Biosphere
Alissa Buford & Rahil
Alhumaidi
October/10/2013
B-2
What is Biosphere?
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The biosphere is the global
sum of all ecosystems.
Root word of Biosphere –
“Bio” means “Life”, “sphere”
means “ Circle”.
The biosphere is all life on
Earth. This includes all the
things that are living as well
as the remains of those that
have died, but have not yet
decomposed. The
biosphere includes both life
on land and in the oceans
which adds up to 100% of
the planet.
Parts of the Biosphere
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Individual: An organism who only
interacts with species of his own
kind.
Population: sum of all individuals
(species interacting with there
environment only) that are living
together as a group.
Community: All the populations
(All individuals of similar species)
in a specific area.
Ecosystem: more than a
community (populations of
organisms of diverse species) of
living organisms.
Biome: set of ecosystems (all
living and non-living things
interacting together) in a
geographic area.
Biosphere: the sum of all the
biomes (blending of all
ecosystems together) of humans,
animals and plants, in their
defined habitats.
How does matter and energy flow
in a biosphere?
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Trophic Levels:
producers (organisms that make their own food
from sunlight and/or chemical energy from deep
sea vents) are the base of every food chain.
Primary consumers are animals that eat the
producers.
Secondary consumers eat primary consumers.
They are carnivores (meat-eaters) and omnivores
(animals that eat both animals and plants).
Tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers.
Tertiary consumers die than decompose into
earth.
As rain falls, the decomposition grows into grass.
Biosphere Interactions
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The life supporting zone of the earth where atmosphere,
hydrosphere and lithosphere meet, interact and make life
possible, is known as biosphere.
The lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere are nonliving components of the environment and are known as
abiotic. The biotic or living components include plants,
animals and microbes living on the earth. A constant
interaction between the abiotic and biotic components of
the biosphere results in the transfer of food and energy,
which makes it a dynamic but stable system. The biosphere
is the biggest biological system. It consists of smaller
functional units known as ecosystems or ecological systems.
Biosphere Interesting Facts
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The biosphere is as important as life itself because
it is our existence. Without the biosphere, the Earth
would be a lifeless planet such as Mars or Venus.
The biosphere is a system characterized by the
continuous cycling of matter.
This biosphere is generally believed to have
evolved ~3.5B years ago. (which is the age of
earth).
Life on Earth Video!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-
f5b98Uq8s
Enjoy…..!