energy, flow and nutrient cycling

decomposer (heterotroph)

breaks down dead organisms

detrivores

bugs

essential elements

carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur

predators (hetrotroph)

hunt and kill

food chain

is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another

ATP

molecule that releases energy when bonds are broken and can be recycled within cells energy used by living things

Saprophyte

fungus and bacteria

importance of carbon cycle

- essential element in living organisms - froms the "backbone" of biological molecules - 18% of human body mass is composed of carbon - stored in abiotic components of Earth' • CO2 in the atmosphere • Fossil fuels a oil and coal • Dead matter in the soil • Chemical compounds in rocks

What is the energy that results from aerobic and anarobis systems?

ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)

bottom up effect

Energy flows up from the bottom of the food chain through the trophic levels• Food chains are NOT infinite or indefinite• Most ecosystems have trophic levels that STOP at the tertiary consumer level • Why?? • Energy flow is reduced as you move up through the trophic levels • After a point, it is energetically inefficient to have consumer levels too high in the food chain due to energy loss • Eventually, there is not enough energy to support another trophic level!

difference between food chain and food web

FOOD WEBS show how plants and animals are connected in many ways to help them all survive. FOOD CHAINS follow just one path of energy as animals find food.

what do food chains and food webs show

Food chains and webs show feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem. Also show the flow of energy between trophic levels.

why ten percent rule matters

Only about 10% of the energy that is stored as biomass in on trophic level (per unit time) ends up stored as biomass in the next trophic level (per same unit time) 90% of the energy transferred from one trophic level to the next is lost

levels of food chain

Producers Primary Consumers -Hermnivore Secondary Consumers -omnivores and carnivores Tertiary Consumers -omnivores and carnivores Apex Predators

Hetrotroph

also known as consumers • obtains both energy and biological nutrients from eating other organisms

metabolic process

chemical process that builds up or breaks down energy

scavengers (heterotroph)

eat dead material

omnivores (heterotroph)

eat plants and animals

carnivore (Hetrotroph)

eats animals only

herbivore (Hetrotroph)

eats plants

First Law of Thermodynamics

energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred from one form to another

biogeochemical cycle

process in which elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another

Aerobic systems

systems that operate WITH oxygen

Anaerobic

systems that operate WITHOUT oxygen

ultimate source of energy on planet

the sun (most ecosystems require a constant input of energy form the sun due to the constant dissipation of heat energy)

food web

• A web of interactions that models the complex feeding relationships between trophic levels within an ecosystem. Represents the flow of energy within and beyond ecosystem. Stability depends on presence of producers in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems

autotrophs

• Also known as PRODUCERS • Use energy from sunlight (photosynthesis = photoautotroph) or inorganic chemicals (chemosynthesis = chemoautotroph) • Converts inorganic carbon into organic carbon (produces biological material)Form the base of the food web

biological carbon cycle

• Carbon enters food webs through AUTOTROPHS • Almost all are photoautotrophs. Capture CO2 from the air or dissolved in water and use it to produce organic compounds• HETEROTROPHS consume organic molecules through consumption of producers or other consumers through whom the carbon has been cycled• How is carbon cycled back into the atmosphere? • To release energy stored in organic molecules, both autotrophs and heterotrophs break down organic molecules through CELLULAR RESPIRATION • Carbon is released as CO2 • Decomposers release CO2 when they break down waste products-organic-contains carbon inorganic. doesn't contain carbonof_photoautotrophs-make own food by photosynthesis organicRO~ (02 is a waste product of cellular respiration.

Geological Carbon Cycle

• Geological pathway takes much longer than the biological pathway • Millions of years!• Stored in: • Atmosphere • Liquid water (mostly oceans) ○ Calcium carbonate; key component of shells ○ Limestone = largest reservoir of carbon on Earth! • Ocean sediment, soil, rocks • Fossil fuels ○ Anaerobic conditions - take millions of years to form ○ When burned, release CO2 into the atmosphere • Interior of Earth • Organic carbon stored in soil from the decomposition of living things

human impact on biogeochemical cycle

• Global demand for fossil fuels has continued to rise since the Industrial Revolution• Fossil Fuels are a non renewable RESOURCE à being used up much faster than they can be produced by geological processes• Burning of fossil fuels releases CO2 into the atmosphere • Deforestation is a major contributor• CO2 levels have risen steadily over time, and are higher now than they have been in the past 400,000 yearsContributes to global warming and climate change

human impact on the nitrogen cycle

• Human activity released nitrogen in two ways: • Combustion of fossil fuels • Use of nitrogen-containing fertlizers • These processes increase the level of atmospheric nitrogen • Increased production of acid rain • Contributes to global warmingExcess fertilizers may lead to algal blooms

trophic levels

• Levels of a food chain are called TROPHIC LEVELs. Organisms are assigned to trophic levels based on position in food chain • Organisms can occupy different trophic levels in different food chains or at different points during a life cycle.

the important of nitrogen

• Nitrogen is a key component of the bodies of living things • Found in proteins and genetic material (DNA and RNA)• Nitrogen is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere • Converted into ammonia, nitrite , and nitrate by bacteria to be used by plants • When plants are consumed, nitrogen is then given in a useable form to producers (plants)

nitrogen as a limiting source

• Processes such as primary production and decomposition are limted by the amount of nitrogen available • LIMITING NUTRIENT = a nutrient that is in shortest supply for a given process and therefore limits the growth of organisms and populations• Adding more nitrogen to a system increases growth rate. her prokaryotes through the process of nitrogen fixation. • Conversion of atmospheric N2 into a biologically usable form • Convert nitrogen into ammonia, which can then be taken up by plants to make organic molecules • Molecules can then be passes to heterotrophs when autotrophs are consumed. directly or indirectly • Organic nitrogen is converted back to atmospheric N2 gas by bacteria

Earth as a closed system

• The total amount of matter in a closed system is conserved. A fixed supply of nutrients must be recycled to sustain life. Nutrients cycle through Earth's spheres and living organisms. Energy drives the cycling of matter through ecosystems. w/o a imput of energy matter and nutriets would not be recycled.