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Ecology Review

Ecology Review. Living things do not live in vacuums, their daily lives are based on _interactions_ with both _living_ and _nonliving_ things. What is an ecosystem? Groups of organisms and their physical environment. There are two main components of an ecosystem:.

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Ecology Review

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  1. Ecology Review • Living things do not live in vacuums, their daily lives are based on _interactions_ with both _living_ and _nonliving_ things. • What is an ecosystem? • Groups of organisms and their physical environment

  2. There are two main components of an ecosystem: • __ Biotic(living) _ & _ Abiotic(nonliving) __ • Descriptions: • populations of inorganic nutrients, • organisms. physical features, water, temperature, and wind.

  3. Biotic Components: A Closer Look • Autotrophs are producers that produce food for themselves and for consumers. • How do autotrophs make food? • Photosynthesis and chemosynthesis • Heterotrophs are consumers that take in premade food.

  4. Biotic components

  5. Consumers Vocabulary: • Herbivores – animals that eat plants • Carnivores – animals that eat other animals • Omnivores – animals that eat plants and animals • Decomposers - bacteria and fungi, that break down dead organic waste. • Detritus - partially decomposed organic matter in the soil and water; beetles, earthworms, and termites are detritus feeders.

  6. Consumers

  7. Consumer Levels • Primary consumer – anorganism that gets its energy from plants (producers) • Secondary consumer – anorganism that gets its energy from primary consumers • Tertiary consumer – carnivores that eat other carnivores; a top-level consumer, usually the top predator in the food chain

  8. Energy Flow • What is energy flow? • The movement of energy through the organisms in an ecosystem • What direction does energy flow through an ecosystem? • Sun  Producers  Various levels of consumers

  9. Energy Flow • As energy flows from _autotrophs_ (producers) to _heterotrophs_ (consumers) much of the energy is lost before the consumer can use it. • In what forms is energy lost? • Heat • Initial energy from an ecosystem comes from a consistent supply of _solar_ energy • **Remember energy in an ecosystem may be transferred or converted but will not be created nor destroyed**

  10. Energy balances

  11. Nature of an ecosystem

  12. Food chains vs. food webs • What is a food chain? • A diagram that links organisms together by who eats whom • Starts with _plant life_ and ends with an _animal_. • Most food chains have no more than _4 or 5_ links • Arrows show the direction _energy is flowing_ • EXAMPLE: grass zebra lion

  13. Food chain

  14. FOOD WEB • Most consumers feed on and are eaten by _more than one_ other consumer • What is a food web? • A combination of several food chains showing all of the possible energy pathways • What is a trophic level? • All of the organisms that feed at a particular link of the food chain/web

  15. Grazing food web – • The upper portion of a food web based on a living plant as the producer • Detrital food web – • The lower portion of a food web based on detritus

  16. Forest food webs

  17. Ecological Pyramids • Why are food chains so short? • Only about 10% of energy is useable from one trophic level to the next • The number organisms drastically _decreases_ as you go up in level of a food chain • What is an ecological pyramid? • A series of blocks representing the biomass of particular organisms on a particular trophic level • What is biomass? • The amount of living material in the population of an organism

  18. Ecological pyramid

  19. Biochemical cycles • What are biochemical cycles? • The path by which important nutrients/molecules travel through an ecosystem. • 3 Important Cycles: • Water Cycle • Carbon Cycle • Nitrogen Cycle

  20. The Water Cycle • Water movement: • Land  Atmosphere: • Liquid  Gas • Evaporation from rivers, lakes and oceans • Transpiration from plants • Atmosphere  Land • Gas  Liquid • Precipitation over land and bodies of water • Runoff forms bodies of water (lakes, rivers, oceans) • Ground water seepage into aquifers

  21. The water cycle

  22. The Carbon Cycle • Carbon Movement: • Land/Water  Atmosphere • Respiration • Combustion • Atmosphere Land/Water • Photosynthesis • Dissolved CO2 • ** Carbon is stored as _fossil fuels__ from decaying organisms.**

  23. The carbon cycle

  24. The Nitrogen Cycle • Nitrogen Movement: • Nitrogen Fixation  _Bacteria_ found in legume roots converts N2 gas into _Ammonia (NH4)_ • _Decomposers_ break down waste and organic remains into _Ammonia (NH4)_ • Nitrification  bacteria convert ammonia into _Nitrite (NO2)_ and _Nitrate (NO3)_ to be used by _plants_ • Denitrification  Bacteria converts _ammonia_ back into _Nitrogen gas (N2)

  25. The nitrogen cycle

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