Download Landfill Ecosystem

Ms. Malik: Lesson 3
Landfill Ecosystem
In Section 5.4 of textbook
What is a landfill?
Landfills have....
 29% paper
 12% food waste
 10% yard waste
 9% metal
 8% plastic
 7% glass
 24% other (synthetic wastes, chemicals, diapers,
pharmaceutical waste)
What was there before the landfill?
 Disposal/garbage replaces ecosystem of field
or forest
 The new ecosystem becomes “landfill
ecosystem” or an ecosystem of a dump
A Landfill Ecosystem?
 Biotic Factors:
 Populations: bacteria, bread mould, worms, millipedes
 Act as decomposers
 Also: centipedes, fungi, beetle, rat
 Act as predators
A Landfill Ecosystem
 Abiotic Factors
 Moisture, temperature, O2 level
 Factors are important for the growth of bacteria
Decomposers: why are they important?
 Recycle matter
 Break down large complex molecules to simple chemicals
 Simple chemicals used as nutrients for other organisms
Cycling of Matter
Section 5.6 of textbook
What are all living things made of?
 Essential elements of life!
 C, H, O, N: make up 96% of all living matter
 4% Ca, P, K, S
 Therefore, it is important that matter is recycled through
decomposition
Cycle of Matter
 The use / reuse of matter
Cycle of Matter
 Plants use chlorophyll to capture energy from sun to make
glucose via photosynthesis
 Known as producers: make own food
Cycle of Matter
 Animals eat the plants to get energy
 Known as consumers
 Herbivores
 Carnivores
Food Chain
 Feeding pathway
 Arrows indicate direction of matter and energy transfer
 Many food chains are connected
 Connected relationship is a food web
 Connects each organism with all organism it eats and all the
animals that eat it
Microbes in Ecosystem
Section 5.7 in textbook
What are Microbes?
 Disease-causing virus/bacteria?
 Responsible for epidemic like small pox, black death?
 Cause of HIV (which leads to AIDS)?
Are there good/helpful microbes?
 Vast majority don’t cause disease
 Beneficial human uses of microbes:
 Bacteria
 Yeast
 Fungi
Four kinds of Microbes
 Virus
 Bacteria
 Protozoans
 Fungus
Microbes in Food
 Spoil food vs. Help recycle matter
 Break down molecules in food
 Return nutrients to the ecosystem so other organism can grow
Microbes and Disease
 In natural ecosystems disease helps control population
 Prevents one species from taking over and depleting food for
other organism
 Keeps ecosystems in balance (equilibrium)
Journal Topic #2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW7PlTaawfQ