Ecology

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Ecology
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Ecosystems

• Ecosystem all living things in a given area
  along with their physical environment
• Two types of factors
• Biotic Factors all living parts of an ecosystem
• Ex animals, plants and bacteria
• Abiotic Factors all non-living parts of an
  ecosystem
• Ex temperature, sunlight and air

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Abiotic Factors

• Abiotic Factors all non-living things that
  affect the earth
• The non-living world and the living world have
  impacts on each other
• What are some Abiotic Factors?

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Three Abiotic Layers of Earth

• Atmosphere
• Lithosphere
• Hydrosphere

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Atmosphere

• Atmosphere an envelope of gasses that surrounds
  the earth.
• Composed of
• 78 N2
• 21 O2
• 1 - water vapor, dust and other trace elements.
• .04 is CO2, one of the most important gasses on
  earth.

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4 Levels of the Atmosphere

• Gasses become thinner (less Dense) the farther
  from earth they are
• Thermosphere- the outermost layer from earth,
• high temperature layer, 2000o C has been
  reported.
• Mesosphere- Extends 50 Km to 85 Km above earth,
• coldest layer
• - 100o C has been reported.

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4 Levels of the Atmosphere

• Stratosphere- about 15-50 Km above earth,
• Phenomenon of Aurora Borealis, or Northern
  Lights, occurs in this layer.
• Contains a layer of Ozone (O3)
• often referred to Ozonosphere or Ozone Layer
• Troposphere- Touches the earth and extends 8-18
  Km above, most gas and water vapor is here.

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Ozone Greenhouse Effect

• Ozone filters out most of the ultraviolet (UV)
  radiation given off by the sun.
• Enough is absorbed to allow life to exist
• Greenhouse Effect- a hole has developed in the
  Ozone that allows excess UV in
• Once through the UV cannot be released so it
  reflects back and forth between the ground and
  the atmosphere
• Continuing to warm the earth,

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Lithosphere

• Lithosphere land portion of the earth
• Composed of
• Rock
• Igneous- formed from hardened liquid
• Sedimentary- formed from compressed layers of
  sediment
• Metamorphic- transformed by heat and pressure
• Soil-
• Sand

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Lithosphere

• Rock Cycle
• Lava hardens and forms igneous rock
• Igneous is eroded, then compacted into
  sedimentary rock
• Sedimentary rock is heated under pressure and
  forms Metamorphic rock
• Metamorphic rock is melted into lava.

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3 Parts of Lithosphere

• Crust- top layer,
• very thin in proportion to the whole,
• where life exists.
• Mantle- Middle layer,
• largest portion of the three, is 1/2 of the inner
  earth,
• upper mantle is very rigid, lower mantle flows
  like melted plastic
• Moho- division between mantle and crust
• Core- innermost layer,
• very hot,
• mostly composed of iron,
• inner core is solid iron, outer core is liquid
  Iron

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Theory of Continental Drift

• The Crust is divided into plates, called Tectonic
  Plates
• The liquid of the mantle rises through the cracks
  between the plates and cools
• Liquid cools expands pushing the plates apart
• Shifting of the plates causes Earthquakes, plates
  also buckle creating Mountains or Volcanoes

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Geologic Dating

• Principle of Original Horizontality Rocks
  generally build up horizontally.
• Law of Superposition any material below another
  material is older.
• Principle of Crosscutting Relationships Faults
  or intrusions are younger than the rocks they
  cross
• Inclusions Small pieces of rock that are not in
  a rock bed are usually older than they bed they
  are in.

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Hydrosphere

• Hydrosphere- All of the water on the earth
• Most of the Earth is covered with Water.
• Is this water Useable?

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Useable water

• Majority of this is NaCl (sodium chloride) or
  table salt.
• Of the remaining 3, 2/3 is frozen in the Ice
  Caps or Glaciers
• This leaves only 1 of the hydrosphere as Useable
  Fresh Water
• This supports most of the life forms on earth
• Water is a very Scarce Commodity

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WATER USEAGE
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Where is this fresh water found?

• 2 places
• Surface Water- Lakes, streams, and rain runoff
• Groundwater- flows between spaces of rock
• Aquifers- underground river
• - If the water reaches the surface it forms a
  spring
• Artesian Wells- water flows to the surface do to
  pressure
• - Most modern wells need to be pumped

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Most of the Aquifers are drying up, or are
contaminated

• it takes many years of rainwater to seep
  through to fill the Aquifers

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AQUIFER
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AQUIFER OVERUSE
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SALTWATER INTRUSION
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Other Abiotic FactorsCycles for Life

• Hydrologic Cycle- water cycle
• Water on the surface evaporates into water vapor
• Water vapor condenses into clouds
• Water falls to surface as precipitation

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Hydrologic Cycle
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Other Abiotic FactorsCycles for Life

• Carbon Cycle
• Plants use carbon dioxide to produce starch/sugar
  through photosynthesis
• Other organisms eat the plants for starch/sugars
• Organisms break down starch/sugar and release
  Carbon dioxide through Respiration
• Carbon is also found as fossil fuels (coal, oil)
  from decomposed plants.
• Carbon also is very abundant in ocean water

