Chapter 3 Changes in the Biosphere

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Chapter 3Changes in the Biosphere

• 3.1 The Changing Environment
• 3.2 Needs of Organisms
• 3.3 The Ecosystem

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3.1 The Changing Environment

• Objectives
• Describe ways in which the three layers of the
  biosphere change over time.

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Changes in the Lithosphere

• What is the lithosphere?
• How does the lithosphere change?
• One way is through tectonic plates.
• Tectonic plates- one of several large, movable
  plates that make up the lithosphere.
• Figure 3.1 page 35 tectonic plates

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Tectonic Plates

• Liquid rock rises through cracks between the
  plates.
• Deep in the ocean when this liquid rock meets the
  cool ocean water it hardens and forms new rock.
• The new rock pushes the tectonic plates apart,
  causing them to shift their position.
• When tectonic plates shift positions, earthquakes
  occur.
• Mountains rise when this movement of the plates
  causes the earth to buckle

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Weathering and Erosion

• Besides tectonic plates weathering and erosion
  is another way the lithosphere is changed.
• Weathering- the breaking down of rocks by weather
  and water.
• Erosion- the wearing away of land by weather and
  water a natural process where soil is lost,
  transported, and reformed.

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Weathering and Erosion

• What is the difference?
• Weathering and erosion shape mountain ranges and
  help to form streams
• Together with tectonic plates weathering and
  erosion have produced the land formations we see
  today.

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Changes in the Hydrosphere

• What is the hydrosphere?
• Changes to the hydrosphere in some areas have
  progressed slowly and steadily.
• Other changes occur in cycles
• Ice Ages
• El Niño

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Ice Ages

• Ice age- long period of cooling during which huge
  ice masses, called glaciers, grow and extend from
  Earths polar regions.
• During ice ages the sea levels lower.
• Why?

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• Scientist have found evidence for a least five
  major ice ages
• The most recent being 10,000 12, 000 years
• Not only do ice ages effect the hydrosphere, but
  the glaciers cause significant changes to the
  lithosphere.
• As the glaciers move across the land the pick up
  rocks. These rocks then move across the land
  scraping the surface.
• When the glaciers retreat the rocks and other
  materials are now deposited in another area.
• Bolder Field and Blue Mountain

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El Niño

• El Niño a disturbance of ocean winds and
  currents when a warm-water current lasts for
  several months along the western coast of South
  America
• This current usually only lasts of few weeks, but
  when it last longer it become the condition El
  Niño
• It is a recurring pattern with far reaching
  effects on climate and the economy

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The Effect of El Niño

• The change in water temperature and the nutrients
  affects the survival of fish
• When the fish begin to die then the fishing
  industry suffers.
• This also effect the poultry industry which
  depends on fish meal
• The climate change also damages crops
• No body knows the exact cause of El Niño

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Changes in the Atmosphere

• What is the atmosphere?
• Sunlight and Earths rotation drive many of the
  changes in the atmosphere
• Organisms have a huge effect on the atmosphere

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Early Atmosphere

• Before there was life the atmosphere was made up
  of many gases
• Water vapor
• Carbon dioxide
• Sulfur gases
• These gases are released by volcanoes, which was
  the source of Earths early atmosphere
• As organism evolved that could combine water
  vapor and carbon dioxide and release oxygen the
  atmosphere changed

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Atmosphere

• For about 3.5 billion years, oxygen, carbon
  dioxide, water vapor, and nitrogen have been
  cycling from the atmosphere to organisms and back
  again.
• Much of the carbon on earth is stored in the
  bodies of organisms, both alive and dead
• Coal and other fossil fuels is an example of how
  carbon is stored
• When fossil fuels are burned they release this
  carbon back into the atmosphere

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Greenhouse Effect

• Burning of fossil fuels release carbon back into
  the atmosphere causing and increase in atmosphere
  temperature.
• Greenhouse effect- the trapping of radiated heat
  by gases in the atmosphere.

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Causes of Change to the Atmosphere

• Human
• Greenhouse effect
• Pollution resulting in the depletion of the ozone
  layer
• Natural
• Volcanic eruption

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Review

• How does change occur in the lithosphere?
• How does change occur in the hydrosphere?
• How does change occur in the atmosphere?

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3.2 Needs of Organisms

• Objectives
• List factors that affect an areas ability to
  support life.
• Predict how changes in the environment might
  affect organisms.

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What does my fish need?

• Alone or in a group of two determine what my
  fish needs to survive.
• Include everything I need to maintain a happy,
  healthy fish.
• Lets see what group will have the happiest fish?

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What do organisms need to survive?

• For this chapter we will look at four things that
  are necessary for an organisms to survive
• Water
• Food and Energy
• Living Space
• Climate

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Water

• Fresh water is one of the most important things
  organisms need to survive.
• Water is needed for plants to grow and animals
  need both water and plants to survive.
• The amount of rainfall an area receives directly
  effect the number and kind of life that exists
  there.

