Download The Biosphere

The Biosphere
Vocabulary
Biosphere
Ecology
Population
Community
Ecosystem
Biome
Biotic factor
Abiotic factor
Autotroph
Primary producer
Heterotroph
Consumer
Food chain
Food web
Trophic level
Ecological pyramid
Biogeochemical cycle
Nitrogen fixation
Denitrification
Learning Target
• I can define and provide examples of
biosphere, biome, ecosystem, population,
species, habitat and niche.
• I can discuss biotic and abiotic factors that
affect land and aquatic biomes.
What is Ecology?
• It is the study of the interactions between
organisms and their environment
• The interaction between the biotic and
abiotic factors
Abiotic Factors
The environment’s nonliving components—
physical and chemical components that
shape the environment
Abiotic Factors
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•
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Energy source
Temperature
Water
Nutrient Availability
Energy Source
• Without a constant source of energy, living
things die!!
• What is the primary source of energy for living
things on Earth?
You Are Correct! It’s the SUN
Temperature
• Directly affects metabolism
• All living organisms have a range of temperature
in which they best operate
• At or below 0oC and above 45oC will destroy the
enzymes of most organisms.
Water
• Is essential for all life.
• Critical for most metabolic chemical
reactions
• Helps maintain body temperature
• Helps prevent dehydration
Nutrient Availability
• Nutrients are all the chemical substances
an organism needs to sustain its life.
Biotic Factors
• All of the living organisms in an area
Ecology
Levels
Of
Organization
What is the Biosphere?
• It is the areas on Earth where life is found
• It includes any place on land, in the water
or in the atmosphere where organisms live
Where are living organisms found
in the biosphere?
• Living organisms are found from about 8
km above the Earth to about 11 km deep
in the ocean
Ecosystem
• All the abiotic factors and biotic factors
found in a certain place at any time.
Community
• All the organisms living in a specific area
at a specific time
Population
• A group of individuals of the same species
living in the same area at the same time
Species
• A group of organisms so similar that they
can breed and produce fertile offspring
Habitat
• The area where an organism lives.
Niche
• The full range of physical and biological
conditions in which an organism lives and
the way in which the organism uses those
conditions.
Points to Ponder
• In your own words, can you define and
provide examples of biosphere, biome,
ecosystem, population, species, habitat
and niche.
• In your own words, can you describe biotic
and abiotic factors that affect land and
aquatic biomes and give examples of
each.
Learning Target
• I can explain how energy flows through
ecosystems in one direction, from
photosynthetic organisms to herbivores to
carnivores and decomposers.
• I can diagram the flow of energy using
food webs, food chains and pyramids of
energy, biomass and numbers.
Energy Flow
• The sun is the main
source of energy for
life on earth.
• < 1 % of all sunlight
that reaches earth is
used by living
organisms.
• What happens to the
rest?
• Most is reflected off
as heat energy.
Producers or Autotrophs
• Use sunlight or chemicals to make their
own food.
• Examples:
Photosynthesis
• 6CO2 + 6H2O
C6H12O6 + 6O2
• Performed on land by plants and in water
by algae.
Can organisms make their own
food without the aid of sunlight?
• Chemosynthesis: using chemical energy
to make carbohydrates.
• Usually performed bacteria found in harsh
environments
– Ocean vents, volcanoes, hot-acidic
environments
Consumers or heterotrophs: Must get their
energy by eating other organisms
• Herbivores
Omnivores
Decomposers
• Carnivores
Detritivores
Food Chains
Food Webs
• More complex than food chains
• A complex net of interactions among
organisms. (interdependence)
Trophic Levels
• Each location or step in a food chain or
food web represents a trophic level.
• Examples: producers, primary consumers,
secondary consumers, etc.
Ecological pyramids
• Only about ten
percent of the energy
available within a
trophic level is
transferred to
organisms at the next
higher level.
Pyramid of
Numbers
Biomass Pyramids
• Biomass and numbers
Points to Ponder
• With a partner, demonstrate that you can
create a food chain and a food web.
• With a partner, demonstrate that you
understand an ecological pyramid, a
pyramid of numbers and a biomass
pyramid
Learning Targets
• I can explain how the amount of life any
environment can support is limited by the
available matter and energy and by the
ability of ecosystems to recycle the
residue of dead organic materials.
• I can differentiate between the
biogeochemical cycles.
Cycles of matter
• Unlike energy, matter is constantly being
recycled in an ecosystem.
• Known as biogeochemical cycles
Water Cycle
Evaporation—the process by which water changes
from liquid form to atmospheric gas.
Transpiration—water evaporating from the leaves
of plants and entering the atmosphere
Condensation—water returning to a liquid state
from a gaseous state
Precipitation—water falling from the atmosphere in
the form of rain, snow or some other form of
liquid or solid.
Transpiration
• 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. Biological processes (photosynthesis,
respiration, decomposition)
2. Geochemical processes (volcanoes)
3. Biogeochemical (fossil fuels)
4. Human activity (factories, deforestation,
car exhaust)
Nitrogen Cycle
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•
•
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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
• Other soil bacteria convert nitrates in to
nitrogen gas in process called
denitrification.
Phosphorus Cycle
• Phosphorus 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
• Primary productivity is the rate at which
organic matter is created by producers.
• Nutrient limitation occurs when a single
nutrient is scarce for a particular
ecosystem and limits the growth of
organisms in that ecosystem.
Points to Ponder
• How is the amount of life any environment
can support limited by the available matter
and energy and by the ability of
ecosystems to recycle the residue of dead
organic materials?
• How would you differentiate between the
biogeochemical cycles?