OpWall Student Presentations

in Biology 2F03

Tuesday, November
17th 2015 from 9 to 10
pm

Image by Jason Suwandy

Image by Katrine
Bradshaw

Image by Joanne Edge

Image by
Olivia Reeve

CHP 19 - PRIMARY PRODUCTION

AND ENERGY FLOW & Supplementary Info
Terrestrial primary production is primarily
limited by temperature and moisture.
Aquatic primary production is generally
limited by nutrient availability.
Consumers affect the primary production rates.
Energy losses limit the number
of trophic levels in ecosystems.

Primary Production - Definitions

Primary production energy fixed (biomass produced)
by autotrophs (plants, algae, chemosynthetic
microbes)
Rate of primary production the amount of energy
(biomass) fixed over a time interval

Gross primary production the total amount of

energy fixed
Net primary production the amount of energy left
after autotrophs met their energetic needs

Trophic level a position in the food web determined by

the number of energy transfers from primary producers

Question
What are the
main controls
of primary
production?

Productivity vs Water & Temperature

Actual
evapotranspiration, AET,
and net above ground
primary production
various ecosystems
AET increases with
precipitation and
temperature
Recall the link
between the climate
and biomes, but ..

Nutrients also Affect Productivity

Experimental addition of several nutrients (tundra)
Does this mean that
tundra has been
underestimated?
No!
All biomes are limited
by nutrients in a
similar fashion but
evapotranspiration
exerts dominant
control
Also the range for all
ecosystems: 50-3200

Question
Are evapotranspiration
and nutrients also the
main controls in the
aquatic systems?

Aquatic Systems
In most freshwater
ecosystems one nutrient
limits primary production
If you recall Si:P ratio and
competition among
diatoms, you could
predict where the
greatest diversity is
going to be

Causes of High Algal Biomass

Why algae are abundant at high P?
Algal biomass and
rate of primary
production are
linked (in temperate
lakes)
Possible alternative:
longevity of cells
combined with the
absence of grazing
(cell accumulation)
High

Experimental Evidence
A whole lake experiment demonstrates the effect of
nutrient additions on phytoplankton biomass

Question
Therefore, where should one
expect greatest productivity
in the oceans?
Or where should nutrient
concentrations be at
their highest?

Geographic Variation in Marine Primary Production

Where should productivity be highest?
Red color = greatest primary production; blue the lowest:

Highest rates of production

are on continental shelf and
in shallow seas

Question
If you recall the effects of
steelhead on algae in a
stream, do you think they
represent a rule or an
exception?

The Trophic Cascade Hypothesis

Lake food web

Specific Predictions: The Operational Hypothesis

The trophic cascade model predicts that manipulating
piscivore biomass (numbers) will lead to changes in
biomass and production of
planktivores, herbivores, and phytoplankton

Question
Are terrestrial
communities and
ecosystems similar in their
responses to change of
the top predator?

Predators Can Restore Forests

Canadian wolves were re-introduced
(~1995) to Yellowstone. The diagram
below summarizes their impacts:

wolf
lowers elk
numbers
which improves
willows and aspen

which restores
beaver

1995

Question
Is consumption of
plants always bad for
plants (it is for animals,
right)?

Effects of Grazing on Plant Biomass

Experiment: wildebeests are
excluded from some areas.
Compensatory growth occurs where
they graze

Why?

Grazing & Primary Productivity: Serengeti

Compensatory
growth is highest at
intermediate level of
grazing.
Similar to
Intermediate
Disturbance?
Light grazing
insufficient to
stimulate.
Heavy grazing
stresses plants.
Grazing has great
impact on overall
primary production.

Why?
Improved water
balance, lower
respiration, selfshading, saliva?

Question
Could metabolic demands
of organisms translate
into ecosystem structure
consequences?

Annual Production by Trophic Level in 2 Lakes

Usually, 85-95% of energy is used at a given trophic
level for respiration (or just decays)

This means ~10% is

available to the next
level

Question
How about the
terrestrial systems
do they follow a
similar pattern?

Input:
solar
energy
100%

Most lost as heat

or to power
evapotranspiration

Consumers
take ~ 0.7%
and lose most
as respiration

90% of input to a
stream is released
as respiration

Energy
budget:
temperate

forest
Other points
as highlights

Question
What do we do if
there is a horizontal
transfer of carbon
between
ecosystems?

Stable Isotopes Track Flow of Energy

Stable isotopes are in equilibrium when free; they
do fractionate due to preferential intake or excretion
by living organisms
Isotopic
content of
potential food
sources for the
ribbed mussel,
Geukensia
demissa, in a
New England
salt marsh

Expected
value

Difference from that

value (rejected)

Stable Isotopes say:

Diet Changes Among Sites
Change in isotopic composition in Geukensia with
distance from ocean

SUMMARY
Terrestrial PP is limited (mostly) by temp and moisture
Aquatic PP is generally limited by nutrients (supply)
Consumers (aquatic and
terrestrial) can influence
rates of PP
Energy losses limit the
number of trophic levels in
ecosystems

Stable isotopes can be used

to detect trends in energy
transfers

Energy in
caterpillars is up to
160 times that of
all vertebrates in a
forest

CHAPTER 20 - NUTRIENT & ELEMENTAL

CYCLING & Supplementary Info
Important nutrients and elements cycle.
use, transformation,
movement, and reuse

Decomposition rates and factors influencing it.

Plants and animals can modify and change
nutrient movement through environment.
Disturbance increases nutrient loss from
ecosystems.

Question
When we talk about
nutrients, what elements
are likely to take the first
stage again?
What is phosphorus
needed for?

