Environmental Science UNIT 1

Primary Producer

The first producers of energy-rich compounds that are later used by other organisms

Primary Consumer

Animals that feed on producers; ex. herbivores

Secondary Consumer

An organism that eats primary consumers

Tertiary consumer

An organism that eats secondary consumers

Quaternary Consumer

An organism that eats tertiary consumers

Decomposer

An organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms

Energy Flow

Sun => Producers => Consumers => Decomposers

10% Rule of Energy Transfer

When energy is passed in an ecosystem from one trophic level to the next, only ten percent of the energy will be passed on

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

The amount of energy or organic matter stirred or fixed at the first trophic level after respiration that is available for higher trophic levels

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

The total amount of solar energy that producers capture via photosynthesis

Important equation for NPP

NPP = GPP - R

Energy Pyramid

Represents the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web (10% Rule)

Biomass Pyramid

Represents the amount of living organic matter at each trophic level

Numbers Pyramid

Represents the number of individual organisms at each trophic level

Predator/Prey Relationship

One organism eats the other

Parasitism

A relationship in which one organism lives on or in a host and harms it (usually not killing it immediately)

Mutualism

A relationship between two species in which both species benefit

Commensalism

A relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected

Importance of the Water Cycle?

All organisms need water to grow and survive. Nutrients are often transported in water. Therefore, how water moves locally and around the globe helps to drive ecological processes and structure ecosystems

Water Cycle

Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation

Importance of Carbon Cycle?

Fundamental building block of life, all living organisms are built of carbon compounds

Carbon Cycle

Photosynthesis, Respiration, Combustion

Importance of Nitrogen Cycle?

Nitrogen is essential for living organisms so they can build proteins

Nitrogen Cycle

The transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and back to the atmosphere

Importance of Phosphorus Cycle?

It's essential for DNA, ATP, and Nucleic acids, phospholipids, ATP, and Cell Membranes

Acidophilus

Live in highly acidic places (low pH) like ice mine drainage or hot springs

Halophiles

Live in places with very high salt concentrations, like salt flaps or the Dead Sea.

Thermophiles

Thrive in very high temperatures, like in hilt springs or hydrothermal vents.

Microbial aid in Nutrition (Digestion)

Their genes code for enzymes that break down food that we can’t digest on our own. They increase the value of our food by releasing nutrients that would otherwise past undigested.

Microbes help with Protection from Infection

They release molecules that keep competing bacteria and fungi away. Doctors discovered that they could use these to cure deadly infections. Many of the antibiotics today derive from compounds produced by bacteria. They also help the body defend itself.

Birth

Low abundance of mircrobes. The first microbes come from a single immediate source (mother). They pick up microbes from every person and thing they touch.

6 months - 3 years

Microbes increase and its make-up continue to change. Parents and family still influence microbiome’s composition. Their microbiomes resemble their father’s as much as their mother’s. Microbial populations shift and change.

18 years

A lot of microbiomes that become more stable. Microbiome is unique to the individual. They still change in response to illness. Major events (like puberty, pregnancy, etc) can cause larger shifts. The early influence of the parents is diluted and the microbiome is shaped by personal life events.