Principles of Ecology

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Principles of Ecology
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What is Ecology

• Ecology Defined
• Ecology ("study of the household of nature)
  study of interactions that take place between
  organisms and their environment

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• Ernst Haeckel coined the term oekologie in 1866.
• If you look that picture quickly does it not look
  like he is in a rock concert holding a guitar?

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The Biosphere
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The Biosphere

• Biosphere Defined
• Biosphere portion of Earth that supports living
  things
• From the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean
• Ecologist study how organisms survive and
  reproduce under different physical and biological
  conditions in Earths biosphere

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Abiotic Factors

• Our Nonliving Friends

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Abiotic Factors

• Abiotic Factors Defined
• Abiotic Factors nonliving parts of an
  organism's environment
• Ex. temperature, moisture, light, soil
• Ecologist study the abiotic factors because of
  their influence on the biology

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Biotic Factor

• Abiotics Cousin

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Biotic Factors

• Biotic Factors all the living organisms that
  inhabit an environment

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Levels of Organization
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Levels of Organization in Ecology
Organism an individual living thing that is mad
of cells, uses energy, reproduces, responds,
grows, and develops
Population a group of organisms, all of one
species, which interbreed and live in the same
place at the same time
Biological Community all the populations of
different species that live in the same place at
the same time
Ecosystem populations of plants and animals
that interact with each other in a given area and
with the abiotic components of that area
Biosphere the portion of Earth that supports
life
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Levels of Organization in Ecology
Organism an individual living thing that is mad
of cells, uses energy, reproduces, responds,
grows, and develops
Population a group of organisms, all of one
species, which interbreed and live in the same
place at the same time
Biological Community all the populations of
different species that live in the same place at
the same time
Ecosystem populations of plants and animals
that interact with each other in a given area and
with the abiotic components of that area
Biosphere the portion of Earth that supports
life
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• Organism an individual living thing that is
  made of cells, uses energy, reproduces, responds,
  grows, and develops

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Levels of Organization in Ecology
Organism an individual living thing that is mad
of cells, uses energy, reproduces, responds,
grows, and develops
Population a group of organisms, all of one
species, which interbreed and live in the same
place at the same time
Biological Community all the populations of
different species that live in the same place at
the same time
Ecosystem populations of plants and animals
that interact with each other in a given area and
with the abiotic components of that area
Biosphere the portion of Earth that supports
life
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• Population a group of organisms, all of one
  species, which interbreed and live in the same
  place at the same time

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Carrying Capacity

• Carrying Capacity maximum size a population can
  support
• Population can not exceed it carrying capacity

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Levels of Organization in Ecology
Organism an individual living thing that is mad
of cells, uses energy, reproduces, responds,
grows, and develops
Population a group of organisms, all of one
species, which interbreed and live in the same
place at the same time
Biological Community all the populations of
different species that live in the same place at
the same time
Ecosystem populations of plants and animals
that interact with each other in a given area and
with the abiotic components of that area
Biosphere the portion of Earth that supports
life
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• Biological Community all the populations of
  different species that live in the same place at
  the same time
• lion, insects, zebra, plants, etc

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Levels of Organization in Ecology
Organism an individual living thing that is mad
of cells, uses energy, reproduces, responds,
grows, and develops
Population a group of organisms, all of one
species, which interbreed and live in the same
place at the same time
Biological Community all the populations of
different species that live in the same place at
the same time
Ecosystem populations of plants and animals
that interact with each other in a given area and
with the abiotic components of that area
Biosphere the portion of Earth that supports
life
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• Ecosystem populations of plants and animals
  that interact with each other in a given area and
  with the abiotic components of that area
• Think big and small

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Ecosystems 2 Types

• Terrestrial Ecosystems
• Forest
• Old Farm Field
• Meadow
• Yard
• Rotting Log

• Aquatic Ecosystems
• Pond
• Lake
• Stream
• Ocean
• Aquarium

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Ecosystems Other Considerations

• Human Body
• Skin
• Intestine
• Mouth
• Buildings
• Bathrooms
• Kitchen Sink

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Ecosystem an Organisms Habitat

• Habitat place where an organism lives out its
  life
• Examples lawn, stream, pond
• Niche (neesh) role or position an organism has
  in its environment

