1.1, 1.2 Global Interactions (Part 1) – Interactions in the Biosphere Human interactions through the use of energy affect environmental sustainability

1. The biosphere refers to a thin layer of air (atmosphere), land (lithosphere) and water (hydrosphere) near the Earth’s surface a. The biosphere is populated by approximately 13 million different species of living things including man

2. The biosphere can be divide into smaller regions of called biomes a. A biome will share common biotic and abiotic components i. This may include similar plants and animals as well as similar temperature and humidity

b. Biotic components are the living organisms in an environment i. This includes all plants, animals, fungi and other microscopic organisms like bacteria c. The abiotic components are the non-living parts of an environment i. This includes the soil, water, temperature and sunlight d. The biotic components will interact with each other as well as the physical and chemical environment of the abiotic components e. There are both aquatic and terrestrial biomes

3. There are four major factors that will influence the characteristics and distribution of biomes around the world a. Temperature and precipitation are two of the most important abiotic factors that will influence the characteristics of a biome and its distribution on earth b. The other two factors are i. Latitude of the biome – how far from the equator it is ii. Elevation of the biome – how high above sea level it is

4. Different biomes are characterized by different climate patterns a. Climate is the average pattern of weather conditions that occur in a region (such as a biome) i. The conditions are observed and recorded over a number of years (usually 30 or more)

c. Different types of climate support different types of organisms b. A climatograph is a graph of the climate data accumulated for a specific region over a period of 30 years. i. The climatograph includes average monthly temperature and average monthly precipitation Months are found on the x-axis, average precipitation is found on the left vertical axis and average temperature is found on the right vertical axis Precipitation is shown as a bar graph Temperature is shown as a line graph c. Different types of climate support different types of organisms i. Different organisms have features (adaptations) which allow them to survive and reproduce in an environment

5. A biome can be broken down further into smaller regions called ecosystems a. The ecosystem is also composed of biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors which interact with each other b. The size of an ecosystem can vary greatly i. A large forest can be an ecosystem ii. A single tree can be an ecosystem c. The ecological hierarchy refers to the classification of the organisms within an ecosystem i. A species is a group of closely related organisms that can reproduce with other in nature A habitat is where the species lives in the ecosystem ii. A population refers to all of the members of a particular species within an ecosystem iii. A community is made of the various populations of different organisms that interact within a specific area or ecosystem

iv. From smallest to largest the order of ecological hierarchy is: species  population  community  ecosystem  biome  biosphere

6. Biodiversity refers to the variety of organisms in an ecosystem a. The health of an ecosystem can be indicated by the amount of biodiversity b. Most biodiversity loss is due to loss of habitat i. If they lose a place to live, the species may disappear