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Carbon Cycle
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Other Abiotic FactorsCycles for Life

• Nitrogen Cycle
• Nitrogen is used by Nitrogen fixing bacteria to
  make ammonia (NH3).
• Nitrogen fixing bacteria live on the roots of
  plant called Legumes
• Either these plants use the ammonia or other
  bacteria do
• Bacteria consume ammonia make nitrites and
  nitrates, compounds of nitrogen and oxygen ( NO2-
  NO3-).
• Plants use these nitrates for their nitrogen
  source Animals get it from Plants

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NITROGEN CYCLE
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NITROGEN CYCLE
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NITROGEN CYCLE
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Wind

• Wind horizontal motion of air across the earth's
  surface
• Causes
• Frictional force- friction between air and land
  slows down winds
• Pressure Gradient Force- wind moves from high to
  low pressure
• Greater the difference between pressures, faster
  the air will move
• Coriolis Effect- Rotation of the earth drives
  winds
• Turns to the right in Northern Hemisphere, and
  left in the Southern Hemisphere

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Wind Speeds down a Pressure Gradient
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Types of Surface winds

• Trade winds- occurs between 30o N and 30o S
  latitude.
• 2. Prevailing Westerly- occur between 30o to 60o
  in both hemispheres. They blow west to east.
• 3. Polar Easterlies- occurs between 60o and the
  poles in both hemispheres. They blow east to
  west.

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Upper level Wind

• Jet Stream a river of fast flowing air at high
  altitudes above the earth that generally flows
  from west to east over the mid-latitudes.
• To be called a "jet stream" the winds should be
  faster than 57 mph, but the term is often wrongly
  used for all upper-level winds.
• Usually, the jet stream separates cold polar air
  to its north from warmer air to its south.

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JET STREAM
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Ocean Currents

• Ocean Currents movement of ocean water
• The main cause is the Coriolis Effect
• Coriolis Effect the rotation of the Earth
  causes the oceans water to circle away from the
  equator
• Currents generally help to control climate and
  are useful in moving nutrients throughout the
  oceans
• Northern Hemisphere currents move clockwise
  while currents in the Southern Hemisphere move
  counter-clockwise.

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Weather/Climate

• Currents and wind have a profound impact on
  weather and climate.
• Currents generally move warmer water away from
  the equator.
• Winds help to move these currents and take on
  their temperature.
• As the currents reach the coast the winds move
  onto land and either heat or cool it.

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OCEAN COOLING AND WARMING
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Fronts

• These winds lead to Fronts- the leading edge of
  an air mass
• generally determine weather change

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A typical Warm Front

• http//www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/wwfront/wwfront
  .htm

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A typical Cold Front

• http//www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/wcfront/wcfront
  .htm

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Weather has 3 factors

• Air temperature- the sun provides solar radiation
  to provide heat to the earth.
• the tilt of the earth provides variation in the
  amount of direct sunlight the earth receives
• Seasons caused by a combination of the tilt of
  the earth and the rotation of the earth around
  the sun.
• As the earth rotates around the sun the tilt
  causes the sun's raise to hit areas of the earth
  differently, causing seasons
• Apogee- July 4, sun is farthest from the sun
• Paragee- January 4, sun is closest to the sun

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Weather has 3 factors

• Atmospheric Moisture-
• Absolute Humidity- the specific measure of the
  amount of moisture in the air.
• Relative Humidity- the amount of moisture in the
  air compared to the amount of moisture the air
  can hold. Stated as a Percent.
• Saturation- the maximum amount of moisture air
  can hold at a specific temperature.
• Dew Point- temperature at which the amount of
  moisture in the air becomes saturated.
• Rule- As air temperature increases, the capacity
  of water in the air increases. As air
  temperature decreases, the capacity of water in
  the air decreases.

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Weather has 3 factors

• Atmospheric Pressure Wind-
• Atmospheric or Barometric Pressure- amount of
  force exerted by the atmosphere on any one thing.
• Average 15 lbs/in2
• Temperature causes variation in AP-
• - increased temp, decreased pressure
• - decreased temp, increased pressure
• - Elevation can cause some difference
• - Temperature difference causes Pressure
  difference, and this difference is caused by Wind
• Wind tries to equalize the pressure, so it moves
  from areas of high pressure to areas of low
  pressure.
• Wind speed thus can tell you the Pressure
  Gradient
• - Greater wind speed, greater pressure gradient
• - Lower wind speed, lower pressure gradient

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Wind Speeds down a Pressure Gradient
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How High and Low Pressure Works

• http//www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/whighlow/whighl
  ow.htm

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How Low Pressure Areas Work

• http//www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/wlowpres/wlowpr
  es.htm

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How High Pressure Areas Work

• http//www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/whighp/whighp.h
  tm

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EL NINO
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Weather and Climate are different

• Weather- the day to day conditions of the
  Atmosphere.
• Climate- long term, a composite of conditions
  that establishes itself over a period of time in
  a given region.