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Levels of Organization in Ecology
Organism an individual living thing that is mad
of cells, uses energy, reproduces, responds,
grows, and develops
Population a group of organisms, all of one
species, which interbreed and live in the same
place at the same time
Biological Community all the populations of
different species that live in the same place at
the same time
Ecosystem populations of plants and animals
that interact with each other in a given area and
with the abiotic components of that area
Biosphere the portion of Earth that supports
life
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• Biosphere the portion of Earth that supports
  life

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Symbiosis

• Thats What Friends are for

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Symbiosis

• Symbiosis (from the Greek words syn con/plus
  and biono living) is an interaction between two
  organisms living together in more or less
  intimate association or even the merging of two
  dissimilar organisms.
• The term host is usually used for the larger
  (macro) of the two members of a symbiosis.
• The smaller (micro) member is called the symbiont

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Symbiotic Relationship
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• The territorial fish protects the anemone from
  anemone-eating fish, and in turn the stinging
  tentacles of the anemone protect the anemone fish
  from its predators (a special mucus on the
  anemone fish protects it from the stinging
  tentacles).

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• Parasitism or predation - in which the
  association is disadvantageous or destructive to
  one of the organisms and beneficial to the other
  ( -)

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Filariasis
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• Filariasis causes Elephantiasis

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Parasitism

• Infection occurs through ingestion of food
  contaminated with fecal matter containing Ascaris
  eggs.

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• The larvae hatch, burrow through the intestine,
  reach the lungs, and finally migrate up the
  respiratory tract.
• From there they are then reswallowed and mature
  in the intestine, growing up to 30cm (12in.) in
  length and anchoring themselves to the intestinal
  wall.

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Parasitism

• Infections are usually accompanied by
  inflammation, fever, and diarrhea, and serious
  problems may develop if the worms migrate to
  other parts of the body.
• Ascarid worms in small intestine

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Lyme Disease Risk Map
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• Tick is another example of Parasitism

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• Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia
  burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans by the
  bite of infected blacklegged ticks. Typical
  symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a
  characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans.
  If left untreated, infection can spread to
  joints, the heart, and the nervous system.

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• mutualism - in which the association is
  advantageous to both ( )
• Example flower needs the insect and the insect
  needs the flower
• Example 2 My wife and I ?

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A remarkable 3-way mutualism between an ant, a
butterfly caterpillar, and an acacia in the
American southwest. The caterpillars have nectar
organs which the ants drink from, and the acacia
tolerates the feeding caterpillars. The ants
appear to provide some protection for both plant
and caterpillar. Research of Diane Wagner,
American Museum of Natural History Southwestern
Research Station
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• Lichen looks like a plant, but is actually a
  complicated mutualistic association between a
  species of fungus and a species of either a green
  algae or a blue-green algae.
• Although lichens come in a wide variety of forms
  and structures, all lichens are essentially a
  sandwich with a layer of fungi on the outside
  with a filling of an algal species on the inside.
  
• The fungus species attaches the lichen structure
  to the log, rock, or brick wall it lives on and
  absorbs nutrients from the environment.

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• The fungus aids the tree in absorbing water from
  the soil, increases the stability of the root
  system, and protects the roots from drying out
  and the effects of heavy metals.
• In return the tree provides sugars and starches
  to the fungus that the fungus uses in its
  metabolism.

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• commensalism (Latin com mensa sharing a
  table)- in which one member of the association
  benefits while the other is not affected ( 0)
• Example Waste food left over from a feast of
  another animal
• Example African Dung Beetle

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• Example The beetle feeds off of or lives in
  animal (elephant dung)

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• The Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) forages in
  pastures and fields among livestock such as
  cattle and horses, feeding on the insects stirred
  up by the movement of the grazing animals.
• The egrets benefit from the arrangement, but the
  livestock, generally, do not.
• However as in most cases of commensalism, there
  is a "but".
• Cattle Egrets have been observed perching on the
  top of cattle picking off ticks, lending a slight
  tinge of mutualism to the arrangement.

