Science ecology unit

The four spheres

Aquatic habitats are in water and terrestrial habitats are habitats on land.
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Hydrosphere - Ponds, beaches, lake, oceans, streams, etc.
Atmosphere - All the gasses as a layer of over the Earth.
Lithosphere - The outer crust of the Earth.

Biosphere - All the spheres combined where they can work together to make life (plants,
animals, bacteria).
Biotic and abiotic factors

Biotic factors Abiotic factors

- Animals and plants - Water

- Bacteria and fungi (decomposers) - Gases
- The wastes and products of animals which includes - Rocks
bones, honey (from bees), fethers, fur, eggs, feces, nests, - Temperatures
etc. - Sunlight
- Dead organisms - Humidity
- pH levels
- Salinity
- Nutrients
Organization of ecosystems
Ecosystem - A group of different organisms living together in their environment with
biotic and abiotic factors

Community - A group of different organisms living in a defined areas

Population - A group of the same species living in the same area

Individual - JUst one animals on its own

Artificial ecosystems - ecosystem created by humans that needs humans to look after it
Photosynthesis and cellular respiration
Photosynthesis is performed by plants during the day when the sunlight is around. They take carbon dioxide,
water from rain or groundwater, adn sunlight from the sun to make food for themselves and produce oxygen.
Plants are able to take in the sunlight because they have chlorophyll in their cells which animals don’t. It’s
also how plants get their green colour.

Cellular respiration can be done by any organism, plant of animal. The organism take glucose, water which
is already stored in the organism, and it turns into energy and makes a waste of carbon dioxide. Plant and
animals cells have mitochondria in them which is what helps them do this when necessary.

Glucose it used not just for energy, but also for carbohydrates, nutrients, proteins
Complementary processes

Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are complementary to each other because they help
the other do its part.

While photosynthesis makes oxygen as its waste, that could be used so cellular respiration
can occur, when cellular respiration uses the oxygen and makes a waste of carbon dioxide,
the carbon dioxide can be used so photosynthesis can occur again.
Products and reactants
☼☼☼ Photosynthesis Cellular respiration

Reactants Water, carbon dioxide Glucose, oxygen

Products Glucose, oxygen Carbon dioxide, water

Radiant energy is from the sun

Thermal energy is energy transferred during heating or cooling

Chemical energy needs to be replaced and it necessary for living organisms to live, reproduce, and move.

Organic matter - Contains hydrogen AND carbon

Inorganic matter - Contains hydrogen OR carbon (not both)
Ecological niches

An ecological niche is how an animal reacts with another animals, how it behaves, what it
eats, etc.

Ecological niche of a human:

- Eats fruits, vegetables, some other animals, weat, and dairy products (it has predators)
- Lives in man-made structures
- They are very social with other humans and work together share knowledge, thoughts,
ideas, trade, etc.
- Most have a work life or student life
Organization of consumers/heterotrophs

Feeding role Definition

Herbivore Eats plants

Carnivore Eats animals

Omnivore Eat plants and animals

Scavenger Feeds on the remains of another dead

organisms

Decomposers Eat on dead organic matter

Producers are plants, they are food and can made food for everyone else.
Food chains and Food webs

Food chains are unrealistic because they wouldn’t actually show up in nature. They show
that every organism (discluding the last animal) has only one predator, and that every
organism (discluding the producer) has only one prey. As you move higher through the
trophic levels, only 10% of the energy is moved to the next trophic levels because the
other 90% is lost for unusable heat.

Food chains are more accurate than food chains because they would show how removing
one or two organisms can affect much more than just a few other organisms.
Numbers, energy, and biomass pyramids

Energy pyramids - As you move higher through the trophic levels, only 10% of the energy
is moved to the next trophic levels because the other 90% is lost for unusable heat. Energy
pyramids show how much energy an organism has in each trophic level. As you go higher
the energy pyramid, the more narrow the bars get.

Numbers pyramids - Show how many individuals are at each trophic level

Biomass pyramids - Shows that mass each population at the each trophic level
 Human impacts on the
The carbon cycle carbon cycle:

Note: All living things already contain carbon.

