1. Ecology 1.1 Ecosystems and Biomes 1.2 Matter cycles through ecosystems
What you’ll learn
What factors define an ecosystem
Living and nonliving factors in an ecosystem
How matter is exchanged between organisms and their environment
Carbon, Nitrogen and Hydrologic Cycle (you already know the H2O cycle)

2. Biosphere
The part of Earth that supports life is the Biosphere. The biosphere includes the top part of the Earth’s crust, all the waters that cover Earth’s surface, and the atmosphere that surrounds Earth.
The biosphere is made up of different environments that are home to different kinds of organisms. For example, our desert environment gets little rain. Some organisms that live here include cacti, coyotes, javelina, lizards, snakes, geckos, deer, etc. These types of organisms are different from organisms found in other environments.

4. Environments
Desert
Tropical

5. Why is life on Earth possible?
Our planet is the third planet from the Sun. The amount of energy that reaches Earth from the Sun is just right for life. Earth is considered a “Goldilocks planet” because the conditions are “just right”.
The sun provides Earth with light and heat necessary for life.

7. Ecosystems
Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with their environment and with other organisms. Scientist that study ecology are ecologists.
An ecosystem is all the living non nonliving things that interact in a particular environment.
Ecos = “house” or “place to live”

8. Parts of an ecosystem
Animals
Plants
Soil
Water
Light
Microorganisms

9. Biotic and Abiotic Factors of an ecosystem
Within any ecosystem, there are many different parts.
Biotic factors are any parts of the ecosystem that are living (microorganisms, plants, animals).
Abiotic factors are the parts that are non-living. What are some examples of non-living parts of a pond ecosystem?
Remember the prefix A = “not”; Bio = “life” or “living”

10. What are some biotic and abiotic factors in this pond ecosystem?

11. Biotic Factors
Living things depend upon an ecosystem for food, air, and water, as well as other things they need for survival. In turn, living things have an impact on the ecosystem in which they live. Plants, as a biotic factor in land ecosystems, affect other biotic and abiotic parts of the ecosystem, The types of plants found in a particular ecosystem will determine the types of animals that can live there. Plants can also affect the temperature by blocking sunlight. Plant roots hold soil in place. Even the atmosphere is affected by plants taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen.

12. Animals, as biotic factors, also affect an ecosystem
Animals, as biotic factors, also affect an ecosystem. A beaver that builds a dam changes the flow of a river and so affects the surrounding landscape. Large herds of cattle can overgraze a grassland ecosystem and cause the soil to erode. In an ocean biome, corals from giant reefs that provide food and shelter for marine organisms.

13. Abiotic Factors Many abiotic factors affect ecosystems.
Temperature, sunlight, soil, water are the abiotic (nonliving parts) of the ecosystem.
Affected by living factors

14. Temperature
Temperature is an important abiotic factor in any ecosystem. In a land ecosystem, temperature affects the types of plants that will do well there. The types of plants available for food and shelter, in turn, determine the types of animals that can live there. For example, a tropical rain forest has not only a lot of rain but it has consistently warm temperatures. The wide variety of plants that grow in a tropical rain forest supports a wide variety of monkeys, birds, and many other organisms.
Animals are as sensitive to temperatures as plants are. Musk oxen with their thick coat of fur and survive in very cold temps where as the water buffalo, with its light coat, is better suited to warm temps.

15. Light
You can easily understand haw abiotic factors work together when you think about sunlight and temperature. Sunlight warms Earth’s surface and atmosphere. In addition, energy from sunlight supports all life on Earth. The sun provides the energy that plants capture and use to produce food in a process called what?

16. The food produced by plants, and other photosynthetic organisms, feeds almost all the other living things found on Earth.
The strength of sunlight and the amount available in a land ecosystem determine the types of plants in that ecosystem. A desert ecosystem will have plants like?
Meanwhile, what kinds of plants are in a forest ecosystem?
Light is a factor in ocean ecosystems as well. The deeper the water is the less sunlight there is available. In shallow water near the shore, photosynthetic organisms can survive at the surface and on the ocean floor. In the open ocean light is available for photosynthetic organisms only in the first hundred meters below the surface.

17. Photosynthesis
Carbon dioxide + water + light = sugar and oxygen

18. Soil
Soil is a mixture of small rock and mineral particles and an important abiotic factor in land ecosystems. Organisms within the soil break down the remains of dead plants and animals. The process of decay provided important raw materials to the living plants and animals of an ecosystem.
Different ecosystems have different types of soil. The characteristics of the soil in an ecosystem affect plant growth. Soils that have a lit of decaying matter can hold water well and allow air to reach the plant roots. Sandy soils usually do not hold water well because the water flows through too easily. Clay soil, which has small, tightly packed particles, will not allow water to move through easily at all. Minerals in the soil also affect plant growth.

19. Water
The amount of water available to an ecosystem is an important abiotic factor in land ecosystems. ALL living things need water to carry out life processes. Plants needs water and sunlight for photosynthesis. Animals need water to digest food and release the energy in the food.
Ecosystems that have a lot of water can support a large number of different types of plants which support a large number of different types of animals.
Tropical rain forests are more diverse than drier land ecosystems.

