<p> 1</p><p>Name ______Date ______Per _____</p><p>Ecosystems</p><p>I. Ecology and levels of organization in nature</p><p>A. Organization in nature</p><p>Subatomic particles  atoms  compounds  protoplasm  cells  tissues  organs  organ systems</p><p>Organism</p><p>Population</p><p>Community</p><p>Ecosystem</p><p>Earf Planets  solar system  galaxies  universe</p><p>B. An organism’s…habitat vs range vs niche</p><p>C. Ecology--</p><p>II. Earth’s major life support systems</p><p>A. Major parts</p><p>1. atmosphere—</p><p> a. troposphere—</p><p> b. stratosphere –</p><p>2. hydrosphere—</p><p>3. lithosphere –</p><p>4. “solid” earth—crust, mantle, and core</p><p>B. The sun</p><p>1. </p><p>2. </p><p>3.</p><p>4. 2</p><p>5. Destiny of the sun’s energy</p><p> a. % reflected back into space</p><p> b. % heats atmosphere and earth’s surface</p><p> c. % drives the water cycle</p><p> d. % generates wind</p><p> e. % used for photosynthesis</p><p> f. All of b-e above are degraded into low quality heat = ______%</p><p> g. Greenhouse effect: GOOD</p><p>Gases such as:</p><p> interact with radiated IR radiations and release even longer wavelengths of IR energy into the troposphere</p><p> h. global warming BAD (?)</p><p> the idea of global warming is that by increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases, we…</p><p>III. Ecosystem components and tolerance</p><p>A. Biotic factors—</p><p>B. abiotic factors –</p><p>C. Tolerance limits</p><p>1. range of tolerance—range of chemical and physical conditions that must be maintained for a population to function. The existence, abundance, and distribution of a species are determined by factors being within the range of tolerance. This is called the </p><p>2. Tolerance limit</p><p>3. limiting factor/limiting factor principle: even if everything else is within the range of tolerance, ….</p><p>D. Food Makers and Food takers</p><p>1. Organisms that produce their own food are called:</p><p> a. examples:</p><p> b. how?</p><p>1. </p><p>2. 3</p><p>2. Organisms that feed on other organisms are called:</p><p> a. organisms that eat plants:</p><p> b. organisms that eat meat:</p><p> c. organisms that eat both:</p><p> d. organisms that eat detritus (dead leaves/wood, parts of dead organisms, waste, etc. YUM!):</p><p>1. detritus feeders</p><p>2. decomposers</p><p>E. What fuels life’s processes: everybody’s doing it! =</p><p>F. Biodiversity</p><p>1. variety of genes in a population 2. variety of species present 3. variety of roles (niches) in an ecosystem</p><p>IV. Energy flow in ecosystems</p><p>A. Food chains and food webs</p><p>1. food chain—</p><p>2. trophic levels</p><p> a. </p><p> b. </p><p> c. </p><p> d. </p><p>3. food web</p><p>B. Representing energy flow: Energy pyramids</p><p>The dry weight of all organic matter contained in organisms on a certain trophic level is called ______. The percentage of usable energy transferred as biomass from one trophic level to the next is called ______. It averages ______%. The other ______% is lost as low quality ______. This explains 3 things: 4</p><p>V. Primary productivity in ecosystems</p><p>A. Gross primary productivity—</p><p>Look at Fig. 4-22. Where are areas of GPP highest and lowest on land and at sea?</p><p>B. Net 1o productivity: NPP = GPP- R</p><p>In Fig. 4-24, what are the top 3 and bottom 3 terrestrial ecosystems in terms of avg NPP?</p><p>What is the top and bottom aquatic ecosystem in terms of avg NPP?</p><p>What is the unit used for avg NPP?</p><p>Another figure not in the current edition of your textbook reveals that the open ocean is highest in terms of total GPP but Fig 4-24 indicates that its avg NPP is pretty low. Why do you think this is so?</p><p>VI. Soil</p><p>A. What is it?</p><p>Thin covering over most land that is a complex mixture of 5 things:</p><p>B. Why is it important?</p><p>1. </p><p>2. </p><p>3. </p><p>C. Soil Horizons—horizontal layers of varying composition and texture: A cross section of these layers is called a soil profile.