Ecosystem

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Ecosystem

• Biotic (communities) and abiotic (environment)
  components within a given area
• Integrative
• Process-centered (energy flow and nutrient cycles)

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Solar radiation
Reflected by atmosphere
Radiated by atmosphere as heat
UV radiation
Lower Stratosphere (ozone layer)
Most absorbed by ozone
Troposphere
Visible light
Heat radiated by the earth
Heat
Absorbed by the earth
Greenhouse effect
Fig. 3-8, p. 56
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Oxygen (O2)
Precipitation
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Producer
Secondary consumer (fox)
Primary consumer (rabbit)
Producers
Decomposers
Water
Soluble mineral nutrients
Fig. 3-9, p. 57
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Energy Flow

• Unidirectional movement of energy
• Sustained directly or indirectly by
  photosynthesis
• Food Chains
• Food Webs

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Ecosystem Rates of Primary Productivity Differ
Fig. 3-16, p. 64
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Both supported by primary production
Food Chain
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• Food Web
• Interactions
• Stability
• Redundancy
• Keystone species

Why focus on a single species?
Fig. 3-14, p. 63
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Nutrient Cycling

• Movement of nutrients through an ecosystem
• Can return to original form therefore, can be
  reused
• Reservoirs (abiotic and biotic)
• Fluxes (process-driven)

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Nutrient Cycling Human Impacts

• Increase rate of removal from reservoirs
• Constraints on processes
• Create new fluxes

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Hydrological Cycle
Fig. 3-17, p. 66
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Fig. 3-18, p. 68
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Biodiversity the number and type of species,
the genes they contain, and the ecosystem in
which they live.
Biocomplexity properties emerging from the
interplay of behavioral, biological, chemical,
physical, and social interactions that affect,
sustain, or are modified by living organisms,
including humans. http//holisticbiology.stanford
.edu/biocomplexity.pdf
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Ecosystem Services processes by which
environment produces resources often taken for
granted clean water, timber, habitat, carbon
sequestration. What is the natural capital?
Understanding ecological roles and balancing
with human needs essential for developing
sustainable uses
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Information on Ecosystem Services http//www.esa.
org/education_diversity/pdfDocs/ecosystemservices.
pdf http//www.uvm.edu/giee/publications/Nature_P
aper.pdf http//www.ecosystemservicesproject.org/
html/overview/index.htm