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Water and Aquatic Organisms

• Aquatic organisms are as affected by the amount
  of rainfall, but by the quality of the water.
• Pollutants and amount of dissolved oxygen have a
  huge effect on aquatic organism.

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Food and Energy

• Almost all of the energy used by living things
  originates from the sun.
• Plants capture energy from the sun during
  photosynthesis.
• Animal get their energy by eating plants and/or
  other animals

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Food

• Contains energy, minerals, vitamins and other
  chemicals.
• These material are used for building tissues and
  carrying out biochemical reactions.
• Nutrients a substance needed by the body for
  energy, growth, repair or maintenance.
• Animals obtain their nutrients from the things
  they eat.
• Fungi, protists, plants and some animals (worms)
  absorb nutrients directly into their cells

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Poisons

• Some of the substance stored by organisms are
  harmful, making tissues poisonous if eaten by
  other organisms.
• This buildup allows poisonous to move from one
  organism to another in the environment

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Living Space

• All organisms need enough space to live.
• It is from your living space that you obtain the
  things you need to survive
• Plants need enough space to obtain sunlight and
  enough space for their roots to spread out to
  absorb water and minerals.
• If plants are too close together they may die.

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Living Space

• Animals need enough living space to seek food,
  water, shelter and mates.
• Some animals will claim a space as their own.
• Territory a living space claimed by an
  individual or group of animals as their own.
  These animals are referred to as territorial
  animals

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Territorial Animals

• Many territorial animals will mark their
  territory with their scent.
• Urinating
• Defecating
• Scent glands
• Another way is through sounds or gestures.
• The size of an animals territory is determined by
  his needs.
• Animals may compete with one another for
  territory. Sometimes even to the death.
• The competition for space and resources is an
  important factor in evolution.

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Climate

• The body temperature of many organisms is
  determined by the temperature of the environment.
• When it becomes colder out their body
  temperature drops.
• Most organisms have a small temperature range at
  which they can survive.
• It is this temperature range that determines
  where on the globe you will find certain
  organisms.
• You would not find a snake in the tundra.

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Climate

• One of the adaptation the animals have to survive
  in colder temperature is becoming dormant.
• Dormant- the life processes within the body slow
  down
• Plants lose their leaves and stop growing
• Bacterial growth is reduced at colder temps.

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Warm-blooded organisms

• Birds and mammals maintain high body temperatures
  regardless of the environmental temperature.
• Warm-blooded animals have a wider range of
  temperature tolerance and live in more diverse
  climate.

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Adaptation

• Maintain this higher temperature requires a lot
  of energy
• Warm-blooded animals need about ten times more
  food than other animals the same size
• One adaptation animals have to help them is
  hibernation.
• Hibernation dormancy in some animals when the
  heart rate and breathing slow down, the body
  temperature drops and the animal enters a
  sleeplike state.

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Hibernation

• Energy requirements are lowered during this time.
• This enables animals to survive long, cold
  periods with little food.
• Example
• Groundhogs
• Snakes

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Review

• What does an organisms need to survive?
• How might a change in a organisms environment
  effect its chance of surviving?

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3.3 The Ecosystem

• Objectives
• Describe the structure of an ecosystem.
• Relate the concept of habitat destruction to the
  loss of biodiversity.

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Species

• Species - a group of organism so similar to one
  another that they can breed and produce fertile
  offspring.
• All members of a species have similar need
• Range of climate tolerance
• Size of territory
• Types of food
• Because species have the same needs they often
  compete with one another.

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Habitat

• Habitat the specific environment in which a
  particular species lives
• Examples
• The top of trees in the rainforest
• Stream-shallow, slow-moving and cold
• It is within habitats the organisms find food,
  shelter, temperature and all other factors needed
  to survive.
• The destruction of habitats is one of the most
  serious threats to species today.

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Geographical Range

• Geographical Range - the total area in which a
  species can live.
• Mountain lions require a habitat with diverse
  plant life and a large hunting territory with a
  variety of prey.
• This type of habitat use to exist all over the
  US, so their geographical range was the US.
• That is not true today their range is much
  smaller.

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Populations and Communities

• Populations- all the members of a species that
  live in the same geographical area
• Example
• All the dandelions in a field are a population.
• The ants in an anthill
• Populations do not live alone in their
  environment many other populations of organisms
  are also present.

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Communities

• Community - all the different populations that
  live and interact in the same area.
• Communities refer to the vegetation along with
  the animals that live there.
• Examples
• Grassland communities
• Desert communities

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Ecosystem

• Ecosystem - includes all the communities in an
  area, as well as the abiotic factors in the
  environment.
• Includes Water, soil, atmosphere and energy
  cycles.
• A healthy ecosystem has a wide variety of
  organisms.
• Biodiversity - the variety of species in an
  ecosystem.
• When a habitat is destroyed everything living in
  it can become extinct. When species become
  extinct, biodiversity and stability are reduced

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Review

• What is included in an ecosystem?
• How is habitat destruction and the loss of
  biodiversity related.