20. 1.2 Matter cycles through ecosystems
The movement of matter through the living and non-living parts of an ecosystem is a continuous process, or cycle. Matter in an ecosystem may change form, but it never leaves the ecosystem, so the matter is said to cycle through the ecosystem. Three of the most important cycles in ecosystems involve water, carbon and nitrogen. We are not going over the water cycle.

21. Carbon Cycle
As we have discussed, carbon is an element found in all living things. Carbon moves through Earth’s ecosystems in a cycle. It is through carbon dioxide gas found in Earth’s atmosphere that carbon enters the living parts of an ecosystem.
Plants use carbon dioxide to produce sugar during photosynthesis. Sugars are carbon compounds that are important building blocks in food and all living matter. Food supplies the energy and materials living things need to live and grow. To release the energy in food, organisms break down the carbon compounds – in a process called respiration. Carbon is released and cycled back in to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. When living things die and decay, the rest of the carbon that makes up living matter is released.

22. Earth’s oceans contain far more carbon than the air does
Earth’s oceans contain far more carbon than the air does. In water ecosystems, lakes, rivers and oceans – carbon dioxide is dissolved in water. Algae and certain types of bacteria are photosynthetic organisms that produce food in these ecosystems. Marine organisms, too, release carbon dioxide during respiration. Carbon is also deposited on the ocean floor when organisms die.

23. Respiration

24. Tuesday April 28, 2015 Agenda Turn in Permission Slips
Ecology S4C3PO1-6
EQ: How do interactions between organisms and the environment affect an ecosystem?
1.3 Food Chains & Webs

25. Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen is another element important to life that cycles through Earth in the nitrogen cycle. Almost 4/5 of the air you breathe is clear, colorless, nitrogen gas. Yet, you cannot get the nitrogen you need to live from the air. All animals must get nitrogen from plants.
Plants cannot use pure nitrogen gas either. However, plants can absorb certain compounds of nitrogen. Plants take in these nitrogen compounds through their roots, along with water and other nutrients. How does nitrogen from the atmosphere get into the soil? One source is lightning. Every lightning strike breaks apart, or fixes, pure nitrogen, changing it into a form that plants can use. This form of nitrogen falls to the ground when it rains.

26. A far greater source of nitrogen is nitrogen-fixing bacteria
A far greater source of nitrogen is nitrogen-fixing bacteria. These bacteria live in the oceans as well as the soil. Some even attach themselves to the roots of certain plants, like alfalfa or soybeans. When organisms die, decomposers in the ocean or soil break them down. Nitrogen in the soil or water is used again by living things. A small amount is returned to the atmosphere by certain bacteria that can break down nitrogen compounds into nitrogen gas.

28. Water Cycle
The movement of water through the environment is the water cycle.
Water is made up of 2 elements: Hydrogen and Oxygen. As water moves through the ecosystem, it changes state between a gas, liquid or solid
When animals breathe (Respiration) we are releasing water. When plants release water it is called transpiration.

30. 1.3 Energy Flow Through Ecosystems
Living things capture and release energy
Everything you do – running, reading, and working – requires energy. The energy you use is chemical energy, which comes from the food you eat. When you go for a run, you use up energy. Some of that energy is released into the environment as heat, as you sweat. Eventually, you will need to replace the energy you’ve used.
Energy is vital to all living things. Most of that energy comes either directly or indirectly from the Sun. To use the Sun’s energy, living things must first capture that energy and store it in some usable form. Because energy is continuously used by the activities of living things, it must be continuously replaced in the ecosystem.

31. Producers
Organisms that captures energy and stores it in food as chemical energy are producers. The producers of an ecosystem make energy available to all the other living parts of an ecosystem. Most energy enters ecosystems through photosynthesis. Plants and other photosynthetic organisms, take water and carbon dioxide from their environment and use energy from the Sun to produce sugars. The chemical energy stored in sugars can be released when sugars are broken down.

32. Plants are the most common producers found inland ecosystems
Plants are the most common producers found inland ecosystems. In water ecosystems, most food is produced by photosynthetic bacteria and algae.
The Sun provides most of the energy that is stored in food. One exception is the unusual case of a type of bacteria that lives in the deep ocean where there is no sunlight. These bacteria use chemosynthesis, chemicals released from the vents to make energy-rich molecules. These organisms live near volcanic vents on the ocean floor.

34. Consumers
Organisms that get their energy by eating or consuming other organisms are called consumers. Consumers cannot make their own energy.
There are 4 kinds of consumers:
Herbivores, such as deer and rabbits eat plants
Carnivores, such as frogs and lions, eat animals.
Omnivores, such as pigs and humans, eat both plants and animals.
Decomposers, such as earthworms and bacteria, eat dead organisms.
Decomposers help recycle once-living matter.

