Download Ecosystems & Energy

Ecology & Energy
ECOLOGY
• Study of
living
organisms
and their
interactions
with the non/
living
environment
History
Made up of Biotic
Things: Living
• Ernst Haeckel,
1800’s
• Eco = “house”
• ology = “study
of”
And Abiotic Things:
Not Living
Case Study: Easter Island
1) List all of
the env.
Problems
2) What are
the
lessons
learned?
Areas of Ecology
• Organisms
• Populations
• Communities
• Ecosystems
• Biosphere
Organism
POPULATION
POPULATION
POPULATION
Community
Ecosystem
Inhabitants of
Ecosystems
• Orgs adapted to a specific set
environmental conditions, through
evolution (natural selection)
Charles
Darwin
Peppered Moths of
England
Chesapeake Bay
Ecosystem
• Where Potomac
River meets Atlantic
Ocean.
• 1 Ecosystem, 3
Communities
Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Chesapeake Communities
1) Potomac River = orgs adapted to
fresh water, very low salinity
Bull Shark in
Potomac River
Chesapeake Communities
2) Estuary (place where salt and fresh
water meet)
• Brackish (salt marsh): orgs adapted to
low salinity (salt concentration)
Chesapeake
Estuary
Chesapeake Communities
3) Atlantic Ocean:
Salt Water, high
salinity
All Ecosystems Need Energy!
• Comes from the Sun!
• Energy: ability to do work!
Potential vs. Kinetic Energy
• Stored energy
• Ex: Water
behind a dam
Hoover Dam
• Energy due to
motion
• Ex: Light, ball
rolling
Thermodynamics:
the Study of Energy
Transformations
1st Law of Thermodynamics
• Energy
cannot be
created nor
destroyed
• May change
from one
form to
another
Ex: Solar Energy 
Chemical Energy
2nd Law of Thermodynamics
• No rxn is 100% efficient  lose energy
• Systems spontaneously increase entropy
(disorder)
Gaia Hypothesis
• James Lovelock!!
• All orgs and non-living factors on Earth
are connected.
• Self-regulating system which strives to
maintain homeostasis
Earth’s Layers
• Crust: Top layer.
• 2 types: Oceanic &
Continental
• Oceanic crust:
thickness of 4-7
km.
• At bottom of ocean.
• Formed by magma
leaks.
Continental Crust
• Continental
crust: 20-40 km
thick
• Less dense
(lighter) than
oceanic crust.
• We live on it!
Mantle
• Mantle: below
crust
• Rocks are a
bendable solid
(hot).
• Where magma
comes from.
• Never drilled
there.
Lava
Core
• Made of Nickel and Iron
• HOT!
• Gives earth magnetic
poles.
• Inner core: solid metal.
• Outer core: surrounds
inner, is liquid metal.
Core’s Magnetic
Field
Alfred Wegener
• German Alfred
Wegener noticed world
continents fit together
like a puzzle.
• Called puzzle
Pangaea.
• Said that continents
had moved over time.
1st Phase:
Pangaea
2nd Phase: Laurasia
and Gondwana
Lithosphere: AKA Crust
• Lithosphere: Crust
and top part of mantle
• Is broken into parts 
plates.
• Move 1-16 cm/yr,
move in all directions.
• Plates: convergent,
divergent, transform
Plate Boundaries in
Yellow
Plate Tectonics (Plate Handout)
• Movement of plates (2-20 cm per yr)
• Divergent plates: 2 plates moving apart
from each other  forms new plates,
volcanoes
• Convergent plates: 2 plates moving
toward each other  forms mountains
• Transform plates: 2 plates slide past
each other  makes earthquakes