Ecosystems and Biodiversity

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Ecosystems and Biodiversity

• Chapter 3

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Essential Question 1What is ecology? List
and distinguish among five levels of organization
of matter that are the focus of the realm of
ecology.
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Nature of Ecology

• What is ecology? the study of how organisms
  interact w/ one another and with their non-living
  environment
• Organisms
• Any form of life
• Species
• Organisms of the
• same species must
• be able to mate
• produce fertile offspring

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Nature of Ecology Biodiversity
Known species 1.9 million
Other animals 281,000
Insects 751,000
Fungi 69,000
Prokaryotes 4,800
Plants 248,400
Protists 57,700
Fig. 3-2, p. 37
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Levels of Ecological Organization

• Organism
• Population
• Habitat
• Community
• Ecosystem
• Biosphere

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Genetic Diversity in One Snail Population
Fig. 3-4, p. 38
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Essential Question 2a. What are the four
spheres of Earths Life Support systems? Describe
them. b. How do 3 major components sustain
life on earth? c. How does solar energy play a
role in making earth favorable for life?
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4 Spheres of LifeBiosphere Components

• The earth is made up of interconnected spherical
  layers that contain air, water, soil, minerals
  and life.
• Biosphere
• Atmosphere
• Troposphere (0-11 miles)
• Stratosphere (11-30 miles)
• Hydrosphere
• Lithosphere

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What Sustains Life on Earth?

• 3 Components
• One way flow of high-quality energy from the sun
• Cycling of matter
• Gravity

Fig. 3-6, p. 39
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Flow of Solar Energy to and from the Earth

• Solar Energy
• Warms atmosphere
• Recycles water / matter
• Drives climate weather
• Supports plant growth / photosynthesis
• Greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, O3, N2O)
• Natural Greenhouse Effect

Fig. 3-7, p. 40
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Essential Question 3a. How can ranges of
tolerance and abiotic limiting factors affect
organisms in an ecosystem?
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Tolerance

• Range of Tolerance
• amount of change an organism can withstand in
  its environment
• Law of Tolerance
• an organisms presence, abundance location
  within an ecosystem is determined by whether or
  not the abiotic factors fall within the range
  tolerated by that species
• Most organisms will be found within their optimum
  zone of tolerance.

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Range of Tolerance
Lower limit of tolerance
Upper limit of tolerance
Few organisms
Few organisms
No organisms
No organisms
Abundance of organisms
Population Size
Zone of intolerance
Zone of intolerance
Optimum range
Zone of physiological stress
Zone of physiological stress
Temperature
Low
High
Fig. 3-11, p. 43
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Ranges of Tolerance Distribution

• The physical conditions of the environment can
  limit the distribution of a species.

Figure 3-12
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Factors Limiting Population Growth

• Limiting Factors -
• Abiotic
• On land precipitation, soil nutrients, water,
  fertilizer, sunlight, etc.
• In water temperature, sunlight, nutrients,
  dissolved oxygen (DO), salinity
• Biotic
• food, disease, competition, stress, etc.

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Limiting Factor Principle

• Too much or too little of any abiotic factor can
  limit or prevent the growth of a population, even
  if all other factors are at or near the optimal
  range of tolerance.

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Essential Question 3b. How do biotic factors
in an ecosystem differ? (differentiate between
the different types of producers and consumers)
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Terrestrial Ecosystems Biomes
Average annual precipitation
100125 cm (4050 in.) 75100 cm (3040
in.) 5075 cm (2030 in.) 2550 cm (1020
in.) below 25 cm (010 in.)
4,600 m (15,000 ft.) 3,000 m (10,000 ft.) 1,500 m
(5,000 ft.)
Sierra Nevada Mountains
Great American Desert
Rocky Mountains
Great Plains
Mississippi River Valley
Appalachian Mountains
Coastal mountain ranges
Coniferous forest Desert Coniferous forest
Prairie grassland Deciduous forest
Coastal chaparral and scrub
Fig. 3-8, p. 41
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Aquatic Life Zones Freshwater
Sun
Producers (rooted plants)
Producers (phytoplankton)
Primary consumers (zooplankton)
Tertiary consumers (turtles)
Secondary consumers (fish)
Dissolved chemicals
Sediment
Decomposers (bacteria and fungi)
Fig. 3-9, p. 42
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Aquatic Life Zones Marine
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Major Biological Components of Ecosystems

• Producers (autotrophs)
• Photosynthesis
• Chemosynthesis
• Consumers (heterotrophs)
• Aerobic Respiration
• Anaerobic respiration

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Types of Consumers

• Herbivores / Omnivores / Carnivores
• Detritivores
• Scavengers
• Insects
• Decomposers
• Bacteria
• Fungi

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Detritivores
Detritus feeders
Decomposers
Termite and carpenter ant work
Carpenter ant galleries
Bark beetle engraving
Long-horned beetle holes
Dry rot fungus
Wood reduced to powder
Mushroom
Time progression
Powder broken down by decomposers into plant
nutrients in soil
Fig. 3-12, p. 44
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Decomposers
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Essential Question 4What is biodiversity and
why should we care about it?
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Biodiversity
Fig. 3-14, p. 45
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Functional Diversity
Survival of an ecosystem depends on a combo of
Matter Recycling One-Way Energy Flow from the
Sun
Abiotic chemicals (carbon dioxide, oxygen,
nitrogen, minerals)
Heat
Solar energy
Heat
Heat
Producers (plants)
Decomposers bacteria, fungi)
Consumers (herbivores, carnivores)
Heat
Heat
Fig. 3-13, p. 45
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HIPPO

