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Transcript
Ecosystems and the Biosphere Energy transfer All organisms need energy to carry out essential functions – growth, movement, maintenance, repair, and reproduction In ecosystems, energy flows from sun to autotrophs to organisms that eat autotrophs to organisms that feed on other organisms. Amount of energy ecosystem receives and the amount. transferred from organism to organism have an effect on the ecosystem’s structure. Producers Autotrophs –include plants, some protists and bacteria; they all manufacture their own food Most are photosynthetic - use solar energy to produce food (use abiotic factors to obtain food) Some bacteria carry out chemosynthesis – they produce food by using energy from inorganic molecules Biomass – measure of the total dry mass of organisms in a given area or ecosystem Producers add biomass to an ecosystem by making organic molecules Only energy stored as biomass is available to other organisms in ecosystem Consumers All animals, most protests, all fungi, and many bacteria are heterotrophs (cannot manufacture their own food) Get energy by eating other organisms or organic wastes Consume energy by consuming organic molecules made by other organisms Herbivores eat producers (deer, cows, zooplankton) Carnivores eat other consumers (lions, eagles, snakes, praying mantises) Omnivores eat both producers and consumers (bears) Detritivores eat “garbage” of ecosystem – organisms that have recently dies, fallen leaves and branches, animal wastes (vulture, bacteria and fungi - decomposers) Decomposers – cause decay by breaking down complex molecules in dead tissue and wastes into simpler molecules o Some molecules released during decay are absorbed by decomposers and some are returned to the soil or water o Actions of decomposers makes nutrients contained within the dead bodies and wastes of organisms available to autotrophs o Process of decomposition recycles chemical nutrients Community Ecology Five types of Symbioses or interactions among species: 1. Predation – one individual captures, kills, and consumes another individual (prey) o Influences where and how individuals live by determining their relationship within the food web o Effective regulator of population size Plant – Herbivore Interaction o Animals that eat plants are herbivores o Plants have developed adaptations that protect then from being eaten – sharp thorns, spines, sticky hairs, tough leaves, chemical defenses that are poisonous, irritating, or bad tasting 2. Parasitism – one individual is harmed and the other individual benefits o Parasite – feeds on another individual (host) o Does not usually kill the other individual, only feeds on it o Example – ticks, fleas, lice, mosquitoes 3. Competition – results from niche overlap (use of the same limited resource by two or more species) o Some plants species release toxins into the soil that prevent other species from growing nearby, restricting the space of the other species 4. Mutualism – cooperative relationship in which both species get some benefit o Some relationships are so close, that one cannot survive without the other o Example: pollination – bees, butterflies, bats, and birds carry pollen to other plants 5. Commensalism – one species benefits and the other is not affected o Example: small insects and lizards are forced out of hiding by the movement of buffalo and egrets (bird) nearby feed on these animals – the buffalo are just gazing and are neither harmed nor benefit from this interaction