Chapter 2: Principles in Ecology

1. Chapter 2: Principles in Ecology

2. What living things are found in and around your school? 2. What nonliving things are found in your school? 3. Into what large groups are the students in your school divided? 4. Into what smaller groups are these large groups divided? 5. Are these groups ever divided into even smaller groups? If so, what are these groups? An ecosystem is a collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place, together with their nonliving, or physical, environment. Within an ecosystem, there are several levels of organization. Your school and its grounds are similar to an ecosystem. 2-1: What is ecology WARM UP

3. Interactions and Interdependence Levels of Organization C. Ecological Methods 1. Observing 2. Experimenting 3. Modeling Ecology = The scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment, or surroundings. EQ #1:What is Ecology?

4. EQ #2: How are the different levels of organization of life related? • Species (individual) = can breed and produce fertile offspring • Population = groups of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area. • Community = different populations that live together in a defined area. • Ecosystem = a collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place, together with their nonliving, or physical, environment. • Biome = A group of ecosystems that have the same climate and dominant communities. • Biosphere = Contains the combined portions of the planet in which all of life exists, including land, water, and air or atmosphere.

6. Observing Experimenting Modeling All of these methods rely on the application of scientific methods to guide ecological inquiry. EQ#3: What types of ecological Methods do ecologists use to study the living world?

7. Check for Understanding • List the six different levels of organization that ecologists study, in order from smallest to largest. • Describe the three basic methods of ecological research. • Identify two ways in which you interact with each of the three parts of the biosphere every day: land, water, and air.

8. Energy flows in one direction through an ecosystem, from the sun or inorganic compounds to producers (organisms that can make their own food) through various levels to consumers (organisms that rely on other organisms for food). Your body gets the energy and materials it needs for growth and repair from the foods you eat. Make a list of five foods that you like to eat. Indicate whether the food comes from a plant (producer) or an animal (consumer). Like many birds, chickens eat grains, which are seeds. Where do seeds come from? Meat comes from beef cattle. What do cattle eat? Construct a diagram showing how one of your favorite foods obtains its energy. Include as many levels as you can. 2-2 : Energy Flow WARM UP

9. EQ #4: How does energy flow through the biosphere? • Sunlight is the main energy source for life on Earth. • Some types of organisms rely on the energy stored in inorganic chemical compounds

10. Energy Flow Through the Biosphere • Autotrophs = Use energy from the environment to make their own food. (Producers) • Ex: plants, some algae and some bacteria. • Photosynthesis = Adds oxygen to the environment and remove carbon dioxide. Glucose is also produced. • Chemosynthesis = when organisms use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates.

11. Consumers • Organisms that rely on other organisms for their energy and food supply • Heterotrophs (consumers)

12. Consumers: • Herbivores = eat only plants • Carnivores = eat animals • Omnivores = eat both plants and animals • Detritivores = eat plant and animal remains and other dead matter (detritus) • Decomposers = breaks down organic matter

13. Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction Sun or inorganic compounds  producers  consumers Food chains = show one-way flow of energy Food webs = links food chains Trophic levels = steps in food chains or food webs. EQ #5: What happens to the energy in an ecosystem when one organisms eats another?

15. Energy Pyramids • step = trophic level. • Show energy movement through the environment. • Only 10% available to next level Energy decreases as you go up the pyramid

16. Draw this pyramid (Omnivore) Heterotroph (Carnivore) (Herbivore) (Autotroph)

17. Pyramid of Numbers Shows the relative number of individual organisms at each trophic level. Energy Pyramid Shows the relative amount of energy available at each trophic level. Organisms use about 10 percent of this energy for life processes. The rest is lost as heat. Biomass Pyramid Represents the amount of living organic matter at each trophic level. Typically, the greatest biomass is at the base of the pyramid.

18. Figure 54.13 A pyramid of numbers Why does the number of organisms decrease as you go up the pyramid?

19. Figure 54.14 Food energy available to the human population at different trophic levels Why must humans consume more food?

20. Check for Understanding: • What are the two main forms of energy that power living systems? • Briefly describe the flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem • What proportion of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next in an ecosystem?

