ECOSYSTEMS

Troposphere- N2, O2 Green house gases

Stratosphere- O3 which filters out 95% of UV radiation and allows life to exist on earth

Mesosphere Thermosphere

Name the greenhouse gasses.

Water vapor Methane (CH4) Nitrous oxide (N2O) Ozone (O3) Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Infrared radiation that leaves the earth’s surface causes GHG molecules to vibrate and release infrared radiation at a longer wavelength. Vibrating molecules have high KE and this increases the temperature.

Without the natural GH effect, the planet would be too cold for life.

Without the Greenhouse Effect, Earth’s temperature would be 0° F!!!!

All the waters would be frozen!

The amount of warming depends on various feedback mechanisms. For example, as the atmosphere warms due to rising levels of greenhouse gases, its concentration of water vapor increases, further intensifying the greenhouse effect. This in turn causes more warming, which causes an additional increase in water vapor, in a self-reinforcing cycle. This water vapor feedback may be strong enough to approximately double the increase in the greenhouse effect due to the added CO2 alone.

Additional important feedback mechanisms involve clouds. Clouds are effective at absorbing infrared radiation and therefore exert a large greenhouse effect, thus warming the Earth. Clouds are also effective at reflecting away incoming solar radiation, thus cooling the Earth. A change in almost any aspect of clouds, such as their type, location, water content, cloud altitude, particle size and shape, or lifetimes, affects the degree to which clouds warm or cool the Earth. Some changes amplify warming while others diminish it.

The study of how organisms interact with one another and with their nonliving environment.

Organisms→populations →communities →ecosystems →biosphere

All organisms are made of cells. Cells are classified as eukaryotic or

prokaryotic.

A group of sexually reproducing organisms.

There are between 4-100 million species!

1.8 million have been identified!

Terrestrial -biomesDistinct climate and vegetation

Watery regions- aquatic life zonesFreshwater and marine zones

All the living and once living components in an ecosystem

Different species/populations thrive under different conditions- range of tolerance

ABIOTIC FACTORS

All the nonliving components in an ecosystem.

Limiting factors regulate population growth. This is one way that population is controlled.

Limiting factors may be precipitation, temperature, sunlight, nutrient availability, salinity

What is another name :for a feeding level? Trophic levelfor a producer? (land plants, algae,

phytoplankton)Autotroph for a Consumer?Heterotrophfor an organism that feeds on dead

bodies? (earthworms, vultures, catfish)

DetrivoreFor a consumer that release nutrients

while it eats? (bacteria and fungi)Decomposer

Single-celled prokaryotes.Have no nucleus or membrane bound organelles. First seen by Van Leeuwenhoek in 1676.Examples of diseases caused by bacteria are cholera, anthrax, TB, syphilis and staph infections.

Fungi are heterotrophic. Fungi are not able to ingest their food like

animals do, nor can they manufacture their own food the way plants do. Instead, fungi feed by absorption of nutrients from the environment around them. They accomplish this by growing through and within the substrate on which they are feeding. Numerous hyphae network through the wood, cheese, soil, or flesh from which they are growing. The hyphae secrete digestive enzymes which break down the substrate, making it easier for the fungus to absorb the nutrients which the substrate contains.

Most fungi are saprophytes, feeding on dead or decaying material. Ergot, corn smut, Dutch elm disease, and ringworm are all diseases caused by parasitic fungi.

Protozoa are simple, single-celled animals. They are the smallest of all animals. Most protozoa are microscopic in size. However, they do breathe, move and reproduce like multicelled animals.

Protozoa eat tiny algae and bacteria. Protozoa take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide through the cell membrane.

Examples are amoeba, paramecium, volvox, euglena and stentor

6CO2 + 6H20 + → C6H12O6 + 6O2

What photosynthesizes on land? Plants What photosynthesis in the water?

Algae, aquatic plants, and phytoplankton

Examples of algae are diatoms and kelp

These bacteria get their energy from hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas escaping through the hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean in a process called chemosynthesis.

Primary (herbivores)- caterpillars, giraffes Secondary (carnivores)- spiders, lions Tertiary – tigers, hawks, orcas Omnivores Decomposers Detrivores

C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H20 + energy

Is an aerobic process

If the glucose is broken down without oxygen, it is

anaerobic Different end products, such as methane (CH4) or

hydrogen sulfide (H2S) will form. Examples are yeast, bacteria and your muscles (lactic acid)

Chemical energy stored as nutrients in the bodies and wastes of organisms flows through ecosystems from one trophic level to another.

Each level contains biomass which is the dry weight of all organic matter in the organism.

Energy transfer through food chains/webs is not efficient. (2nd law of thermodynamics)

Energy efficiency is the percent of usable chemical energy transferred as biomass.

Energy transfer averages only 10%.

Ecosystems and the biosphere are sustained through a combination of one-way energy flow from the sun through these systems and the nutrient cycling of key materials.

GPP- the rate at which producers capture and store solar energy

NPP- the rate at which producers use photosynthesis to produce and store energy minus the rate at which they use the energy to respire.

NPP= GPP-R R is respiration

The movement of elements/compounds (nutrients) through an ecosystem/biosphere

Driven by solar energy and gravity

Nutrient cycles connect past, present and future forms of life.

Hydrologic, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur cycles

Hydrogen bonds hold water molecules together.

Water exists as a liquid over a wide temperature range!

The high boiling point prevents the oceans for evaporating!

Water freezes at 0˚C (32˚F) and boils at 100 ˚C (212˚F)

Water has a high heat capacity. This means it takes a long time to heat up and a long time to cool down.

This property moderates our climate and protects living organisms from temperature changes.

Explain why the water in a swimming pool feels hot in the evening and cool in the morning.

It takes a large amount of energy to evaporate water because of the hydrogen bonds.

In order to evaporate, water absorbs large amounts of heat. When the vapor condenses, large amounts of heat are released. This distributes heat around the world and determines climates.

Evaporation is a cooling process because heat is removed from one item as another absorbs the heat.

Liquid water dissolves lots of substances, it is the universal solvent.

Carries dissolved nutrients, flushes waste out of tissues, removes/dilutes water soluble wastes

Carries dissolved chemicals, salts into waterways

Water filters out some of the sun’s UV radiation.

Because of hydrogen bonds, water has the ability to stick to other solid surfaces- ADHERENCE

(the polarity of the molecules are attracted to the polarity of the substance- cellulose)

Capillary action-water rising through a plant from its roots to its leaves

Water expands as it freezes.

This is why ice floats because it has a lower density than liquid water.

Because water expands, it can break pipes, street pavement and rocks.