• all life on Earth and all the parts of the
Earth where life exists
• Ecology is the study of the interactions of all of the organisms and their environments in the biosphere
• There is an interdependence between organisms and their environment.

LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION IN THE
BIOSPHERE
1.
Organism- one individual of a certain species
2.
Population- group of individuals of the same species living in the same area
3.
Community- different populations living together in the same area
4.
Ecosystem- all the organisms in a certain place together with their physical environment
5.
Biome- a group of ecosystems with similar
climates and typical organisms
6.
The Biosphere- the part of earth in which life exists (land, air, water)

• Where is the biosphere located and what does it include?
• The biosphere is everywhere on our planet where there is life. This can be far above the land where birds fly, deep into the oceans where sea creatures live, or even deep underground where extreme bacteria can inhabit vents and volcanoes. It includes all the living things and the abiotic features of the planet that they interact with and rely upon.
• Because there is life nearly everywhere on Earth, the word biosphere is a very broad term and the Earth itself is essentially our biosphere.

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• Any nonliving (physical) part of the environment
• Examples: sunlight, heat, precipitation, humidity, wind, water, soil, etc.
• Rocks
• Waterfall
• Clouds

The mucky shoreline – is it biotic, abiotic or both?
Both!
Abiotic- soil, water, sand, etc.
Biotic- bacteria, fungi, small animals like worms, etc.

At the core of every organism’s interaction with the environment is its need for energy to power life’s processes. You may wonder where energy in living systems comes from and how it is transferred from one organism to another…

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Autotroph:
 Organism that is able to capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds
What are two synonyms for an autotroph?
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Producer
Primary producer
Autotrophs are essential for the flow of energy through the biosphere because they are the first producers of energy-rich compounds that are later used by other organisms.
Autotrophs can perform either photosynthesis or chemosynthesis.

Photosynthesis
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Process used by plants and other autotrophs to capture light energy and use it to power chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy-rich carbohydrates such as sugars and starches.
Examples
 plants, cyanobacteria, algae, some protists
Chemosynthesis
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Process in which chemical energy is used to produce carbohydrates
Examples of chemosynthetic organisms:
 certain bacteria that live around deep-sea volcanic vents or hot springs or coastal tidal marshes.

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Heterotroph:
 organism that obtains food by consuming other living things
What is a synonym for a heterotroph?
 consumer
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Heterotrophy can take several forms – examples of different ways that consumers can acquire energy and nutrients include…
Carnivores- kill and eat other animals
Herbivores- eat plant materials
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Omnivores- eat both plant and animal materials
Scavengers- consume carcasses of organisms that have died or that were killed by predators
Decomposers- feed by chemically breaking down organic matter
 fungi and bacteria)
Detritivores- feed on detritus particles (Ex: earthworms)

In every ecosystem, primary producers and consumers are linked through FEEDING relationships.
Though there is a wide variety of feeding relationships in various ecosystems, energy flows through an ecosystem in a ONE-WAY stream, from primary producers to various consumers.

A food web shows many interconnected feeding relationships – only one sequence of feedings is shown in a food chain.

They convert dead material to detritus, which is eaten by detritivores. This releases nutrients that can be used by primary producers.
Decomposers recycle nutrients in food webs rather than leaving them locked within dead organisms

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How would a decrease in the krill population affect the Antarctic food web?
What do ecologists mean when they say that killer whales indirectly depend on krill for survival?

 Trophic Level
 each step in a food chain or food web
 Which trophic level always includes primary producers?
 The first TL
 Which type of organisms occupy all the other trophic levels?
 various consumers (carnivores, omnivores, etc)

Ecological Pyramids
 Show the relative amount of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a given food chain or food web.
Pyramids of Energy
 Show the relative amount of energy available at each trophic level of a food chain or web.

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Biomass:
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 the total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level
Biomass is usually measured in grams of organic matter per unit area
The amount of biomass a given trophic level can support is determined, in part, by the amount of energy available.
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Pyramid of Biomass
shows:
 the relative amount of living organic matter available at each trophic level in an ecosystem.
Pyramid of Numbers shows:
 the relative number of individual organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem.

 In most ecosystems, the shape of the pyramid of numbers is similar to the shape of the pyramid of biomass for the same ecosystem. In this shape, the numbers of individuals on each level DECREASE from the level below it.

• What are our 4 main biological elements that make up living things???
• H, O, N, C
• Other elements we find…
• Sulfur and Phosphorus (REMEMBER: CHNOPS)
• These elements make up the basis of what compounds???
• Water, Carbohydrates, Lipids, Nucleic Acids, & Proteins

In other words, a handful of elements combine to form the building blocks of all known organisms – however, organisms cannot manufacture these elements and do not ‘use them up’ – you may wonder where these essential elements come from and how their availability affects ecosystems.

