1. Ecological principles
Systems, Diversity, and Human Interactions

2. What is Ecology?
Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with on another and with their nonliving environment.
Connections in nature
Ecologists focus on understanding interactions among organisms, a population, a community, an ecosystem and the biosphere!
All of which we will examine!!

3. What are Organisms?? Organisms are any form of life.
One cell to multi-cellular species.
If you look in the mirror you will see 10 trillion cells and about 200 different types of cells… all having different functions!
How many different species on Earth?
Estimated = 3.6 million to 100 million
So far we know 1.4 million (mostly insects!)

5. Case Study: Have you thanked the insects Today?
Read Page 55 then take five minutes to answer the portfolio question: Journal Entry #1.

6. Organisms make up a Population
A population is a group of interacting individuals of the same species that occupy a specific area.
The place or environment where they live is its habitat.
It may be as large as an ocean or as small as the intestine in a termite!!
The area over which we can find a species is called its distribution or its range.

7. What is a community?
A community, or biological community, consists of all the populations of the different species living and interacting within an area.
It is very complex and contains plants, animals, and many microorganisms.

8. What are Ecosystems?
An Ecosystem is a community of different species that are interacting with one another but also with their physical environment of matter and energy
They can be natural or man made.
Man made would be crop fields, farm ponds, and reservoirs.
All the Earth’s ecosystems together make up the biosphere.

9. Examples of various ecosystems.

10. Systems within the Biosphere
All of the earth’s ecosystems combined make up the biosphere. This includes ecosystems in the air, land and sea – the Earth’s life support systems.

11. But what if we change a component within an Ecosystem:
Each component of an ecosystem is important to the preservation and the health of the ecosystem.
When you change one factor you may create a domino affect – massive changes elsewhere.
If the temperature of earth changes it impacts the development of species. Since they are all linked this will in turn affect all other species in the ecosystem.

12. Humans interactions with an ecosystem
Natural balance (characterized by the carrying capacity of a species) shifts when humans interact.
Sustainable practices are humans ways of minimizing their impact on the ecosystem and maintaining that natural balance.

13. Eutrophication
Eutrophication is a syndrome of ecosystem responses to human activities that fertilize water bodies with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), often leading to changes in animal and plant populations and degradation of water and habitat quality.

14. Nitrogen and phosphorus are essential components of structural proteins, enzymes, cell membranes, nucleic acids, and molecules that play a role in photosynthesis and other cellular functions .

15. Pristine aquatic ecosystems function in approximate steady state in which primary production of new plant biomass is sustained by N and P released as byproducts of microbial and animal metabolism.

16. Humans disrupt this balance by adding N and P to the water systems.
Nutrient enrichment of marine waters promotes the growth of algae.
The algae fuels bacterial growth in bottom waters and sediments.

17. Then…. Bacterial metabolism consumes oxygen.
Bottom waters become hypoxic (low in oxygen) or anoxic (devoid of oxygen), creating conditions stressful or even lethal for marine invertebrates and fish.

18. Possible Results
Seagrass populations decrease due to unavailability of light. Ecosystem balance is effected.
Some phytoplankton species excrete large quantities of mucilage during blooms that is whipped into foam by wind mixing and washes ashore, making beaches undesirable for holiday visitors.

19. Other phytoplankton (cyanobacteria) species produce toxic chemicals that can impair respiratory, nervous, digestive and reproductive system function, and even cause death of fish, shellfish, seabirds, mammals, and humans.

21. The economic impacts of harmful algal blooms can be severe as tourism is lost and shellfish harvest and fishing are closed across increasingly widespread marine regions.
Rivers and streams damage result in loss of fish stocks!

22. Nitrogen Eutrophication…
Portfolio: Bringing Dead Zones back to Life – article and Questions.

23. The Earth is made up of Four Major Layers:
The Earth is made up of interconnected spherical layers that contain air, water, soil, minerals and life.

24. 1. Atmosphere (air) The thin membrane of air around the planet.
The atmosphere is made up of two parts (for our purpose):
Troposphere: The bottom layer just above sea level. It contains most of the earth’s nitrogen and oxygen – and is where the weather occurs.
Stratosphere: This is the upper layer. It contains mostly ozone (O3), which helps to filter out the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.

25. 2. Hydrosphere – water
The hydrosphere consists of the Earth’s water - it is found as liquid water (surface and undergound), as ice (polar ice, icebergs and ice in frozen soil), and as water vapour.

26. 3. Lithosphere – crust
The lithosphere is made up of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle.
It contains non-renewable fossil fuels, minerals and nutrients for plant growth.

27. 4. Biosphere - (living and dead organisms)
The biosphere is where all living organisms exist and interact with one another and with non-living things.
The biosphere includes most of the hydrosphere (water), parts of the atmosphere (air), and lithosphere (soil).