We cut down trees which
release carbon into the
atmosphere and are unable
Carbon dioxide compounds go through plants to perform photosynthesis to
to then convert carbon
make oxygen, then that oxygen goes through animals to make carbon dioxide dioxide into oxygen.
again for the plants.
Our excessive use of fossil
Fossil fuels contain carbon and are burned in factories for human activities fuels is causing us to burn
and because the fossil fuels already contained carbon, they are released into more fossil fuels and
the air when burned. release more carbon into
the air. This will cause
When decomposers break down dead organisms, the carbon that was in the carbon to outnumber
dead organism is released into the air. oxygen atoms in the air
and cause climate change.
When trees are cut down, the carbon there is also released.

The nitrogen cycle
Most nitrogen that living organisms use comes from the
atmosphere, however it first needs to become usable through a
process where the nitrogen atoms go through nitrogen fixation.
Nitrogen fixation converts nitrogen into nitrogen compounds
called nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia.
These nitrogen compounds can then be used by producers
(plants) and passed along the food chain to consumers.
Animals excrete excess nitrogen as ammonia. A decomposer
can break down a dead organism and the nitrogen compounds
will go back to the environment or to the decomposer. They are
then recycled by microorganisms or turn back into N2 by
denitrifying bacteria and are released back into the atmosphere.
Human impacts on the nitrogen cycle:
Us humans are overloading ecosystems
with nitrogen from burning fossil fuels.
When we put fertilizer (nitrogen) into our
grass it eventually becomes groundwater
and then goes to a large body of water. The
nitrogen/fertilizer will cause algae to
bloom rapidly on the top of the body of
water. It will block sunlight from passing
and getting to plants in the water that need
photosynthesis to keep the food web alive,
provide oxygen for the animals with it,
and to keep itself alive with
photosynthesis.
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria
examples: Frankia, Azoarcus,
Rhizobium
Nitrogen cycle (rewrite)
Nitrogen starts in the atmosphere where N2 is in the atmosphere. The nitrogen is very beneficial to the plants, but
they cannot use is as N2. Instead Nitrogen goes to the soil and gets turned into nitrogen-containing compounds
(nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia) through nitrogen fixation. Some examples of nitrogen-fixing bacteria would be
Frankia or Rizombium. The plants can now use these nitrogen-containing compounds to grow properly. Animals eat
these plants and now the nitrogen is in them. When the animal dies, it still has nitrogen in it and decomposers can
break them down and release the nitrogen. They can use the nitrogen for themselves or send it back into the
ecosystem. The nitrogen compounds can then be recycled by microorganisms or go back to the atmosphere as N2
by denitrifying bacteria. When humans burn fossil fuels, we are allowing more nitrogen to go into the atmosphere
and when we put nitrogen for fertilizer for our plants, it gets washed away into large bodies of water and it cause
algae to bloom and block sunlight from coming and reaching the plants in the body of water. Without the sunlight,
plants in the water are not able to perform photosynthesis to keep themselves alive and provide oxygen for the
animals that are in the same ecosystem as them. With animals and the plants dying from the lack of sunlight and
oxygen the food web will completely collapse in these bodies of water.
Organism relationships

Intraspecific competition - When 2 animals of the same species fighting for the same food

Interspecific competition - When 2 animals that are NOT the same species fight for the
same food.

Mutualism - When 2 animals benefit from each other

Predation - When an animals is the prey of another animal
Parasitism - When an animal lives on another and harms them
Commensalism - When an animal benefits from another without harming it nor benefiting
it.
Organism relationship EXAMPLES

Relationship Example

Intraspecific competition 2 foxes fighting a rabbit

Interspecific competition A cheetah and a lion fighting for an antelope

Predation A fox hunting down a rabbit

Mutualism A bee taking pollen from flowers for food while groping the excess to pollinate other
flowers

