MILLER/SPOOLMAN

LIVING IN THE ENVIRONMENT 17TH

CHAPTER 3
Ecosystems: What Are They
and How Do They Work?
 Core Case Study: Tropical Rain
Forests Are Disappearing
• Cover about 2% of the earth’s land surface

• Contain about 50% of the world’s known plant and

animal species

• Disruption will have three major harmful effects

• Reduce biodiversity
• Accelerate global warming
• Change regional weather patterns
Natural Capital Degradation: Satellite Image of the Loss of
Tropical Rain Forest

Fig. 3-1a, p. 54
 The Earth’s Life-Support System
Has Four Major Components
• Atmosphere
• Troposphere: where weather happens
• Stratosphere: contains ozone layer

• Hydrosphere

• Geosphere

• Biosphere
Explain on Canvas->
assignment/textbox
Why do the different
layers have different
temperatures?

https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/atmosphe
re/layers-earths-atmosphere

Use this link if you need

help
 Sun, Earth, Life, and Climate
• Sun: UV, visible, and IR energy
• There are three types of UV radiation
• UV C never reaches earth’s surface (high Energy
radiation)
• UV B is absorbed by ozone in the stratosphere
• UV A can penetrate the ozone layer and reach the
earth’s surface
 Atmosphere

Biosphere
(living organisms)
Soil
Rock
Crust

Mantle

Geosphere
Mantle (crust, mantle, core)

Core Atmosphere (air)

Hydrosphere (water)

Fig. 3-2, p. 56
Three Factors Sustain Life on Earth
• One-way flow of high-quality energy:
• Sun → plants → living things → environment as heat →
radiation to space
• The sun also provides the necessary heat to keep the planet at a
comfortable temperature at which life can thrive.

• Cycling of nutrients through parts of the biosphere

• Gravity holds earths atmosphere

 Radiation
Solar Absorbed by ozone and other atmosphere gases
Absorbed by the earth
radiation Reflected by the earth
Radiated by the atmosphere as heat

Reflected by Radiated by
atmosphere atmosphere
UV radiation as heat

Lower Stratosphere (ozone

Most UV absorbed layer)
by ozone Heat radiated
Visible
Troposphere Heat added to by the earth
light
troposphere
Greenhouse effect
Absorbed
by the earth

Fig. 3-4, p. 57
 Ecologists Study Interactions in
Nature
• Ecology: how organisms interact with each other and
their nonliving environment
• Organisms
• Populations
• Communities
• Ecosystems
• Biosphere
Levels of Organization in Nature

Fig. 3-5, p. 58
 Ecosystems Have Living and
Nonliving Components
• Abiotic
• Water
• Air
• Nutrients
• Rocks
• Heat
• Solar energy

• Biotic
• Living and once living
 Producers and Consumers Are the
Living Components of Ecosystems

• Producers, autotrophs
• Consumers, heterotrophs
• Primary consumers = herbivores
• Secondary consumers
• Tertiary consumers
• Carnivores, Omnivores
Producers and Consumers Are the
Living Components of Ecosystems
• Producers, autotrophs
• Photosynthesis:
• CO2 + H2O + sunlight → glucose + oxygen
• 6CO2 + 6H2O +energy  C6H12O6 + 6 O2
 Photosynthesis

• https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/photosynthesis/
1. Inside the plant cell are small organelles called chloroplasts.
2. Thylakoid membranes of the chloroplast contain light absorbing pigments
‘chlorophyll’
3. Chlorophyll absorbs energy from blue and red light waves and reflects green light
waves (thus plant appears green)
4. There are other color pigments for different wavelength, e.g. xanthophyll
yellow/orange
5. Light dependent reaction: requires steady stream of sunlight which is converted
into chemical energy in the form of ATP and NADPH
6. Light independent stage: Calvin cycle takes place in the stroma (space between
thylakoid membrane and chloroplast membrane) where ATP and NADPH are
used to assemble glucose from carbon dioxide.
7. C3 photosynthesis is used by the majority of plants that produce 3-
phosphoglyceric acid during the Calvin cycle. C4 photosynthesis is used by plants
in environments without much light or water.
 Factors limiting photosynthesis
1. Availability of sun light
2. Availability of water
3. Availability of CO2
4. Ambient temperature
5. Enzymes present in chloroplasts necessary to
execute the light independent reaction
6. Amount of chlorophyll
7. Magnesium used in the synthesis of chlorophyll
 Chemosynthesis
• Is the process by which glucose is made by bacteria
using chemicals as the energy source rather than
sunlight.
• It occurs around hydrothermal vents and methane
seeps in the deep sea where sunlight is absent.
 Chemotrophs
Are organisms that use organic or inorganic compounds
to produce energy.

