The Biosphere/ Ecology Notes

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The Biosphere/ Ecology Notes
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What is Ecology?

• Scientific study of interactions among organisms
  and between organisms and their environment

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Biosphere

• Combined portions of the planet in which all of
  life exists, including land, water and air or
  atmosphere
• Extends from 8 kilometers above Earths surface
  to 11 kilometers below the surface of the ocean

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Interactions and Interdependence

• Interactions within the biosphere produce a web
  of interdependence between organisms and the
  environment in which they live

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Levels of Organization

• Individual interactions between an organism and
  its surroundings
• cottontail rabbit
• Population groups of individuals that belong to
  the same species and live in the same area
• group of cottontail rabbits

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Levels of Organization

• Communities different populations that live
  together in a defined area
• rabbits, coyotes, ravens, lizard
• Ecosystem collection of all the organisms that
  live in a particular place, together with their
  nonliving, or physical, environment
• rabbits, coyotes, ravens, lizard, rocks, dirt,
  climate, water

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Levels of Organization

• Biome group of ecosystems that have the same
  climate and dominant communities
• desert, tundra, tropical rain forest
• Biosphere planet Earth

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Ecological Methods

• Three approaches to ecological research
• Observing Use of 5 senses to ask ecological
  questions
• Experimenting Used to test hypotheses
• artificial environment in a lab
• within natural ecosystems

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Ecological Methods

• Modeling Used to gain insight into complex
  phenomena such as the effects of global warming
• may include mathematical formulas based on data
  collected through observation and experimentation
• predictions tested by further observations and
  experiments

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Biotic and Abiotic Factors

• Click on link to see video clip

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Biotic Factors

• Bio- Means life
• Definition - organisms that make up the living
  portion of an ecosystem
• Also considered the ORGANIC component of the
  ecosystem
• Ex. Trees, shrubs, insects, animals, algae,
  fungi, etc

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Abiotic Factors

• Abio Means not life
• Definition the nonliving features of an
  environment
• Considered the INORGANIC component of the
  ecosystem
• Ex. Air, temperature, moisture, light, rocks,
  and soil

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Energy Flow

• Energy flows from the sun or inorganic compounds
  to producers.
• Consumers eat producers to get energy.
• The primary source of energy on Earth is the sun!!

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Every Organism Has a Home Address
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Habitat

• Definition physical location in which an
  organism lives
• In other words the home address of a species
• Ex. Fern habitat moist, shady forest floor.

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Habitat

• Many animals can share a habitat
• A single tree maybe the habitat for several
  species of birds, squirrels, etc.
• However, each species uses the habitat in a
  different way.
• They all find their niche

• Coral reef biodiversity.

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Niche

• Definition the way a species uses the resources
  of its habitat and what it does in the community
• Includes food, living space, methods of
  obtaining food, etc.
• NO TWO SPECIES CAN OCCUPY THE SAME NICHE

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Producers

• Autotrophs self feed
• Use sunlight to create carbohydrates via
  photosynthesis
• Ex Plants, algae and some bacteria
• Some bacteria create organic compounds from
  inorganic chemicals Chemosynthesis
• Live in remote places.

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PRODUCERS

• Producers make their own food!
• They are also called autotrophs
• Level 1 on the Trophic Level
• Plants and bacteria make up this group.
• They make their food from the sun called
  photosynthesis

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Producers
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CONSUMERS

• Consumers are living things that cannot make food
  for themselves. (Also called heterotrophs)
• They survive by taking in food that has been made
  by other living things.
• A food chain contains several kinds of
  consumers.
• Heterotroph Different food
• Must eat to obtain energy.
• Ex animals, fungi, some protists
• YOUR MOMS A HETEROTROPH!!!

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Types of Heterotrophs

• Herbivore eats plants
• Carnivore eats animals
• Omnivore eats plants and animals
• Detritivore eats detritus (plant and animal
  remains)
• Ex- snails, crabs, earthworms
• Decomposer breaks down organic matter
• Ex bacteria and fungi

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Carnivore
Decomposers
Omnivore
Detritivore
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Feeding Relationships

• Energy flows through an ecosystem in one
  direction,
• from the sun or inorganic compounds ? autotrophs
  (producers) ? various heterotrophs (consumers).

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Energy flows

• Flows in one direction
• Will never return to the same form in the
  ecosystem
• Conservation of Energy
• Energy changes form
• But is never lost

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What happens to all the energy?

• When an organism eats another organism, energy is
  either
• stored in the tissues of the organism doing the
  eating,
• used by the organism, or
• released as heat.

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Food Chain

• A series of steps in which organisms transfer
  energy by eating and being eaten.
• i.e. Wheat ? mouse ? snake ? hawk

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Food Web

• Network of complex interactions formed by the
  feeding relationship among the various organisms
  in an ecosystem.

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Ecological Pyramid

• A diagram that shows the relative amounts of
  energy or matter contained within each trophic
  level in a food chain or food web.
• Energy, biomass, and population numbers can all
  be represented by a pyramid.

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Ecological Pyramid
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Only about 10 of the energy from one trophic
level is stored in the next.
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Matter is recycled in ecosystems.
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Matter cycles

• Matter can be recycled
• Matter can be reformed
• The basic building blocks are reused
• Conservation of Matter
• The Law of Conservation of Matter states that
  matter cannot be created or destroyed only
  transformed from one form to another.

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The four most abundant elements in living things
are
H Hydrogen
O Oxygen
N Nitrogen
C Carbon
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Cycles of Matter

• Recycling in the Biosphere
• Matter is recycled within and between ecosystems.
• Matter moves through an ecosystem in
  biogeochemical cycles.