21. 5 pts. The food web must contain at least five food chains consisting of a producer, a primary consumer, and a secondary consumer. 5 pts. Each consumer must be labeled as an herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, or decomposer. 5 pts. At least one predator-prep relationship must be shown. 5 pts. Five abiotic factors (non-living) also must be included and labeled. 5 pts. You will need to explain your poster to the class in oral presentations. FOOD WEB PRESENTATION 25 Pts

22. 2-3 Cycles of Matter: • EQ: How does matter cycle among the living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem? • EQ: What would happen to a living system that was nutrient deficient? • How does the availability of nutrients affect the productivity of ecosystems?

23. How many times have you had to change your plans because of rain? It probably didn’t help if someone tried to cheer you up by saying, “But we really need the rain.” However, rain is important. If it didn’t rain, how would living things on land get water? When rain falls on the ground, it either soaks into the soil or runs across the surface of the soil. When rainwater runs across the land, what body of water might collect the rain? From here, where might the water flow? After the rain, the sun comes out and the land dries. Where does the water that had been on the land go? Construct a diagram that would illustrate all the places a molecule of water might go. Begin with a raindrop and end with a cloud. It’s Raining, It’s Pouring

24. Recycling in the Biosphere: • Unlike the one-way flow of energy, matter is recycled within and between ecosystems. • Biological systems do not use up matter, but transform it.

25. Organic Nutrients- CHNOP Every living organism needs nutrients to build tissues and carry out essential life functions. Like water, nutrients are passed between organisms and the environment through biochemical cycles. Video clip-http://www.unitedstreaming.com Water Cycle Carbon Cycle Nitrogen Cycle Phosphorus Cycle Nutrient Cycles:

26. Evaporation Transpiration TheWaterCycle All living things require water to survive. Where does it all come from? Condensation Precipitation Runoff Seepage Root Uptake It moves between the ocean, atmosphere, and land. This figure shows how water molecules can change forms and be used through evaporation (change from liquid to gas) and transpiration (by evaporating from the leaves of plants). Go to Section:

27. Biological processes, such as photosynthesis, respiration, and decomposition of plants and animal Geochemical processes, such as the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas to the atmosphere by volcanoes Mixed biogeochemical processes, such as the burial of carbon-rich remains of organisms and their conversion into coal and petroleum (fossil fuels) by the pressure of the overlying earth Human activity, including mining, the burning of fossil fuels, and the cutting and burning of forests. The Carbon Cycle:

28. The Carbon Cycle CO2 in Atmosphere CO2 in Ocean

29. Nitrogen Cycle Is driven primarily by the activities of unicellular organisms in the soil and oceans. 1. Nitrogen is in the atmosphere all the time. 2. Bacteria change the nitrogen gas into nitrates (ammonium), which is a kind of natural fertilizer taken in by the roots of plants and trees and used to build plant protein. This process of change is called nitrogen fixation. 3. Animals then eat the plants with protein in them 4. Animal and plant waste then releases protein into the soil through decomposition. 5. Finally, more kinds of bacteria break down plant protein to a form that releases nitrogen back into the atmosphere. This process is called denitrification

30. The Nitrogen Cycle N2 in Atmosphere NO3- and NO2- NH3

31. Phosphorus Cycle • Phosphorus is essential to living organisms because it forms part of important life-sustaining molecules such as DNA and RNA. • Phosphorus does not enter the atmosphere like oxygen, carbon and nitrogen • phosphorus remains mostly on land in rock and soil minerals, and in ocean sediments

32. When plants absorb phosphate from the soil or from water, the plants bind the phosphate into organic compounds. Organic phosphate moves through the food web, from producers to consumers, and to the rest of the ecosystem. Phosphorus Cycle

33. Nutrient Limitation • Primary productivity – rate at which organic matter is created by producers • Controlled by the amount of available nutrients • Limiting nutrient – when an ecosystem is limited by a single nutrient that is scarce or cycles very slowly.

34. Checkpoint!!!! 1. How does the way tat matter flows through an ecosystem differ from the way that energy flows? 2. Why do living organisms need nutrients? 3. Describe the path of nitrogen through its biogeochemical cycle. 4. Explain how a nutrient can be a limiting factor in an ecosystem.