The Biosphere

Chapter 3

What is ECOLOGY
1866

German Biologist Ernst Haeckel first coined the term ecology. Came from the Greek word oikos meaning house Defined today as the study of interactions among living organisms and their environment

Energy Flow
The sun is the main source of energy for life on earth. < 1 % of all sunlight that reaches earth is used by living organisms. What happens to the rest?

Most is reflected off as heat energy.

Producers or Autotrophs
Use

sunlight or chemicals to make their own food. Examples:

 6CO2

+ 6H2O

C6H12O6 + 6O2

Performed

on land by plants and in water by algae.

Can organisms make their own food without the aid of sunlight?
Chemosynthesis:

using chemical energy to make carbohydrates. Usually performed bacteria found in harsh environments
Ocean vents, volcanoes, hot-acidic

Consumers or heterotrophs
Herbivores
Carnivores Omnivores Detritivores Decomposers

Food Chains
Producer (algae)

primary consumer (plankton)

secondary consumer (small fish)

tertiary consumer (large fish)

Food Webs
More

complex than food chains A complex net of interactions among organisms. (interdependence)

Trophic Levels
Each

location or step in a food chain or food web represents a trophic level. Examples: producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, etc.

Ecological pyramids

Only about ten percent of the energy available within a trophic level is transferred to oragnisms at the next higher level.

Other pyramids:
Biomass

and numbers

Cycles of matter
Unlike

energy, matter is constantly being recycled in an ecosystem. Known as biogeochemical cycles

Transpiration
The

release of water from the leaves of plants. Water is exchanged through a plants stomata. Evaporation is the second process that releases water into the atmosphere.

Carbon Cycle
1.

2.
3. 4.

Biological processes (photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition) Geochemical processes (volcanoes) Biogeochemical (fossil fuels) Human activity (factories, deforestation, car exhaust)

Nitrogen Cycle
All

organisms need nitrogen to live. Most abundant gas in atmosphere (80%) Nitrogen gas is unusable for plants Must be fixed or changed into the nitrate or nitrite form by bacteria in the soil. Known as nitrogen fixation

Phosphorus cycle
P

is important in the production of DNA and RNA. Unlike water,oxygen, and nitrogen, phosphorus is NOT found in the atmosphere. Found in rocks and minerals.

Nutrient Limitation
When

a single nutrient is scarce for a particular ecosystem and limits the growth of organisms in that ecosystem. Assignment: page 83-84 1-10, 12, 15, 16, 18, 22, 23, 29
Page 85 1-7