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ENERGY FLOW & NUTRIENT CYCLING - Coggle Diagram
ENERGY FLOW & NUTRIENT CYCLING
DIFFERENT COMPONENTS IN ECOSYSTEMS
ecosystem:A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
Autotrophs are self producers
Autotrophs use outside sources in order to produce organic nutrients for themselves and all members of their ecosystem
Heterotrophs are consumers
Heterotrophs need to obtain organic nutrents
from other source in order to gain energy.
Abiotic(nonliving) components
Atmosphere
Water
Soil
Sunlight
Temperature
Humidity
POPULATIONS IN AN ECOSYSTEM
Autotrophs
Photosynthetic (Photoautotrophs): use sunlight energy carbon dioxide and water to do photosynthesis and produce organic nutrients
Chemoautotrophs: bacteria that obtain energy by breaking the bonds chemical bonds of inorganic molecules to synthesize organic nutrients
Heterotrophs
Herbivores (Primary Consumers): animals that eat mainly plants
Carnivores: animals that kill and eat other animals
secondary consumers feed on herbivores while tertiary
higher consumers feed on carnivores and omnivores.
Omnivores: eat both plants and other animals.
Decomposers: break down and eat dead plants and animals and return nutrients to the ecosystem.
Fungi/Bacteria: break down dead organic material.
Detritivores: animals that feed on detritus
ENERGY FLOW
To study interactions in an ecosystem, you can follow the flow of energy through an ecosystem
Energy flows in ONE Direction while nutrients are RECYCLED
Nutrient (Chemical) Cycling: Inorganic nutrients cycle within and outside of living organisms
Energy Flow: Starting with the sun energy flowing through ecosystems from producer to consumer eventually dissipating as heat.
FOOD WEBS, TROPHIC LEVELS AND ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
A food chain: A linear sequence of energy flow based on feeding relationships.
Energy always flows from producer ---> consumer
Arrows always point towards energy transfer
FOOD WEBS
Grazing Food Web: Begins with leaves, stems and seeds eaten by herbivores.
Detrital Food Web: Begins with detritus and often has the largest storage of energy
A food web links all the food chains in an ecosystem together ; expresses all possible feeding relationships at each trophic level in an ecosystem.
TROPHIC LEVELS
Producers: autotrophs
Primary Consumers: herbivores or omnivores
Secondary Consumers: carnivores and omnivores
Tertiary Consumers: carnivores/ omnivores
Each trophic level contains less energy than the one before it, the higher the level the less energy it contains
ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
Shows stacked trophic levels
types of pyramids
Pyramid of Numbers: Shows the number of organisms at each trophic level more at the bottom of the pyramid to support others.
Pyramid of Biomass: Shows the total mass of living matter (biomass) at each trophic level; with each trophic level.
Pyramid of Energy: Shows available energy in each trophic level.
10% Rule: Only 10% of energy from a trophic level below to the one above (90% lost)
Not always a good model because there is no place for decomposers and there are exceptions to each type.
HUMAN IMPACT ON BIODIVERSITY & THE BIOSPHERE
umans dump large amounts of phosphorus into ecosystems through: discharge of untreated sewage, discharge of treated sewage, discharge of detergents, natural runoff, nitrogen compounds produced by factories agricultural runoff residential and urban runoff
Eutrophication: Over-enrichment in bodies of water leads to algal blooms, which can block sunlight and leads to death of aquatic organisms.
Human Impact
Production of acid rain, which is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, which releases nitrogen oxides(NOx) into the air; when this reacts with water, nitric acid (HNO3) is formed
Falls to Earth as precipitation.
Contributes to nutrient depletion in soil which negatively affects living organisms and reduces biodiversity.
More CO2 is being released into the atmosphere than removed due to the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.
Greenhouse Effect: excess gases in the environment act like a greenhouse, allowing heat in but trapping heat radiated back from the Earth within the atmosphere
THE COMPONENTS/IMPORTANCE of the WATER, CARBON, PHOSPHORUS, AND NITROGEN CYCLES.
Biogeochemical cycles describe the movement of matter (elements compounds) through living organisms' geological process and chemical process.
Energy flows through an ecosystem while matter is recycled
Components
Reservoir: Where nutrients are stored for long periods of time.
Exchange Pool: Where nutrients are stored for short periods of time; source where organisms take nutrients
Biotic Community: Chemicals move through nutrients moving through organisms in food chains.
Types
Primarily Gaseous: water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle
Primarily Sedimentary: phosphorus cycle
Water cycle & Its Processes
All living things need water
Reservoirs include oceans, aquifers, lakes and ice caps
Aquifers: groundwater storage
Exchange pools include trees, atmosphere
Includes the following processes:
Precipitation: When water vapor in the atmosphere condenses into clouds and falls as rain or snow; leads to surface runoff and percolation through soil, which allows water to enter reservoirs
Evaporation: When liquid water turns into vapor in the atmosphere.
Transpiration: The release of water vapor from plant levels.
Condensation: When gaseous water becomes liquid again (ex. rain droplet forming)
Phosphorus Cycle & its Processes
Primary reservoir is rock, but also includes soil
Exchange pools include plants and animals
Includes the following processes:
Weathering: Phosphorus is the breaking down or dissolving or rock and minerals, which releases phosphates that then enter runoff
Absorption by Plants & Animals: Phosphorus dissolved in water is absorbed by plants and the animals who consume them.
Decomposition: Phosphorus in dead organic material is decomposers break down dead organic matter which releases phosphate into the soil dome of the phospure ends up in ground water through leaching.
Nitrogen Cycle & its Processes
Nitrogen is necessary for making important biological molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids like DNA
The atmosphere has the largest concentration of nitrogen gas (N2), but living organisms
cannot use it in this form ; it must be converted to other forms. Such as ammonia NH3 ammonium NH4 or nitrates NH5.
Reservoirs include the atmosphere
Exchange pools include soil, animals and plants
Includes the following processes:
Nitrogen Fixation:
Bacteria: Convert atmospheric nitrogen N2 into ammonia NH3.
Lightning/Atmospheric: Converts atmospheric nitrogen N2 into ammonia NH3 and nitrates NO3
Industrial: Nitrogen and hydrogen are combined in a man made process to form ammonia NH3
Nitrification:
Bacteria: Convert ammonia NH3 into nitrites NO2 and then nitrates NO3
Plants: Incorporate nitrates into their tissues which are eaten by animals, nutrients eventually reach decomposition which they absorb from dead organic material.
Denitrification:
Bacteria: Convert nitrates (NO3) back to atmospheric nitrogen(N2); opposite of nitrogen-fixing bacteria
Carbon + Oxgyen Cycle
Reservoirs include: soil, sedimentary, rock fossil fuels
Exchange pools include: trees, and atmosphere
Includes the following processes:
Cellular Respiration & Photosynthesis: Animals release carbon into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide
Plants take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to perform photosynthesis.
Decomposition: Living tissues are made of carbon atoms when dead plants and animals matter is broken down carbon is returned to the oil
Combustion: Burning of fossil fuels which releases carbon into the atmosphere.