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• The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) feeds as
  a larva on species of milkweeds.
• The milkweeds contain a group of chemicals called
  cardiac glycosides.
• Cardiac glycosides are poisonous to vertebrates
  (although not to invertebrates).
• The larvae store these cardiac glycosides and the
  later adult contains them as well.
• If a bird (or other vertebrate such as a mouse or
  frog) eats a Monarch it finds them distasteful to
  begin with and is later sick.
• Experimentally birds learn to avoid Monarchs.
• The Monarch advertises its inedibility by a
  bright orange and black coloration.
• The Viceroy (Limentis archippus) is not
  distasteful and does not contain cardiac
  glycosides.
• However by mimicing the the pattern of the
  Monarch it is also avoided by birds and other
  vertebrates that have learned to avoid the
  Monarch.
• This particular relationship is called Batesian
  Mimicry.

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• amensalism - in which the association is
  disadvantageous to one member while the other is
  not affected (- 0)
• Example Penicillium mold secretes a chemical
  that kills bacteria

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• amensalism
• The smaller plants covered in the shadow of the
  taller trees have a harder time growing.

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How Organisms Obtain Energy
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Organisms
Autotrophy
Heterotrophy
Omnivores
Photoautotrophy
Chemoautrophy
Carnivores
Herbivores
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Autotrophs

• Autotrophs - (in Greek eauton self and trophe
  nutrition) is an organism that produces organic
  compounds from inorganic sources
• Example Plant use carbon dioxide and light
• Example Certain bacteria

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Heterotroph

• Heterotroph (Greek heteron (an)other and trophe
  nutrition) is an organism that requires organic
  substrates to get its carbon for growth and
  development.
• Contrast with autotrophs which use carbon dioxide
  as sole carbon source.
• All animals are heterotrophic, as well as fungi
  and many bacteria.

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Heterotroph

• All animals are heterotrophic, as well as fungi
  and many bacteria.
• Some parasitic plants have also turned fully or
  partially heterotrophic, whereas carnivorous
  plants use their flesh diet to augment their
  nitrogen supply, but are still autotrophic.

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Heterotrophic Examples

• Herbivore is an animal that is adapted to eat
  primarily plant matter (rather than meat).
• Carnivores are animals that eat a diet consisting
  only of meat.
• Omnivores are organisms that consume both plants
  and animals.
• There are also insectivores (aardvark),
  detritivores (earthworms) and frugivore

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Dont forget me

• Decomposers are organisms (often fungi or
  bacteria) that break down organic materials to
  gain nutrients and energy.
• Decomposition is a natural process that will
  happen by default, but decomposers accelerate the
  process.
• The role that decomposers perform in an ecosystem
  is extremely important. When an organism dies, it
  leaves behind nutrients that are locked tightly
  together.

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Flow of Matter and Energy Ecosystem

• Food Chains and Food Webs

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Food Chain and Food Webs

• Food chains and food webs - describe the feeding
  relationships between species in a biotic
  community.
• In other words, they show the transfer of
  material and energy from one species to another
  within an ecosystem.

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• Food chain - describes a single pathway that
  energy and nutrients may follow in an ecosystem.
• There is one organism per trophic level, and
  trophic levels are therefore easily defined.
• They usually start with a primary producer and
  end with a large predator.
• algae ? copepod ? fish ? squid ? seal ? orca

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• Food web - extends the food chain concept from a
  simple linear pathway to a complex network of
  interactions.

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Ecological Pyramids

• Follow the Energy

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25 Birds
250 Grasshoppers
3000 Blades of Grass
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Ecological Pyramids - Energy Economy

• When they look at an ecosystem there is always
  some foundation species that directly harvests
  energy from the sun (for example, grass).

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25 Birds
250 Grasshoppers
3000 Blades of Grass
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Ecological Pyramids - Energy Economy

• Next are herbivores (primary consumers) that eats
  the grass, such as the grasshopper.

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25 Birds
250 Grasshoppers
3000 Blades of Grass
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Ecological Pyramids - Energy Economy

• Next are carnivores (secondary consumers) that
  eat grasshoppers, such as a bird.

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Ecological Pyramids - Energy Economy

• Since each layer of this system relates to the
  one below it by absorbing a fraction of the
  energy it consumed, each one can be understood as
  resting on the one below---which is called a
  lower trophic level.