• Earth –
• a lot of energy on earth is in the form of sunlight entering the biosphere. BUT earth does NOT receive a steady supply of new matter from space.
• Unlike the one-way flow of energy, matter is recycled within and between ecosystems.
Nutrients are recycled through biogeochemical cycles. These cycles are powered by the oneway flow of energy through the biosphere.

• Definition:
• Process in which elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another
• As matter moves through these cycles it is transformed which means that it is never created or destroyed, just changed.
• Many classifications for these cycles…

Biological
Processes
•Any and all activities performed by living organisms
•Examples: eating, breathing, burning food, eliminating waste
Geological
Processes
•Volcanic eruptions
•Formation & breakdown of rock
•Major movements of matter within and below the surface of the earth

Chemical/Physical
Processes
•Formation of
Clouds and precipitation
•Flow of running water
•Lightening
Human Activity
•Mining
•Burning of Fossil
Fuels
•Clearing of land for building/farming
•Burning forests
•Manufacturing
•Use of fertilizers

H
2
O

• Water continuously moves between
• Oceans
• The Atmosphere
• Land
• Sometimes outside living organisms and sometimes inside them…
• Water (H
2
O) is one of the few substances that occurs commonly in all 3 states on Earth.
• Solid, Liquid, Gas

How does Water Vapor (Gas) enter the atmosphere?!?
Water turns to a gas by…
• Evaporation
• Evaporating from the ocean or other bodies of water.
• Transpiration
• Evaporating from the leaves of plants
• Combustion
• Burning of fuels  produces water (& CO
2
)
• Respiration
• Cellular respiration by ALL organisms produces water (& CO
2
)

F O UR MAI N WAY S

• Condensation
• When water vapor cools, the vapor condenses into tiny droplets (liquid) that form clouds.
• Runoff
• On land, some precipitation flows along the surface , in what is called ‘runoff,’ until it enters a river/stream that carries it to an ocean/lake.
• Precipitation
• When the droplets of water in clouds become large enough, they fall to the
Earth’s surface as precipitation in the form of:
• Rain
• Snow
• Sleet
• Hail
• Groundwater
• Precipitation can also be absorbed into the soil and then it is called groundwater which can enter plants through their roots, or flow into rivers/streams/lakes/oceans.
Some can even become part of underground reservoir

C H E M I C A L S U B S T A N C E S T H A T A N O R G A N I S M N E E D S T O
S U R V I V E

WHY DOES EVERY ORGANISM NEED
NUTRIENTS?
• It’s obvious guys…
• TO LIVE LIFE! 
• Carry out life processes
• TO BUILD TISSUES

• Like water, nutrients pass through organisms and the environment through biogeochemical cycles
• THREE of these that are especially critical for life are cycles that move carbon and nitrogen and phosphorus through the biosphere.

B Y C O M B I N I N G W I T H T H E S E E L E M E N T S A N D C Y C L I N G
T H E M T H R O U G H P A R T S O F T H E I R J O U R N E Y S . I T I S A
P R O D U C T O F P H O T O S Y N T H E S I S A N D I S U S E D I N
C E L L U L A R R E S P I R A T I O N B Y M O S T O R G A N I S M S

• Carbon is a major component of all organic compounds.
• Important in SOME inorganic compounds such as:
• Calcium Carbonate
• CaCO
3
• Part of different kinds of animal skeletons
• Carbon Dioxide
• CO
2
• Major part of the atmosphere & necessary for photosynthesis

• Some carbon containing compounds that were once part of ancient forests, marine organisms, or other animals have been buried/transformed into energy-rich fuels such as …
• Coal
• Oil
• Natural Gas
• Flashback question --
Nonrenewable or
Renewable
Resource???

MAJOR RESERVOIRS OF CARBON IN THE
BIOSPHERE INCLUDE…
• Atmosphere
• Oceans
• Rocks
• Fossil Fuels
• Forests

• Carbon dioxide is continuously exchanged between the atmosphere and oceans through chemical and physical processes.
• Plants take in CO
2 during photosynthesis and use the carbon to build carbohydrates .
• These nutrients then pass through food webs to consumers
• Many animals combine carbon with calcium and oxygen as they build their skeletons .
• Organisms release carbon in the form of CO
2 respiration gas by

• When organisms die, decomposers break down the bodies, releasing carbon to the environment.
• Geologic forces can turn accumulated carbon into carbon-containing rocks or fossil fuels.
• CO
2 is released into the atmosphere by:
• Volcanic Activity
• Human Activity
• such as : the burning of fossil fuels and the clearing and burning of forests.

Decomposers USE oxygen and PRODUCE carbon dioxide.
They help recycle Carbon and Oxygen by returning these elements to the biosphere so that they are available for organisms to use again.

• All organisms require NITROGEN to build amino acids and nucleic acids so that organisms can build
DNA, RNA and proteins.
• Many different forms of nitrogen occur naturally in the biosphere.
• Nitrogen gas
• Makes up 78% of earth’s atmosphere
• Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite Ions:
• Found in soil, in the wastes produced by many organisms, and in dead and decaying organic matter.
• Dissolved nitrogen:
• Exists in several forms in the ocean and other large water bodies

• Although nitrogen gas is the most abundant form of nitrogen on Earth, only a handful of organisms – certain types of bacteria – can use this form directly.
• Because they “lock”
(=fix) the nitrogen into usable forms, these nitrogen-fixing bacteria are an essential part of the nitrogen cycle.