28. All life exists in the biosphere…
In order for life to exist organisms need to obtain nutrients and minerals for growth and maintenance.
The Earth is a closed system; therefore, everything needs to be recycled once an organisms dies… it has to be broken down and released back into the ‘web of life’.

29. The Earths Cycles – Found within the Biosphere

30. Carbon cycle
Carbon is the basic building block of the carbohydrates, fats, proteins, DNA, and other organic compounds necessary for life.
The carbon cycle is based on CO2 from the aerobic respiration of organisms, volcanic eruptions, the weathering of carbonate rocks, and the burning of carbon containing compounds.
Aerobic respiration breaks down glucose and converts the carbon to the CO2 which is released into the troposphere.

33. Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen is the atmosphere’s most abundant element (78%).
It is a crucial component of proteins, many vitamins, and the nucleic acids DNA and RNA.
However, N2 (gas) cannot be absorbed and used directly as a nutrient by plants or animals.
The nitrogen cycle converts it to a usable form.

35. Phosphorus Cycle
Phosphorus is typically found as a solid form in rocks and salts in the Earth’s crust and very little circulates the atmosphere.
As weathering and erosion occur phosphorus is released into soil water, lakes, and rivers as phosphate ions that can be taken up by plants – which are then eaten by other organisms.

37. Sulphur Cycle
Sulphur enters the atmosphere through natural sources and human activity.
It can create many problems for organisms and water systems as it falls from the atmosphere as acid precipitation.

39. Water Cycle One of the most important cycles on the Earth!!
The water cycle recycles the fixed supply of the Earth’s water.
It falls to the Earth in forms of precipitation and cycles through plants and animals.
It is different from other cycles as the chemical (H2O) stays unchanged but merely transforms from one state to another.

41. What are the Major Biological Components of Ecosystems?
Organisms on our planet either produce or consume food.
Producers, also known as autotrophs, make food from the environment
Plants, algae, and phytoplankton are the key producers in the biosphere.
Producers make glucose (a carbohydrate) through a process known as photosynthesis.
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42. More Producers…
Chemosynthesis occurs in some bacteria that can convert simple compounds from the environment into more complex nutrient compounds WITHOUT sunlight.

43. All other organisms… Consumers
Consumers = heterotrophs
They obtain energy and nutrients from feeding on other organisms or remains.
Decomposers are consumers that recycle organic matter (which we seen in cycles).
Breakdown dead organic material = detritus!
In natural ecosystems there is little to no waste as one organism’s waste serves as a resource for another.

44. Energy passed on…
All producers, consumers, and decomposers use the chemical energy in glucose to fuel all their life processes.
The survival of all individuals depends on the flow of matter and energy through its body.
As an ecosystem, the whole survives primarily through the recycling of matter and the one-way energy flow.
Food chains

45. Energy Flow in Ecosystems
All organisms, essentially, are food for other organisms within an ecosystem.
Complete the assignment on Food Chains and Webs + Energy Flow in Ecosystems.

46. Origins and Biodiversity
Life on Earth developed as a result of chemical and biological evolution.
Chemical evolution: The formation of organic molecules took around one billion years to form.
Biological evolution: Followed, - from single-celled prokaryotic bacteria to single-celled eukaryotic organisms to multi-cellular organisms.
It still continues 3.7 billion years later.
We have knowledge of the evolution of species from fossils, radioactive dating, ice-core drilling, chemical analyses, and DNA analysis – however, many of these records are incomplete.

47. Evolution and Adaptation
Evolution is the change in a population’s genetic makeup over time.
Populations evolve by becoming genetically different
All species descend from earlier, ancestral species (theory of evolution – this is only one theory… there are others!)
Microevolution: small genetic changes in a population
Macroevolution: long-term, large-scale evolutionary changes.

49. Genetic Changes
A population’s gene pool changes over time because of genetic mutations in DNA molecules.
These are passed on to the offspring and then through their reproduction more mutations can occur.

50. Genetic changes can lead to Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or for the entire Earth.
Having a high biodiversity helps keep our economies running and keeps us alive!
Habitats with higher diversity and complexity lead to more stable environments with greater species and genetic diversity.

51. Evolution of Species – Two Main Ways 1. Isolation:
A new species can evolve as a result of members becoming isolated from a population.
In speciation, two species will form because one species cannot form fertile offspring with the other but can with the one with similar genetic features.
Geographic isolation and reproductive isolation

52. 2. Natural Selection
Natural selection’s role in microevolution occurs when members of a population have genetic traits that improve their ability to survive and produce offspring with those specific traits.
Can include genetic traits that are hereditary
Adaptations to survive and reproduce under certain environmental conditions.

