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autotrophs (or producers) require only inorganic nutrients and an external energy source to produce food organic nutrients photoautotrophs use light for energy chemoautotrophs use chemicals for energy 6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2
Ecosystem Components
heterotrophs (or consumers) require a source of organic nutrients C6H12O6 + 6O2 6CO2 + 6H2O herbivores are animals that eat plants carnivores feed on other animals omnivores eat plants or animals detritivores convert waste into food decomposers (mostly bacteria and fungi) recycle organic matter by breaking down dead organic material detritus feeders primarily eat detritus (decomposing organic matter) (termites, many beetles, etc.)
Mushroom
Time progression
Ecosystem Components Energy flows through the populations of an ecosystem, while chemicals cycle within and between ecosystems
Ecosystem Components
sunlight: there is one-way flow of high-quality energy from the sun which eventually becomes lowquality energy and dissipated into space as heat lights and warms the planet drives winds, ocean currents, and precipitation powers cycling of matter the amount of energy reaching the Earth through sunlight equals the amount of energy radiated by the Earth energy in = energy out
Water cycle
Oxygen cycle
Heat
Heat
Heat
Ecosystem Components
sunlight, continued 34% of energy from the sun is reflected by the atmosphere 66% makes it into atmosphere of the energy that gets through: 80% warms the troposphere and evaporates and cycles water 1% generates winds 0.1% is used by plants, algae, and bacteria for photosynthesis
Solar radiation
Energy in = Energy out Reflected by atmosphere (34%) Radiated by atmosphere as heat (66%) Lower stratosphere Visible (ozone layer) Greenhouse light Troposphere effect Heat Heat radiated by the earth
UV radiation
Absorbed by ozone
Earth
Ecosystem Components
sunlight, continued the greenhouse effect helps Earth retain heat infrared light is absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone) this causes the air to warm
Nature of an ecosystem
Secondary & Higher Consumers Feeding on Other Consumers (foxes, turtles, hawks)
Heat
Heat
Solar energy
Heat
Producers (plants)
Heat
Heat
Energy Flow in Ecosystems Food chains and food webs show how energy moves in an ecosystem
food chain: pathway (through a sequence of organisms) along which food and energy are transferred from level to level
food web: complex network of interconnected food chains trophic level: feeding level of an organism in a food chain
first, some basic ecosystem processes: 1. production: rate of incorporation of energy and materials into the bodies of organisms 2. consumption: metabolic use of organic materials 3. decomposition: breakdown of organic materials into inorganic ones usable by autotrophs carried out by prokaryotes and fungi links all trophic levels
Example foodchains
Solar energy
Heat
Elephant seal
Leopard seal
Energy Flow in Ecosystems Pyramids are used to represent energy available to each trophic level
Heat Decomposers
100
1,000
Heat
10,000 Producers Usable energy (phytoplankton) available at each tropic level (in kilocalories)
Decomposers/detritivores
5,060
Pyramid of Numbers
Energy Flow in Ecosystems Producers produce biomass at different rates in different ecosystems
energy budget depends on primary productivity primary productivity: amount of light energy converted to chemical energy by autotrophs in a given time period
Aquatic Ecosystems
Estuaries Lakes and streams Continental shelf Open ocean
800 1,600 2,400 3,200 4,000 4,800 5,600 6,400 7,200 8,000 8,800 9,600
Productivity of Ecosystems
Energy Flow in Ecosystems NPP limits the number of consumers on the planet
only the biomass represented by NPP is available as food to consumers, and producers are limited in how fast they can produce biomass Are humans using biomass faster than it can be regenerated? If yes, bad things will probably happen. think sustainability
4-3 Ecosystem Components Biodiversity is a renewable resource found in the Earths variety of genes, species, ecosystems, and ecosystem processes
genetic diversity: variety of genetic material within a species or population species diversity: number of different species in different habitats ecological: variety of ecosystems in area functional: biological and chemical processes needed for survival
Producers (rooted plants) Producers (phytoplankton) Primary consumers (zooplankton) Secondary consumers (fish)
Fig. 7-8
Herring gulls Snowy egret Cordgrass Peregrine falcon
Short-billed dowitcher
Phytoplankton
coral shrimp
Con ey
Mor ay eel
Bacteria
Oxygen (O2)
Sun
Producer Carbon dioxide (CO2) Secondary consumer (fox) Primary consumer (rabbit) Producers Precipitation Falling leaves and twigs Soil decomposers
Water
Bacteria Bacteria
Fungi
Kangaroo rat
Coyote
Grasshopper sparrow
Grasshopper
Willow ptarmigan
willow
Lemming Mountain cranberry Mountain
cranberry
Moss campion Moss campion
Ocelot
Producer to primary consumer
Katydid
Gray squirrel White oak White-tailed deer White-footed mouse Metallic woodboring beetle wood-boring and larvae beetle and Mountain winterberry
Shagbark hickory
Bacteria
Balsam fir
Marten
Moose
White spruce
Bunchberry
Biomagnification
many types of poisons in environment some stored in fatty tissue: DDT get concentrated in upper trophic levels of concern to humans since we are in an upper trophic level
Biomagnification