-
Decomposers
derive energy form dead stuff, waste products
-
Scavengers
eat tissue from dead organisms
-
Detritivores
decomposers that digest non-living matter
-
Saprotroph
lives on or in non-living organic matter, secreting digestive enzymes into it and absorbing the products of digestion
-
Trophic levels
- steps in transfer of energy
- an organism can exist on different trophic levels at once
-
1st trophic level
ALWAYS WILL BE Producers
-
2nd trophic level
Consumers, carnivores, omnivores
-
3rd trophic level
Carnivores, omnivores, consumers
-
Producers
photosynthetic plants, algae, bacteria
-
Primary consumer
herbivores
-
Secondary consumer
Carnivores
-
Tertiary consumer
Stronger carnivores
-
Food chains
- simple food chains
- direction of arrow indicates direction of energy flow
-
Food webs
complex food chains that are highly interconnected between organisms and trophic levels
-
Cell
- 1st level of biological levels of organisation
- smallest living part
-
Tissue
- 2nd lvl of bio. lvls
- groups of cells with similar function
-
Organ
- 3rd lvl of bio. lvls
- groups of tissues with similar function
-
Organ system
- 4th lvl of bio. lvls
- gtoups of organs with similar functions
-
Organism
- 5th lvl of bio. lvls
- groups of organ systems that make up organism
-
Population
- 6th lvl of bio. lvls
- group of organisms of same species, living in same area, at the same time
-
Community
- 7th lvl of bio. lvls
- groups of different species living in same area
-
Ecosystem
- 8th lvl of bio. lvls
- a community and its physical and chemical environment
-
Biome
- 9th lvl of bio. lvls
- large area and its organisms
-
Biosphere
- 10th lvl of bio. lvls
- narrow zone around Earth with life
-
Biodiversity definition
number of species in an ecosystem
-
indicator species
species that is most sensitive to change in an ecosystem
-
Unbalanced equilibrium in an ecosystem
- a change in any organism level in an ecosystem
- includes indicator species, at risk species, endangered species, extirpated, threatened, special concern
-
Endangered species
species that is close to extinction in all parts of a country or in a large location
-
Extirpated species
species that no longer exists in one part of a country but can be found in others
-
Threatened species
likely to become endangered if threatening factors are not reversed
-
Special concern
species at risk due to low or declining numbers at the fringe of its range or in a restricted area
-
Abiotic factors
factors that are non-living, ex. sun, weather, etc.
-
Autotroph
- producers
- organisms that get energy from sunlight or nonorganic energy sources
- convert inorganic compounds to organic forms
- basic trophic level in an ecosystem, supports all other organisms
-
Chemoautotrophs
- require only carbon dioxide, water, and an energy source to make nutrients
- this energy source is hydrothermal vents near the edges of Earth's crustal plates
- usually found in caves or deep oceans
-
Why biodiversity is important
if one or a few organisms die, then the trophic levels become messed up, and the ecosystem eventually dies off
-
First law of thermodynamics
energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed from one form to another
-
Second law of thermodynamics
with each successive energy transfer, less energy is available to do work. energy lost due to heat
-
-
-
-
Human impact
- hunting/fishing gets rid of food sources
- messes up the ecosystem
- pesticides
- herbicides
- insecticides
- anything that humans do to damage the population
- damaging the environment - pollution
-
Monoculture
growing one crop
-
Positives to monoculture
cheap, grows fast, resistant to weather, profitable
-
Negatives to monoculture
- if the one species dies - livelihood lost, food source is lost
