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Ecosystems and
Communities
Cycles of matter
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Unlike energy, matter is constantly being
recycled in an ecosystem.
Known as biogeochemical cycles
Transpiration
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The release of water from the leaves of
plants.
Water is exchanged through a plant’s
stomata.
Evaporation is the second process that
releases water into the atmosphere.
Carbon Cycle
1.
2.
3.
4.
Biological processes (photosynthesis,
respiration, decomposition)
Geochemical processes (volcanoes)
Biogeochemical (fossil fuels)
Human activity (factories, deforestation, car
exhaust)
Nitrogen Cycle
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All organisms need nitrogen to live.
Most abundant gas in atmosphere (80%)
Nitrogen gas is unusable for plants
Must be “fixed” or changed into the nitrate or
nitrite form by bacteria in the soil. Known as
nitrogen fixation
Phosphorus cycle
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P is important in the production of DNA and
RNA.
Unlike water,oxygen, and nitrogen,
phosphorus is NOT found in the atmosphere.
Found in rocks and minerals.
Nutrient Limitation
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When a single nutrient is scarce for a
particular ecosystem and limits the growth of
organisms in that ecosystem.
Assignment: page 83-84 1-10, 12, 15, 16, 18,
22, 23, 29
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Page 85 1-7
4-1 The Role of Climate
What is Climate?
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__Weather__: day-to-day condition of Earth’s
atmosphere at any particular time and place
__Climate_____: average, year-after-year
conditions of temperature and precipitation in
a particular region; depends on
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Heat trapped by atmosphere
Latitude
Heat transport wind & ocean current
Amount of precipitation
Shape & elevation of land
The Greenhouse Effect
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________Atmosphere_____: serves as natural
insulating blanket that maintains a suitable
range of temperature on Earth
_______Greenhouse gases____: CO2, methane,
water vapor, and other gases that trap the heat
energy of sunlight inside Earth’s atmosphere
and maintain Earth’s temperature range  this
is called the…
__Greenhouse Effect!
Sunlight
Some heat
escapes
into space
Greenhouse
gases trap
some heat
Atmosphere
Earth’s surface
4-2 What Shapes an Ecosystem?
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
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________Biotic_______ FACTORS: biological
influences on organisms within an ecosystem;
entire living cast of characters with which an
organism might interact
_________Abiotic_____ FACTORS: physical, or
nonliving, factors that shape ecosystems
(temp, precipitation, humidity, wind, nutrients,
soil type, sunlight)
______Ecosystem__: area where an organism
lives: both factors determine the survival,
growth and productivity of the organism
BIOTIC FACTORS: _frog, algae
ABIOTIC FACTORS: water, sunlight
The Niche
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_Niche_: full range of physical and
biological conditions in which an organism
lives and the way it uses those conditions
(occupation)
(ex) what it eats, how it gets food, predators,
physical conditions for survival, when/how
it reproduces, place in food web, etc.
No two species can share the same niche in
the same habitat but different species can
occupy similar niches…for example:
Three Species of Warblers
and Their Niches
Cape May Warbler
Feeds at the tips of
branches
near the top of the tree
Bay-Breasted Warbler
Feeds in the middle
part of the tree
Spruce tree
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Feeds in the lower part of
the tree and
at the bases of the middle
branches
Community Interactions
Interactions between organisms can powerfully affect an
ecosystem:
1. _Competition __: compete for same resource in same
place at the same time
2. _Predation_____: predator kills & eats prey
3. __Symbiosis___: when 2 organisms live closely
together – 3 different types of relationships:
 MUTUALISM: both benefit (ex) flower/pollinator
 COMMENSALISM: one benefits, other neither harmed
nor helped (ex) barnacles/whales
 PARASITISM: one lives in or on another and harms it
(ex) fleas, ticks, tapeworm, lice
2)predation
3) Symbiosis _mutualism__
Symbiosis __commensalism____
Symbiosis - parasitism
Level 4 Tertiary consumer
Food chains
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Feeding relationships
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Sun
Top
carnivore
Level 3 Secondary consumer
all food chains
start with energy from the
Carnivore
sun
Level 2 Primary consumer
first level of all food chains
is plants
Herbivore
most food chains
Level 1 Producer
usually go up
only 4 or 5 levels
all levels connect to
decomposers
Decomposers
Bacteria
Fungi
Feeding levels
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How much energy can
you get from food?
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only the energy that is
stored in the organism
Approximately 10%
energy lost from one
level to next
food chain can only
have 4 or 5 levels
Food webs
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Food chains are
linked together into
food webs
Who eats whom?
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eating meat?
eating plants?
Many connections
throughout ecosystem
Energy flows through…
sun
secondary
consumers
(carnivores)
loss of
energy
loss of
energy
primary consumers
(herbivores)
loss of
energy
producers (plants)
Food chain pyramid
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Loss of energy between levels of food chain
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can feed fewer animals in each level
Numbers
1
100
100,000
1,000,000,000
Ecological Succession
Do ecosystems change?
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___Yes____!! They are constantly changing in response
to natural & human disturbances…this is called:
Ecological_SUCCESSION: series of predictable changes
that occurs over time in a community
___Primary_SUCCESSION: occurs on lands where no soil
exists, just ash & rock (ex) volcanic eruptions build new
islands
___Pioneer_ORGANISMS: first species to populate area
___Secondary_ SUCCESSION: when a disturbance is over
and the community interactions tend to restore the
ecosystem to its original condition (ex) after wildfires or
land is cleared
Primary_ SUCCESSION
Secondary SUCCESSION
Succession in a Marine Ecosystem
3 Stages in the Succession of a
Whale-fall Community
1.
2.
3.
A disturbance caused by a whale
sinking to the bottom of the ocean;
scavengers and decomposers come
Most of the tissues are eaten;
decomposing body enriches
surrounding sediments
Skeleton remains are decomposed by
bacteria, releasing oils that are used by
chemosynthetic bacteria (support
diverse community near the bones)
SCAVENGERS & DECOMPOSERS:
amphipods, hagfishes, sharks
Carcass supports fishes, crabs, snails, worms
Whalebones encrusted with bacterial mats 
chemosynthetic bacteria support mussels,
limpets, snails, worms, crabs, clams