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Ecological Pyramids

• Biomass production

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Ecological Pyramids - Biomass Production

• Biomass is all plant (including trees) and animal
  matter on the Earth's surface
• The amount of biomass produced for a given amount
  of solar energy is highest at the first level.

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1kilogram of human tissue
10 kilograms of beef
100 kilograms of Grass
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Ecological Pyramids - Biomass Production

• Biomass is all plant (including trees) and animal
  matter on the Earth's surface
• The amount of biomass produced for a given amount
  of solar energy is highest at the first level.
• Less biomass is produced at the second level, for
  some energy is lost during the conversion.

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1 kilogram of human tissue
10 kilograms of beef
100 kilograms of Grass
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Ecological Pyramids - Biomass Production

• Biomass is all plant (including trees) and animal
  matter on the Earth's surface
• The amount of biomass produced for a given amount
  of solar energy is highest at the first level.
• Less biomass is produced at the second level, for
  some energy is lost during the conversion.
• The more trophic levels there are, the more
  energy is lost through conversion.

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Biogeochemical Cycle
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• Biogeochemical Cycle - cycles involved living
  organisms (bio), geological processes (geo) and
  chemical processes (chemical)
• examples water, nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus
  cycles

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Hydrological Cycle

• Water Cycle

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• What do we know about the water cycle?

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Hydrologic Cycle

• Hydrologic cycle - refers to the continuous
  exchange of water between atmosphere, land,
  surface and subsurface waters, and organisms.

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• 2 of all freshwater on Earth is held in any type
  of reservoir
• ice cap, glaciers, aquifer or lake

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The Carbon Cycle
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The Carbon Cycle

• Carbon Cycle - is the biogeochemical cycle by
  which carbon is exchanged between the biosphere,
  geosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere of the
  Earth.

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Why is Carbon Important

• Carbon is the fundamental building blocks for all
  living things.
• Photosynthesis play a huge role by taking CO2 and
  converting into something useable for plants and
  animals

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Carbon Cycle

• Organisms die which can form fossil fuels (ex.
  oil and coal)
• loaded with carbon

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Where is most of it?

• Air and ocean are the clear winners for
  containing the most carbon
• Air carbon dioxide
• Ocean calcium carbonate found in sea shells and
  rocks

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Carbon Cycle - Plants v. Animals

• Plants pull carbon from the atmosphere through
  photosynthesis

• Animals and plants put carbon back into the
  atmosphere through respiration

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The Nitrogen Cycle
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The Nitrogen Cycle

• Nitrogen cycle - is the biogeochemical cycle that
  describes the transformations of nitrogen and
  nitrogen-containing compounds in nature

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The Nitrogen Cycle

• Included in all amino acids (building blocks of
  protein)
• Found in DNA
• It is necessary to convert gaseous nitrogen into
  forms usable by living organisms.

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The Nitrogen Cycle

• Series of chemical reactions
• Bacteria play a major role

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The Nitrogen Cycle

• 78 of the atmosphere is nitrogen
• Plants cannot take in that nitrogen
• need the soil
• Lightning rain helps brings some into soil

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The Nitrogen Cycle

• Nitrogen-fixing bacteria go to work near certain
  plants (legumes) roots
• convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia
• Decomposers also break down dead organisms into
  ammonia

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The Nitrogen Cycle

• More bacteria convert ammonia to nitrates
• Plants use nitrates for everyday functions
• Herbivores get their nitrogen from the plants
• Carnivores get their nitrogen from herbivores

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The Nitrogen Cycle

• Other bacteria change nitrates back into
  atmospheric nitrogen

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The Phosphorus Cycle
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Phosphorus Cycle

• Phosphorus cycle - is the biogeochemical cycle
  that describes the movement of phosphorus through
  the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.

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Phosphorus Cycle

• Unlike many other biogeochemical cycles, the
  atmosphere does not play a significant role in
  the movements of phosphorus
• phosphorus and phosphorus-based compounds are
  usually solids at the typical ranges of
  temperature and pressure found on Earth.

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• Phosphorus typically moves by
• soil? producers ? consumers ? decomposers (after
  death and waste) ? soil