Download 4/20/2009 1 E h` Lif S S Earth`s Life

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Chapter 3: Outline
Chapter 3
Nature’s Building
Blocks
E h’ Life-Support
Earth’s
Lif S
S
Systems
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Matter
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En
Energy
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Laws of nature
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Earth’s major
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components
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Ecology and biodiversity
Organisms
Components and
structure
Species interactions
Biomes
Change
Human impacts
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Nature’s Building Blocks
Nature’s Building Blocks
Matter
 2 chemical forms: i) elements; ii) compounds
organic
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Ecosystems
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inorganic
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the Earth is a “closed
closed system”
system for matter
matter, which is of
both “high quality” and “low quality”
- low quality matter: little potential use as a resource; it
is either dispersed or diluted (in oceans or
atmospheres) or too far underground
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Atoms
Ions
Protons
Neutrons
Electrons
- high quality matter: usually concentrated and
organized; found at or near the Earth's surface (such
as coal) and has high resource potential
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Nature’s Building Blocks
Energy
 2 forms: i) kinetic; ii) potential
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Energy, the ability or capacity to do work, is of two
qualities:
- high quality energy: high velocity wind or coal,
natural gas energy
- low quality energy: dispersed and of little useful
value for work (ocean energy)
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Nature’s Building Blocks
Nature’s Building Blocks
Energy
Physical and chemical changes
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Law of conservation of matter
- matter may change form, but it can neither be created
nor destroyed (consider the residue from incineration)
First law of thermodynamics
- energy may be changed or moved from place to place,
but during physical or chemical change it can neither be
created nor destroyed
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Earth’s Major Components
Nature’s Building Blocks
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Second law of thermodynamics
- each change in energy, results in degradation
to less useful forms
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- consider a single incandescent light bulb: 95% of the
energy transmitted to light the bulb is dispersed heat
(low quality energy) ; only 5% is used for light
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- Entropy: measure of disorder
(high quality energy has low entropy)
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Ecology
Earth’s Major Components
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Atmosphere
-troposphere
-stratosphere
- ozone layer
Biosphere
H d
Hydrosphere
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Lithosphere
- crust
- mantle
- outer core
- inner core
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Energy balance
okios + logos
- study of interactions of living (biotic) organisms with
one another and with their nonliving (abiotic) environment
of matter and energy
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Levels of
f organization:
g
biome – the collection of ecosystem environments
ecosystem – grasslands, wetlands (multiple communities)
community – alpine meadow (multiple species)
population – group of individuals of the same species
organism – a single member of a species
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Biodiversity
3 classifications of biodiversity:
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species biodiversity
- the number of different species and their relative
abundance
ecological
g
diversity
y
- the variety of biological communities that interact
with one another and with their non-living
environments
human cultural
- variety of human cultures that represent our
adaptability in the face of changing conditions
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Components and Structure of Ecosystems
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Interspecific competition
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Competitive exclusion principle
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Law of tolerance
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Threshold effect
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Limiting factor principle
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Predator-prey relationships
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Indicator species and keystone species
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Ecological niche
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Ecological niche: the role an
organism plays within the
structure and function of an
ecosystem
Fundamental niche: the full range
of factors each species could use
if there were no competition from
other species
Exotic species
Resource partitioning: division of
scarce resources in order that
species with similar requirements
can use that resource in different
ways
Keystone species
Medicinal species
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Energy flows in ecosystems
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Matter Cycling in Ecosystems
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Nutrient cycles
- biogeochemical cycles; the means by which nutrient
elements and their compounds cycle continuously through
the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere
5 main
i nutrient
t i t cycles
l (d
(driven
i
b
by solar
l energy and
d
gravity)
 carbon cycle
 nitrogen cycle
 phosphorous cycle
 hydrologic cycle
 oxygen cycle
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Biomes
A “biome” is a kind of ecosystem
- large, relatively distinct region
Ch
Characteristic
i i determinants
d
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climate
precipitation
soil
organisms
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Major Biomes
Terrestrial
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Aquatic
Tundra
Taiga
Temperate forests,
woodlands,shrublands,
dl d h bl d
grasslands
Tropical forests,
grasslands
Deserts
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Ocean
coastal, benthic, pelagic
Freshwater
littoral, limnetic zones
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The Constancy of Change
The Constancy of Change
The only “constancy” in nature is change a “nonchanging system” is likely a dead system!
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Population dynamics
- biotic potential: the maximum rate at which a
population can increase (exponential under ideal
conditions)
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carrying capacity:
the highest
population that can
be maintained for an
i d fi it period
indefinite
i d of
f
time by a particular
environment
environmental resistance: limits set by the
environment that prevent populations from increasing
indefinitely at an exponential rate
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The Constancy of Change
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environmental
resistance: limits set
by the environment
that prevent
populations
l
from
f
increasing indefinitely
at an exponential rate
Biological evolution, adaptation, and natural
selection
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biological evolution: changes in inherited features of
a population from one generation to the next is the
driving force of adaptation to environmental change
adaptation: genetically controlled characteristics
(e.g. coloration camouflage) that enhance the chances
of survival and reproduction
natural selection: certain organisms whose biological
characteristics make them ‘more fit’ to their
environment are better represented by descendents
in future generations
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Human Impacts on Ecosystems
The Constancy of Change
Speciation and extinction
- speciation: formation of two or more species from one
as a result of “divergent” natural selection
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g
extinction
background
- extinction
humans as part of ecosystems
Features of living systems:
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interdependence, diversity, resilience, adaptability,
unpredictability, limits
mass extinction
Ecological succession
- primary
- secondary
- climax
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Principle of connectedness:
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Working with nature
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Examples of human impacts
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