Download Ecology Cycles PreAP web

Survey
yes no Was this document useful for you?
   Thank you for your participation!

* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project

Document related concepts

Timeline of astronomy wikipedia , lookup

Hypothetical types of biochemistry wikipedia , lookup

Transcript
Ecological Cycles
The Sun (and all the planets) started their lives
in a giant cloud of cold molecular gas and dust.
About 4.6 billion years ago the cloud collapsed.
As the cloud collapsed, it start spinning.
Most of the material ended up in a ball
at the center, but this was surrounded
by a flattened disk of material.
The ball at the center would eventually
form the Sun, while the disk of material
would form the planets.
The Sun is a star formed from a
solar nebula 4.6 billion years ago.
The Sun produces energy by the nuclear
fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core.
Energy is produced by nuclear fusion
during a series of steps, converting
hydrogen to helium.
Every second, 600 million tons
of hydrogen are converted into
helium in the Sun’s core.
That =
1,200,000,000,000 lbs/second
As the Sun creates more helium, it
burns a little more hydrogen. This
causes the output of the Sun to go up.
In 1.1 billion years from now, the Sun
will be 10% brighter than it is today.
The Earth’s atmosphere will dry out as the
water vapor is lost to space, never to return.
In 3.5 billion years from now, the Sun
will be 40% brighter than it is today.
It will be so hot that the oceans will boil and
that water vapor will be lost to space as well.
The ice caps will permanently melt, and life will
be unable to survive anywhere on the surface of
the Earth.
In about 6 billion years, the Sun’s core will
run out of hydrogen and become unstable
and collapse under its own weight.
Until then, life exists on earth relying on the
sun for warmth and energy used to drive
the important process of photosynthesis.

is constantly cycling through stable ecosystems.

Food chains, food webs, and ecological pyramids
all show how energy moves in only one direction
through the trophic levels of an ecosystem.




Is a simple model that scientists use to show how
matter and energy move through an ecosystem.
Is typically drawn using arrows to indicate the
direction in which energy is transferred from one
organism to another.
A portion of the energy is converted to heat at
each link.
Represents only one possible route for the
transfer of matter and energy in an ecosystem.


represent
links in the
food chain.
is a feeding
step in the
passage of
energy and
materials


Model that expresses all the possible feeding
relationships at each trophic level in a community.
Is a more natural model since most organisms
depend on more than one species for food.
Red fox
shrew
Woodpecker
Cottontail
Field
rabbit
mouse Grasshopper
insects
Fungi and bacteria
Model used to depict energy
conversions in an ecosystem.

Secondary
consumers
fox
Primary
consumers
mouse
rabbit
vole
producers
clover
dandelion
thistle
timothy
Determined by taking the average weight of organisms and
multiplying by the estimated number of organisms in the
population.
Expresses the
weight of living
material at each
trophic level.
 Matter,
in the form of nutrients,
moves through the organisms at
each trophic level of an ecosystem.
 Cannot
be replenished like the
energy from sunlight.
 Is
constantly recycled (the atoms in
your body right now could once have
been part of a dinosaur)
BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
Pathways of the vital compounds from the earth to living
organisms to the atmosphere.
The Carbon Cycle
Yellow #’s are natural fluxes, red #’s are human sources in
billions of tons of carbon/year. White #’s are stored carbon.
The Nitrogen Cycle
Bacteria on the roots of some plants change nitrogen to nitrates
that plants can use.
All plants use nitrates as a source of nitrogen to make proteins.
Animals use nitrogen from plants to make protein.
Plants and animals die, and nitrogen goes back into the soil as
nitrates.
The Phosphorus Cycle



Any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the existence,
numbers, reproduction, or distribution of organisms.
Abiotic factors – pH, light, salinity, water, temperature,
macronutrients, and micronutrients
Biotic limiting factors – predation and competition
 Is
the ability to withstand
fluctuations in biotic and abiotic
environmental factors.
 Some species can tolerate conditions
that another species cannot.
 Limits of tolerance are reached when
an organism receives too much or
too little of some environmental
factor.
Density-independent factors
 Affect all populations, regardless of density
 are mostly abiotic
 temperature
 Storms
 Floods
 Drought
 Habitat disruption



Important for the health of natural populations.
Keeps the population size within the limits of
the available resources (young, old, or injured
are caught)

Competition for resources such as food,
water, and territory increases and can
become fierce when population size increases.

results in a decrease in the population size.

Is a density-dependent factor
 As
a populations increase in size,
individual animals begin to exhibit a
variety of symptoms – aggression
– decrease in parental care
– decreased fertility, and
– decreased resistance to disease
 These
symptoms can lead to a
decrease in population size


Is any part of the natural environment
used by humans for their benefit.
Includes:
– Soil
– Water
– Crops
– Wildlife
– Oil
– Gas
– minerals

A natural resource that is replaced or
recycled by a natural process.

Includes:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Nitrogen
Carbon
Plants
Animals
Food crops
Sunlight
Soil
Water
oxygen


Natural resources that are available in
limited amounts and can’t be replaced or
recycled by natural processes.
Includes:
– Metals (aluminum, tin, iron, silver, gold,
uranium, copper)
– Some minerals (Phosphorus)
– Fossil fuels - substances made up the remains
of organisms that have been buried
underground for millions of years (coal, oil,
natural gas)


Is the disappearance of a
species when the last of its
members dies.
May result from natural
processes, but most have
resulted from human
activities like:
– Hunting
– Building cities and housing
development
– Destruction of forests to
create farmland
moa
Population of
species that begins
to decline rapidly.
 African elephant
 Bald eagles
 Sea otters
 Grizzly bears
 Loggerhead turtles
 And much more.

Some of the reptiles on the threatened list in TX.
The
Texas
Horned
Lizard
The
Texas
Indigo
Snake
The
Texas
Tortoise

A species whose
numbers become so
low that extinction is
possible.
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Black rhino
Manatees
Bison
Florida panther
California condor
Koala Bear
Bengal Tiger
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/09
/25/endangered.list/index.html
http://www.endangeredspecie.com/


Is the contamination of
any part of the
environment – air, water,
or land – by any excess
of waste materials.
Pollutant – is a waste
product that causes
pollution (nitrogen – is
needed for life, but it can
become a pollutant)



May be the result of volcanic eruptions, forest
fires, evaporation of volatile chemicals, and
burning of fossil fuels.
Particulates – solid particles of soot that can
harm living organisms directly , or change the
environment in ways that are later harmful to life
(carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen
oxides, sulfur oxides, hydrocarbons)
Smog – form of air pollution that hangs over
many of the world’s largest cities (consists of
particulates, sulfur dioxide, and other chemicals)