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Water Cycle
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Carbon Cycle
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How carbon is cycled through organisms
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

•  

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Photosynthesis vs. Respiration

• Photosynthesis is the process by which producers
  convert radiant energy from the sun into chemical
  energy in the form of glucose (food).
• Cellular respiration is done by both producers
  and consumers. It uses oxygen to break down
  glucose into carbon dioxide and water, releasing
  energy in the process.

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Nitrogen Cycle
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Nitrogen Cycle

• 78 of Earths atmosphere is Nitrogen gas N2
• Nitrogen containing products
• Ammonia (NH3)
• Nitrate ions (NO3-)
• Nitrite ions (NO2-)
• Nitrogen is needed for protein and nucleic acid
  synthesis

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Nitrogen Cycle

• Converting nitrogen gas into ammonia is called
  nitrogen fixation.
• Only certain types of bacteria can do this.
• Plants use the converted products (NH3, NO3- ,
  NO2-) to make plant proteins.
• Some bacteria convert nitrates into nitrogen gas
  (denitrification).

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Phosphorus Cycle
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Phosphorus Cycle

• Phosphorus is important for the formation of DNA
  and RNA molecules.
• Phosphorus is not very common and does not enter
  the atmosphere, instead it is found mostly on
  land in rock and soil.

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Primary Productivity

• The rate at which producers create organic
  matter.
• Determines the size of the community.
• Limited by availability of nutrients.
• Land phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N), potassium
  (K)
• Marine nitrogen
• Fresh water - phosphorus

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Algal Bloom
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Algal Bloom Details

• An algal bloom is a rapid increase or
  accumulation in the population of algae
  (typically microscopic) in an aquatic system.
  Algal blooms may occur in freshwater as well as
  marine environments. Typically, only one or a
  small number of phytoplankton species are
  involved, and some blooms may be recognized by
  discoloration of the water resulting from the
  high density of pigmented cells. Although there
  is no officially recognized threshold level,
  algae can be considered to be blooming at
  concentrations of hundreds to thousands of cells
  per milliliter, depending on the severity.
• A harmful algal bloom (HAB) is an algal bloom
  that causes negative impacts to other organisms
  via production of natural toxins, mechanical
  damage to other organisms, or by other means.
  HABs are often associated with large-scale marine
  mortality events and have been associated with
  various types of shellfish poisonings.

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HAB Dangers

• the production of neurotoxins which cause mass
  mortalities in fish, seabirds, sea turtles, and
  marine mammals
• human illness or death via consumption of seafood
  contaminated by toxic algae
• mechanical damage to other organisms, such as
  disruption of epithelial gill tissues in fish,
  resulting in asphyxiation
• oxygen depletion of the water column (hypoxia or
  anoxia) from cellular respiration and bacterial
  degradation

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HAB commonly referred to Red Tide
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HAB effects
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1. Combination portions of our planet in which
all life exists. It also includes land, water,
and atmosphere.

1. Ecology
2. Individual
3. biosphere
4. interdependence

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2. Squirrels, groundhogs, birds, and deer have
been spotted in Delcastles area. This is an
example of

1. Population
2. Community
3. Ecosystem
4. biome

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3. T or F Organisms rely on other organisms to
live. This is called interdependence.

1. True
2. False

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4. Seaweed, rocks, sand, water, whales, fish, and
coral is an example of a

1. Biosphere
2. Community
3. Ecosystem
4. Biome

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5. This is what a species does in its
environment to get resources.

1. Niche
2. Energy flow
3. Habitat
4. Biotic

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6. The ultimate energy source is

1. Producer
2. Consumer
3. Sun
4. herbivore

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7. T or F Species can occupy the same niche

1. True
2. False

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8. Oxygen is considered a ____ factor.

1. Abiotic
2. biotic

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9.Group of ecosystems that have the same climate
and similar communities of species.

1. Biosphere
2. Biome
3. Weather
4. population

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10. A group of individuals that belong to the
same species and live in the same area.

1. Population
2. Ecosystem
3. Biome
4. individual

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11. The sequence of ecological organization
growing from smallest to largest is

1. Individual, community, population, biome,
   ecosystem, biosphere
2. Community, individual, biome, ecosystem,
   population, biosphere
3. Individual, population, community, ecosystem,
   biome, biosphere

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12. T or F The three main ecological methods for
research is observing, experimenting, and
modeling.

1. True
2. False

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13. A biotic factor of Delcastles Ecosystem
would be

1. Water
2. Rocks
3. Light
4. Athletes

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14. T or F Energy flows in a circular pattern
and is recycled.

1. True
2. False

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15. A network of complex interactions formed by
the feeding relationships or organisms in an
ecosystem is

1. Energy flow
2. Food chain
3. Food web
4. Biotic relationships

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16. Approximately___ of energy flows from one
trophic level to the next.

1. 85
2. 50
3. 25
4. 10

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17. The four most abundant elements in living
things are

1. Oxygen, Nitrogen, Carbon, Hydrogen
2. Lithium, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Helium
3. Hydrogen, Oxygen, Neon, Carbon
4. Phosphorus, Hydrogen, Aluminum, Nitrogen

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18. T or F energy flows in one direction and will
never return in the same form in an ecosystem.

1. True
2. False

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19. T or F Matter can be recycles in an ecosystem.

1. True
2. False

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20. The only cycle of matter that does not enter
the atmosphere is

1. Water cycle
2. Carbon cycle
3. Nitrogen cycle
4. Phosphorus cycle