53. Earth’s Biodiversity
The biodiversity of our planet is decreasing because of human activity.
Biodiversity = speciation – extinction
It is estimated that humans have increased extinction rates by 100 to 1,000 times in the 20th century.
It is now predicted that by the end of the 21st century we may see the extinction of over half of the species now present on Earth.
Humans and our activities are destroying or degrading ecosystems that might be centers for future speciation.

55. 1. Genetic Diversity
Genetic diversity: the variety of genetic material within a species or a population.
Mutations: changes in the genetic makeup of an organism (ex. insects and evolution).
Migration: when an organism leaves one population and enters another one. The organism has to adapt to a new environment.
Population size: the smaller the population the less genetic diversity it can contain and the fewer the variations in the genes for specific characteristics.
Selective Breeding: Domesticated plants and animals have been modified over many generations by our choosing certain desired characteristics, the undesirable characteristics were eliminated.

57. Genetic Diversity in Chilis
chiles were independently domesticated several times from geographically distant wild progenitors by different prehistoric cultures in Mexico,
Geographical separation among cultivated populations was reflected in DNA sequence variation.

58. 2. Species Diversity
Species diversity: the number of species present in different habitats.
The evolutionary and geological history of a region impacts its species diversity (ex. temperature in rainforest promotes diversity).
Migration can introduce new species to an area where they were not present. This does not always increase populations if it is an invading species.
The size of the area affects species diversity. The larger the area the larger the species diversity.
Species diversity is difficult to measure. This is because it is unknown how many species exist in the world and many rare species are still undiscovered.

60. 3. Functional Diversity
Functional diversity: the biological and chemical processes such as energy flow and matter cycling need for the survival of species, communities, and ecosystems.
If matter is ‘lost’ or removed from an ecosystem the cycling of nutrients cannot occur therefore different species will be affected.

61. 4. Structural Diversity
Structural diversity is the range of variation in the physical characteristics of habitat
An ecosystem that provides niches for different organisms to survive will increase the diversity within the ecosystem.

62. 5. Ecological Diversity
Ecological diversity: the variety of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems found in an area or on the earth.
Many regions of the world share many general similarities in terms of the kinds of ecosystems present.
However, each area will differ in terms of their types of species, water sources, terrain (ex. rocky or sandy, slopes facing north or south), weather patterns (ex. hurricanes).

63. Ecosystem Diversity Aquatic ecosystems Coral reefs Tropical rainforest
Tundra
Old growth forests
Marine ecosystems
Plains

65. Factors that Lead to Loss of Diversity
When species of plants and animals go extinct, many other species are affected.
Some examples of factors leading to species extinction are:
Habitat destruction
Pollution
Species Introductions
Global Climate Change
Exploitation

66. Human impact: modify or simplify ecosystems – logging, farming, grazing, unregulated hunting, pollution, urbanization, and the introduction of new species.

67. Extinction
When a population cannot adapt to changing environmental conditions the species will become extinct.
Species usually only last 1-10 million years.
Life has had to cope with natural disasters that have eliminated species.
Introduction of new species can lead to the extinction of another.

68. All species will become extinct…
When local environmental conditions change, some species will disappear at a low rate.
In a mass extinction, there is a significant rise in extinction rates
Usually 25-70% of species are lost.
There have been two mass extinctions on Earth.
As well, two mass depletions have also occurred (not as large as an extinction).

69. Why Should We Care About Biodiversity?
Aesthetic pleasure
Ecological: (environmental monitor, ecological balance – keystone species)
Educational
Historical or cultural
Natural Services: (air and water purification, soil fertility, waste disposal,)
Recreational
Medicine
Agriculture: (biological pest control, food source, commercial product – wood)
Moral or ethics

70. Future of Speciation?
Humans select certain traits in a population and try to breed them to produce the same traits in offspring.
Artificial selection to change populations to meet our needs.
Selective breeding to obtain desired traits

71. Genetic Engineering
Genetic engineers have transplanted genes from one species to another to create genetically modified organisms (GMO’S).
Genes from different species that would never interbreed in nature are being transferred from one organism to another.
Gene splicing (as it’s called) takes half as much time to develop a new crop or animal, as does traditional crossbreeding.

72. Genetic Engineering
Cloning produces a genetically identical version of an individual.
Bio-pharming is a new field where genetically engineered animals act as biofactories to produce drugs, vaccines, antibodies, hormones, etc.

73. Where are they today?
Scientists have used gene splicing to develop modified crop plants, drugs, pest-resistant plants.
Created genetically engineered bacteria to clean up oil spills and other toxic pollutants.
They have cloned sheep and cows – in the future they may be able to clone humans!
Engineered chickens that lay low cholesterol eggs, tomatoes with genes to lower chances of certain cancers, and bananas and potatoes that treat various viral diseases in developing countries.

74. Fun Activity: How energy efficient are you?
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