chap+3


 * Ecology**: the branch of biology dealing with the relations and interactions between organisms and their environment, including other organisms.




 * Biosphere**: the part of the earth's crust, waters, and atmosphere that supports life.




 * Species**:the major subdivision of a genus or subgenus, regarded as the basic category of biological classification, composed of related individuals that resemble one another, are able to breed among themselves, but are not able to breed with members of another species.




 * Population:** the total number of persons inhabiting a country, city, or any district or area.




 * Community:** a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage




 * Ecosystem:** a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment.




 * Biome:** a complex biotic community characterized by distinctive plant and animal species and maintained under the climatic conditions of the region, esp. such a community that has developed to climax.




 * Autotroph:** any organism capable of self-nourishment by using inorganic materials as a source of nutrients and using photosynthesis or chemosynthesis as a source of energy, as most plants and certain bacteria and protists.




 * Producer:** an organism, as a plant, that is able to produce its own food from inorganic substances.




 * Photosynthesis:** (esp. in plants) the synthesis of complex organic materials, esp. carbohydrates, from carbon dioxide, water, and inorganic salts, using sunlight as the source of energy and with the aid of chlorophyll and associated pigments.




 * Chemosynthesis:** the synthesis of organic compounds within an organism, with chemical reactions providing the energy source.




 * Heterotroph:** an organism requiring organic compounds for its principal source of food.




 * Consumer:** an organism, usually an animal, that feeds on plants or other animals.




 * Herbivore:** An animal that feeds mainly or only on plants. In a food chain, herbivores are primary consumers.




 * Carnivore:** Any of various predatory, flesh-eating mammals of the order Carnivora, including the dogs, cats, bears, weasels, hyenas, and raccoons.




 * Omnivore:** An organism that eats both plants and animals.




 * Detritivore:** an organism that uses organic waste as a food source, as certain insects.




 * Decomposer:** an organism, usually a bacterium or fungus, that breaks down the cells of dead plants and animals into simpler substances.




 * Food chain:** a series of organisms interrelated in their feeding habits, the smallest being fed upon by a larger one, which in turn feeds a still larger one, etc.




 * Food web:** a series of organisms related by predator-prey and consumer-resource interactions; the entirety of interrelated food chains in an ecological community.




 * Trophic level:** any class of organisms that occupy the same position in a food chain, as primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers.




 * Ecological pyramid:** is a graphical representation designed to show the biomass or productivity at each trophic level in a given ecosystem.




 * Biomass:** the amount of living matter in a given habitat, expressed either as the weight of organisms per unit area or as the volume of organisms per unit volume of habitat.




 * Biogeochemical cycle**: is a pathway by which a chemical element or molecule moves through both biotic (biosphere) and abiotic (lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere) compartments of Earth.




 * Evaporation:** is the vaporization of a liquid and the reverse of condensation. A type of phase transition, it is the process by which molecules in a liquid state (e.g. water) spontaneously become gaseous (e.g. water vapor).




 * Transpiration:** is the evaporation of water from the aerial parts of plants, especially leaves but also stems, flowers and roots.




 * Nutrient:** is a chemical that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment.




 * Nitrogen Fixation:** usually refers to the biological process by which nitrogen (N2) in the atmosphere is converted into ammonia.




 * denitrification:** is a microbially facilitated process of dissimilatory nitrate reduction that may ultimately produce molecular nitrogen (N2) through a series of intermediate gaseous nitrogen oxide products.




 * Primary productivity:** is the production of organic compounds from atmospheric or aquatic carbon dioxide, principally through the process of photosynthesis, with chemosynthesis being much less important.




 * Limitin nutrient:** is a factor that controls a process, such as organism growth or species population, size, or distribution.




 * Algal Bloom:** is a rapid increase in the population of algae in an aquatic system.






 * __//Chap-3 Notes//__**

3.1 What is __[|Ecology]__? -[|Interactions] and __[|Interdependence]__ Ecology - scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment Biosphere - combined portions of the planet -living and non living -__[|8 KM above earth]__- __[|11 KM below earth]__ -__[|Levels of Organization]__- Species - group of similar organisms that can reproduce the same offspring e.g. deer -Population - the same species in the same area e.g. herd of deer -communities - different populations living together e.g. forest (deer, rabbits, fox, birds, etc) - Ecosystem - collection of all orgnanisms with living and nonliving in specific place e.g. forest (trees, deer, rocks, dirt, sun, rain) -Biome - Groups of ecosystems e.g. Rocky Mountains (forests, plains, polar, tundra) -Biosphere - Earth (groups of biomes)

-Ecological Methods -3 basic approaches 1. __[|observing]__- Go out into the ecosystem and observe interactions 2. __[|experimenting]__- set up artificial environment and run experiments 3. __[|modeling]__- set up models with mathematical formulas.

