MILLER/SPOOLMAN
LIVING IN THE ENVIRONMENT 17TH
CHAPTER 3
Ecosystems: What Are They
and How Do They Work?
Core Case Study: Tropical Rain Forests
Are Disappearing
Cover about 2% of the earth’s
land surface
Contain about 50% of the world’s
known plant and animal species
Disruption will have three major
harmful effects
Reduce biodiversity
Accelerate global warming
Change regional weather
patterns
Natural Capital Degradation: Satellite Image of the Loss of
Tropical Rain Forest
Fig. 3-1a, p. 54
3-1 What Keeps Us and Other
Organisms Alive?
Concept 3-1A The four major
components of the earth’s life-support
system are the atmosphere (air), the
hydrosphere (water), the geosphere
(rock, soil, and sediment), and the
biosphere (living things).
Concept 3-1B Life is sustained by the
flow of energy from the sun through the
biosphere, the cycling of nutrients
within the biosphere, and gravity.
The Earth’s Life-Support System Has
Four Major Components
• Atmosphere
• Troposphere: where weather happens
• Stratosphere: contains ozone (O3) layer
• Hydrosphere
• Geosphere
• Biosphere
Natural Capital: General Structure of the Earth
Fig. 3-2, p. 56
The Diversity of Life
Fig. 3-3a, p. 56
Three Factors Sustain Life on Earth
One-way flow of high-quality energy:
Sun → plants → living things →
environment as heat → radiation
to space
Cycling of nutrients through parts of
the biosphere
Gravity holds earths atmosphere
Sun, Earth, Life, and Climate
Sun: UV, visible, and IR energy
Radiation
Absorbed by ozone (O3) and other
atmosphere gases
Absorbed by the earth
Reflected by the earth
Radiated by the atmosphere as heat
Natural greenhouse effect
Flow of Energy to and from the Earth
Fig. 3-4, p. 57
3-2 What Are the Major Components
of an Ecosystem?
Concept 3-2 Some organisms produce the nutrients they
need, others get their nutrients by consuming other
organisms, and some recycle nutrients back to producers
by decomposing the wastes and remains of organisms.
Ecologists Study Interactions in Nature
Ecology: how organisms interact with each other and
their nonliving environment
Organisms
Populations
Communities
Ecosystems
Biosphere
Levels of Organization in Nature
Fig. 3-5, p. 58
Biosphere Parts of the earth's air,water, and soil
where life is found
Ecosystem A community of different species
interacting with one another and with
their nonliving environment of matter
and energy
Community Populations of different species
living in a particular place, and
potentially interacting with each
other
Population A group of individuals of the same
species living in a particular place
Organism An individual living being
The fundamental structural and
Cell functional unit of life
Molecule Chemical combination of two or
more atoms of the same or different
Water elements
Atom Smallest unit of a chemical element
Hydrogen Oxygen that exhibits its chemical properties Stepped Art
Fig. 3-5, p. 58
Ecosystems Have Living and
Nonliving Components
• Abiotic
• Water
• Air
• Nutrients
• Rocks
• Heat
• Solar energy
Biotic
Living and once living
Major Biotic and Abiotic Components of an Ecosystem
Fig. 3-6, p. 59
Producers and Consumers Are the Living
Components of Ecosystems (1)
Producers, autotrophs
Photosynthesis:
CO2 + H2O + sunlight → glucose +
oxygen
• Chemosynthesis
Consumers, heterotrophs
Primary consumers = herbivores
• Secondary consumers
• Tertiary consumers
Carnivores, Omnivores
Producers
Fig. 3-7a, p. 59
Consumers
Fig. 3-8a, p. 60
Producers and Consumers Are the Living
Components of Ecosystems (2)
Decomposers
Consumers that release nutrients
Bacteria
Fungi
Detritivores (Detritus is non-living particulate organic
material.)
