1.
1 Introduction to Ecosystems Friedland text page
212-217
Biosphere:
Learning Objective
Biome: Explain how the availability
of resources influences
species interactions.
Ecosystem: Essential Knowledge
1. In a predator-prey
relationship, the predator is
an organism that eats
Community: another organism (the
prey).
2. Symbiosis is a close and
long-term interaction
Population: between two species in an
ecosystem. Types of
symbiosis include
mutualism, commensalism,
Individual: and parasitism.
3. Competition can occur
within or between species
in an ecosystem where
there are limited resources.
Resource partitioning—
Symbiosis using the resources in
different ways, places, or at
different times—can reduce
Mutualism: the negative impact of
competition on survival.
Commensalism:
Parasitism:
Predation
The predator is an organism that eats another Competition
organism, the prey (almost always the prey dies) Realize that competition is due to limited resources.
Make sure you know how their population sizes In order to co-exist, both groups must partition their
influence each other resources in a strategic way.
Resource partitioning
Temporal (time) partitioning
Spatial partitioning
Morphological partitioning
1.2 Terrestrial Biomes Friedland text page
125-135
Biome:
Learning Objective
Describe the global
distribution and
principal environmental
aspects of terrestrial
biomes.
Essential Knowledge
1. A biome contains
characteristic
communities of plants
and animals that result
from, and are adapted
*The community of organisms in a biome are to, its climate.
2. Major terrestrial biomes
include taiga, temperate
rainforests, temperate
seasonal forests, tropical
rainforests, shrubland,
temperate grassland,
savanna, desert, and
tundra.
3. The global distribution
of nonmineral terrestrial
natural resources, such
as water and trees for
lumber, varies because
of some combination of
climate, geography,
latitude and altitude,
nutrient availability, and
soil.
4. The worldwide
distribution of biomes is
dynamic; the
Terrestrial biome characteristics distribution has changed
Terrestrial biomes are defined by annual temperature and precipitation, which are in the past and may
represented by a climatogram. again shift as a result of
global climate changes.
Connections…
You should know that
temperature and
precipitation affect
productivity (the
number and diversity
of primary producers =
plants), and therefore
all other parts of the
food chain… and
finally those things
impact most aspects
of soil formation.
1.3 Aquatic Biomes Friedland text page
137-142
Aquatic biomes are defined by
Learning Objective
Salinity Flow
Describe the global distribution
and principal environmental
aspects of aquatic biomes.
Depth Temperature Essential Knowledge
1. Freshwater biomes include streams,
rivers, ponds, and lakes. These
freshwater biomes are a vital
resource for drinking water.
Freshwater Rivers & Lakes 2. Marine biomes include oceans, coral
Rivers: reefs, marshland, and estuaries.
Algae in marine biomes supply a
large portion of the Earth’s oxygen,
and also take in carbon dioxide from
Lakes: the atmosphere.
3. The global distribution of nonmineral
Littoral
marine natural resources, such as
different types of fish, varies because
Limnetic of some combination of salinity,
depth, turbidity, nutrient availability,
and temperature.
Profundal
Estuaries
Benthic
Freshwater Wetlands
Wetland:
Benefits of wetlands:
Saltwater biomes
Intertidal Zones Coral Reefs Open Ocean
1.4 The Carbon Cycle Friedland text pages
84-86
The carbon cycle includes the movement of molecules that contain
Learning Objective
Explain the steps and reservoir
interactions in the carbon cycle.
Essential Knowledge
Depth Temperature 1. The carbon cycle is the movement of
atoms and molecules containing the
element carbon between sources
and sinks.
2. Some of the reservoirs in which
carbon compounds occur in the
carbon cycle hold those compounds
for long periods of time, while some
hold them for relatively short periods
of time.
3. Carbon cycles between
photosynthesis and cellular
respiration in living things.
4. Plant and animal decomposition have
led to the storage of carbon over
millions of years. The burning of
fossil fuels quickly moves that stored
carbon into atmospheric carbon, in
the form of carbon dioxide.
Know examples
Carbon sink
Photosynthesis & Cellular Respiration
Carbon source
Fossil fuels
1.5 The Nitrogen Cycle Friedland text pages
The nitrogen cycle includes the movement of molecules that contain 86-89
Learning Objective
Explain the steps and reservoir
interactions in the nitrogen cycle.
Essential Knowledge
1. The nitrogen cycle is the movement
of atoms and molecules containing
the element nitrogen between
sources and sinks.
2. Most of the reservoirs in which
nitrogen compounds occur in the
nitrogen cycle hold those compounds
for relatively short periods of time.
3. Nitrogen fixation is the process in
which atmospheric nitrogen is
converted into a form of nitrogen
(primarily ammonia) that is available
for uptake by plants and that can be
synthesized into plant tissue.
4. The atmosphere is the major
reservoir of nitrogen.
Nitrogen fixation
Bacterial fixation:
Synthetic fixation:
Other Nitrogen Cycle Steps
Assimilation:
Ammonification:
Nitrification:
Denitrification:
Human Impacts
1.6 The Phosphorus Cycle Friedland text pages
89-91
Learning Objective
Explain the steps and reservoir
interactions in the phosphorus
cycle.