- if the one species' population decreases - people can die to hunger due to direct lack of food, lack of money that would be made from profit of the one species
-
Biogeochemical structures
chemicals being recycled on Earth
-
Hydrogen bonds in water
make water really special
-
Acid rain
- bad
- formed from NOx and SO2 combining
- kills plants etc
- alkaline soils counteract acid rain
-
-
Where is inorganic carbon stored
- atmosphere, crust, oceans
- oceans store the most CO2
-
CO2 can combine with H2O to become
CaCO3 (calcium carbonate)
-
shellfish - shell material
CaCO3
-
Carbon cycle
photosynthesis - then food chain - then cellular respiration
-
Where is organic carbon stored
living beings
-
-
Peat
- warm
- plant matter
- HIGHLY acidic
-
-
-
Albedo
reflectiveness of sunlight of a material
0-1
0 = not reflective, 1 = completely reflective
0.0.8 = 8% reflective
-
Stromatolites
historical atmospheric concentration evidence
-
Nitrogen fixation
1st step of nitrogen cycle
-
Nitrification
2nd step of nitrogen cycle
-
Ammonification
3rd step of nitrogen cycle
-
Denitrification
4th step of nitrogen cycle
-
-
-
Nitrogen fixation
- N2 converted to NO3
- 90% of nitrogen fixation is performed by nitrogen-fixing bacteria within soil
10% of nitrogen fixation caused by lightning
-
Nitrification
- NH4 ions converted into NO3
- NH4 (ammonium) converted by nitrifying bacteria, within soil, into NO2 (nitrite) and THEN into NO3 (nitrate)
- ^for plants that require N in form of NO3
- some plants CAN use NH4 BUT it is still toxic
- nitrification is literally "take useless form of N and turn into nitrate"
- therefore nitrification does not have to be NH4, can be any useless form of nitrogen EXCEPT for atmospheric version (N2) which is nitrogen fixation
-
Ammonification
- done by decomposers
- convert nitrogen remains into ammonia (NO3)
- can be "ammonium -> ammonia -> NO3"
- ammonium does NOT DIRECTLY convert into NO3
- animal wastes also contain N compounds that are then converted into NH3
-
Denitrification
- not all NO3/NO2/NH3 in soil is absorbed by plants
- some is used by denitrifying bacteria
-
Denitrifying bacteria
- convert NO3/NO2/NH3 into N2
- do NOT require oxygen, in fact, oxygen is lethal to them
-
Holes in dirt/soil/grass purpose
to kill denitrifying bacteria
-
Phosphorus cycle
- phosphorus is contained in rocks in form of PO4
- soil, plants, decomposers, soil etc - FAST TRACK
- phosphorus washed into ocean into shellfish into sand into rocks, rained on, phosphorus released - SLOW TRACK
-
Carbon cycle vs phosphorus cycle
- phosphorus cycle happens EXACT SAME WAY in carbon cycle
- HOWEVER, the carbon cycle also includes the atmosphere while phosphorus cycle is SOLELY ON EARTH
-
Eutrophication and algal blooms
- runoffs of N, P
- algae blooms
- decomposers burn through oxygen as they decompose the algae
- less oxygen for everything else
- everything else dies
-
Eutrophication
oxygen starvation/deficiency
-
ecotone
transition area between ecosystems
-
Niche
role/habitat for a specific species
-
Biome determined by
- sunlight
- temperature
- precipitation
-
Boreal forest
- aka taiga
- bunch of pine trees
- pine trees have a lot of resin
- acidic soil
-
Littoral zone
- surface layer of aquatic biome
- contains producers
-
Linnetic zone
- less light than littoral
- algae
-
Profundal zone
- deepest layer of ocean
- snails
- decomposers
-
-
-
-
Factors affecting ecosystem
- soil
- available water
- temperature
- sunlight
-
-
Topsoil
- fertile
- good for growing stuff
-
Subsoil
less nutrients than topsoil
-
bedrock
layer beneath soil
-
Abiotic factors of aquatic systems
- Chemical environment
- Temperature/light
- water pressure
-
Spring turnover
O2 dissolved into water
-
Fall turnover
o2 dissolved into water
-
Wetlands
a lot of biodiversity
-
Law of minimum
you are the weakest link... goodbye
-
Law of tolerance
how much can you take
|
|