Bio - Ecology

Ecology

The study of interactions of organisms with each other and their physical surroundings

Biosphere

Part of Earth where life exists

Ecosystem

Given physical areas (abiotic factor) and the living organisms that inhabit that area (biotic factor)

Example of an ecosystem

A pond that has water, algae, fish, soil, and microorganisms

Community

All organisms living in a certain ecosystem

Weather

The day to day conditions of earth’s atmosphere in a given area

Climate

The average year to year conditions of temperature and precipitation

Shape/elevation of land, latitude, winds, ocean currents, and amount of precipitation

What is climate influenced by?

the angle at which sunlight hits the earth

What is a major factor in determining climate?

Equator

The spot where sunlight hits most directly

Winds and ocean currents

The unequal heating of the earth drives which two things?

Greenhouse gases

A layer of gases that allow Earth to retain heat

Carbon Dioxide CO2, Methane CH4, and Water Vapor H2O

What greenhouse gases are present?

Heat

When solar radiation enters the earth as sunlight, what does most of it get converted to?

Heat as much as light

What do gases not allow out as readily as what?

the sun

Earth draws energy from…

Trap it and store it in tissues

What do plants do with small amounts of the sun’s energy?

Energy

Flows through an ecosystem but cannot be recycled

Nutrients

Can be recycled, elements needed to grow and build molecules like nitrogen

Producers

Capture energy from the sun (such as photosynthetic algae or phytoplankton) or another inorganic source like chemosynthetic bacteria

Primary Consumers

Feed on producers

Secondary consumers

Feed on primary consumers

tertiary consumers

Feed on secondary consumers

Decomposers

break down dead organisms

bacteria and fungi

Examples of decomposers

trophic level

What is there no limit to in an organism, but less energy is present going up each…

herbivores

Eat plants

Carnivores

Eat animals

Omnivores

Eat plants and animals

Detritivores

Eat dead organic matter such as debris of earthworms, crabs, or mites

decomposers

live on the material and break it down

Food web

A system of interdependent food chains

Keystone species

An organism that helps define a whole ecosystem. Without it, the ecosystem would be extremely different or just not exist.

Biomass

The total mass of organisms at one trophic level

Plants, consumers

Lots of () are needed to support few ()

Energy, biomass, and number of organisms in the population

There is less (), (), and () as the trophic levels go up

10% Rule of Energy Transfer

When energy is passed from one trophic level to the next, only 10% (on average) of energy will be passed from one level to the next

Each consumer can only gain the energy that was stored by the organism in the trophic level below them (not all energy is stored), some energy is lost in an energy transfer, and not all organisms in a trophic level are eaten by another

Why can only 10% of energy be passed from one level to the next?

Most of the energy is used for growing, maintaining cellular balance, and keeping warm

Why is not all energy stored by the organism?

Energy is lost at higher trophic levels, but toxins are not

What is the relationship that biomagnification causes with going up trophic levels?

Biomagnification

The increase in concentration of a substance (such as pesticide) in the tissues of organisms higher levels of a food chain

Succession, the start of a new community with either no life before or the replacement of another community

How do communities form?

Primary succession

No life before the first community

Volcanic islands such as galapagos

Example of primary succession

Secondary succession

One community replaces another

A pond starts to become filled organic matter (becoming a marsh land) and then gets sold over time

Example of secondary succession

Pioneer species

Organisms that begin to colonize areas that did not have living things before, beginning primary succession

Examples of pioneer species

Lichens growing on rocks and break it down to form soil

Moss growing causing other plants and animals to come

Primary productivity

The rate at which organic matter is created by producers

Limiting nutrients

Nutrients that slow down the primary productivity

Nitrogen or phosphorus

Examples of limiting nutrients

Algal blooms

What can excess of limiting nutrients cause?

Tundra

Northernmost (Arctic), Almost treeless, ground thaws a bit in summer to become marsh like, animals migrate South in winter (-94 degrees)

Lichens, moss, grass, caribou, and reindeer

What grows/lives in tundra?

Chapparal

Plant life is adapted to periodic fires often caused by lightning, many plants produce seeds that will sprout after exposure to a fire in a…

Taiga

South of tundra, mild summers, cold winters, many animals hibernate or travel to warmer areas in winter (-70 degrees)

Conifers, pines, spruce, furs

What types of trees grow in taiga?

black bears, wolves, elk, moose

What animals live in taiga?