PHOSPHORUS
Needed for ATP, RNA, DNA.
Available through weathering of rock.
At a small scale P cycles
through the food chain and
sediments or water:
P
returns;
energy
makes
one pass

Phosphorus on Global Scale: Main Points

Slow reservoir; rock
must be uplifted!

Rocks

First freshwater,
then ocean: the
largest storage
(1000* that of
organisms)

Water
Plants
Animals
Sediments

Returns to water or
gets buried and
becomes rocks

Some P moves
through air in dust

Question
What is nitrogen
needed for?
Which organisms can
obtain nitrogen directly
from air?

Nitrogen: Main Pathways & Storage

Needed for amino acids, RNA, DNA, chlorophyll,
hemoglobin
Mean biotic life
Main storage?
~ 600 years

Air

Soluble compounds:
nitrate, ammonia

N fixers (bacteria free

and symbiotic, bluegreen algae), lightning,
synthetic fertilizers

Plants
Animals
Sediments
(incl. organic)

Denitrification
(free bacteria)

Details in Fig. 20.3

Nitrogen: Main Pathways

Additional chemical details:

ammonium nitrate,
ammonium phosphate, &
ammonium sulfate.
http://www.butternutvalleyfarm.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/nitrogen_cycle.png

Bloom Due to Nitrogen (Oct 2000)

Remote sensing of green pigments permits tracking
of algal blooms in the ocean.
Such blooms result from land originated nutrient,
mostly N
Chlorophyll -a

Question
Which element is most
abundantly used?

and how
is it lost
from biota?

Carbon Cycle: Main Points

Impact on
Building material of life: lost via
heat balance
respiration
of
Cycles fast in organic molecules and CO2 atmosphere
Exists in many forms:
in water: carbonate exchanges with plants
and atmosphere
in rocks: calcium carbonate
very slow recycling via
volcanic activity, uplifting
and erosion
Humans add a lot: from fossil fuels;
processing of plants and animals;
accelerated rock weathering

Details in Fig. 20.4

Decomposition
Re-use of P, N, C by a new batch of creatures
requires decomposition (or respiration)
Decomposition depends on water availability
litter bags
Wet forest

Biomass remaining

Dry forest

Water speeds decomposition

Question
In addition to
water, what other
factors may
routinely affect
rates of
decomposition ?

Regional Differences
In the tropics annual leaf mass loss (of dead
leaves) is 3 x that of temperate forest.
This allows for
fast nutrient
recycling and
high production.
Which factor may
be responsible for
the difference?

Streams are Supplied by Leaves

Do leaves have
different lives?

Thus, streams with

different riparian
vegetation will deal
with different
problems and at
different speeds.
Thus ..

Litter bag
experiments ..

Changing forest composition may destroy original stream

communities and ecosystem properties
(because species specialize in different leaves)

Nutrient Spiraling (cf. Cycling)

In streams, each particle as it cycles, it also moves
downstream, hence it spirals

Retention in living tissue and current velocity

determine how long a nutrient particle stays in the
stream

Transport of nutrients
is slowed by nutrient
uptake by benthos

Pocket Gophers move great amounts of soil

Activities of animals (e.g., pocket gophers) may create
great heterogeneity in distribution of nitrogen, light,
temperature and humidity
Some plants say bingo! to gopher
latrines

Gopher: Chain of Effects

Deposition of nitrogen-rich products leads to better
growth of grasses

Grasses near gopher

mounds invite
intensive grazing by
bison

Bison grazing
stimulates growth of
young grass

Grass nitrogen content (%)

Grasses near gopher mounds have also more

nitrogen in their tissues

Effects of Animal Grazing on Nutrient Cycling

Large grazers speed up nutrient cycling on the
Serengeti ecosystem
Biomass turnover refers to replacement time
for the current vegetation
Turnover time
decreases with
the intensity of
grazing:

Production is both
accelerated and
consumed
(transferred to
animals)

Nice?

Fynbos, low
nutrient
country
G.Cushny

In Fynbos : Plants Play a Role of Their Own

Acacia (Acacia saligna) is an introduced species
Nitrogen content under acacia is much higher
Why?
Consequences:
change in nutrient
availability will
change the
competitiveness of
plants change in
composition

Question
How do humans affect
nutrient budgets?

Hubbard Brook Experimental Watershed

Nitrate concentration

Change in vegetation cover (clear cutting) led

to different concentration of nitrogen in stream
water
Meaning?

Weather Interacts with Stream Nutrients

Ratio of export to import

During years of low

flow, Bear Brook stores
phosphorus

During years of high

flow, Bear Brook
exports more
phosphorus than it
receives

Human Impacts Are Like Rain

No matter what measures are
taken, where there are more
people and more technology,
nitrate exports increase.
This nitrogen
always ends up
in the coastal
waters and
fertilizes the
ocean.

Humans The Same Story Again

Human density and landscape use intensity are
correlated with phosphorus exports

Excessive P in
freshwaters is
harmful

SUMMARY
Important nutrients and elements cycle, with
storages in rocks, air, oceans, or biota.
Decomposition rates depend on temperature,
organisms, water, and other conditions.
Plants and animals can modify and change
nutrient movement through environment.
Disturbance increases nutrient loss from
ecosystems while natural vegetation retains them.

Human activities produce major and undesirable

changes in nutrient behavior

Please check the Biology 2F03 Avenue website

DAILY for updates & new postings.
Please read
Chp. 21 Landscape Ecology
Chp. 22 Macroecology

Enjoy the Rest of Your Week!