Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 27 views

    BIOL-105 Ch.3 Ecosystems (ELearning Fall 2020)

    Uploaded by

    khattar
    This document provides an overview of ecosystems, including their key components and how energy and matter flow through them. It defines the biosphere, biotic and abiotic components, and explains producers, consumers, trophic levels, food chains, food webs and the pyramid of energy. It also summarizes the major biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and water. Finally, it discusses different methods scientists use to study ecosystems, such as field research, remote sensing, laboratory experiments, GIS and systems analysis.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    BIOL-105 Ch.3 Ecosystems (ELearning Fall 2020)

    Uploaded by

    khattar
    27 views33 pages
    This document provides an overview of ecosystems, including their key components and how energy and matter flow through them. It defines the biosphere, biotic and abiotic components, and explains producers, consumers, trophic levels, food chains, food webs and the pyramid of energy. It also summarizes the major biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and water. Finally, it discusses different methods scientists use to study ecosystems, such as field research, remote sensing, laboratory experiments, GIS and systems analysis.

    Original Title

    BIOL-105 Ch.3 Ecosystems [ELearning Fall 2020]

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    This document provides an overview of ecosystems, including their key components and how energy and matter flow through them. It defines the biosphere, biotic and abiotic components, and explains producers, consumers, trophic levels, food chains, food webs and the pyramid of energy. It also summarizes the major biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and water. Finally, it discusses different methods scientists use to study ecosystems, such as field research, remote sensing, laboratory experiments, GIS and systems analysis.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    27 views33 pages

    BIOL-105 Ch.3 Ecosystems (ELearning Fall 2020)

    Uploaded by

    khattar
    This document provides an overview of ecosystems, including their key components and how energy and matter flow through them. It defines the biosphere, biotic and abiotic components, and explains producers, consumers, trophic levels, food chains, food webs and the pyramid of energy. It also summarizes the major biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and water. Finally, it discusses different methods scientists use to study ecosystems, such as field research, remote sensing, laboratory experiments, GIS and systems analysis.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    You are on page 1of 33

    Chapter 3

    Ecosystems: what are


    they and how do they
    work?
    Learning Objectives
    1. What keeps us and other organisms alive?
    2. Distinguish among geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and
    biosphere.
    3. Compare the flow of matter and energy through the biosphere.
    4. Define biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem
    6. Distinguish between producers and consumers; detritus feeders
    and decomposers.
    7. Distinguish between food chains, food webs and trophic levels.
    8. Describe the pyramid of energy flow.
    9. Describe the biogeochemical cycles (carbon, sulfur, phosphorus,
    nitrogen, water)
    What are the major components of
    the Earth?
    • 4 major components
    • Atmosphere
    • Troposphere
    • Stratosphere
    • Mesosphere
    • Thermosphere
    • Hydrosphere
    • Geosphere
    • Biosphere

    Figure 3.2 Natural capital


    Earth’s life-support system
     Atmosphere
     Gases surrounding the earth’s surface
     Troposphere
     7 km (poles) -17 km (tropics)
     The air we breathe
     78% Nitrogen
     21% Oxygen
     1% water vapor, CO2, methane
     Stratosphere
     17-50 km above sea
     Lower portion =Ozone
     Filter 95% of sun UV
     Mesosphere: Where most meteors burn up
     Thermosphere: Cloudless, free of water vapor
     Aurora Borealis and Australis, Space shuttles orbits
    Earth’s life-support system
     Hydrosphere
     All the water present on or near the earth’s surface
     Vapor in atmosphere
     Liquid on the surface and underground
     Oceans = 71% of the globe
     Oceans contain 97% of the earth’s water
     Ice

     Geosphere
     Hot core
     Thick mantle composed mostly of rocks
     Thin outer crust
     Soil chemicals, Minerals, Nonrenewable fossil fuels
    Earth’s life-support system
     Biosphere
     Parts of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere where life is
    found
     = all of the earth’s ecosystems
     Communities of organisms = biotic components
     Nonliving matter = abiotic components
    Earth’s life-support system
     3 factors sustain life on earth
     One-way flow of high quality energy from the sun
     Through living things = feeding interactions
     Into the environment = low-quality energy = heat
     Solar energy interacts with
     CO2
     Water vapor
     Gases in the troposphere
     it warms the troposphere = greenhouse effect
    Figure 3.3 Greenhouse Earth
    Earth’s life-support system
     3 factors sustain life on earth
     One-way flow of high quality energy from the sun
     Cycling of matter or nutrients
     No significant input of matter from space
     Fixed supply must be continually recycled to support life
    Earth’s life-support system
     3 factors sustain life on earth
     One-way flow of high quality energy from the sun
     Cycling of matter or nutrients
     Gravity
     Allows the planet to hold onto its atmosphere
     Enable movement and cycling of chemicals through air, water,
    soil, organisms
    What are the main components of an
    ecosystem?