Parasitism Tics biting and living on humans takes away human’s blood

Commensalism A spider making its web/home on a tree

Invasive species and pollution
Invasive species - A species that didn’t come from the area it’s in
Pollution - When toxic substances are released into the environment.
Acid pollution
Acid pollution - When fossil fuels (Specifically sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide
compounds) are produced by factories when we burn fossil fuels. These compounds join
with water vapour and precipitate as acid precipitation. Because of wind, the clouds can
drift all over the Earth with these toxic compounds and acid can precipitate into lakes,
land, crops, etc. The acid will make the water more acidic (closer to 0) and will harm the
living things that is exposed to the acid rain because they are not used to more acidic
waters. The normal pH number for aquatic life is 6.5. Acids in the soil can make the
nutrients dissolve and not be available to huge crops, trees, gardens which will cause huge
financial issues and make plants not grow as well. It can also cause humans and animals to
have respiratory issues and for paint to peel, cause materials to rust, damages statues and
buildings, etc.
Plastic pollution
Plastic pollution - When humans thrown out plastic, most of it cannot be recycled and most
of it is not biodegradable so it just sits in ecosystems, especially in bodies of water. Plastic
can take thousands of years to decompose but it will not decompose completely and will
only break down to microplastics.
Aquatic life mistake the microplastics or plastic in general as food and eat them which can
end up choking them, cutting their organs, or even block the intestines of these animals.
Many animals get caught in plastic and are unable to move or the plastic deforms their body,
making the body not grown properly. The plastic can also block sunlight from coming into
the water and plants in teh water will not be able to collect the sunlight to perform
photosynthesis, which is supposed to make oxygen for the rest of the life in the water.
Oil spills Method Meaning

Vacuuming Vacuuming the oil from the

Oil spills - When humans accidentally still huge
tubes of oil in oceans, it can also pour onto
birds, however, animals will usually lick the oil
off of themselves to clean the oil off of them but
the oil is not safe for them to consume. It will
also make their buoyancy different and they
could possibly sink and drown in the water. The
oil on their feathers takes away their ability to
conserve heat which leads to hypophonia.
Sometimes oil spills are caused because of
drilling rigs as well.
ocean
Bioremediation Scientists are trying to find
animals that can clean up the oil
without being harmed
Burning The oil will be burned and go
into the atmosphere instead,
however this will add to the
carbon emissions
Dispersal agents Detergents that can make the oil
spills turn into many small
droplets which can be easier to
clean.
Pesticides
Pesticides are used on pests to reduce or kill the pests that sit around or on plants.
Types:
Pesticides - Kills insects
Rodenticides - Kills rats and mice (rodents)
Herbicides - Kills plants
Fungicides - Kills fungi
Bactericides - Kills bacteria
Ways of entry for pesticides
Direct contact - Directly spraying the pest with the pesticide.
Secondary/indirect contact - Spraying the pesticide on the area for it to be absorbed the
pest.
Ingestion - Pesticides sprayed on an area to kill an insect that will digest the area.
Repellents - Prevents pests from living on plants and eating them.
Fumigants - Pesticides that becomes gases when sprayed that kill the pests.
Pheromones - Synthetic Pesticides that confuse male insects from finding female insects.
Characteristics of pesticides
Broad spectrum - Toxic to many pest species
Narrow spectrum - Toxic to only a few pest species (This is best so that it does not kill
non-target species that the ecosystem would need).

Long-lived - Stays for years

Short-lived - Stays for a few days (This is best so that it can degrade before evaporating
or being carried off into runoff water).
Bioaccumulation vs. biomagnification
Bioaccumulation - When consumers absorb pesticides faster than they can break down
these pesticides. Most pesticides are not soluble in water, only fat, so they are hard to
break down in organisms

Biomagnification - When consumers consume other organisms that contain pesticides in

them and the concentration of pesticides increases as we go up the trophic levels.
Pesticide resistance
Some individuals in a species have genes that can make them resistant to a pesticide or pesticides
that are similar to it.

Because of these genes, they are able to live even if the pesticide(s) they are resistant to it. Some
of the other individuals in their species may not have resistant to the pesticide(s) sprayed and
might die. Some of them however, will still be able to live depending on the mode of entry of the
pesticide. Individuals that survived the spray and don’t have the genes can mate with other
individuals that do have the genes to resist the pesticide sprayed can reproduce and make more
individuals that have the same gene to resist the pesticide(s). This can keep going until the entire
population has the gene to resist the pesticide making the species thrive and damage crops easily.
Invasive species
Chemical control - Spraying pesticides to try and harm/kill/confuse the invasive species
Mechanical - Physically removing the invasive plant or species from the environment
Biological - Intentionally introducing another species for it to control or kill the invasive
species
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Invasive species are species that have been brought to a new area. They are considered
invasive if they cause harm to