1. CH.3 THE BIOSPHERE

2. INTERACTIONS AND INTERDEPENDENCE
CH.3-1 WHAT IS BIOLOGY
INTERACTIONS AND INTERDEPENDENCE
___________ is the scientific study of interactions among ____________ and between organisms and their __________, or surroundings.
The world itself contains many houses, and the largest house that contains all portions of the planet is called the _____________.
Ecology
organisms
environment
Biosphere

3. ECOLOGY =
Organisms + Environment

4. water
The biosphere consists of ______, ______, and _______ or the atmosphere.
Interactions within the biosphere produce a web of __________________ between organisms and the environment in which they live.
land
air
interdependence
Land
Water
Air

5. LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION
What are the six levels of organization that ecologists study?
Biosphere
Biome

6. Some ecologists study the interactions between a particular kind of organism and it’s ____________. This type of study is at the ________ level. (organisms that can mate with each other and produce fertile offspring)
Other ecologists study _____________, or groups of ____________ that belong to the same species.
At another level ecologists study the _______________, or different populations that live together.
surroundings
species
populations
individuals
communities

7. Different species of frogs
Glass tree frog
Marsh Frog
Dart Frog
Green poison arrow frog

8. Population
A community in the ocean
population
individual

9. 4) Some ecologists study a particular ecosystem
4) Some ecologists study a particular ecosystem. An ____________ is a collection of all the ______________ that live in a particular place, with nonliving, or physical, environment.
5) When ecologists study larger ecosystems with the same climate and similar communities they are studying ________.
6) The largest area that ecologists can study is the ___________. (bottom of the ocean to the top of the atmosphere)
ecosystem
organisms
biomes
biosphere

10. Ecosystem includes physical environment!
Water temperature
20°C or 30°C
60°F or 78°F
Amount of light
Lots of light

11. Tropical Rainforest Ecosystem

12. Biomes of the world

13. Biosphere
Biome
Ecosystem
Community
Population
& Species
individual

14. ECOLOGICAL METHODS
Ecologists use a wide range of tools and techniques to study the living world. (radio tags)
Scientists use modern ecological research using three basic approaches:
____________- is the first step in asking ecological questions.
____________- can be used to solve and test an hypothesis.
Observing
Experimenting

15. Modeling
3) ______________- most ecological phenomena occur over a long period of time or such a spatial scale that they are difficult to study.
This is why ecologists will make models to gain insight into such areas. Many of these type of studies consist of _______________ formulas based on data collected through observations and experiments.
mathematical

16. CH. 3-2 ENERGY FLOW
At the core of every organism’s interaction with the environment is its need for __________ to power life’s processes.
PRODUCERS
Without a constant input of energy, living systems cannot function. _________ is the main energy source for life on Earth.
energy
Sunlight

17. In a few ecosystems, some organisms obtain energy from a source other than sunlight.
Some types of organisms rely on the energy stored in inorganic ___________________ (Ex: mineral water that flows underground or boils out of hot springs and undersea vents is loaded with chemical energy).
Chemical compounds

18. autotrophs autotrophs photosynthesis Carbon dioxide
Only plants, some algae, and certain bacteria can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use that energy to produce food. These organisms are called ___________ (producers).
The best known _____________ are those who harness solar energy through a process known as ________________.
During photosynthesis, these autotrophs use light energy to power chemical reactions that convert ___________________ and water into oxygen and energy-rich carbohydrates such as _________________________.
autotrophs
autotrophs
photosynthesis
Carbon dioxide
Starches and sugars

19. sugars

20. LIFE WITHOUT LIGHT
When organisms use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates, the process is called _________________.
This process is performed by several types of bacteria (Ex: volcanic vents on the deep ocean floor, hot springs in Yellow Stone Park).
chemosynthesis

21. NO LIGHT!
Use chemicals
chemical

22. CONSUMERS
_____________and many bacteria-cannot harness energy directly from the physical environment as autotrophs do.
Organisms that rely on other organisms for their energy and food supply are called __________________.
Heterotrophs are called ______________.
Animals, fungi,
heterotrophs
consumers

23. There are many different types of heterotrophs.
_________=plants (cows and caterpillars)
___________=animals (snakes and owls)
___________=plants and animals (humans and bears)
_____________ feed on plants and animal remains (vultures and earthworms)
_________________ break down organic matter (bacteria and fungi).
Herbivores
Carnivores
Omnivores
Detritivores
Decomposers

24. An herbivore eats only plants.
Deer
Cow
Caterpillar

25. A carnivore eats animals.
Snake
Dog
Owl

26. An omnivore eats plants and animals.
Bear
Human

27. A detritivore eats dead plants and animals.
vulture
crab
earthworm

28. A decomposer breaks down living things.
Bacteria
Fungi

29. FEEDING RELATIONSHIPS
What happens to energy in an ecosystem when one organism eats another?
Energy flows through an ____________ in one direction, from the sun or inorganic compounds to ________________ and then to various ____________________.
ecosystem
autotrophs
heterotrophs

30. Sun
energy

31. FOOD CHAINS
The _________ stored by producers can be passed through an ecosystem along the ___________, a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten.
FOOD WEBS
When the ___________ relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem form a network full of complex interactions, ecologist describe these relationships as a ____________.
energy
food chain
feeding
food web

36. Decomposer

40. TROPHIC LEVELS
Each step in a food chain or food web is called a _________ level.
_______________ make up the first level.
________________ make up the second, third, or higher trophic levels.
Each consumer depends on the trophic level _________ it for energy.
trophic
Producers
Consumers
below

41. Trophic Levels 3rd level 4th level Consumers 2ndlevel 1st level
Producer
Consumers
1st level
2ndlevel
3rd level
4th level