3.2 Energy Flow -[|Producers]: Sunlight is main source of energy for life on earth -<1% used by living things. -Some types of organisms rely on energy stored in __[|inorganic chemical compounds].__ -Autotrophs - aka producers. -Plants, __[|some algae]__, and __[|certain bacteria]__capture energy from the sun. -Plants: -Use light energy to produce chemical energy through __[|photosynthesis]__ -__[|6CO2 + 6H2O = c6H12O6 + 9O2]__ -Adds oxygen to the atmosphere and takes away carbon dioxide. -mostly land, freshwater, and upper layer of ocean. -Life without Light -__[|Producers in the dark]__- Rely on __[|chemical bonds breaking for energy]__-chemosynthesis -Consumers - Heterotrophs -cannot harness energy from the sun -rely on other organisms for food. -5 types 1. __[|Carnivore]__- only eats meat 2. __[|Omnivore]__- eats meat and plants 3. __[|Herbivore]__ - only eats plants 4. __[|Detritivores]__ - dead plants and animals 5. __[|decomposers]__ - break down __[|organic matter]__







[|Forest food web]

Feeding Relationships -Energy flows through the ecosystem in 1 direction: __[|autotroph]__ to[|heterotroph] -__[|Food Chain]__ -Series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating or being eaten. -__[|Food Web] __ -links food chains in an ecosystem together -__[|Trophic Levels]__ -Each step in the food chain -Producers make up the first trophic level Ecological Pyramid -Shows relative amounts of energy or __[|matter] c__ontained within each trophic level. -__[|3 Types of Ecological Pyramids]__ 1. __[|Energy Pyramid]__ -Only part of energy at each level is stored -__[|animals use energy]__ up -Only 10% is transferred to the next level in form of food. 2. __[|Biomass Pyramid]__ -Total amount of living tissue within a trophic level -Represents amount of food per trophic level 3. ____ -Numbers of organisms at each level 3.3 __[|Cycles of Matter]__ -Recycling in the Biosphere -matter is recycled within and between ecosystems A. __[|Biogeochemical cycles]__ -__[|elements]__, __[|chemical compounds]__, and other forms of matter are passed from 1 organism to the next. -Matter is NOT USED UP, IT IS TRANSFORMED!!! B. __[|Water cycle]__ C. __[|Nutrienct Cycles]__ -Nutrient is the body's building blocks. -passed through biogeochemical cycle 1. __[|Carbon Cycle]__ - 4 processes a. biological processes - __[|photosynthesis],__ __[|respiration]__, __[|decomposition]__ b. __[|geochemical processes]__ - release of CO2 gas to atmosphere c. __[|mixed biogeochemical processes]__ - burial of carbon remains and __[|conversion into coal]__ d. human activity - __[|mining]__, __[|burning of fossil fuels]__, __[|cutting/burning forests].__ D. __[|Nitrogen Cycle]__- N needed to make __[|amino acids]__and __[|proteins]__ -__[|Nitrogen fixation]__- N to __[|amonia]__ by __[|legumes].__ -__[|denitrification]__ - soil bacteria convert amonia into N gas E. __[|Phosphorus Cycle]__- important for formation of __[|DNA]__ and __[|RNA]__ -found in rock soil and ocean sediments -Nutrient Limitation -Primary productivity -rate at which organic matter is created by producers -__[|limiting nutrient]__- 1 nutrient limits an ecosystem from growing -abundance of nutrients = __[|population explosion.]__

Chapter 4 - The Role of Climate 4.1 What is Climate? -Weather day to day condition of earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place. -Climate - The average, year after year condition of temperature and precipitation -Causes of climate - -[|trapping of heat by the atmosphere]- Latitude - __[|transport of heat by the wind]__ -__[|ocean currents]__ -__[|amount of precipitation]__-The Greenhouse Effect -caused by the atmosphere -__[|carbon dioxide]__, __[|methane]__, water vapor and a few other atmospheric gases trap heat energy and maintain earth's temperature range. - atmosphere keeps earth warm -__[|Greenhouse effect]__- Natural situation in which heat is retained by layer of greenhouse gases