession
Primary Succession on land, succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists. Pioneer Species the first species to populate an area.

Ecological Succession
Secondary Succession when a disturbance of some kind changes an existing community without removing the soil.

Tropical Rainforest
The tropical rain forest is the most diverse ecosystem on Earth. Large-scale human destruction of tropical rain forests continues to endanger many species It may also alter world climate

Tropical Savanna
Grasslands with scattered trees. Drier, tropical areas and some nontropical areas are characterized by the savanna

 Deserts are the driest of all terrestrial biomes They are characterized by low and unpredictable rainfall

Desertification is a significant environmental problem

Temperate Woodland & Shrubland

The chaparral biome is a shrubland with cool, rainy winters and dry, hot summers Chaparral vegetation is adapted to periodic fires

Temperate Grassland
Temperate grasslands are found in the interiors of the continents, where winters are cold Drought, fires, and grazing animals prevent trees from growing Farms have replaced most of North America's temperate grasslands

Temperate Forest
Temperate deciduous forests grow where there is sufficient moisture to support the growth of large trees Nearly all of the original deciduous forests in North America have been drastically altered by agriculture and urban development

Coniferous Forest or Taiga

The northern coniferous forest, or taiga, is the largest terrestrial biome on Earth The taiga is characterized by long, cold winters and short, wet summers Coastal coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest are actually temperate rain forests

Tundra
The arctic tundra lies between the taiga and the permanently frozen polar regions
It is a treeless biome characterized by extreme cold, wind, and permafrost Permafrost is continuously frozen subsoil

Aquatic Biomes
Aquatic ecosystems are determined primarily by the depth, flow, temperature, and chemistry of the overlying water. Freshwater Ecosystems: 1. Flowing-water ecosystems rivers, streams, creeks & brooks 2. Standing-water ecosystems lakes & ponds Plankton general term for the tiny, free-floating or weakly swimming organisms that live in both freshwater and saltwater. Phytoplankton single-celled algae Zooplankton planktonic animals that feed upon phytoplankton.

Estuaries
Estuaries are wetlands formed where rivers meet the sea. Salinity ranges from 1% - 3%. Salt marshes temperate-zone estuaries dominated by salt-tolerant grasses above the low tide line and by seagrasses under the water. Mangrove swamps coastal wetlands that are dominated by salt-tolerant trees.

Wetland
Wetland an ecosystem in which water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface of the soil for at least part of the year. Includes: bogs, marshes & swamps Very rich in species diversity

Marine Ecosystems
Photic zone the upper layer of the ocean where sunlight penetrates; the first 200 m. Aphotic zone the region of ocean that is permanently dark.

Marine Ecosystems
Intertidal Zone Wetland at the edge of an estuary or ocean, where water meets the land. Often flooded by high tides and then left dry during low tides.

Marine Ecosystems
Coral Reefs Found in warm tropical waters above the continental shelf. Easily degraded by: pollution, native & introduced predators, & souvenir hunters

Marine Ecosystems
Benthic Zone Ocean bottom Many organisms rely on thermal-vent microhabitats for food. Other animals depend upon food that has drifted down from the photic zone.