The Biosphere

1
The Biosphere

• Chapter 3

2
Ecology

• The study of interactions among organisms and
  between organisms and their environment.

3
The Biosphere

• The portion of the planet in which life exists
• Land
• Water
• Air
• 8 km above Earths surface
• 11 km below the surface of the ocean

4
Levels of Organization

• Species group of organisms that interbreed to
  produce fertile offspring

5
Levels of Organization

• Population group of individuals that belong to
  the same species and live in the same area
• Example the alligator population of Greenfield
  Lake

6
Levels of Organization

• Communities groups of populations that live
  together in a defined area
• Example the Cape Fear River community

7
Levels of Organization

• Ecosystem
• Organisms and nonliving environment they inhabit

8
Levels of Organization

• Biome group of ecosystems with the same climate
  and similar communities.

9
Ecological Methods

• Observing
• Experimenting
• Modeling

10

• Where does the energy from your favorite foods
  ultimately come from?

11
Energy Flow

• Producers (autotrophs) harness sunlight to
  produce food

12
Energy Flow

• Chemoautotrophs use energy from chemical
  compounds (in hydrothermal vents) to produce food

13

• Consumers (heterotrophs)
• Herbivores eat plants

14

• Heterotrophs (continued)
• Carnivores eat meat
• Omnivores eat both plants and animals
• Detritivores (Decomposers) eat dead remains
  (detritus)

15
Energy Flow

• Food Chain
• Series of steps in which organisms transfer
  energy by eating and being eaten

16
Energy Flow

• Food Web
• The depiction of a network of feeding
  relationships

17
Energy Flow

• Trophic Levels Each step in a food chain
• Producers make up the bottom level
• Consumers make up the upper levels
• Each level depends on the level below it

18
Energy Levels

• Energy Pyramids amount of energy contained in
  each trophic level
• 10 of the energy in one trophic level is
  transferred to the one above.

19
Energy Flow

• Biomass Pyramid amount of potential food
  available for each trophic level
• Biomass amount of living tissue
• Pyramid of Numbers based on the numbers of
  individual organisms

20
Cycles of Matter

• The water cycle
• All living things require water to survive
• Precipitation, transpiration, evaporation etc

21
Cycles of Matter
0

• The Carbon Cycle
• Carbon is the key ingredient of living tissue
• Respiration, photosynthesis, feeding, erosion
  etc.

• http//www.buzzle.com/images/diagrams/carbon-cycle
  .jpg

22
Cycles of Matter

• The Nitrogen Cycle
• Necessary for amino acids
• Nitrogen fixing bacteria on roots fix
  atmospheric nitrogen to be used by plants.
• Consumers get nitrogen by eating producers

23
Limiting Nutrient

• When an ecosystem is limited by a single nutrient
  controls the number of producers
• Fertilizers