Compendium Review

Major Topic Two: Human Landscapes

Table of Contents

Part Two

• The Nature of Ecosystems

• Energy Flow
• Global Biochemical Cycles
• The Nature of Ecosystems
• Energy Flow
• Global Biochemical Cycles

A false-color composite of
global oceanic and
terrestrial photoautotroph
abundance, from
September 1997 to August
2000. Provided by the
SeaWiFS Project,
NASA/Goddard Space
Flight Center and
ORBIMAGE.

Picture from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere
 The Nature of Ecosystems
“The place on earth's surface where life dwells,” is the definition geologist Eduard Suess gave to the term
biosphere in 1875. “The biosphere is the part of the Earth, including air, land, surface rocks, and water,
within which life occurs, and which biotic processes in turn alter or transform.” When organisms interact
with themselves, the physical and chemical environment, this place is known as an ecosystem. There are
different types of ecosystems, such as aquatic ecosystems which can be divided into salt water and fresh
water. In an ecosystem, there are nonliving things (abiotic) and living things (biotic). An autotroph needs
only an outside energy source paired with inorganic nutrients to produce food, whereas a heterotroph is a
consumer and requires organic nutrients. An herbivore will consume only plants and algae, a carnivore
will consume only the meat of other animals, and omnivores will consume both animals and plants. A
detritus feeder is an organism that feeds on decomposing particles (detritus).

Verbiage and
pictures from
http://en.wikipedia.or
g/wiki/Biosphere &
Human Biology pg
494
 The Nature of Ecosystems
Every ecosystem contains energy flow and chemical cycling. Produce manufacture organic
nutrients via photosynthesis when they absorb solar energy and take in inorganic nutrients. This is
the beginning of energy flow. While the organic nutrients are made for the producer, they indirectly
benefit the population. When inorganic nutrients from the soil or atmosphere return to the producer,
the cycle starts over.

“Energy and matter flows through an

ecosystem, adapted from the Silver
Springs model. H are herbivores, C
are carnivores, TC are top
carnivores, and D are decomposers.
Squares represent biotic pools and
ovals are fluxes or energy or
nutrients from the system.”

Diagram and verbiage from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem_ecology#Decomposition_and_nutrient_cycling

Some of the energy taken in by herbivores is
passed to carnivores and detritus feeders.

Pictures from Human Biology page 495

• The Nature of Ecosystems
• Energy Flow
• Global Biochemical Cycles

“In the diagram below you can see that as

living things move up the food chain, their
numbers diminish. The hawk at the top of
this pyramid requires much more energy
to survive than either the snakes, the
rabbits or the grass.”

Picture and verbiage from

http://www.fvrcs.gov.bc.ca/sedvf/practice_class/Mod1/section6/lesson_4.html
 Picture from
Human Biology
Page 496
 Energy Flow
The previous slide showed how a food web of the feeding cycle in a population (trophic
relationships). The first part is known as a grazing food web, going from autotrophs (first trophic) to
herbivores/omnivores (second trophic) to carnivores (third trophic). The second part of the web is
known as the detritus food web, which starts with the decomposing fragments of organic matter.
Organisms can be linked to one another according to their feeding connections. Food chains are
related to a single path of energy flow, and a trophic level are categories composed of every
organism involved in a particular food chain. An ecological pyramid displays the loss of energy
between certain trophic levels.

Picture from Human Biology page 497

• The Nature of Ecosystems
• Energy Flow
• Global Biochemical Cycles

“Schematic representation
of the flow of nitrogen
through the environment.”

Picture & verbiage from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biogeochemical_cycle
 Global Biochemical Cycles
The biogeochemical cycle is used to describe how chemicals cycle through ecosystems. The water
(hydrologic) cycle includes evaporation, precipitation, and runoff. Freshwater will evaporate from
seawater because of the suns rays leaving salt behind, which then causes a net condensation. The
freshwater then vaporizes into the atmosphere, condensing, and causing a variety of different forms
of precipitation (rain, snow, fog, etc.). Evaporation from land and plants is known as transpiration or
evapotranspiration. Gravity then returns the freshwater back to the sea, or it becomes a form of
standing water, flowing water, and groundwater.

Humans interfere with the

water cycle by consuming
water from aquifers,
clearing vegetation which
disrupts percolation, and
adding pollutants to the
water.

Picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cycle

 Global Biochemical Cycles
“The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged between the
biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.” Through photosynthesis, plants
consume carbon dioxide which aids in the production of nutrients for autotrophs and heterotrophs.
The carbon is returned to the atmosphere (as carbon dioxide) through respiration (plants and
animals). Carbon dioxide combines with water in the air to produce bicarbonate ion. The carbon
dioxide in the air is equal to the bicarbonate in the water. “ Through the decay of animal and plant
matter. Fungi and bacteria break down the carbon compounds in dead animals and plants and
convert the carbon to carbon dioxide if oxygen is present, or methane if not.” Coal, oil, and natural
gas was formed by plant and animal remains. “Burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum
products, and natural gas releases carbon that has been stored in the geosphere for millions of
years.”