Feed on dead bodies of other organisms
Earthworms
Vultures
Decomposer
Fig. 3-9a, p. 61
Detritivores and Decomposers
Fig. 3-10, p. 61
Producers and Consumers Are the Living
Components of Ecosystems (3)
Aerobic respiration
Using oxygen to turn glucose back to
carbon dioxide and water
Anaerobic respiration = fermentation
End products are carbon compounds
such as methane. lactic or acetic acid.
Glucose--------------> Energy + Lactic Acid
Energy Flow and Nutrient Cycling
One-way energy flow from sun
Nutrient cycling of key materials
Ecosystem Components
Fig. 3-11, p. 62
Science Focus: Many of the World’s Most
Important Species Are Invisible to Us
Microorganisms
Bacteria
Protozoa
Fungi
3-3 What Happens to Energy in
an Ecosystem?
• Concept 3-3 As energy flows through ecosystems in
food chains and webs, the amount of chemical
energy available to organisms at each succeeding
feeding level decreases.
Energy Flows Through Ecosystems in
Food Chains and Food Webs
Food chain
Movement of energy and nutrients from one trophic
level to the next
Photosynthesis → feeding → decomposition
Food web
Network of interconnected food chains
A Food Chain
Fig. 3-12, p. 63
A Food Web
Fig. 3-13, p. 64
Usable Energy Decreases with Each
Link in a Food Chain or Web
Biomass
Dry weight of all organic matter of a given trophic
level in a food chain or food web
Decreases at each higher trophic level due to heat
loss
Pyramid of energy flow
90% of energy lost with each transfer
Less chemical energy for higher trophic levels
Pyramid of Energy Flow
Fig. 3-14, p. 65
Usable energy available
at each trophic level Heat
(in kilocalories)
Tertiary
consumers 10
(human) Heat
Secondary
consumers 100
(perch) Heat Decomposers Heat
Primary
consumers 1,000
(zooplankton) Heat
10,000
Producers
(phytoplankton)
Stepped Art
Fig. 3-14, p. 65
Some Ecosystems Produce Plant
Matter Faster Than Others Do
• Gross primary productivity (GPP)
• Rate at which an ecosystem’s producers convert solar
energy to chemical energy and biomass
• Kcal/m2/year
• Net primary productivity (NPP)
• Rate at which an ecosystem’s producers convert solar
energy to chemical energy, minus the rate at which
producers use energy for aerobic respiration
• Ecosystems and life zones differ in their NPP
Estimated Annual Average NPP in Major Life Zones
and Ecosystems
Fig. 3-15, p. 66
3-4 What Happens to Matter in
an Ecosystem?
Concept 3-4 Matter, in the form of nutrients, cycles
within and among ecosystems and the biosphere,
and human activities are altering these chemical
cycles.
Nutrients Cycle in the Biosphere
Biogeochemical cycles, nutrient cycles
Hydrologic
Carbon
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Sulfur
Nutrients may remain in a reservoir for a period of
time
Water Cycles through the Biosphere
Natural renewal of water quality: three major processes
Evaporation
Precipitation
Transpiration
Alteration of the hydrologic cycle by humans
Withdrawal of large amounts of freshwater at rates faster than
nature can replace it
Clearing vegetation
Increased flooding when wetlands are drained
Hydrologic Cycle Including Harmful Impacts
of Human Activities
Fig. 3-16, p. 67
Glaciers Store Water
Fig. 3-17, p. 68
Water Erodes Rock in Antelope Canyon
Fig. 3-18, p. 69
Science Focus: Water’s Unique
Properties
Properties of water due to hydrogen bonds between
water molecules:
Exists as a liquid over a large range of temperature
Changes temperature slowly
High boiling point: 100˚C
Adhesion and cohesion
Expands as it freezes
Solvent
Filters out harmful UV
Hydrogen Bonds in Water
Supplement 4, Fig 6
How Salt Dissolves in Water
Supplement 4, Fig 3
Carbon Cycle Depends on
Photosynthesis and Respiration
Link between photosynthesis in producers and
