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The
Biosphere
Chapter 3
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 Biotic

= living
Plants, animals, bacteria, fungus,
etc…
 Abiotic

= non-living
Rocks, water, air, temperature,
sunlight, dirt, etc..
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3-1 What is Ecology?
 Ecology
= scientific study of interactions
among organisms and between organisms
and their environment
 The biosphere contains the combined
portions of the planet in which all of life
exists, including land, water, and air, or
atmosphere.

8 kilometers above Earth's surface to as far
as 11 kilometers below the surface of the
ocean.
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Levels of Organization
 Individual
= a single organism of a
species (a species is a group of organisms
so similar to one another that they can
breed and produce fertile offspring)
 Population = groups of individuals that
belong to the same species and live in the
same area.
 Community = groups of different
populations that live together in a defined
area.
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 An
ecosystem is a collection of all
the organisms that live in a particular
place, together with their nonliving, or
physical, environment.
 A biome is a group of ecosystems
that have the same climate and
similar dominant communities.
 A biosphere = highest level = all the
biomes combined
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3–2 Energy Flow
 Autotroph
(Producer) = organism
that can capture energy from sunlight
or chemicals and use it to produce its
own food from inorganic compounds

Photoautotrophs (photosynthesis)
• Plants, protists

Chemoautotrophs (chemosynthesis)
• bacteria
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Consumers
 Heterotrophs
(consumers) =
Organisms that rely on other
organisms for their energy and food
supply
 Types of consumers:





Herbivores
Carnivores
Omnivores
Detritivores
Decomposers
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Feeding Relationships
the sun or inorganic compounds 
autotrophs (producers)  various
heterotrophs (consumers)
 from
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Food Chains
a
series of steps in which organisms
transfer energy by eating and being eaten
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Food Webs
 network
of complex interactions
formed by the feeding relationships
among the various organisms in an
ecosystem
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Trophic Levels
 step
in a food chain or
food web
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Ecological Pyramids
a
diagram that shows the relative amounts
of energy or matter contained within each
trophic level in a food chain or food web
 There are 3 different kinds of pyramids:
1.Energy
Pyramids
2.Biomass Pyramids
3.Pyramids of Numbers
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Energy Pyramid
 Shows
the relative amounts of energy
available at each trophic level.
 Organisms store about 10% of this energy;
90% is used up in life processes
 Much energy is lost as heat.
 Therefore, usually 4-6 levels in an energy
pyramid.
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Biomass Pyramid
 Represents
the amount of living organic
matter at each trophic level.
 grams of organic matter per unit area
 represents the amount of potential food
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Pyramid of Numbers
 Shows
the relative number of individual
organisms at each trophic level.
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Water Cycle
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The Carbon Cycle
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The Nitrogen Cycle
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The Phosphorus Cycle
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