Temperate deciduous forest

Eastern coast of US and most of Europe, major seasonal changes (plants stop regrowing in winter), soil enriched with hummus (decaying layer of twigs/leaves)

Oak, maple

What trees are in temperate deciduous forest

Deer, foxes, birds, raccoons, squirrels

What animals are in temperate deciduous forest

Temperate grasslands

Interior of most continents, grasses + small leafy plants, hot summers, cold winters, most rainfall in one season, not much grazing bc of succession, midwest US

Climax community

The stable collection of organisms in a certain area

Savanna (tropical grasslands)

Much less variation in temperature, more variation in wet/dry seasons, periodic fires, lots of grazing preventing succession

Zebra, wildebeest, elephants, lions, gazelles

What species live in savanna?

Tropical Rain Forest

Warm temperatures (25 degrees celsius) all year round, consistent rainfall, large diversity of organisms, nutrient poor soils, canopy of trees where most organisms live

Types of amphibians, lizards, birds, insects, and larger cats

What animals live in tropical rain forest

Deserts

less than 25cm of rainfall the whole year, sahara = largest of the biome, colder of this biome are in higher elevations

Cacti, lizards, birds

What species grow in deserts?

Freshwater biome

3% of our surface water, rivers streams lakes, provide much of our drinking water + food, many organisms anchor themselves bc of current flow

Nutrients

In Freshwater biomes, what do wind and currents recycle as they fall to the bottom and they bring back up?

How far light penetrates

What are vertical zones divided based on?

Photic and aphotic zones

What are the vertical zones?

Light can penetrate, phytoplankton and algae can grow, depth varies from 30m-200m,

aphotic zone

no light penetrates

Intertidal zone

Large daily changes as tides move in and out, many organisms such as barnacles cling to rocks to withstand waves, and some burrow in sand to avoid being swept to sea

Neritic Zone

Extends from low tide line to open sea, falls in photic zone (many algae, seaweed, and fish), many nutrients, and crabs/lobsters crawling on ocean floor

Open Sea

Phytoplankton responsible for photosynthesis, nutrients scarce limiting number of nutrients that can grow, many fish/mammals

Deep Sea Zone

Attached to or near the bottom, high pressure, cold temps, no sunlight, strange creatures like tube worms or gulper eels, many detritivores

Chemosynthesis from deep sea vents

How do producers get energy in the deep sea zone?

Coral reefs

warm shallow tropical waters with corals that need warm and salty waters,

Corals

Tiny animals that have a hard calcium exterior; their small tentacles capture food

algae

Corals have a symbiosis/coexist with

Estuaries

Boundaries of fresh and salt water (wetlands), shallow waters with lots of photosynthesis, lots of plant and animal diversity, many animals give birth there and then move to open sea

estuaries

Where are there many nutrients in areas like mouths of rivers that flow into oceans?

salt marshes and mongrove swamps

Types of estuaries

Salt marshes

temperate zone dominated by salt tolerant grasses above water and sea grasses in the water

ex. chesapeake bay area

Mangrove swamps

tropical and dominated by salt tolerant trees called mangroves

ex. everglades

Biogeochemical cycles

nutrients move around the biosphere in a series of biological or physical processes

Biogeochemical cycles are reoccurring, while the energy flow in an ecosystem is one way

How are biogeochemical cycles different from the energy flow in an ecosystem?

carbon cycle, water cycle, nitrogen cycle, oxygen cycle

Examples of biogeochemical cycles

Limiting factors

Nutrients that limit growth in an ecosystem

Most coastal waters have enough nutrients to support more plant growth than what actually grows because nitrogen limits the amount of plants that grow

Ex. of limiting factor

Water cycle

Water is recycled through the environment

Water evaporates into atmosphere or is lost from plants through transpiration

First step of water cycle

Water will condense and fall back down to earth as rain or snow

Step 2 of water cycle

Water can runoff into lakes/streams, soaked up by plants, or soak into the ground

Step 3 of water cycle

Groundwater

Contained in rock beds beneath soil

N2 in the atmosphere

What form is nitrogen most in

Around 80%

How much of our atmosphere does nitrogen take up