</p><p>1. O horizon/surface litter layer</p><p>2. A horizon/topsoil</p><p>Humus</p><p>3. B horizon/ subsoil</p><p>4. C horizon/parent material</p><p>5. bedrock 5</p><p>D. Infiltration/percolation and Leaching</p><p>E. Texture and things that result from it</p><p>1. texture—determined by the size of the particles that make up a soil</p><p> a. clay</p><p> b. silt</p><p> c. sand</p><p> d. loam</p><p>2. porosity—volume of spaces per volume of soil</p><p>3. workability: how easy it is to use your hoe</p><p>4. permeability</p><p>5. water/nutrient holding capacity</p><p>6. comparison:</p><p>Clay:</p><p>Sand:</p><p>VII. Nutrient cycles (biogeochemical cycles)</p><p>A. Hydrologic (water) cycle</p><p>1. Importance of water in life: everything takes place in it</p><p>2. Main processes definition from/to</p><p> a. evaporation</p><p> b. transpiration</p><p> c. condensation air to air</p><p>What are condensation nuclei?</p><p> d. precipitation</p><p> e. percolation</p><p> f. runoff</p><p>3. What two processes power the water cycle? 6</p><p>4. Roles of the water cycle</p><p> a. replenish…</p><p> b. shape the landscape through what process? c. Water dissolves many substances, which enables the water cycle to do what two things?</p><p>1. </p><p>2. </p><p> d. How is water purified in the hydrologic cycle? (2 ways)</p><p>5. Human impact on the water cycle</p><p> a. withdraw too much (overdraft)  (2 things)</p><p> b. remove vegetation and replace with asphalt  (4 things)</p><p> c. modify water quality by…</p><p>B. The carbon cycle</p><p>1. What is the importance/ role of carbon in life?</p><p>2. Processes</p><p> a. What is the concentration of carbon dioxide in the troposphere?</p><p> b. Where else is it found? </p><p> c. What four processes add carbon dioxide to the troposphere?</p><p>1. </p><p>2.</p><p>3.</p><p>4.</p><p> d. How is carbon dioxide removed from the troposphere? Who carries this process out? 7</p><p> e. What are two ways the carbon trapped in fossil fuels can be released into the troposphere?</p><p>1. </p><p>2. f. How does carbon dioxide get into the ocean?</p><p> g. How is carbon dioxide released into the troposphere from the ocean? What role does temperature play in this process?</p><p>3. Human impact on the carbon cycle</p><p> a. vegetation removal: less CO2 absorption and decay produces CO2</p><p> b. burning fossil fuels: CxHy + O2  CO2 + H2O</p><p>C. The nitrogen cycle 1. Importance/role of nitrogen in life</p><p>2. Major processes Definition (include who does it and where it goes from whence it came)</p><p>Nitrogen fixation</p><p>Nitrification</p><p>Assimilation</p><p>Ammonification</p><p>Denitrification</p><p>3. Human impact on the nitrogen cycle</p><p> a. When we burn any fuel, what do we add to the atmosphere and what does it become and what does that do?</p><p> b. What is made from bacterial action on livestock waste and inorganic fertilizer and what TWO negative environmental impacts does it have?</p><p> c. What is released when forests, wetlands, and grasslands are destroyed?</p><p> d. Addition of excess nitrates come from what two sources? What type of ecosystem do they disrupt? 8</p><p> e. How can nitrogen be removed from topsoil?</p><p> f. How have we shifted biodiversity as it pertains to the nitrogen cycle? D. The phosphorus cycle 1. Processes a. What phase of matter does the phosphorus cycle NOT have?</p><p> b. Is the phosphorus cycle fast or slow?</p><p> c. How is phosphorus typically found in nature?</p><p> d. How is the phosphorus released?</p><p> e. How do animals get phosphorus?</p><p> f. How do plants get phosphorus?</p><p> g. Why is phosphorus often a limiting factor to terrestrial plants?</p><p> h. What is guano?</p><p>2. Human impact on the phosphorus cycle a. Why do we mine for P?</p><p> b. What happens to soil P when we chop down tropical rain forests?</p><p> c. Addition of excess phosphorus comes from what two sources? What type of ecosystem do they disrupt? This should sound familiar!</p><p>E. The Sulfur cycle 1. Processes</p><p> a. Where is most of earth’s sulfur?</p><p> b. What is H2S?</p><p>Natural sources:</p><p>Human sources:</p><p> c. What is SO2?</p><p>Natural sources:</p><p>Human sources:</p><p> d. How do particles of sulfate salts get into the atmosphere? How do plants get them?</p><p> e. Who produces DMS? What is the role of DMS in weather? 9</p><p> f. What environmental problem do SO2 and sulfate salts cause? HOW?</p><p>2. Human impact on the sulfur cycle: What are the THREE ways that humans add sulfur dioxide to the atmosphere?</p>