● Biosphere
-Consists of all of the life on earth and parts of the Earth where life exists
-Land, water, and atmosphere
-Bacteria underground to spores in the atmosphere
-From 8km above the earth to 11km below the surface of the ocean
● Ecology
-Scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and
their physical environment
● Relationships
-Eaten plants and animals
-Competition
-Food
-Habitat
→Rainforest
-Pollution
● Levels of Organization
-Individual organisms
-Population
-Community
-Ecosystem
-Biome
-Biosphere
● Biotic Factor
-Any living part of the environment that an organism might interact with
-Animals, plants, bacteria
● Abiotic Factor
-Any nonliving part of the environment
-Sunlight, heat, precipitation
3.2 Energy, Producer, and Consumers
● Primary Producers
-Living systems operate by expending energy
-Growth, reproduction, and metabolic processes
-NO organism can make its own energy
-Sunlight is the ultimate source of energy for most life on earth
-For some organisms, chemical energy is stored in inorganic compounds
serves as the ultimate energy source
● Autotrophs
, -Use solar or chemical energy to produce food
-Assembling inorganic compounds into complex organic molecules
-Store energy in forms that make it available to other organisms that eat them
-”PRIMARY PRODUCERS”
● Energy From the Sun
-Photosynthesis
-Captures light energy and uses it to power chemical reactions
-Converts CO2 and H2O into O2 and energy rich carbohydrates
→Makes sugars and starches
→Removes CO2 from the atmosphere and adds O2
● Life Without Light
-Chemosynthesis
-Producers harness chemical energy from inorganic materials
-Hydrogen sulfide
-Uses this chemical energy to produce carbohydrates
● Heterotrophs
-Must acquire energy from other organisms
-By ingesting them in one way or another
-Can not make own food
-Called consumers
● Types of Consumers
-Carnivores
-Herbivores
-Omnivores
-Scavengers
-Decomposers
-Detritivores
3.3 Energy Flow in Ecosystems
● Food chain
-Energy flows in a one way stream
-From primary producers to various consumers
-Series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten
● Food web
-Network of all feeding interactions
-In most ecosystems feeding relationships are much more complex
● Trophic Levels
-Each step in the food chain or food web
-Primary producers always make up the first trophic level
, -Each step is further removed from the primary producer
● Making a food web
-Primary producers are on the bottom and carnivores are on the top following
trophic levels
-Arrow point in the direction of energy flow
● Pyramid of energy
-Shows the relative amount of energy available at each trophic level
-Organisms expend much of their energy
-Respiration, movement, growth, and reproduction
-Most of remaining energy is lost as heat
-Very little is stored
-Only about 10% is passed on
● Pyramid of Biomass and Numbers
-Pyramids of biomass show the total amount of living tissue at each trophiv level
-A pyramid of numbers shows the relative number of organisms at different
trophic levels
3.4 Cycles of Matter
● Energy
-Passes through an ecosystem
-Gets used or released as heat (cannot be created or destroyed)
● Matter
-Cycles through an ecosystem
-Constantly getting reused
● Water Cycle
-Water moves between the ocean, the atmosphere, and the land
-Consists of all of the life on earth and parts of the Earth where life exists
-Land, water, and atmosphere
-Bacteria underground to spores in the atmosphere
-From 8km above the earth to 11km below the surface of the ocean
● Ecology
-Scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and
their physical environment
● Relationships
-Eaten plants and animals
-Competition
-Food
-Habitat
→Rainforest
-Pollution
● Levels of Organization
-Individual organisms
-Population
-Community
-Ecosystem
-Biome
-Biosphere
● Biotic Factor
-Any living part of the environment that an organism might interact with
-Animals, plants, bacteria
● Abiotic Factor
-Any nonliving part of the environment
-Sunlight, heat, precipitation
3.2 Energy, Producer, and Consumers
● Primary Producers
-Living systems operate by expending energy
-Growth, reproduction, and metabolic processes
-NO organism can make its own energy
-Sunlight is the ultimate source of energy for most life on earth
-For some organisms, chemical energy is stored in inorganic compounds
serves as the ultimate energy source
● Autotrophs
, -Use solar or chemical energy to produce food
-Assembling inorganic compounds into complex organic molecules
-Store energy in forms that make it available to other organisms that eat them
-”PRIMARY PRODUCERS”
● Energy From the Sun
-Photosynthesis
-Captures light energy and uses it to power chemical reactions
-Converts CO2 and H2O into O2 and energy rich carbohydrates
→Makes sugars and starches
→Removes CO2 from the atmosphere and adds O2
● Life Without Light
-Chemosynthesis
-Producers harness chemical energy from inorganic materials
-Hydrogen sulfide
-Uses this chemical energy to produce carbohydrates
● Heterotrophs
-Must acquire energy from other organisms
-By ingesting them in one way or another
-Can not make own food
-Called consumers
● Types of Consumers
-Carnivores
-Herbivores
-Omnivores
-Scavengers
-Decomposers
-Detritivores
3.3 Energy Flow in Ecosystems
● Food chain
-Energy flows in a one way stream
-From primary producers to various consumers
-Series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten
● Food web
-Network of all feeding interactions
-In most ecosystems feeding relationships are much more complex
● Trophic Levels
-Each step in the food chain or food web
-Primary producers always make up the first trophic level
, -Each step is further removed from the primary producer
● Making a food web
-Primary producers are on the bottom and carnivores are on the top following
trophic levels
-Arrow point in the direction of energy flow
● Pyramid of energy
-Shows the relative amount of energy available at each trophic level
-Organisms expend much of their energy
-Respiration, movement, growth, and reproduction
-Most of remaining energy is lost as heat
-Very little is stored
-Only about 10% is passed on
● Pyramid of Biomass and Numbers
-Pyramids of biomass show the total amount of living tissue at each trophiv level
-A pyramid of numbers shows the relative number of organisms at different
trophic levels
3.4 Cycles of Matter
● Energy
-Passes through an ecosystem
-Gets used or released as heat (cannot be created or destroyed)
● Matter
-Cycles through an ecosystem
-Constantly getting reused
● Water Cycle
-Water moves between the ocean, the atmosphere, and the land