1. Chemo-organotrophs use organic molecules such as

methane (CH4) and methanol

2. Chemo-lithotrophs use inorganic moleules such as

H2S or S6 or NH3 for example
Molecules and compounds used in
chemosynthesis
CO2 carbon dioxide
H2S dihydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell)
S6 elemental sulfur
H2 hydrogen gas
NH3 ammonia
Mn manganese
Fe iron
CH4 methane
CH3OH methanol
 An example of a chemosynthetic
reaction
Tubeworms found around deep sea vents have
symbiotic bacteria which supply them with energy.

12 H2 S + 6 CO2  C6 H12 O6 + 6 H2O + 12 S

 Producers and Consumers Are the
Living Components of Ecosystems
• Decomposers
• Consumers that release nutrients
• Bacteria
• Fungi

• Detritivores
• Feed on dead bodies of other organisms
• Earthworms
• Vultures
 Detritus feeders Decomposers

Carpenter Termite
Bark beetle ant galleries and
Long-horned engraving carpenter
Dry rot
beetle holes ant work
fungus

Wood reduced
to powder Fungi

Powder broken down by

Time progression decomposers into plant
nutrients in soil
Fig. 3-10, p. 61
Producers and Consumers Are the
Living Components of Ecosystems
• Aerobic respiration
• Using oxygen to turn glucose back to carbon dioxide
and water

Glucose + oxygen  carbon dioxide + water

C6H12O6 + 6O2  6CO2 + 6H2O

 Producers and Consumers Are the
Living Components of Ecosystems
During anaerobic respiration glucose is broken down
without oxygen.
It is also referred to as fermentation.

In the absence of oxygen another electron acceptor is used

during the electron transport chain in glycolysis.
For example sulfate ion SO4 or the nitrate ion NO3.
The end products of anaerobic respiration is lactic acid in
animals or ethanol in plants/microbes

Anaerobic decomposition  biogas (methane)

Main structural components of an ecosyste
 Energy Flows Through Ecosystems
in Food Chains and Food Webs
• Food chain
• Movement of energy and nutrients from one trophic
level to the next
• Photosynthesis → feeding → decomposition

• Food web
• Network of interconnected food chains
A Food Chain

Fig. 3-12, p. 63
A Food Web

Fig. 3-13, p. 64
Usable Energy Decreases with Each
Link in a Food Chain or Web
• Biomass
• Dry weight of all organic matter of a given trophic
level in a food chain or food web
• Decreases at each higher trophic level due to heat loss

• Pyramid of energy flow

• 90% of energy lost with each transfer
• Less chemical energy for higher trophic levels
 Usable energy available at
each trophic level Heat
(in kilocalories)
Tertiary consumers
(human) 10
Heat

Secondary
consumers (perch) 100
Heat Heat
Decomposers

Primary consumers
(zooplankton) 1,000
Heat

10,000
Producers
(phytoplankton)

Fig. 3-14, p. 65
 Some Ecosystems Produce Plant
Matter Faster Than Others Do
• Gross primary productivity (GPP)
• Rate at which an ecosystem’s producers convert solar
energy to chemical energy and biomass
• Kcal/m2/year
• Net primary productivity (NPP)
• Rate at which an ecosystem’s producers convert solar
energy to chemical energy, minus the rate at which
producers use energy for aerobic respiration
• Ecosystems and life zones differ in their NPP
Estimated Annual Average NPP in Major Life Zones
and Ecosystems

Fig. 3-15, p. 66
 Nutrients Cycle in the Biosphere
• Biogeochemical cycles, nutrient cycles
• Hydrologic
• Carbon
• Nitrogen
• Phosphorus
• Sulfur

• Nutrients may remain in a reservoir for a period of

time
 Water Cycles through the
Biosphere
• Natural renewal of water quality: three major processes
• Evaporation
• Precipitation
• Transpiration

• Alteration of the hydrologic cycle by humans

• Withdrawal of large amounts of freshwater at rates faster than
nature can replace it
• Clearing vegetation
• Increased flooding when wetlands are drained
Hydrologic Cycle Including Harmful Impacts
of Human Activities

Fig. 3-16, p. 67
 Condensation Condensation
Ice and
snow

Transpiration
from plants
Precipitatio
n to land Evaporation of
surface water Evaporation
from ocean
Runoff

Lakes and
reservoirs Precipitation
to ocean
Runoff
Increased runoff on land
covered with crops,
Infiltration and buildings and pavement
percolation into Increased runoff
aquifer from cutting
Runoff forests and filling
wetlands

