Food Chain, Symbiosis & Succession, Carbon Cycle, Water Cycle, Nitrogen Cycle, Birth Rate, Death Rate, Biodiversity

autotrophs

Only plants, some algae, and certain bacteria can do photosynthesis (capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use that energy to produce food)

producers

autotrophs are also

heterotrophs

Organisms that eat other organisms for their energy and food supply

consumers

heterotrophs consume other organisms to get food and energy, they’re called

**Herbivores** eat plants. (Ex: cows, caterpillars, deer) **Carnivores** eat animals. (Ex: snakes, dogs, owls) **Omnivores** eat both plants and animals. (Ex: humans, bears)

**Detritivores** feed on plant and animal remains and other dead matter. (Ex: earthworms, snails)

**Decomposers**, like bacteria and fungi, break down organic matter.

different types of heterotrophs:

trophic level

Each step in the food chain or food web is called a

Producer, Primary Consumer, Secondary Consumer, Tertiary Consumer, Quaternary

tropic levels: bottom to top

flow of energy

arrows show ____ __ ___, means “gets eaten by” or “gives energy to”

10%, 90%

Each organism only gets about ___ of the energy from the organism it eats because organisms use much of the energy (___) for **life processes (ex: respiration, movement, reproduction)**

food chain

shows the interconnected food chains and pathways in which energy flows through a group of organisms

food web, composition of food chains

which is bigger/broad, food chain or food web

Ecological pyramids

shows the amount of energy, biomass, or numbers of organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem

Biomass:

the total mass of living matter at each trophic level, decreases by 10% as you go up each trophic level

decrease

the numbers/population in a ecological ________ as you go up

Habitat

area where an organism lives

Niche

the role or position that an organisms has in its environment/how it meets its needs for food, shelter, and reproduction

competition

occurs when more than 1 organism uses a resource (ie food, water, space, light) at the same time

Predation

when one organism eats another organism

Mutualism Commensalism Parasitism

3 different types of symbiosis:

Mutualism

(+,+) when 2 or more organisms live together and they both benefit from each other

ex: Birds eat the insects from the hippo’s skin and the hippo gets rid of the insects!

Commensalism

(+,0) which 1 organism benefits and the other organism is neither helped nor harmed

ex: Sea anemone protects the clownfish from predators (clownfish benefits)

Parasitism

(+,-) when one organism benefits at the expense of another organism

ex: Tapeworm eating intestine

brood parasitism

rely on other species to help them but also is negative for the other species

ex:Brown-headed cowbirds demonstrate brood parasitism because they rely on other bird species to build their nests and incubate their eggs They lay their eggs in another bird’s nest and abandon them The other bird then takes care of the young cowbirds The baby cowbirds often push the other eggs and young birds from the nest so that they are the only ones to survive

Primary Succession & Secondary Succession

2 types of succession:

Primary succession

takes place on bare rock surfaces where no soil exists, newly exposed rock areas, after a volcanic eruption

Pioneer species

first species to live in primary succession areas, need to be able to tolerate these very harsh environments Most often, they are moss or lichens

thousands of years

how long does primary succession take?

takes place after a disturbance changes the community, without removing the soil, occurs in areas that have been disturbed naturally, or human-caused

Examples: forest fire, clear-cut fields, and storm-damaged areas, **Some species may remain in the area after the disturbance** The soil is richer.

up to 50 years, happens more quickly than in primary succession because the soil and seeds remain after the disturbance

how long does secondary succession take, how is it different than primary succession?

carbon

All living things contain

Photosynthesis

plants take in CO2 and release C6H12O6 (sugar) and O2 (oxygen)

Cellular Respiration

organisms then take in C6H12O6 (sugar) and O2 (oxygen) and release CO2 back into the air

Carbon Cycle: Consumption

Organisms get carbon by consuming other organisms because all organisms contain carbon

ex: The cow gets carbon from the grass that it eats

Long-Term Carbon Cycle: Fossil Fuel

organisms die and are buried underground, the carbon in the organisms is converted to coal, oil, or gas deposits, remain as fossil fuel for millions of years, Carbon is released from fossil fuels when they are burned, which adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere

Greenhouse Effect

Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned, and **extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere traps heat energy like a greenhouse**, heat energy of sunlight trapped inside the Earth’s atmosphere caused the Earth to become much warmer and has caused the ice caps to melt

Long-Term Carbon Cycle: Calcium Carbonate

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is found in the shells of plankton, coral, clams, and oysters They fall to the bottom of the ocean, creating limestone rock Carbon and oxygen remain trapped in limestone until weathering and erosion releases them

Evaporation

WC: Water molecules enter the atmosphere as water vapor, a gas when they evaporate from the ocean or other bodies of water.

transpiration

WC: Water can also enter the atmosphere by evaporating from the leaves of plants in the process of…

Condensation

WC: Water vapor condenses into tiny droplets that form clouds.

precipitation

water returns to Earth’s surface in the form of (rain, snow, sleet, hail, etc.).

Runoff

water from land surfaces flow into streams, rivers, lakes,

surface water

water from Streams, rivers, and lakes

ground water

Water that enters the ground and is called

nitrogen

organisms require _______ to make proteins

Lightning bolts change nitrogen gas to useable forms of nitrogen; Nitrogen gas is captured by **nitrogen-fixing** bacteria in the soil and converted to ammonium ions, then **nitrifying bacteria** converts it into nitrate ions (NO3-) in a process called…

Nitrogen fixation (air to soil) 2 ways:

nitrate ions

Plants can now use the nitrogen in the form of ______ ______ to make amino acids and proteins

Consumers

______ get nitrogen by eating plants and animals that contain nitrogen

Animal waste (and fertilizer); when organisms die, decomposers transform the nitrogen in proteins back into ammonium ions (NH4+), which is then converted into a nitrate ions so that it can be used again by plants

Nitrogen is returned to the soil in several ways:

Denitrification (soil to air)

Denitrifying bacteria convert nitrogen compounds back into nitrogen gas, which returns it to the atmosphere

Sewage treatment facilities empty large amounts of dissolved inorganic nitrogen compounds into rivers or streams, Large amounts of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to crops, lawns, and golf courses receive large amounts of fertilizers

chemical fertilizers usually exceed the soil’s natural recycling capacity, and excess nitrogen compounds often enter streams, lakes, and groundwater becoming toxic

Human activity has altered the nitrogen cycle by…

births/immigration

increase population size, decrease death rate

deaths/emmigration

increase death rate, decrease immigration rate

Less competition among organisms, more healthy individuals that can reproduce, less predators to kill

factors that increase birth rate…

more competition among organisms, more predators, Diseases, natural disasters, Unusual climate, Human activity

factors that increase death rate…

increase

birth rate is greater than the death rate, then the population will…

Exponential Growth

Under ideal conditions with unlimited resources, a population will grow exponentially

Logistic Growth

the population growth begins to slow down and grow at a much slower rate As resources become less available, the growth of a population slows or stops

biodiversity

is the variety of life in area It is determined by the number of different species in that area

Extinction:

When entire species permanently disappear

genetic diversity

the variety of different genes that are present in a population More _____ ______ in a species increases the chance of a species surviving when there is a change in the environment or an outbreak of disease

Hunting species to extinction

Altering habitats: Habitat Loss & Fragmentation

Pollution: Introducing toxic compounds into food webs

Introducing invasive species to new environments

Human activity can decrease the biodiversity by: