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- Ecological Organization - Food Chains and Webs - Climates
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ecology
study of organism interactions with each other and environment *living impossible without interactions
species
organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring
population
same species in the same area
community
two or more populations in the same area
ecosystem
community + physical environment
biome
group of ecosystems with climate and organism similarities
biosphere
all life on Earth and where all life exists
environment
every factor surrounding organism
abiotic factor
non-living physical factors
biotic factors
living organisms
autotrophs
food synthesis from inorganic compounds+usable energy sources
consumed by others
primary producers
plants, some bacteria, some protists
photoautotrophs
energy source: light (photosynthesis)
CO2 + H2O+light energy → carbs + O2
plants, algae, photosynthetic bacteria
chemautotrophs
energy source: inorganic compounds (chemosynthesis [oxidation])
CO2+H2s+O2 → carbs+sulfur compounds
archea
hereotrophs
dependent on others for food
consumers
decomposers
feed on dead matter, produce detritus
fungi+bacteria
detrivores
feed on detritus+decomposers
earthworms, shrimp, snails
herbivores
plant-eating
rabbits, cows
carnivores
meat-eating
cats, dogs
scavengers
eat dead animals
hyenas, vultures
omnivores
plants+meat-eating
humans, bears, bigs
energy flows
ecosystems need an energy flow
one-way: primary producers → consumers
food chain
linear transfer of energy+matter through species
food chain components
primary producer: grass
primary consumer: grasshopper
secondary consumer: beetle
tertiary consumer: frog
quaternary consumer: snake
food web
diagram of complex feeding relationships + intersecting food chains
*detrivores + decomposers are essential: recycle nutrients/raw materials from dead animals
food web example
primary producers
organisms consumed (wide variety of consumers at each level)
decomposers/detrivores recycle energy+matter to primary producers
food web disturbances
complexity makes it difficult to predict the consequences
human industrialization/population affect
geological events/natural disasters affect
energy/trophic levels
only 10% of total energy is transferred in one-way direction (90% for metabolism+heat)
ecological pyramids
represent energy or matter relationships
energy pyamids
1st trophic level (100%)
primary producers
2nd trophic level (10%)
primary consumers
3rd trophic level (1%)
secondary consumers
4th trophic level (0.1%)
tertiary consumers
biomass
amount of organic matter in given level
*grams per unit of area
biomass pyramid
1*10^5 kg
1*10^7 jg
1×10^9 kg
*biomass cannot be supported as the amount of organisms consumed to support energy increases
numbers pyramid
relative number of organisms at trophic level
*can be upside down (increasing volume vs. decreasing volume) depending on how the energy needs and biomass is distributed
biogeochemical cycles
matter redistribution/recycling pathways
abiotic+biotic factors
biological, geological, chemical, and human activities have effects
*Law of Conservation of Mass
biological process
eating, breathing, eliminating waste
geological processes
earthquakes, volcanoes
chemical+physical processes
precipitation, lighting (weather)
human activity
agriculture, deforestation, fuel use
water cycle
*water is essential to all life: chemical reactions, universal solvent, habitat
the transferring and recycling of water between land, organisms, atmosphere, ocean
evaporation
liquid vaporization (water from large bodies rises)
transpiration
water evaporation in planta stomata
condensation
gas to liquid change in atmosphere (clouds)
precipitation
liquid water returns to surface
runoff
water flowers across land back into bodies of water
*some absorbed by soil for plants
infiltration
water collects in underground reservoirs
carbon cycle
*extremely abundant element: proitens, carbs, nucleic acids, fat
entering and exiting of CO2 with atmosphere
respiration
CO2 released/eliminated when )2 and glucose combine
photosynthesis
CO2 taken in with water+energy to make glucose
fossil fuels
CO2 storage when organic matter decomposes and fossilizes (CO2 released when burnt)
CO2’s effect on global warming
the volume of CO2 being released from burning fossil fuels is too much for plants, especially with deforestation
lets in light, traps heat (greenhouse gas) which warms the earth (global warming)
nitrogen cycle
*extremely abundant in living organisms: nucleic acid, protein (78% os air is N2/nitrogen gas)
conversion of N2 into usable compounds and vice versa
nitrogen fixation
bacteria convert N2 → ammonia NH3
nitrification
bacteria convert ammonia/ammonium → nitrites NO2- and nitrates NO3-
primary producers use as nitrogen source
consumers get nitrogen from primary producers
denitrification
bacteria convert nitrates NH3 → N2
atmospheric nitrogen fixation
lighting
nitrogen cycle steps
nitrogen-fixing bacteria turn N2 into usable compounds (ammonia/ammonium)
nitrifying bacteria convert ammonium first into nitrates+nitrites
plants assimilate the nitrates
animals consume plants
animals/plants die, decomposers turn organic nitrogen into ammonium
denitrifying bacteria turn nitrates to N2 to atmosphere
phosphorus cycle
*in nucleic acids
not in atmosphere: land (rocks+soil) and ocean (marine sediments)
erosion+weathering dissolve phosphorus from rocks/soil
plants absorb phosphorus into organic compounds
consumers receive organic phosphorus, rest dissolves into water, then oceans
after death phosphorus is recycled back into environment