“Diagram of the carbon cycle. The black

numbers indicate how much carbon is stored
in various reservoirs, in billions of tons ("GtC"
stands for GigaTons of Carbon and figures
are circa 2004). The purple numbers indicate
how much carbon moves between reservoirs
each year. The sediments, as defined in this
diagram, do not include the ~70 million GtC of
carbonate rock and kerogen.”

Picture and Verbiage from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycle

 Global Biochemical Cycles
The demolition of forests and the burning of fossil fuels is increasing carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere. When we remove a forest, we are removing the organisms that take up carbon
dioxide. Nitrous oxide and methane are also being emitted into the atmosphere. These are all
known as greenhouse gases and are theorized to be contributing to global warming. “The
greenhouse effect is the process in which the emission of infrared radiation by the atmosphere
warms a planet's surface.

“A schematic representation of the

exchanges of energy between outer
space, the Earth's atmosphere, and
the Earth surface. The ability of the
atmosphere to capture and recycle
energy emitted by the Earth surface
is the defining characteristic of the
greenhouse effect.”

Picture and verbiage from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect

 Global Biochemical Cycles
“The tipping point in global warming is the point at which change due to human activity brings about
sufficient new processes in nature to make any human reversal of the change impossible. Some
climate scientists believe this will be reached in about 2017, while others, notably James Hansen,
NASA's top climate scientist, believe it has already been reached. When there is a loop of effects
such as the concentration of a greenhouse gas itself being a function of temperature, there is a
feedback. If the effect is to act in the same direction on temperature it is a positive feedback; and if
in the opposite direction it is a negative feedback. Sometimes feedback effects can be on the same
cause as the forcing but it can also be via another greenhouse gas or on other effects such as
change in ice cover affecting the planet's albedo.

Picture from Human

Biology pg 501
 Global Biochemical Cycles
In the nitrogen cycle, nitrogen fixation arises when nitrogen is converted to ammonium. Plants
cannot use nitrogen gas but can make use of ammonium. Plants can also use nitrates which arise
from nitrification. Nitrification occurs when nitrogen gas is converted to nitrate by reacting with
oxygen in the presence of an energy source, ammonium in soil is converted by soil bacteria, and
ammonium is converted by nitrate-producing bacteria. Nitrate and ammonia can be taken in by
plants and produce nucleic acids and proteins through the process of assimilation. Nitrate can
convert back to nitrogen gas through the process of denitrification. During thermal inversion, a
warm inversion layer traps pollutants in cool air layer below, resulting in smog.

Picture from Human Biology page 502 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain &

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smog
“As a result of extensive cultivation of legumes (particularly soy, alfalfa, and clover), growing use of
the Haber-Bosch process in the creation of chemical fertilizers, and pollution emitted by vehicles
and industrial plants, human beings have more than doubled the annual transfer of nitrogen into
biologically available forms. In addition, humans have significantly contributed to the transfer of
nitrogen trace gases from Earth to the atmosphere, and from the land to aquatic systems. N2O has
risen in the atmosphere as a result of agricultural fertilization, biomass burning, cattle and feedlots,
and other industrial sources. N2O has deleterious effects in the stratosphere, where it breaks down
and acts as a catalyst in the destruction of atmospheric ozone. Ammonia (NH3) in the atmosphere
has tripled as the result of human activities. It is a reactant in the atmosphere, where it acts as an
aerosol, decreasing air quality and clinging on to water droplets, eventually resulting in acid rain.
Fossil fuel combustion has contributed to a 6 or 7 fold increase in NOx flux to the atmosphere. NOx
actively alters atmospheric chemistry, and is a precursor of tropospheric (lower atmosphere) ozone
production, which contributes to smog, acid rain, and increases nitrogen inputs to ecosystems.
Ecosystem processes can increase with nitrogen fertilization, but anthropogenic input can also
result in nitrogen saturation, which weakens productivity and can kill plants.”

“Processes involved
in acid deposition The Nitrogen
(note that only SO2
and NOx play a
Cycle is
significant role in acid Influenced by
rain).” Human
Activities

Picture and verbiage from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_cycle#Hu
man_influences_on_the_nitrogen_cycle
 Global Biochemical Cycles
During the phosphorus cycle,
phosphorus trapped in sediments is
brought to land by geological
disturbance. Phosphate ions get into
the soil which becomes available to
plants. Animals then consume the
plants, and phosphate, which takes a
long time to decompose. When
organisms decompose, the phosphate
can be used again by the producers.
Phosphate can run off in water and
return to the aquatic ecosystem. The
phosphorus cycle is also referred to as
a sedimentary cycle because it does
not enter the atmosphere. Human
activates can increase chemical
nutrients in our ecosystem through the
process of cultural eutrophication.
When substances (such as pesticides
or heavy metals) cannot be naturally
degraded, they can work their way into
food chains. This process is known as
biological magnification.

Picture from Human Biology page 504

Global Biochemical Cycles

Information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_pollution

 Works Cited
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