BIOLOGY

Sun: principal source of energy input into biological Systems

Food chain: a chart showing the flow of energy (food) from one organism to the
next beginning with a producer
Food web: a network of interconnected food chains showing the energy flow
through part of an ecosystem
Producer: an organism that makes its own organic nutrients, usually using
energy from sunlight, through photosynthesis
Consumer: an organism that gets its energy by feeding on other organisms
Herbivore: an animal that gets its energy by eating plants
Carnivore: an animal that gets its energy by eating other animals
Decomposer: an organism that gets its energy from dead or waste organic
matter
Ecosystem: a unit containing all of the organisms and their environment,
interacting together, in a given area
Tropic level: the position of an organism in a food chain or web
Community: different species of organisms living in a same space
Population: made up by all the individuals of one species of animal
Habitat: a place where an organism lives

The arrows in food chains represent the direction of energy flow from one organism to
the next.
It is very rare to find food chains with more than 5 organisms, as a large amount of
energy is lost from one tropic level to the other, and the last tropic level would receive
very little or no energy.
A lot of energy is lost while being transferred from the plant to an animal. When an
animal eats the plant, there is not as much energy for the animal as the plant had,
because the plant has already lost energy. Energy is also lost in the transfer from one
animal to another because the animal releases some energy in respiration.
The carbon cycle
Plants take carbon dioxide
from the air, and use it to
make carbohydrates, fats and
proteins.
To get a supply of carbon,
animals eat these nutrients
made by plants.
All living things return carbon
dioxide to the air when they
respire. This is why, despite
the fact that green plants
keep taking it out of the air,
the amount in the air doesnt
get any less.
In respiration carbon dioxide
is produced and released into
the air.

Combustion of fossil fuels

Dead and rotten plants in great swamps, over many years, eventually become
compressed to form coal. A similar process produced oil and natural gas. All these
substances are fossil fuels. They contain carbon atoms which were once part of living
things that lived on Earth million of years ago.
Combustion: when fossil fuels are burned, and the carbon in them combines with
oxygen and forms carbon dioxide.
Combustion of fossil fuels is adding extra carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide acts like a blanket around the Earth. It traps heat from the Sun. The
effect of carbon dioxide and some other gases such as methane in keeping the Earth
warm is called the greenhouse effect.
Global warming: when carbon dioxide levels rise, and greenhouse effect increases,
therefore the Earth gets warmer.
Due to global warming:
A lot of ice near the poles or on high mountains will melt, increasing sea level
and drowning low-lying areas of land.
There will be more violent storms
Some parts of the world will become much hotter and dryer, so it may become
impossible for people to live there anymore.
Cutting down forests
The loss of trees may reduce the amount of photosynthesis taking place; this effect
may not last long though, because other plants will quickly grow to take place of the
trees. But if the trees are burned, then all the carbon locked up in them is released into
the air, as carbon dioxide. This can contribute to the rise in carbon dioxide levels, and
therefore to global warming.
Effects of deforestation include: extinction, loss of soil, flooding, and carbon dioxide
build up.
Pollution: the addition of something to the environment which can damage the living
organisms within it.
Fertilizers
Without fertilizers, there would be little hope of feeding all the people in the world.
However, if the fertilizers are allowed to pollute waterways, they can cause problems
for wildlife.
The nitrates contained in fertilizers are very soluble. Any nitrates that have been added
to the soil and have not been absorbed by plant roots, can be washed away when it
rains. This is called LEACHING.
The leached fertilizers may end up in streams, rivers and lakes. The nitrate ions are
absorbed by water plants and algae, which grow quickly. The algae may grow so much
that the water looks thick and green. This blocks out the light for the plants growing
deeper in the water. These plants, and eventually the algae, die.

The dead plants and algae provide food for the bacteria, so the populations of bacteria
increase. These bacteria respire aerobically and use up oxygen from the water.
Animals living in the water cannot breathe, and so they have to move away or die.
This process is called EUTROPHICATION.
Preventing problems from fertilizers:
1. Fertilizers should only be applied when plants are growing, so that they will
immediately be taken up by the plants.
2. Not too much fertilizer should be applied so that it will all be taken up by the
plants
3. Fertilizer should not be applied just before it is going to rain
Sewage: waste water from houses and industries. It contains human urine and faeces,
which may be contaminated with harmful viruses and bacteria. Sewage contains
substances that can be nutrients for bacteria, causing eutrophication.
Chemical waste: many industries use chemicals which can harm the environment if
they are allowed to flow into waterways. Many heavy metals are highly toxic to humans
and other organisms.
Air pollution
Greenhouse gases:
The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the air, and it contributes to
global warming. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas.
Another greenhouse gas: METHANE. It is produced by bacteria breaking down
nutrients in anaerobic conditions. Example: in sewage treatment. It happens naturally
in wet, boggy soils.
A small amount of methane in the atmosphere has a much effect as a much larger
amount of carbon dioxide.
Sulfur dioxide:
When fossil fuels, especially coal, which contain small amounts of sulfur-containing
compounds, burn, the sulfur combines with oxygen and forms sulfur dioxide. Most
pollution by sulfur dioxide is caused by large industries that burn coal, such as power
stations. It is irritant; it causes discomfort when you breathe it in. It can also kill cells in
the leaf of a plant, eventually killing the whole plant.
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides also cause acid rain.
Acid rain can:
Damage the leaves of trees.
Dissolve and wash away important minerals, as it soaks through the soil. It
washes out aluminum ions from the soil. The aluminum accumulates in rivers
and lakes. They are toxic to fish.
Damage buildings, especially those made of limestone
Reducing pollution from acid rain:
Installing scrubbers which remove almost all of the sulfur dioxide from the
waste gases at coal-burning power stations
Using catalytic converters on car exhausts. These convert the nitrogen oxides
into nitrogen.

Non renewable resources: when used up, are not renewed or able to use again (fossil
fuels) Fossil fuels are used to provide energy.
Renewable energy resources: (wind or solar energy) the rate of use of fossil fuels
reduces and we make sure that we have some for the future, and can also reduce air
pollution.
Water is a vital substance that is in short supply in many countries. The distribution of
water is very uneven, although there is plenty around the Earth.
Conservation of species:
The more different species there are in an ecosystem, the more stable the
ecosystem is. This means that any changes that take place, have less chance
of causing lasting damage to the ecosystem than they would if only a few
species lived in it.
There are many undiscovered species, and when we destroy part of a
rainforest, we may be destroying many undiscovered species forever.
Some of these species may be directly useful to humans.