• 5 Major Causes of Species Decline Premature
  Extinction
• H habitat destruction/degradation
• I invasive species
• P pollution
• P population growth of humans
• O overexploitation
• (overhunting and overconsumption of resources
  animals need by humans)

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Essential Question 5a. How does energy move
through an ecosystem?b. How does the second law
of thermodynamics influence the number of
consumers an ecosystem can support?
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Food Chains and Food Webs

• Food chain
• Trophic level
• Food web

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Model of a Food Chain
First Trophic Level
Second Trophic Level
Third Trophic Level
Fourth Trophic Level
Producers (plants)
Primary consumers (herbivores)
Secondary consumers (carnivores)
Tertiary consumers (top carnivores)
Heat
Heat
Heat
Solar energy
Heat
Heat
Heat
Heat
Detritivores decomposers and detritus feeders)
Heat
Fig. 3-16, p. 47
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Food Web in the Antarctic
Humans
Sperm whale
Blue whale
Elephant seal
Killer whale
Crabeater seal
Leopard seal
Adélie penguins
Emperor penguin
Petrel
Fish
Squid
Carnivorous plankton
Herbivorous zooplankton
Krill
Phytoplankton
Fig. 3-17, p. 48
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Energy Flow in an Ecosystem

• Ecological efficiency
• of useable energy transferred from one trophic
  level to the next
• Rule of 10
• Pyramid of energy
• flow

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Pyramid of Energy Flow
Heat
Heat
Decomposers
Tertiary consumers (human)
Heat
10 100 1,000 10,000 Usable
energy available at each tropic level (in
kilocalories)
Secondary consumers (perch)
Heat
Primary consumers (zooplankton)
Heat
Producers (phytoplankton)
Fig. 3-18, p. 49
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Productivity of Producers

• Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)
• The rate at which producers turn solar energy
  into chemical energy (food)
• Net Primary Productivity (NPP)
• NPP GPP R
• (R energy used in respiration)

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Net Primary Production (NPP)

• NPP GPP R
• Rate at which producers use photosynthesis to
  store energy minus the rate at which they use
  some of this energy through respiration (R).

Figure 3-21
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NPP GPP - R

• NPP measures how fast producers can provide food
  for consumers
• NPP limits the number of consumers that can
  survive on Earth.

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• What are natures three most productive and three
  least productive systems?

Figure 3-22
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Essential Question 6a. What are soils, how
are they formed, and why are they essential to
life on land?b. Differentiate the four soil
layers.
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Soil

• A thin covering over most land that comprises a
  mixture of eroded rock, mineral nutrients,
  decaying organic matter, water, air, billions
  of organisms
• A slowly renewed resource
• 15-100s of years

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Soil Formation

• Weathering
• bedrock is broken down by physical, chemical,
  biological processes

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Why is soil important?

• Provides nutrients for plant growth
• Purifies cycles water
• Aids in decomposition
• Removes CO2 from atmosphere stores it as carbon
  compounds
• Helps control climate

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Soils

• Origins of soils
• Formation takes 15-100s of years
• Soil horizons
• O surface litter
• (undecomposed matter)
• A topsoil
• (humus partially decomposed)
• B subsoil
• C parent material
• Soil profiles
• Infiltration and leaching

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Soil Formation and Horizons
Woodsorrel
Lords and ladies
Oak tree
Dog violet
Organic debris builds up
Earthworm
Grasses and small shrubs
Rock fragments
Millipede
Moss and lichen
Mole
Fern
Honey fungus
O horizon Leaf litter
A horizon Topsoil
Bedrock
B horizon Subsoil
Immature soil
Regolith
Young soil
Pseudoscorpion
C horizon Parent material
Mite
Nematode
Actinomycetes
Root system
Red earth mite
Springtail
Fungus
Fig. 3-21, p. 51
Mature soil
Bacteria
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Soil Profiles from Different Ecosystems
Loam soils are best for plant growth!!!
Fig. 3-22, p. 52
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Essential Question 7a. What happens to matter
in ecosystems?b. What are the five
biogeochemical cycles that impact all living
things?
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Matter alternates between the biotic abiotic
environment
Death Decay
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Biogeochemical Cycles

• Nutrients, atoms, ions, molecules that
  organisms need in order to live are continuously
  cycled between air, water, soil, rock living
  things.
• Matter is finite!
• Law of Conservation of Matter
• Matter must be recycled

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5 Major Biogeochemical Cycles

Biosphere
Carbon cycle
Phosphorus cycle
Nitrogen cycle
Water cycle
Oxygen cycle
Heat in the environment
Heat
Heat
Heat
Fig. 3-6, p. 39
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Water Cycle
Absorption water moves into plants
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Carbon Cycle
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Nitrogen Cycle
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Phosphorus Cycle
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Sulfur Cycle
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Essential Question 7How do scientists study
ecosystems? Describe four commonly used methods.
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Research Methods Ecology

• Field Research
• Remote Sensing / GIS
• Laboratory Research
• Systems Analysis