1. The Biosphere Chapter 3
Mrs. Yanac
Biology 1A

2. What is "Ecology”? Greek origin Oikos = household/home
Logos = study of
“Study of household/home”
Real meaning
Study of organisms & their environment or surroundings

3. What is the Biosphere? All the life on the planet INCLUDING
the land (lithosphere)
the water (hydrosphere)
the air (atmosphere)

4. Biotic Factors “Bio” means living Biotic Factors (Living) Plants
Animals
Fungi
Microorganisms

5. Abiotic Factors “A” means not Abiotic Factors Light Water Wind Soil
Heat
Atmosphere

6. Levels of Organizations
Hierarchy of organisms in the environment

7. “Ida, Please Come Eat Baked Beans”

8. Ecological Methods
Observing
Experimenting
Modeling

9. Energy Flow Sunlight is the main energy source for all life on Earth
It starts with the PRODUCERS (autotrophs) and flows to the CONSUMERS (heterotrophs)

11. Food Chains
Shows a one-way flow of energy

12. Food Webs
Shows ALL of the food chains in an ecosystem

14. Trophic Levels – (a.k.a. Feeding Levels)
Producers
Get energy from the sun or chemicals
Autotrophic (can make their own food)
Primary Consumers
Consumes producers
Heterotrophic (needs to eat for energy)
Secondary Consumers
Consumes primary consumers
Heterotrophic
Tertiary Consumers
Consumes Secondary/Primary Consumers

15. Biomass pyramid
This shows how much mass (in this case plant or meat matter) is available at each level

16. Pyramid of numbers
Showa the relative number of individuals at each level
The more BIOMASS, the greater the NUMBERS

17. Energy Pyramid
Shows the transfer of energy from one level to the next

18. Rule of 10’s
Only 10% of the available energy at each level is transferred to the next level.
The rest is lost as heat as metabolism is carried out

19. Recap:
What are the levels of organization beginning with species? (remember “Ida, please come eat baked beans.”)
In a food chain, what are the producers? The consumers? The decomposers?
Herbivores eat ______, Carnivores eat ______, Omnivores eat _______ & _______.
Primary means what number? Secondary? Tertiary? Quaternary?
How much energy is available at the next trophic level? What happened to the rest of it?

20. Stop here to reinforce these topics

21. Recycling in the Biosphere
All major components of life are neither created nor destroyed, they are just RECYCLED.
Water Cycle
All living things need water to survive
Carbon Cycle
Key component of living tissue
Nitrogen Cycle
All organisms require N to make amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins
Phosphorous Cycle
Essential to living organisms because it forms part of DNA & RNA

22. The Water Cycle

23. The Water (Hydrologic) Cycle KEY POINTS
Steps
Precipitation
Evaporation
Transpiration
Condensation
Runoff
Seepage
Water changes states (Solid, Liquid, Gas)

24. The Carbon Cycle

25. The Carbon Cycle KEY POINTS
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) accumulates in the atmosphere
Plants use CO2 in photosynthesis
Out of balance
Humans cut down trees
Humans burn a lot of fossil fuel (exhaust contains CO2)
Increasing Global Warming

26. The Nitrogen Cycle

27. The Nitrogen Cycle KEY POINTS
Nitrogen (N2) found in the atmosphere
Plants & animals cannot use nitrogen in this form
It’s “broken” & needs to be “fixed”
Bacteria in the soil “fix” it into Ammonium (NH4), Nitrate (NO3) & Nitrite (NO2), which plants can use and then animals can eat – NITROGEN FIXATION
Bacteria in the soil can also convert these compounds back to N2 & put it back into the atmosphere - DENITRIFICATION

28. The Phosphorous Cycle

29. The Phosphorous Cycle KEY POINTS
No Phosphorous in the air!
Cycles between plants, animals & the land and water
Weathering & erosion play a big part in this

30. Nutrient limitation Producers need nutrients to “produce” their food
If the is 1 specific nutrient that is scarce, its called the “limiting nutrient”
It limits what can grow & make energy
Oppositely, too much of that nutrient can cause an overgrowth of certain producers such as algae (ALGAL BLOOMS)
Run off from farms often produce algal blooms in rivers and streams
Toxic to fish & other living things

31. Algal Blooms

32. End of Chapter 3
Be prepared for a vocab quiz