Essential Knowledge
1. The phosphorus cycle is the
movement of atoms and molecules
containing the element phosphorus
between sources and sinks.
2. The major reservoirs of phosphorus
in the phosphorus cycle are rock
and sediments that contain
phosphorus-bearing minerals.
3. There is no atmospheric component
in the phosphorus cycle, and the
limitations this imposes on the
return of phosphorus from the
ocean to land make phosphorus
naturally scarce in aquatic and many
terrestrial ecosystems. In
undisturbed ecosystems,
phosphorus is the limiting factor in
biological systems.
Phosphorus Sources Remember
Phosphorus spends a
LONG time in rocks
Assimilation & Excretion/Decomposition and sediments
There is NO
atmospheric
Sedimentation & Geologic Uplift component of the
phosphorus cycle –
phosphorus is never
a gas in the air
Eutrophication
(too much Nitrogen and/or Phosphorus) In most ecosystems,
plant growth is
limited by the lack
of phosphorus,
therefore when it’s
provided,
plants/algae
grow quickly
Too much
nitrogen and/or
phosphorus
1.7 The Hydrologic (Water) Cycle
Friedland text
pages
82-84
Learning
Objective
Explain the steps and
reservoir interactions
in the hydrologic
cycle.
Essential
Knowledge
1. The hydrologic cycle,
which is powered by
the sun, is the
movement of water in
its various solid,
liquid, and gaseous
phases between
sources and sinks.
2. The oceans are the
primary reservoir of
water at the Earth’s
surface, with ice caps
and groundwater
acting as much
smaller reservoirs.
RUNOFF & INFILTRATION
Transpiration:
Evapotranspiration:
1.8 Primary Productivity
Friedland text pages
Primary Productivity: 73-81
Learning Objective
Explain how solar energy is acquired
and transferred by living organisms.
Essential Knowledge
1. Primary productivity is the rate at which
solar energy (sunlight) is converted into
organic compounds via photosynthesis
over a unit of time.
High PP = 2. Gross primary productivity is the total rate
of photosynthesis in a given area.
3. Net primary productivity is the rate of
Ecosystems with high PP are usually more energy storage by photosynthesizers in a
given area, after subtracting the energy
lost to respiration.
4. Productivity is measured in units of energy
Calculating PP per unit area per unit time (e.g.,
kcal/m2/yr).
5. Most red light is absorbed in the upper 1m
of water, and blue light only penetrates
deeper than 100m in the clearest water.
This affects photosynthesis in aquatic
ecosystems, whose photosynthesizers
have adapted mechanisms to address the
lack of visible light.
Trends in Productivity
NPP = GPP – RL
Net Primary Productivity (NPP):
Respiration Loss (RP):
Gross Primary Productivity (GPP):
1.9 Trophic Levels & 1.10 The 10% Rule Friedland text pages
73-81
Conservation of Matter & Energy
Learning Objectives
1st Law of thermodynamics: Explain how energy flows and matter
cycles through trophic levels.
Determine how the energy decreases as
Biogeochemical cycles demonstrate conservation of matter. it flows through ecosystems.
Food webs demonstrate conservation of energy. Essential Knowledge
1. All ecosystems depend on a continuous
2nd Law of thermodynamics: inflow of high-quality energy in order to
maintain their structure and function of
transferring matter between the
environment and organisms via
biogeochemical cycles.
2. Biogeochemical cycles are essential for life
and each cycle demonstrates the
conservation of matter.
3. In terrestrial and near-surface marine
10% Rule Calculating communities, energy flows from the sun
to producers in the lowest trophic levels
In trophic (energy) pyramids, To calculate biomass or and then upward to higher trophic levels.
energy available at the 4. The 10% rule approximates that in the
next level up, move the transfer of energy from one trophic level
decimal one spot to the left to the next, only about 10% of the energy
(or, divide by 10). is passed on.
Energy is usually in Joules (J) 5. The loss of energy that occurs when
or kilojoules (kJ) energy moves from lower to higher
trophic levels can be explained through
Biomass is usually in grams the laws of thermodynamics.
(g) or kilograms (kg)
Trophic Levels and
Biomass
Tertiary Consumers:
Secondary Consumers:
Primary Consumers:
Producers:
Where are decomposers?
1.11 Food Chains & Food Webs Friedland text
pages
Food Chain & Food Web Basics 73-81
Learning Objective
Describe food chains
and food webs, and
their constituent
members by trophic
level.
Essential
Knowledge
1. A food web is a model
Arrows in food chains and food webs of an interlocking
pattern of food chains
show the direction of energy flow!
that depicts the flow of
energy and nutrients in
two or more food
chains.
2. Positive and negative
feedback loops can
each play a role in food
webs. When one
species is removed
from or added to a
specific food web, the
rest of the food web
can be affected.
Keystone
species
Interactions and Trophic Cascade A keystone
species is an
organism
that, if
removed,
would cause
its ecosystem
and food
web to be
dramatically
different or
eliminated.
Keystone
species have
low
functional
redundancy.
