Unit 2 Ecology

Ch. 5 How Ecosystems Work

Where does an organisms energy come from?

Ultimate source of energy is the sun Producers make their own food, autotrophs
Plants photosynthesis Protists, bacteria in aquatic ecosystems photosynthesis
6CO2 + 6H2O + sunlight C6H12O6 + 6O6

 Consumers cannot make their own food, heterotrophs

Herbivores primary, eat only plants Carnivores meat eaters, capture and eat herbivores (secondary) and other carnivores (tertiary) Omnivores eat plants and meat Decomposers bacteria and fungi that consume dead organisms and organic waste
Recycles nutrients back into the environment

How is energy transferred in an ecosystem?

When organisms eat other organisms Food chain a sequence in which energy is transferred from one organism to the next when organisms eat each other
Begins with producers, then herbivores, then carnivores

 Most organisms eat a variety of food so there are many food chains in an ecosystem Food web network of food chains representing the feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem
Changes in population of one organism have effects on many other population i.e. Whales and krill More diverse food webs indicate a more stable ecosystem

What are trophic levels?

Each step in a food chain = trophic level Layer in the structure of feeding relationships in an ecosystem
1st level producers, entry level of all energy, biggest level 2nd level primary consumers 3rd level secondary consumers 4th level tertiary consumers Omnivores, scavengers, and decomposers feed at all levels

Energy pyramids
Shows the loss of energy from one trophic level to the next
Amount of energy passes to next level decreases due to life functions (heat, cellular respiration) =only 10% moves to the next level Producers at the base and have the most energy, then herbivores, then carnivores Pyramid gets smaller at the top showing loss of energy Limits the number of trophic levels in an ecosystem

Can show
Energy @ each level # of organisms @ each level Biomass

The Cycling of Materials in an Ecosystem

Materials constantly being recycled and reused
Matter is continually moving through an ecosystem back and forth between organisms and the environment Most abundant elements are: Nitrogen, Oxygen, Carbon, and Hydrogen

The Carbon Cycle

Continual movement of carbon around and through the earth and its organisms Most important players in the cycle = living things
Carbon is cycle through photosynthesis and cellular respiration Carbonates make up hard parts of bones and shells Carbon also stored in rocks and fossil fuels

Human affect on cycle

Release carbon dioxide into atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels Contributes to Global warming

The nitrogen cycle

Continual cycling of nitrogen through the earth and its organisms Organisms require N to make proteins and new cells N = 78% of gases in air N-fixing bacteria convert N in air into a usable (ammonia) form for living things
Live in soil and legume roots (beans, clover, peanuts)

Plants use ammonia Other bacteria consumes ammonia to produce nitrites and nitrates (fertilizer) Nitrogen is returned to soil by decomposers
Human affect fertilizers runoff into ponds and lakes and streams

The Phosphorus Cycle

Phosphorus in cells of organisms Enters soil when rocks weather and from decaying matter or waste Plants get P from soil and water Living things get P from eating plants and animals that have eaten plants Slow cycle doesnt involve the air Human affect fertilizers runoff into ponds and lakes causing algae blooms

How Ecosystems Change

Ch 5.3

How do ecosystems change over time?

Always changing in response to natural and human disturbances
Older inhabitants die out, new organisms move in

Ecological succession gradual process of change and replacement of some or all of the species in a community
Can take hundreds to thousands of years Caused by slow changes in physical environment Caused by sudden natural disturbance

What is primary succession?

Succession on land where no soil previously existed
Hardened volcanic lava or ash Rocks exposed from glacier melt

Pioneer species 1st to populate an area

i.e. Lichens Creates soil

What is secondary succession?

Succession that occurs where an ecosystem has already existed
More common than primary

Follows a community changing disturbance

Wild fires, humans clearing land, storms, floods, earthquakes,

Climax Communities ending point of succession mature stable community

Still goes through change over time

Old Field Succession

Occurs on a field once used as farmland

Secondary Succession after a fire

Secondary Succession of a
Lake