2.

1
Species (share common characteristics + produce fertile offspring) Habitat (species environment
composed by biotic (e.g. predation, mutualism, parasitism) and abiotic factors (e.g. temperature,
pH, salinity, precipitation, sunlight))Niche (particular set of conditions) - fundamental (full range)
– realized (actual conditions)
Competition between members of the same species is Intraspecific competition. Individuals of the
different species, competing for the same resources is called Interspecific competition.
- S curves  already limited resources, constant growth until reaching
carrying capacity limit)
- J curves exponential growth until resources become limited and the
growth rate slows
2.2
Community: group of populations (biotic components) + physical environment
(habitat-abiotic) Ecosystems (communities + habitat) continuous
inputs/outputs of energy
Flow of energy:

- Respiration: release of e- in form of heat (from glucose + oxygen)  increase in entropy

- Photosynthesis: transformation of light energy into chemical energy (glucose)

1. Producers: primary producers (autotrophs: produce their own nutrients), 1st trophic level
plants/algae
2. Consumers (heterotrophs): herbivores (primary), carnivores/omnivores(secondary)
3. Decomposers: fungi, bacteria
 increase of entropy in each trophic level: 2nd law of thermodynamics, 90% of energy lost
through heat at each trophic level

- Bioaccumulation: buildup of persistent, non-biodegradable pollutants, within each trophic level

- Biomagnification: increase of pollutants among the food chain
Pyramid of numbers n of organisms at each trophic level
Pyramid of biomass biomass at each trophic level
Pyramid of productivity flow of energy through a trophic level
2.3
Pathways of energy through an ecosystem:

 light energy chemical energy (photosynthesis)

 chemical energy through trophic levels ecological sufficiency

Energy Biomass = Productivity

Productivity is the conversion of energy into biomass over a given period of time. It is the rate of
growth or biomass increase in plants and animals. It is measured per unit are per unit time, for
instance grams per square meter per day (g m−2 d−1).
1. Primary productivity: highest (optimal growth conditions)
- Gross (through photosynthesis)
- Net Gross- respiratory loss
NPP=GPP-R
2. Secondary productivity: generation of biomass of heterotrophic (consumer) organisms in a
system, driven by the transfer of organic material between trophic levels, and represents the
quantity of new tissue created through the use of assimilated food
- GSP: total e- assimilated by consumers GSP=food eaten-feacal loss
- NSP: GSP-R

- Maximum sustainable yield  NSP or NPP of system.

This information can be and important number for farmers who are trying to predict how much
money they will get for their product. Farmers are often paid by how much biomass (often
measured by weight/acre) that their crop yields
Nutrient cycles: energy flows through the ecosystems carbon, nitrogen cycle
- Carbon cycle: involves the processes of photosynthesis and respiration
Carbon dioxide gets absorbed by the plants through their pores (stomata) photosynthesis
product for plats is carbohydrates as glucose/byproduct released in the atmosphere oxygen
 Flows in the carbon cycle include consumption (feeding), death and decomposition,
photosynthesis, respiration, dissolving and fossilization.

- Nitrogen cycle: Nitrogen is an element that is often a limiting factor for plant growth.
Although atmospheric nitrogen is abundant (78% of atmosphere is nitrogen), it is not in a form
that plants can readily access. The nitrogen molecule found in the atmosphere must be split and
recombined to form molecules that are soluble in water. This is called nitrogen fixation.
Typically nitrogen is fixed in the form of ammonium or nitrate ions.
Some of this fixing occurs in the atmosphere due to lightning. Most nitrogen is fixed by
bacteria. When plants and other organisms die, through leaching and the activities of other
bacteria the nitrogen is returned to the atmosphere ready to begin the cycle again.

2.4
Biosphere Biomes collections of ecosystems sharing similar climatic conditions that can be
grouped into five major classes: aquatic, forest, grassland, desert, and tundra.
Each of these classes has characteristic limiting factors, productivity, and biodiversity.
Aquatic:
- Freshwater: ponds and lakes, streams and rivers and wetlands such as bogs and swamps.
- Marine: deep ocean, coral reefs, estuaries and mangrove swamps.
Forest – tropical rainforest, temperate forests or taiga.
Grassland – savanna and temperate.
Desert – hot and cold.
Tundra – arctic and alpine

Distribution of biomes Insolation, precipitation, and temperature

- Insolation: amount of solar energy received per square centimeter per minute. As the sun
rotates around the sun, the position of the land masses will change resulting in various
concentrations of solar radiation over the land masses.
- The sun's energy drives atmospheric movements, sustains photosynthesis, and propels the
seasons.
- Towards the equator, precipitation becomes increasingly important, producing temperate
communities of desert, grassland and forest in increasing order of precipitation. In the
tropical and subtropical biomes which occur in the equatorial latitudes there is a relatively
smaller range of temperature during the year, and their variation is also determined by the
amount of precipitation.
The tricellular model of atmospheric circulation explains the distribution of precipitation and
temperature and how they influence structure and relative productivity of different terrestrial
biomes:
The tricellular model is made up of three different air masses, these control atmospheric
movements and the redistribution of heat energy. The three air masses, starting from the equator,
are called the Hadley cell, Ferrel cell and the polar cell.
- 21st march: equinox (most intense heating (0°) (high pressure, dry season)
- 22nd sept: equinox (0°)
- 21st june: solstice→ cancer tropic (23°N)
- 21st december→ capricorn tropic (23° S)

Zonation(change in space)refers to changes in community along an environmental gradient

due to factors such as changes in altitude, latitude, tidal level or distance from shore (coverage
by water)
The division of vegetation in relation to a successional sequence (e.g. in sand-dunes), implying
that spatial zonation may correspond to temporal processes.
The distribution of organisms in a habitat is affected by the presence of other living organisms,
such as herbivores or predators that might eat them. It is also affected by abiotic factors
(physical factors) such as availability of light or water.

Succession (change in time)processes of colonization, establishment, and extinction which

act on the participating plant species.
Most successions contain a number of stages that can be recognized by the collection of species
that dominate at that point in the succession. Succession begin when an area is made partially or
completely devoid of vegetation because of a disturbance, succession stops when species
composition changes no longer occur with time, and this community is said to be a climax
community.
Survivorship curves
Type 1: late loss (e.g. humans) k-strategies
Type 2: consistent loss (e.g.) c- strategies curve
Type 3: early loss r- strategies curve, more fecund, bigger offspring