Ecosystem Functioning, and Biogeochemical Cycles

Vanda Mendonca, PhDIntegrative Ecologist

June 2014

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_%28biology%29#Summary

Linnaeus1735

Haeckel1866

Chatton1925

Copeland

1938

Whittaker

1969

Woese et al.1977

Woese et al.

1990

Cavalier-Smith

1993

Cavalier-Smith1998

2 kingdoms3

kingdoms 2 empires4

kingdoms5

kingdoms 6 kingdoms 3 domains 8 kingdoms 6 kingdoms

(not treated) Protista

Prokaryota Monera MoneraEubacteria Bacteria Eubacteria

BacteriaArchaebacteria Archaea Archaebacteria

Fungi

Protoctista Protista Protista

Eucarya

ArchezoaProtozoa

Protozoa

Chromista Chromista

Vegetabilia Plantae Plantae

Plantae Plantae Plantae Plantae

Fungi Fungi Fungi

Animalia Animalia Animalia Animalia Animalia Animalia Animalia

Scientific Classification Systems

Ecosystem

• An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (biotic factors) in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (abiotic factors), interacting as a system

• These biotic and abiotic components are regarded as linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem

Types of Ecosystem• Terrestrial• Forest: Tropical, Temperate, and Taiga/Boreal/Subarctic• Desert: Dunes, Oases, Sabkha, Alkaline Soils• Grassland; Savanna, and Prairie• Mountain• Aquatic: Marine (Benthic, Demersal/Epibenthic, Pelagic,

Supratidal, Intertidal/Littoral, Sublitoral, Abyssal, Coral Reefs, Mangrove Forests, Estuaries, Lagoons, Creeks, Khawrs, Marshes, Sabkha, Hydrothermal Vents), and Freshwater (Lentic, Lotic, Wetlands, Wadis)Read more: http://www.ecosystem.org/types-of-ecosystems

Primary Production – slide 1

• Primary production is the synthesis of organic compounds from atmospheric or aqueous carbon dioxide

• It principally occurs through the process of photosynthesis, which uses light as its source of energy, but it also occurs through chemosynthesys, which uses the oxidation or reduction of chemical compounds as its source of energyRead more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_production

Primary Production – slide 2

Representation of Earth’s Primary Production

Source: Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere

Secondary Production

• Secondary production is the generation of biomass of heterotrophic (consumer) organisms in a system

• This is driven by the transfer of organic material between trophic levels, and represents the quantity of new tissue created through the use of assimilated food Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_production

Decomposers

• Decomposers or saprotrophs are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms, and in doing so carry out the natural process of decomposion

• Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use organic substrances to get their energy, carbon and nutrients for growth and development

• Decomposers can break down cells of other organisms using biochemical reactions that convert the prey tissue into metabolically useful chemical products, without need for internal digestion

• Decomposers use dead organisms and non-living organic compounds as their food sourceRead more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decomposers

Ecological Pyramid

• An ecological pyramid (also trophic pyramid or energy pyramid) is a graphical representation designed to show the biomass or biomass productivity at each trophic level in a given ecosystem

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_pyramid

Community Ecology

• In Ecology, a community or Biocenosis is an assemblage or associations of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area and in a particular time

• Trophic Relationships (Competion, Parasitism, Predation, Symbiosis) are the basis of a Food Web of an Ecological Community

• Different trophic levels are different levels in an Ecological PyramidsRead more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_%28ecology%29

Food Web – slide 1

• A food web (or food cycle) depicts feeding connections (what-eats-what) in an ecological community and hence is also referred to as a consumer-resource system

• Hence, energy flows and nutrients transfer along trophic links Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_web

Food Web – slide 2

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FoodWeb.jpg

Biogeochemical Cycles• Biogeochemical cycles are cycles in which

bubstances are exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere (soil), geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth

• These cycles comprise a sequence of events that are key to making the Earth capable of sustaining life; it describes the movement of a chemical element as it is recycled and reused throughout the biosphere Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biogeochemical_cycles

Water Cycle

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cycle

Carbon Cycle

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycle

Nitrogen Cycle

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_cycle

Phosphorous Cycle

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus_cycle

Oxygen Cycle

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_cycle

Rock Cycle

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_cycle

If you are still looking for further definitions then search here:

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