Ecosystem • Biotic (communities) and abiotic (environment) components within a given area • Integrative • Process-centered (energy flow and nutrient cycles)
Jan 22, 2016
Ecosystem
• Biotic (communities) and abiotic (environment) components within a given area
• Integrative
• Process-centered (energy flow and nutrient cycles)
Fig. 3-8, p. 56
Lower Stratosphere(ozone layer)
Solarradiation
UV radiation
Visiblelight Heat radiated
by the earth
Mostabsorbedby ozone
Absorbedby the earth
Greenhouseeffect
Reflected byatmosphere Radiated by
atmosphereas heat
Heat
Troposphere
Fig. 3-9, p. 57
Decomposers
Precipitation Oxygen (O2)
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Producer
Primaryconsumer(rabbit)
Secondaryconsumer(fox)
Producers
Water
Soluble mineralnutrients
Energy Flow
• Unidirectional movement of energy
• Sustained directly or indirectly by photosynthesis
• Food Chains• Food Webs
Fig. 3-16, p. 64
Ecosystem Rates of Primary Productivity Differ
Both supported by primary production
Food Chain
Fig. 3-14, p. 63
Food Web
•Interactions•Stability•Redundancy•Keystone species
Why focus on a single species?
Nutrient Cycling
• Movement of nutrients through an ecosystem
• Can return to original form; therefore, can be reused
• Reservoirs (abiotic and biotic)
• Fluxes (process-driven)
Nutrient Cycling – Human Impacts
• Increase rate of removal from reservoirs
• Constraints on processes
• Create new fluxes
Fig. 3-17, p. 66
Hydrological Cycle
Fig. 3-18, p. 68
Biodiversity – the number and type of species, the genes they contain, and the ecosystem in which they live.
Biocomplexity – properties emerging from the interplay of behavioral, biological, chemical, physical, and social interactions that affect, sustain, or are modified by living organisms, including humans.
http://holisticbiology.stanford.edu/biocomplexity.pdf
Ecosystem Services – processes by which environment produces resources often taken for granted – clean water, timber, habitat, carbon sequestration. What is the ‘natural capital’?
Understanding ecological “roles” and balancing with human needs essential for developing sustainable uses
Information on Ecosystem Services
http://www.esa.org/education_diversity/pdfDocs/ecosystemservices.pdf
http://www.uvm.edu/giee/publications/Nature_Paper.pdf
http://www.ecosystemservicesproject.org/html/overview/index.htm