Download Chapter 3

Ecology
Energy and Ecosystem
Pyramids
September 27, 2010
 FRQ’s
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 Begin Chapter 4 Learning Targets
 I will be doing a notebook check for 4 not
points for activities
THE NATURE OF ECOLOGY
 Ecology
is a study
of connections in
nature.

How organisms
interact with one
another and with
their nonliving
environment.
Figure 3-2
Nonliving and Living Components of
Ecosystems
 Ecosystems
consist of nonliving (abiotic) and
living (biotic) components.
Figure 3-10
Other animals
281,000
Known species
1,412,000
Insects
751,000
Fungi
69,000
Prokaryotes
4,800
Plants
248,400
Protists
57,700
Fig. 3-3, p. 52
Populations, Communities, and
Ecosystems
 Members
of a species interact in groups
called populations.
 Populations of different species living and
interacting in an area form a community.
 A community interacting with its physical
environment of matter and energy is an
ecosystem.
Biosphere
 Atmosphere

Membrane of air around the planet.
 Stratosphere

Lower portion contains ozone to filter out most of
the sun’s harmful UV radiation.
 Hydrosphere

All the earth’s water: liquid, ice, water vapor
 Lithosphere

The earth’s crust and upper mantle.
Biosphere
Carbon
cycle
Phosphorus
cycle
Nitrogen
cycle
Water
cycle
Oxygen
cycle
Heat in the environment
Heat
Heat
Heat
Fig. 3-7, p. 55
Solar
radiation
Energy in = Energy out
Reflected by
atmosphere (34% )
UV radiation
Absorbed
by ozone
Visible
Light
Absorbed
by the
earth
Radiated by
atmosphere
as heat (66%)
Lower Stratosphere
(ozone layer)
Troposphere Greenhouse
effect
Heat
Heat radiated
by the earth
Fig. 3-8, p. 55
Energy Flow in an Ecosystem: Losing
Energy in Food Chains and Webs
accordance with the 2nd law of
thermodynamics, there is a decrease in the
amount of energy available to each
succeeding organism in a food chain or web.
 In
Productivity of Producers:
The Rate Is Crucial
 Gross
primary
production
(GPP)

Rate at which an
ecosystem’s
producers
convert solar
energy into
chemical energy
as biomass.
Figure 3-20
Net Primary Production (NPP)
 NPP

= GPP – R
Rate at which
producers use
photosynthesis to
store energy minus
the rate at which they
use some of this
energy through
respiration (R).
Figure 3-21
Ocean Food Pyramid
07_06a.jpg
06_10.JPG
06_11.JPG
Energy Flow in an Ecosystem: Losing
Energy in Food Chains and Webs
 Ecological
efficiency:
percentage of
useable energy
transferred as
biomass from
one trophic level
to the next.
Figure 3-19
Heat
Tertiary
consumers
(human)
Heat
Decomposers
Heat
10
Secondary
consumers
(perch)
Heat
100
1,000
Primary
consumers
(zooplankton)
Heat
10,000
Producers
Usable energy (phytoplankton)
Available at
Each tropic level
(in kilocalories)
Fig. 3-19, p. 66
Biomass Pyramid
Numbers Pyramid
The Gaia Hypothesis:
Is the Earth Alive?
 Some
have proposed that the earth’s various
forms of life control or at least influence its
chemical cycles and other earth-sustaining
processes.


The strong Gaia hypothesis: life controls the
earth’s life-sustaining processes.
The weak Gaia hypothesis: life influences the
earth’s life-sustaining processes.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
A
GIS organizes,
stores, and analyzes
complex data
collected over broad
geographic areas.
 Allows the
simultaneous
overlay of many
layers of data.
Figure 3-33
Systems Analysis
 Ecologists
develop
mathematical and
other models to
simulate the
behavior of
ecosystems.
Figure 3-34
Have a great day everyone!