36. Decomposers
If you’ve been on a walk through the forest or a park you have seen the interaction of producers and consumers. Tall trees and leafy shrubs are home to many insects and the birds that feed upon the insects. Also important to the maintenance of an ecosystem are decomposers, a group of organisms that often go unseen. Decomposers are organisms that breakdown dead plant and animal matter into simpler compounds.

37. You can think of decomposers as the clean-up crew of an ecosystem
You can think of decomposers as the clean-up crew of an ecosystem. In a forest, consumers such as deer and insects eat a tiny fraction of the leaves on the trees and shrubs. The leaves that are left on the forest floor, as well as dead roots and branches are eventually digested by fungi and bacteria living in the soil. Decomposers also break down animal remains, including waste. A pinch of soil may contain almost a half million fungi and billions of bacteria.
The energy within an ecosystem gets used up as it flows from organism to organism. Decomposers are the organisms that release the last bit of energy from the once-living matter. Decomposers also return matter to soil or water where if may be used again and again.

38. Food Chain
A food chain describes the feeding relationship between a producer and a single chain of consumers in an ecosystem.
The first link is a primary producer which captures the Sun’s energy and stores it in food. The second link is a primary consumer, then a secondary consumer and last a tertiary consumer.
Energy is captured and released at each link in the chain. The arrows show the flow of energy from organism to organism. Some of the energy captured from the primary producer makes its way through the whole chain of organisms in the ecosystem.

39. Food Chain
A model that shows the feeding relationships among the organisms in an ecosystem.

40. Food Web
A food web is a model of the feeding relationships between many different consumers and producers in an ecosystem. A food web is more like a spiderweb, with many overlapping and interconnected food chains. It is a better model for the complex feeding relationships in an ecosystem, which usually has many different producers, with many primary and secondary consumers.
Both food chains and food webs show how different organisms receive their energy. They also show how different organisms depend on one another. If one organism is removed from the food web or chain, it may affect many other organisms in the ecosystem.

42. Energy Pyramid
Another way to picture the flow of energy in an ecosystem is to use an energy pyramid. An energy pyramid is a model that shows the amount of energy available at each feeding level of an ecosystem. The first level includes the producers, the second level is the primary consumer and so on. Because energy is lost as it moves from producers to consumers, the bottom level is the largest. The available energy gets smaller and smaller the farther up the pyramid.

44. Wednesday May 6th, 2015 Agenda
2.1 Interactions within Ecosystems
ISN Notes
Microcosm Lab Report
Hypothesis
Materials
Procedures

45. Ch 2 Groups interact within Ecosystems
Organisms, like all living things, depend on their environment to meet their needs. The particular types of living things you see will depend on the characteristics of the area.
Scientists group living things according to their shared characteristics. The smallest grouping is the species. Scientists consider organisms to be members of the same species if the organisms are so similar that they can produce offspring that can also produce offspring.

46. Populations
A population is all organisms of the same species that live in a particular area. This is similar to the population of people who live in a particular town or city. It is the boundary of an area that defines a population. In ecology, members of the same species that live in different areas belong to different populations.

48. A biological population can be a group of animals or a group of plants
Different populations of many different species will be found living in the same area
The Galapagos picture has a population of Cacti, a population crabs, and a population of iguanas.

49. Habitats and niches
The physical location where an organism lives is called its habitat. In a forest ecosystem, trees are the habitat of the woodpecker. The forest floor is the habitat of a salamander. An organism’s habitat provides the food, shelter, temperature, and the amount of moisture the organism needs to survive.
A habitat is filled with different species, each of which depends on the habitat’s resources to meet its needs. The characteristics of a habitat determine the species of plants that can grow there. The species of plants found in a habitat, in turn, determine the species of animals and other organisms that will do well there.

50. Different populations within a habitat interact
Different populations within a habitat interact. They are part of the flow of energy and matter through an ecosystem.
In the Galapagos, the cacti capture the Sun’s energy and store fresh water. They also provide food for the iguana, who eats the cactus leaves.
The cactus is a? What is the iguana? Each of these organisms has a role to play in the habitat, a role which is referred to as its niche.
The niche an organism fills in a habitat is not limited to its place in a food web. Plants provide nesting sites as well as food.

52. Communities
A community is a group of populations that live in a area and interact with one another. The cacti, iguanas, and crabs are part of the Galapagos Island community.

53. Environments can be organized into 5 levels
Biome – Large geographic areas across the Earth that are similar in climate and that have similar types of plants and animals. There are 6 major land biomes on Earth. Taiga, Tundra, Desert, Grassland, Temperate forest and Tropical forest
Ecosystem – Within each biome are many ecosystems.
Community – Community made up of living components of the ecosystem.
Population – Group of organisms that are the same species in the same area
Organism – a individual animal, plant, or other living thing.

55. Patterns
The distribution of animals in a habitat is often influenced by how they meet their needs. Animals must be able to reach their food supply and have places to raise their young.
Patterns may also be seasonal such as birds that fly south during the winter months.

56. 2.1 Review What are two characteristics of a population.
Order the terms from simplest to most complex: biome, community, ecosystem, organism, population.
How do the terms habitat and niche relate to each other?