The Biosphere

VocabularyEcologyBiosphereSpeciesPopulationCommunityEcosystemBiomeProducerConsumerAutotrophHeterotrophDecomposerHabitat

NicheFood ChainFood WebTrophic LevelEcological PyramidBiogeochemical CyclesEvaporationTranspirationNitrogen FixationDenitrificationWater CycleNitrogen CycleCarbon Cycle

Learning Target

• I can define and provide examples of biosphere, biome, ecosystem, population, species, habitat and niche.

• I can discuss biotic and abiotic factors that affect land and aquatic biomes.

What is Ecology?

• It is the study of the interactions between organisms and their environment

• The interaction between the biotic and abiotic factors

Abiotic Factors

The environment’s nonliving components—physical and chemical components that shape the environment

Abiotic Factors

• Energy source

• Temperature

• Water

• Nutrient Availability

Energy Source• Without a constant source of energy, living

things die!!

• What is the primary source of energy for living things on Earth?

You Are Correct! It’s the SUN

Temperature

• Directly affects metabolism• All living organisms have a range of temperature

in which they best operate• At or below 0oC and above 45oC will destroy the

enzymes of most organisms.

Water

• Is essential for all life.• Critical for most metabolic chemical

reactions• Helps maintain body temperature• Helps prevent dehydration

Nutrient Availability

• Nutrients are all the chemical substances an organism needs to sustain its life.

Biotic Factors

• All of the living organisms in an area

Ecology

Levels

Of

Organization

What is the Biosphere?

• It is the areas on Earth where life is found

• It includes any place on land, in the water or in the atmosphere where organisms live

Where are living organisms found in the biosphere?

• Living organisms are found from about 8 km above the Earth to about 11 km deep in the ocean

Ecosystem

• All the abiotic factors and biotic factors found in a certain place at any time.

Community

• All the organisms living in a specific area at a specific time

Population

• A group of individuals of the same species living in the same area at the same time

Species

• A group of organisms so similar that they can breed and produce fertile offspring

Habitat

• The area where an organism lives.

Niche

• The full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions.

Points to Ponder

• In your own words, can you define and provide examples of biosphere, biome, ecosystem, population, species, habitat and niche.

• In your own words, can you describe biotic and abiotic factors that affect land and aquatic biomes and give examples of each.

Learning Target

• I can explain how energy flows through ecosystems in one direction, from photosynthetic organisms to herbivores to carnivores and decomposers.

• I can diagram the flow of energy using food webs, food chains and pyramids of energy, biomass and numbers.

Energy Flow• The sun is the main

source of energy for life on earth.

• < 1 % of all sunlight that reaches earth is used by living organisms.

• What happens to the rest?

• Most is reflected off as heat energy.

Producers or Autotrophs

• Use sunlight or chemicals to make their own food.

• Examples:

Photosynthesis

• 6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2

• Performed on land by plants and in water by algae.

Can organisms make their own food without the aid of sunlight?

• Chemosynthesis: using chemical energy to make carbohydrates.

• Usually performed bacteria found in harsh environments– Ocean vents, volcanoes, hot-acidic

environments

Consumers or heterotrophs: Must get their energy by eating other organisms

• Herbivores Omnivores

Decomposers

• Carnivores Detritivores

• Herbivores Omnivores

Decomposers

• Carnivores Detritivores

Food Chains

Food Webs• More complex than food chains

• A complex net of interactions among organisms. (interdependence)

Trophic Levels• Each location or step in a food chain or

food web represents a trophic level.

• Examples: producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, etc.

Ecological pyramids• Only about ten

percent of the energy available within a trophic level is transferred to organisms at the next higher level.

Pyramid of Numbers

Biomass Pyramids• Biomass and numbers

Points to Ponder

• With a partner, demonstrate that you can create a food chain and a food web.

• With a partner, demonstrate that you understand an ecological pyramid, a pyramid of numbers and a biomass pyramid

Learning Targets

• I can explain how the amount of life any environment can support is limited by the available matter and energy and by the ability of ecosystems to recycle the residue of dead organic materials.

• I can differentiate between the biogeochemical cycles.

Cycles of matter• Unlike energy, matter is constantly being

recycled in an ecosystem.

• Known as biogeochemical cycles

Water Cycle

Evaporation—the process by which water changes from liquid form to atmospheric gas.

Transpiration—water evaporating from the leaves of plants and entering the atmosphere

Condensation—water returning to a liquid state from a gaseous state

Precipitation—water falling from the atmosphere in the form of rain, snow or some other form of liquid or solid.

Transpiration• The release of water from

the leaves of plants.

• Water is exchanged through

a plant’s stomata.

• Evaporation is the second

process that releases water

into the atmosphere.

Carbon Cycle1. Biological processes (photosynthesis,

respiration, decomposition)

2. Geochemical processes (volcanoes)

3. Biogeochemical (fossil fuels)

4. Human activity (factories, deforestation, car exhaust)

Nitrogen Cycle• All organisms need nitrogen to live.• Most abundant gas in atmosphere (80%)• Nitrogen gas is unusable for plants• Must be “fixed” or changed into the nitrate

or nitrite form by bacteria in the soil. Known as nitrogen fixation

• Other soil bacteria convert nitrates in to nitrogen gas in process called denitrification.

Phosphorus Cycle• Phosphorus is important in the production

of DNA and RNA.

• Unlike water,oxygen, and nitrogen, phosphorus is NOT found in the atmosphere. Found in rocks and minerals.

Nutrient Limitation• Primary productivity is the rate at which

organic matter is created by producers.

• Nutrient limitation occurs when a single nutrient is scarce for a particular ecosystem and limits the growth of organisms in that ecosystem.

Points to Ponder

• How is the amount of life any environment can support limited by the available matter and energy and by the ability of ecosystems to recycle the residue of dead organic materials?

• How would you differentiate between the biogeochemical cycles?