42. Ecological Pyramids
The amount of energy or matter in an ecosystem can be represented by an __________________________.
An ecological pyramid is a diagram that shows the relative amounts of _______________contained within each trophic level in a food chain or food web.
ecological pyramid
energy or matter

43. Energy Pyramids Biomass Pyramids Pyramids of Numbers
There are 3 different kinds of pyramids:
Energy Pyramids
Biomass Pyramids
Pyramids of Numbers

44. Energy Pyramid
There is no limit to the number of trophic levels that a food chain can support but only one part of the energy that is stored in one level is passed on to the next level. This is because organisms use as much energy as they consume for life processes (Ex: respiration and movement).
Only about ______ of the energy available within one trophic level is transferred to organisms at the next level.
10%

45. Energy Pyramid

46. Biomass Pyramid
The total amount of ____________within a given trophic level is called __________.
Biomass is usually expressed in terms of _________ of organic matter per unit area.
A biomass pyramid represents the amount of ___________________ available for each trophic level in an ecosystem.
living tissue
biomass
grams
potential food

47. Biomass Pyramid

48. Pyramid of Numbers
Ecological pyramids can also be based on the __________ of individual organisms at each trophic level.
numbers

49. Pyramid of Numbers

51. 3-3 CYCLES OF MATTER
Recycling in the Biosphere
Unlike the one-way flow of energy, matter is recycled within and between _______________.
Elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another from one part of the biosphere to another through ________________ cycles.
ecosystems
biogeochemical

52. The Water Cycle
All living things require _________ to survive.
Water moves between the ocean, atmosphere, and land.
Water ________ enter the atmosphere as water vapor, a gas, then they evaporate from the ocean or other bodies of water.
The process in which water changes from liquid form to an atmospheric gas is called ______________.
water
molecules
evaporation

53. Water can also enter the atmosphere by evaporating from the leaves of plants in the process of _________________.
Water returns to the Earth’s atmosphere in the form of ________________-rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
On land, much of the precipitation runs along the surface of the ground until it enters a _________ that carries the runoff back to the ____________.
transpiration
precipitation
river
ocean

54. Seepage

56. WATER CYCLE

57. Nutrient Cycles
The food you eat provides energy and chemicals that keep you alive.
All the chemical substances that an organism needs to sustain life are its _____________.
Every living organism needs nutrients to build tissues and carry out essential ___________________.
Like water, nutrients are passed between organisms and the environment through __________________ cycles.
nutrients
life functions
biogeochemical

59. These cycles are: ________________________________.
The Carbon Cycle
___________ is the key ingredient of living tissue.
Carbon is an important component of _________________ and is also found in rocks.
Carbon and oxygen form _____________ gas (CO2), and important component of the atmosphere.
Carbon, nitrogen, and the phosphorus
Carbon
animal skeletons
Carbon Dioxide

63. CARBON CYCLE

64. Four main processes move carbon through its cycle:
____________: photosynthesis, respiration, and decomposition, take up and release carbon and oxygen.
____________: erosion and volcanic activity, release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and oceans.
Biological
Geochemical

65. Mixed biogeochemical
_______________________: burial and decomposition of dead organisms and their conversion under pressure into coal and petroleum (fossil fuels) store carbon underground.
_________________: mining, cutting, and burning forests, and burning fossil fuels, release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Human activities

66. The Nitrogen Cycle
All organisms require __________ to make amino acids which in turn are used to build proteins.
Nitrogen gas makes up _____ of Earth’s atmosphere.
Nitrogen also exists in several forms in the __________ and other large water bodies.
Human activity adds nitrogen to the biosphere in the form of ___________.
nitrogen
78%
ocean
nitrate

67. Although nitrogen gas is most abundant from of nitrogen on earth, only certain types of bacteria can use this form directly. Such bacteria, which live in the soil and on the roots of plants called legumes, convert nitrogen gas into ammonia in a process known as ____________________.
Other soil bacteria convert nitrates into nitrogen gas in a process called _________________.
Nitrogen fixation
denitrification

69. This process releases nitrogen into the atmosphere once again.
The Phosphorus Cycle
_________________ is essential to living organisms because it forms part of important life-sustaining molecules such as DNA and RNA.
Phosphorus is not common in the ______________.
Phosphorus ____________ enter the atmosphere.
Phosphorus
biosphere
does not

70. land
Phosphorus remains mostly on _______ in rock and _____________, and in ocean sediments.
Phosphorus exists in the form of _____________ phosphate.
Organic phosphate moves through the food web, from ________________________, and to the rest of the ecosystem.
Figure 3-15
soil minerals
inorganic
producers to consumers

72. Nutrient Limitation
Ecologists are often interested in the primary productivity of an ecosystem, which is the rate at which ______________ is created by producers.
If a nutrient is in short supply, it will limit an organism’s growth.
When an ecosystem is limited by a single nutrient that is scarce or cycles very slowly, this substance is called a __________________.
organic matter
limiting nutrient

73. An example is farmers adding _____________ to their crops to boost their productivity.
Fertilizers contain 3 important nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
The open oceans of the world can be considered nutrient _______ environments compared to the land.
When an aquatic ecosystem receives a large input of a limiting nutrient, the result is often an immediate ___________ in the amount of algae and other producers.
fertilizers
poor
increase

74. Algal bloom
This result is called an __________.
There are more nutrients available, so the producers can grow and reproduce more quickly. If there are not enough consumers to eat the excess algae, conditions can become so favorable for growth that algae cover the surface of the water.
Algae blooms can often disrupt the _____________ of an ecosystem.
equilibrium