respiration in producers, consumers, and
decomposers
Additional CO2 added to the atmosphere
Tree clearing
Burning of fossil fuels
Warms the atmosphere
Natural Capital: Carbon Cycle with Major Harmful Impacts
of Human Activities
Fig. 3-19, p. 70
Increase in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, 1960-2009
Supplement 9, Fig 14
Nitrogen Cycles through the
Biosphere: Bacteria in Action (1)
Nitrogen fixed by lightning
Nitrogen fixed by bacteria and cyanobacteria
Combine gaseous nitrogen with hydrogen to make
ammonia (NH3) and ammonium ions (NH4+)
Nitrification
Soil bacteria change ammonia and ammonium ions
to nitrate ions (NO3-)
Denitrification
Nitrate ions back to nitrogen gas
Nitrogen Cycles through the
Biosphere: Bacteria in Action (2)
Human intervention in the nitrogen cycle
1. Additional NO and N2O in atmosphere from burning
fossil fuels; also causes acid rain
2. N2O to atmosphere from bacteria acting on
fertilizers and manure
3. Destruction of forest, grasslands, and wetlands
4. Add excess nitrates to bodies of water
5. Remove nitrogen from topsoil
Nitrogen Cycle in a Terrestrial Ecosystem with Major
Harmful Human Impacts
Fig. 3-20, p. 71
Human Input of Nitrogen into the Environment
Supplement 9, Fig 16
Phosphorus Cycles through the
Biosphere
Cycles through water, the earth’s crust, and living
organisms
Limiting factor for plant growth
Impact of human activities
1. Clearing forests
2. Removing large amounts of phosphate from the
earth to make fertilizers
3. Erosion leaches phosphates into streams
Phosphorus Cycle with Major Harmful Human Impacts
Fig. 3-21, p. 73
Sulfur Cycles through the Biosphere
Sulfur found in organisms, ocean sediments, soil, rocks, and
fossil fuels
SO2 in the atmosphere
H2SO4 and SO4-
Human activities affect the sulfur cycle
Burn sulfur-containing coal and oil
Refine sulfur-containing petroleum
Convert sulfur-containing metallic mineral ores
Natural Capital: Sulfur Cycle with Major Harmful
Impacts of Human Activities
Fig. 3-22, p. 74
3-5 How Do Scientists Study
Ecosystems?
Concept 3-5 Scientists use both field research and
laboratory research, as well as mathematical and
other models to learn about ecosystems.
Some Scientists Study Nature Directly
Field research: “muddy-boots biology”
New technologies available
Remote sensors
Geographic information system (GIS) software
Digital satellite imaging
2005, Global Earth Observation System of Systems
(GEOSS)
Science Focus: Satellites, Google Earth,
and the Environment
Satellites as remote
sensing devices
Google Earth software
allows you to view
anywhere on earth,
including 3-D
Satellites can collect
data from anywhere in
the world
Google Earth Images: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Fig. 3-A (3), p. 76
Some Scientists Study Ecosystems
in the Laboratory
Simplified systems carried out in
Culture tubes and bottles
Aquaria tanks
Greenhouses
Indoor and outdoor chambers
Supported by field research
Some Scientists Use Models to
Simulate Ecosystems
• Mathematical and other models
• Computer simulations and projections
• Field and laboratory research needed for baseline
data
We Need to Learn More about the
Health of the World’s Ecosystems
• Determine condition of the world’s ecosystems
• More baseline data needed
Three Big Ideas
1. Life is sustained by the flow of energy from the sun
through the biosphere, the cycling of nutrients
within the biosphere, and gravity.
2. Some organisms produce the nutrients they need,
others survive by consuming other organisms, and
some recycle nutrients back to producer organisms.
3. Human activities are altering the flow of energy
through food chains and webs and the cycling of
nutrients within ecosystems and the biosphere.
