The NonLiving Environment

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Chapter 13

• The Non-Living Environment

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Environmental Factors

• Biotic Factors
• Features of the environment that are alive or
  were once alive
• Biotic means living
• Abiotic Factors
• Nonliving physical features of the environment
• Abiotic factors include air, water, soil,
  sunlight, temperature, and climate
• These factors determine which kinds of living
  organism can live there

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Abiotic Factors

• Air
• Invisible and plentiful
• Called the atmosphere
• Contains 78 nitrogen, 21 Oxygen, .94 argon,
  .03 Carbon Dioxide and trace amounts of other
  gases
• Plants use CO2 along with H2O and Sunlight in
  Photosynthesis to make sugar
• Give off Oxygen into the atmosphere

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• All organisms carry out respiration in their
  cells to obtain energy needed for life
• Respiration is a process to release energy stored
  in the food that we eat
• In respiration cells take in Oxygen from the
  atmosphere and release Carbon Dioxide

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• Water
• Essential for life on earth
• Major ingredient of the fluid inside the cells of
  all organism
• Most organisms are composed of 50-95 water
• Many life function need water to take place, for
  example, Respiration, digestion, and
  photosynthesis

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• Soil
• Mixture of minerals and rock particles, the
  remains of dead organisms, water, and air.
• Topmost portion of the earths crust
• Supports plant growth
• Formed from the breaking up of rocks into tiny
  particles
• Contains many living organisms and the decaying
  remains of dead organisms

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• Life includes bacteria, fungi, insects and worms
• Soil contains different combination of sand clay
  and humus (decaying matter)
• Type of soil presents has an important role of
  what type and how much plant life is found

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• Sunlight
• Sunlight is the energy for all life
• During photosynthesis, producers convert light
  energy into chemical energy
• Energy from the sun is passed on to consumers
  when they eat producers

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• Temperature
• Sunlight supplies heat energy as well as light
  energy
• Most organisms can only survive if their body
  temperature stays within the range of 0 ans 50
  C
• Some organism have adapted to live in climates
  below and above these temp.
• Pengiuns, and Camels

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• Temperature depends on how much direct sunlight
  an area gets
• Areas located at latitudes farther from the
  equator tend to have colder temperatures
• Receive less of the suns energy than equatorial
  areas
• Equator gets direct sunlight
• At poles sunlight strikes earth at angles and
  energy is spread out over a larger area

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• Elevation (distance above sea level) affects
  temperature
• Higher elevations the atmosphere is thinner,
  meaning fewer air molecules to be heated by the
  sun
• Therefore, temperature will be cooler
• At higher elevation, trees are shorter and the
  ground is rocky
• Above timberline (the elevation beyond which
  trees do not grow) plant life is limited to
  low-growing plants
• Some mountain tops are covered with snow all year
  around

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• Climate
• Refers to an areas average weather conditions
  over time, including temperature, rainfall or
  other precipitation, and wind
• Temperature and precipitation are the most
  important components for living things
• Amount of precipitation and average temperature
  influence the type of life in the area

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• Wind
• As temperature increase the molecules in the air
  spread farther apart, making warm air lighter
  then cold air
• Cold air sinks below warm air and pushes it
  upward
• These motions create air currents that are called
  wind

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• The rain Shadow Effect
• Presence of mountains can affect rainfall
  patterns
• As air masses move over a mountain range it cools
  
• As air cools the moisture at carries falls as
  rain or snow
• By the time the air mass crosses over the
  mountain it has lost all its moisture
• This results in the other side of the mountain
  getting very little or no precipitation

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Cycles in Nature

• Water Cycle
• Evaporation- takes place when liquid water
  changes into water vapor (gas) and enters the
  atmosphere
• Water evaporates from lakes, streams, puddles and
  oceans
• Water vapor enters the atmosphere from plants
  through a process of transpiration
• Animals release water vapor when they exhale

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• Condensation
• Water vapor in the atmosphere eventually comes
  into contact with cold air
• Water vapor cools and changes back into liquid
  form (condensation)
• Water vapor condenses on particles of dust in
  the air, forming tiny droplets
• Clump together to form clouds
• Once they become to heavy they fall as
  precipitation