Groundwater Overpumping
in aquifers of aquifers Water pollution
Runoff

Ocean

Natural process
Natural reservoir
Human impacts
Natural pathway
Pathway affected by human activities Fig. 3-16, p. 67
 Water has Unique Properties
• Properties of water due to hydrogen bonds between
water molecules:
• Exists as a liquid over a large range of temperature
• Changes temperature slowly (very high specific heat)
• High boiling point: 100˚C
• Adhesion and cohesion
• Expands as it freezes
• Solvent (polar solvent  dissolves salts and other
polar molecules)
• Filters out harmful UV
 Carbon Cycle Depends on
Photosynthesis and Respiration
• Link between photosynthesis in producers and
respiration in producers, consumers, and
decomposers

• Additional CO2 added to the atmosphere

• Tree clearing
• Burning of fossil fuels
• Warms the atmosphere
Natural Capital: Carbon Cycle with Major Harmful Impacts
of Human Activities

Fig. 3-19, p. 70
Increase in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, 1960-2009

Supplement 9, Fig 14
 Nitrogen Cycles through the
Biosphere: Bacteria in Action (1)
• Nitrogen fixed by lightning
• Nitrogen fixed by bacteria and cyanobacteria
• Combine gaseous nitrogen with hydrogen to make
ammonia (NH3) and ammonium ions (NH4+)
• Nitrification
• Soil bacteria change ammonia and ammonium ions to
nitrate ions (NO3-)
• Denitrification
• Nitrate ions back to nitrogen gas
 Nitrogen Cycles through the
Biosphere: Bacteria in Action (2)
• Human intervention in the nitrogen cycle
1. Additional NO and N2O in atmosphere from burning
fossil fuels; also causes acid rain
2. N2O to atmosphere from bacteria acting on
fertilizers and manure
3. Destruction of forest, grasslands, and wetlands
4. Add excess nitrates to bodies of water
5. Remove nitrogen from topsoil
Nitrogen Cycle in a Terrestrial Ecosystem with Major
Harmful Human Impacts

Fig. 3-20, p. 71
 Process Denitrification by bacteria
Nitrogen in
Reservoir atmosphere Nitrification by
Pathway affected by humans bacteria
Natural pathway
Nitrogen in
Electrical storms animals
Nitrogen oxides (consumers)
from burning fuel Volcanic
and using activity
inorganic
fertilizers
Nitrogen
in plants
(producers)

Decomposition
Nitrates from
fertilizer
runoff and Uptake by plants
decomposition

Nitrate in soil

Nitrogen loss Nitrogen

to deep ocean in ocean Bacteria
sediments sediments
Ammonia in soil

Fig. 3-20, p. 71
Human Input of Nitrogen into the Environment

Supplement 9, Fig 16
 Phosphorus Cycles through the
Biosphere
• Cycles through water, the earth’s crust, and living
organisms

• Limiting factor for plant growth

• Impact of human activities

1. Clearing forests
2. Removing large amounts of phosphate from the
earth to make fertilizers
3. Erosion leaches phosphates into streams
Phosphorus Cycle with Major Harmful Human Impacts

Fig. 3-21, p. 73
 Sulfur Cycles through the
Biosphere
• Sulfur found in organisms, ocean sediments, soil, rocks, and
fossil fuels

• SO2 in the atmosphere

• H2SO4 and SO4-

• Human activities affect the sulfur cycle

• Burn sulfur-containing coal and oil
• Refine sulfur-containing petroleum
• Convert sulfur-containing metallic mineral ores
Natural Capital: Sulfur Cycle with Major Harmful
Impacts of Human Activities

Fig. 3-22, p. 74
 Some Scientists Study Nature
Directly
• Field research: “muddy-boots biology”

• New technologies available

• Remote sensors
• Geographic information system (GIS) software
• Digital satellite imaging

• 2005, Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)

 Science Focus: Satellites, Google
Earth, and the Environment
• Satellites as remote sensing devices
• Google Earth software allows you to view anywhere
on earth, including 3-D
• Satellites can collect data from anywhere in the
world
Some Scientists Study Ecosystems
in the Laboratory
• Simplified systems carried out in
• Culture tubes and bottles
• Aquaria tanks
• Greenhouses
• Indoor and outdoor chambers

• Supported by field research

 Some Scientists Use Models to
Simulate Ecosystems
• Mathematical and other models

• Computer simulations and projections

• Field and laboratory research needed for baseline

data
 Three Big Ideas
1. Life is sustained by the flow of energy from the sun
through the biosphere, the cycling of nutrients
within the biosphere, and gravity.
2. Some organisms produce the nutrients they need,
others survive by consuming other organisms, and
some recycle nutrients back to producer organisms.
3. Human activities are altering the flow of energy
through food chains and webs and the cycling of
nutrients within ecosystems and the biosphere.