1. WARM-UP
DIRECTIONS: write down one question you have on a post-it. If there are multiple questions you have, write EACH question ON A DIFFERENT post-it. Then take it and put it on the board.

2. LAB REPORT TIPS
DO NOT USE personal pronouns, UNLESS it is in the DATA section…..it may be used here only.
Be SURE to include as many VOCABULARY terms as FITTING/APPROPRIATE.
CONNECT the themes here with other related topics in biology.
The DATA SECTION….is the ONLY place there SHOULD BE personal PRONOUNS, specifically 3rd person.
CORERECTION: IT STATES THAT YOU JUST NEED TO HAVE THE DATA, BUT THIS IS INCORRECT, you need to ALSO have a written explanation of your data (graphs).

3. BIOSPHERE, COMMUNITIES, ECOSYSTEMS
How is energy flow through an ecosystem related to trophic structure (trophic levels)?
How do elements (e.g., carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, oxygen) cycle through ecosystems?
How do organisms affect the cycling of elements and water through the biosphere?
How do biotic and abiotic factors affect community structure and ecosystem function?
Discuss, using an example, the relationship between species diversity and complexity and community stability.
Describe the effect of human intervention in biological communities.
Describe the process of ecological succession, indicating why the species in a given area change over time. Distinguish between primary and secondary successions, and give an example of each. Also, summarize the trends seen in many successions, and explain what is meant by a climax community.

4. How is energy flow through an ecosystem related to trophic structure (trophic levels)?
Every organism is placed in a specific trophic level of an ecosystem based on energy they rely upon and how they provide energy for other organisms in the food web.
In food webs, energy is always lost to the environment any time an organism at one trophic level uses the energy from the trophic level below.
For example, the energy gained by animals that eat phytoplankton is less than the amount of energy initially available. Every trophic level loses energy, so trophic levels are often illustrated as a triangle with primary producers forming the base.

5. How do elements (e.g., carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, oxygen) cycle through ecosystems?
NITROGEN CYCLE
Rate is dependent upon decomposers.
Humans often wreck nutrient cycles by moving excess amounts from one place to another.
Nitrogen is the main nutrient lost through agriculture. Industrialized synthesized fertilizer is used to make up for the loss of nitrogen. (MIRACLE GROW)
CARBON CYCLE
Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it, combined with water they get from the soil, to make the substances they need for growth. The process of photosynthesis incorporates the carbon atoms from carbon dioxide into sugars. Animals, such as the rabbit pictured here, eat the plants and use the carbon to build their own tissues. These animals return carbon dioxide into the air when they breathe, and when they die, since the carbon is returned to the soil during decomposition. The carbon atoms in soil may then be used in a new plant or small microorganisms. Ultimately, the same carbon atom can move through many organisms and even end in the same place where it began.
PHOSPHOROUS & SULFUR & OXYGEN
All of these nutrients cycle through the water system in a CLOSED SYSTEM…..meaning they get recycled and reused, not lost.

6. How do organisms affect the cycling of elements and water through the biosphere?
As any organism grows and develops, it takes in nutrients to sustain it's life. It will also need to be able to rid itself of unneeded molecules. Organisms intake elements and excrete them in forms that other organisms need & use.
For instance, mammalian urine is rich in ammonia, which can be used by some plants for nitrogen fixing, which they need for survival.
The biosphere will change as different organisms in the ecosystem are introduced and establish their respective niches. The gain or loss of an organism would affect the ecosystem, since that organism is no longer available to fulfill the necessary production chemical production. If there are no other ways of creating an element that is needed to keep the biosphere stable, then the biosphere may collapse. However, there is always some other organism that can take it's niche.

7. Functional groups of organisms & their niches Soil resource supply
How do biotic and abiotic factors affect community structure and ecosystem function?
Functional groups of organisms & their niches
Soil resource supply
Local climate
Disturbances
WHAT ELSE???

8. (Q: Does species diversity bring rise to community stability?)
Discuss, using an example, the relationship between species diversity and complexity and community stability.
(Q: Does species diversity bring rise to community stability?)
The certain value of connectance having been achieved, stability increases with increasing connectance. A STUDY was done where they assessed the positive relation between species diversity and resistance, and negative relation between species diversity and resilience in plant communities during old-field succession in xeric (extremely dry) habitat. But there is no causal relationship between species diversity and both kinds of stability. Resistance and resilience of the plant communities studied were determined primarily by life history strategies of constituent species.

9. Describe the effect of human intervention in biological communities.
YOU TELL ME!!!

10. SECONDARY: is basically the phase two of a natural disaster.
Describe the process of ecological succession, indicating why the species in a given area change over time. Distinguish between primary and secondary successions, and give an example of each. Also, summarize the trends seen in many successions, and explain what is meant by a climax community.
DEFINED BY WEBSTER(ecological succession): The gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one community by another until a stable climax is established .
PRIMARY: the biological and ecological process of eradicating all forms of life due to a massive natural phenomenon.
SECONDARY: is basically the phase two of a natural disaster.
WHAT TRENDS DO YOU SEE?
DEFINITION BY WEBSTER (climax community): biological community of plants and animals which, through the process of ecological succession, the development of vegetation in an area over time, has reached a steady state

11. GLOBAL ISSUES
In which ways are humans affecting biogeochemical cycles?