    Ecosystems =
    • Communities of organisms = biotic
    components
    • Nonliving matter = abiotic
    components

    Figure 3.5 Key living and nonliving


    components of an ecosystem in a field
    What are the main components of an
    ecosystem?

    Figure 3.8 Natural capital:


    The main components of an
    ecosystem
    What happens to energy in
    an ecosystem?
     Trophic levels
     Food chains
     Food web
     Pyramid of energy flow
    Energy flows through …
     Trophic level = Feeding level depending on the source of nutrients
     Producers = autotrophs = self-feeders
     Photosynthesis
     CO2 + H2O + solar energy  Glucose + O2
     Land: trees and green plants
     Freshwater/oceans: algae and aquatic plants growing near shorelines
     Open water: phytoplankton
    Energy flows through …
     Consumers = heterotrophs = other-feeders
     = Get nutrients by feeding on other organisms
     Primary consumers = herbivores: mostly on green plants
     Secondary consumers = carnivores that feed on the flesh of herbivores ex.
    Lions, spiders, small fishes
     Tertiary consumers = carnivores that feed on the flesh of herbivores and
    carnivores ex. Tigers, hawks, killer whales
     Omnivores = eat both plants and animals ex. Humans, rats …
     Decomposers = release nutrients from the wastes or remains of plants and
    animals  nutrients recycling
    Bacteria and fungi
     Detritus feeders = detritivores = feed on the wastes or dead bodies of other
    organisms ex. earthworms
    Energy flows through …
     Food chain
     Sequence of who eats whom
    Energy flows through …
     Food web
     A complex network of
    interconnected food chains

    Figure 3.10 Food web in the Antarctic


    Energy flows through …
     Pyramid of energy flow

    90% loss
    of energy
    at every
    level

    Figure 3.11 generalized pyramid of energy flow


    What happens to matter in an
    ecosystem?
     Matter cycles in the form of nutrients
     Biogeochemical cycles: Nutrient movement from the
    environment to organisms and back to the environment
     Water cycle
     Carbon cycle
     Nitrogen cycle
     Phosphorus cycle
     Sulfur cycle
    Water cycle
     Natural renewal of water quality: 3 major processes
     Evaporation
     Precipitation
     Transpiration

     Alteration of the hydrologic cycle by humans


     Withdrawal of large amounts of freshwater faster than nature can
    replace it
     Clearing vegetation
     Increased flooding when wetlands are drained
    Water cycle

    2 1 1 1

    90% 3
    2

    3
    Carbon cycle
     Depends on photosynthesis and respiration
     Link between photosynthesis in producers and respiration in
    producers, consumers, and decomposers

     Effect of human activities through:


     Burning fossil fuels.
     Clearing vegetation faster than it is replaced.
    Carbon 1

    cycle

    2
    3
    4

    5
    Nitrogen cycle: bacteria in action
     Nitrogen fixed by
     Lightning
     Bacteria and cyanobacteria
     Combinegaseous nitrogen with hydrogen to make ammonia (NH3)
    and ammonium ions (NH4+)

     Human activities such as production of fertilizers now fix more nitrogen


    than all natural sources combined
    Nitrogen cycle: bacteria in action
    Phosphorus cycle
     Cycles through water, the earth’s crust, and living organisms

     Limiting factor for plant growth

     Effects of human activities:


     Clearing forests
     Removing large amounts of phosphate from the earth to make
    fertilizers
     Erosion leaches phosphates into streams
    Phosphorus cycle
    Sulfur cycle
     Sulfur found in organisms, ocean sediments, soil, rocks, and fossil fuels

     Natural sources:
     Sulfate (SO42-) in rocks, minerals, under ocean sediments
     Sulfur dioxide (SO2): colorless and suffocating gas found in the atmosphere
    (volcanoes)
     Hydrogen sulfide (H2S): colorless, poisonous gas (volcanoes)
     SO2 converted to droplets of Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) (atmosphere)

     Human activities release large amounts of SO2


     Burn sulfur-containing coal and oil
     Refine sulfur-containing petroleum
     Convert sulfur-containing metallic mineral ores
    Sulfur cycle
    How do scientists study
    ecosystems?
    Studying ecosystems
     Field research
     visit to the habitat

     Remote sensing
     cameras and other devices

     Laboratory research
     Bringing the organism to the lab

     Geographic information system (GIS)


     Electronic ships: Capture, store and analyze data

     Systems analysis
     Mimicking ecosystems
    Studying ecosystems
     Geographic information system (GIS)
     Organizes, stores, and analyzes
    complex data collected over broad
    geographic areas.
     Allows the simultaneous overlay of
    many layers of data.
    Studying
    ecosystems
     Systems analysis
     Mimicking ecosystems

    You might also like