Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

PowerPoint® Lecture Presentations for

Biology Eighth Edition

Neil Campbell and Jane Reece

Lectures by Chris Romero, updated by Erin Barley with contributions from Joan Sharp

Chapter 55

Ecosystems

Ecosystems

•  An ecosystem consists of all the organisms living in a community, as well as the abiotic factors with which they interact.

•  An ecosystem’s dynamics involve two main processes: energy flow and chemical cycling.

–  Energy flows through ecosystems while matter cycles within them.

•  Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed. (Energy enters an ecosystem as solar radiation, is conserved, and is lost from organisms as heat.)

•  Every exchange of energy increases the entropy (disorder) of the universe.

–  In an ecosystem, energy conversions are not completely efficient, and some energy is always lost as HEAT.

•  Matter cannot be created or destroyed. Ecosystems are OPEN systems

•  Chemical elements are continually recycled within ecosystems.

Energy, Mass, and Trophic Levels

•  Autotrophs build organic molecules using photosynthesis or chemosynthesis as an energy source.

•  Heterotrophs depend on the output of other organisms for energy.

–  Energy and nutrients pass from primary producers (autotrophs) to primary consumers (herbivores) to secondary consumers (carnivores) to tertiary consumers (carnivores that feed on other carnivores).

•  Detritivores, or decomposers, are consumers that derive their energy from detritus, nonliving organic matter.

–  Prokaryotes and fungi are important detritivores.

–  Decomposition connects all trophic levels.

Primary production & Nutrient Limitations in Ecosystems •  Primary production: is the amount of light energy converted to

chemical energy by autotrophs during a given time period.

•  More than light, NUTRIENTS limit primary production in geographic regions of AQUATIC ecosystems, (ocean and in lakes)

–  A limiting nutrient is the element that must be added for production to increase in an area.

•  Nitrogen and phosphorous are typically the nutrients that most often limit marine production

•  In TERRESTRIAL ecosystems, TEMPERATURE and MOISTURE affect primary production on a large scale.

•  On a local scale, a soil nutrient is often the limiting factor in primary production.

Trophic Efficiency and Ecological Pyramids

•  Trophic efficiency is the percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next. 10% Law of Energy Transfer

•  Approximately 0.1% of chemical energy fixed by photosynthesis reaches a tertiary consumer.

•  In a biomass pyramid, each tier represents the dry weight of all organisms in one trophic level.

–  Most biomass pyramids show a sharp decrease at successively higher trophic levels. (exception – some aquatic ecosystems (phytoplankton))

Biological and geochemical processes cycle nutrients between LIVING and NONLIVING parts of an ecosystem •  Nutrient circuits in ecosystems involve biotic and abiotic components

and are often called biogeochemical cycles. –  Gaseous carbon, oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen occur in the atmosphere

and cycle globally.

–  Less mobile elements such as phosphorus, potassium, and calcium cycle on a more local level.

•  A model of nutrient cycling includes main RESERVOIRS (organic & inorganic) of elements and PROCESSES that transfer elements between reservoirs.

•  Focus on these 4 factors as you study these cycles:

–  Biological importance

–  Forms that are available or used by organisms

–  Major reservoirs for each chemical

–  Key processes driving movement of each chemical through its cycle.

Nutrient Cycling Reservoir A Reservoir B

Organic materials available

as nutrients Fossilization

Organic materials

unavailable as nutrients

Reservoir D Reservoir C

Coal, oil, peat

Living organisms, detritus

Burning of fossil fuels

Respiration, decomposition, excretion

Assimilation, photosynthesis

Inorganic materials available

as nutrients

Inorganic materials

unavailable as nutrients

Atmosphere,soil, water

Minerals in rocks

Weathering, erosion

Formation of sedimentary rock

Decomposition and Nutrient Cycling Rates

•  Decomposers = detritivores play a key role in the general pattern of chemical cycling.

•  RATES at which nutrients cycle in different ecosystems vary greatly, mostly as a result of differing rates of decomposition.

–  The rate of decomposition is controlled by temperature, moisture, and nutrient availability.

Human Caused influences to nutrient cycling •  Agriculture

–  The quality of soil varies with the amount of organic material it contains.

–  Agriculture removes from ecosystems nutrients (mainly nitrogen) that would ordinarily be cycled back into the soil.

•  Industrially produced fertilizer is typically used to replace lost nitrogen, but effects on an ecosystem can be harmful.

•  Aquatic Contamination –  Critical load for a nutrient is the amount that plants can absorb without

damaging the ecosystem. (exceeded w/excess nutrients)

•  Excess contaminates groundwater as well as freshwater and marine ecosystems causing eutrophication, excessive algal growth.

•  Acid Precipitation

–  Combustion of fossil fuels is the main cause of acid precipitation which changes soil pH.

•  Primarily caused by industrial regions putting nitric and sulfuric acids into the atomosphere.

•  Toxins

–  These toxins become more concentrated in successive trophic levels.

•  Biological magnification concentrates toxins at higher trophic levels.

–  PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and many pesticides such as DDT are subject to biological magnification in ecosystems.

Greenhouse Gases, Global Warming & Ozone Depletion •  Greenhouse Gases/Global Warming

–  Increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide due to the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities.

•  CO2, water vapor, and other greenhouse gases reflect infrared radiation back toward Earth; this is the greenhouse effect.

–  This effect is important for keeping Earth’s surface at a habitable temperature.

–  Increased levels of atmospheric CO2 are magnifying the greenhouse effect, which could cause global warming and climatic change.

•  Ozone Depletion

–  Life is protected from damaging UV radiation by a protective layer of ozone molecules in the atmosphere.

•  CFCs (chloroflorocarbons) produced by human activity destroy this ozone.