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Water Uses

• Homes and Business 39,100 million gallons/day
• Industry and Mining 27,800 million gallons/day
• Farms and Ranches- 141,000 million gallons/day
• Electricity Production- 131,800 Million
  Gallons/day

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Nitrogen Cycle

• Nitrogen is the main ingredient of proteins
• Proteins are required for life processes
• Nitrogen is the most plentiful gas in our
  atmosphere but most organism cannot use
  atmospheric nitrogen
• Plants need nitrogen that is been combined with
  other elements

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• Through a process called Nitrogen Fixation, some
  bacteria in the soil can form the nitrogen
  compounds that plants need
• Plants absorb nitrogen through roots
• Animals get nitrogen from eating plants and other
  animals
• When dead organism die they return the nitrogen
  back into the soil or atmosphere

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• Human activities can affect the nitrogen cycle
• Growing corn and wheat remove much of the
  nitrogen out of the soil without replacing it
• Farms add fertilizer to the fields to replace the
  nitrogen taken out
• Compost and animal manure also contain nitrogen
  compounds

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• Another method Farmers use is called Crop
  Rotation
• Farmers grow Nitrogen fixing Crops
• Nitrogen fixing bacteria live on or in the roots
  of these plants
• Farmers will grow corn, wheat or potatoes in a
  field for only one-two years and then grow a
  Nitrogen fixing plants for one-two years

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1. Legume symbioses The most familiar examples of
nitrogen-fixing symbioses are the root nodules of
legumes (peas, beans, clover, etc.).
                                                  
                                                  
                                               Pa
rt of a clover root system bearing naturally
occurring nodules of Rhizobium. Each nodule is
about 2-3 mm long.                              
                                                  
                                                  
                
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Carbon Cycle

• Carbon is important part of soil Humus, and is
  found in the atmosphere as CO2
• Carbon cycle begins when producers remove CO2 to
  carry out photosynthesis
• CO2 is released by organism in the process of
  respiration
• Human activities also release CO2 into the
  environment Burning Fossil Fuels

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• The Amount of CO2 in the Atmosphere is increasing
  from Tree harvesting, and burning fossil fuels
• Extra CO2 could trap heat and cause average
  temperatures to increase
• Global Warming
• Temperatures are increasing at a rate of about 2
  every 10 years

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Energy Flow

• Converting Energy
• Photosynthesis Converting solar energy into
  chemical energy (Glucose)
• Respiration-Converting stored chemical energy
  into Kinetic energy (energy to do work)
• Chemosynthesis- Organism that use chemicals to
  produce energy rich molecules
• Bacteria living near hydrothermal Vents deep in
  the ocean where there is no light

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• Water near hydrothermal vents are very hot
  because of contact with molten rock
• Waters are rich in chemicals such as sulfur
• Consumers living in the vent rely on
  chemosynthetic bacteria for nutrients and energy

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• Energy Transfer
• Energy can be transferred from one organism to
  another
• Throughout nature energy and matter is
  transferred from one organism to another
• Food Chains
• Shows how matter an energy passes from one
  organism to another
• Producers are the first step of the food chain

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• Herbivores or Omnivores are the second step
• Carnivores or omnivores are the third and higher
  steps

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• Food Webs
• Food webs are made up of many different food
  chains
• Shows the feeding relationship between all
  organism in the community

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• Energy Pyramids
• The amount of energy available is reduced as you
  move from one level to the next
• For example When a plant absorbs sunlight, it
  uses some of the energy to grow, therefore when
  the plant gets eaten not all the energy is passed
  on
• Animals use energy they obtained to carry out
  life functions, so when they get eaten less
  energy is passed on

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• The same thing happens at every feeding level of
  a food chain
• An energy pyramid shows the amount of energy
  available at each level
• Bottom level is the largest, contains all the
  producers and contains the most energy
• Only about 10 of the energy available at each
  level of an energy pyramid is transferred to the
  next highest level

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• Thus 10 percent of the energy in plants becomes
  stored in the tissues of herbivores, and 10
  percent of the energy in herbivores becomes
  stored in the tissues of carnivores

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