• In this process, certain types of bacteria convert nitrogen gas into ammonia .
• Some of these bacteria live in the soil whereas others live on the roots of certain plants called legumes
• Ex: peanuts, peas, soybeans

• Then, other bacteria convert that fixed nitrogen into nitrates and nitrites. Once these forms of nitrogen are available, primary producers can use them to make proteins & nucleic acids
• Consumers eat the producers and reuse nitrogen to make their own nitrogen-containing compounds.
• Decomposers release nitrogen from waste and dead organisms as ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites that producers may take up again.

• Denitrification
• Other bacteria obtain energy by converting Nitrates into
Nitrogen Gas , which is then released into the atmosphere.
• Atmospheric Nitrogen Fixation
• A relatively small amount of nitrogen gas is converted to usable forms by lightening

THINK!
• Through the manufacture & use of fertilizers.
• Excess fertilizer is often carried into surface water or groundwater by precipitation.

• Niche
• The range of physical and biological conditions in which a species lives and the way the species obtains what it needs to survive and reproduce
Resources
• Any necessity of life such as:
Nutrients,
Light, Food, or Space
Physical
• Abiotic
Factors it requires for survival
•Such as water, temp, light
Biological
• Biotic Factors it requires for survival
•Such as reproduction, food getting.

 The ability to survive and reproduce under a variety of environmental circumstances.
 Outside the optimum range causes stress (struggling to maintain homeostasis).
 For any environmental factor, going beyond the upper or lower limit can lead to death.

• The general place where an organism lives
• Organisms will live where they can tolerate (or handle) the conditions

• What an organism does in its habitat, how it interacts with its environment, and how it contributes to an ecosystem
• Example:
“The red fox's habitat might include forest edges, meadows and the bank of a river. The niche of the red fox is that of a predator which feeds on the small mammals, amphibians, insects, and fruit found in this habitat. Red foxes are active at night. They provide blood for blackflies and mosquitoes, and are host to numerous diseases. The scraps left behind after a fox's meal provide food for many small scavengers and decomposers.”
• Make a list of things in your niche

• When organisms attempt to use the same resource, competition occurs
• Example: the roots of different plants compete for water, nutrients, and space in the soil

• Occurs when:
• Organisms attemp to use the same limited ecological niche in the same place at the same time.
• Competitive Exclusion Principle
• No two species can occupy exactly the same niche in exactly the same habitat at exactly the same time.

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•

• The idea that no two species can occupy exactly the same niche, in the same habitat, at the same time
• If two species try to do this, one of three things can happen:
• 1 species will compete better for the niche and the other species will die out
• 1 species will compete better for the niche and the other species will move away
• The two species will split or share the niche. Ex: rainforest lizards that eat the same bugs can occupy different parts of the forest

What is the result if 2 species do attempt to occupy the same niche?
• One species will be better at competing for limited resources and will eventually exclude the other species.

• Instead of competing for similar resources, species usually DIVIDE them.
• Give an example of this:
• Three species of N. America warblers all live in the same trees and eat insects.
• But feed on different types of insects in different sections of the tree.
**By causing species to divide resources competition helps determine the number and kinds of species in a community and the niche each species occupies.

• Predation
• An interaction in which one animal (the predator) captures and feeds on another animal (the prey)
• Predators can affect the size of prey populations in a community and determine the places prey can live and feed .

Hawks catching & eating rodents

• Herbivory
• An interaction in which one animal (the herbivore) feeds on producers (plants)
• Herbivores can affect both the size and distribution of plant populations in a community and determine the places that certain plants can survive and grow .

Deer eating flowers from a garden

• Definition:
• Any relationship in which 2 species live closely together
• We will discuss 3 main types of symbiotic relationships in nature.
• Mutualism
• Parasitism
• Commensalism

Symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit from the realtionship
•Both species involved
•No one! •(+/+)
Clownfish living with sea anemone
Who benefits?
Who is harmed?
Examples

Symbiotic relationship in which one organism lives inside or on another organism and harms it by obtaining all or part of its nutritional needs from the host organism.
•The Parasite •The Host •(+/-) leech feeding on the blood of a human host
Who benefits?
Who is harmed?
Examples

Symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed.
• One of the organisms
Who benefits?
• No One!
Who is harmed?
• (+/0)
Barnacles attached to the skin of a grey whale
Examples

• Large regions of land that are characterized by a specific type of climate and certain types of plant and animal communities.
• Made up of many individual ecosystems
• Vary according to their location from the equator (latitude)

In which biome is Livingston, NJ located?
“Temperate forest”, also called “temperate deciduous forest”