... March 20, 2015 THE FLOW OF ENERGY AND MATTER IN ECOSYSTEM When we think about ecosystems, we need to think both big and small. We need to consider the recycling of atoms between organisms and within their environment and the flow of energy through living organisms and its changes from one form to another. We need to appreciate the relationships between organisms, and between organisms and their environment. We also need to consider the potential effects that these relationships have, not only on individual organisms and their environment, but also on our planet. WATER Organisms need water to survive. The good news is that water cycles through ecosystems. The bad news is that, at times, the amount of water available can be too great (as in the case of floods) or too little (as in the case of drought). Some species have adapted to these conditions and possess adaptations that increase their chances of survival. Other organisms are not so fortunate and severe conditions of too much or too little water can result in their death. If too many of a particular type of organism die, then the decrease in their population size can have implications not only for other members of their food web, but also for other biotic and abiotic factors within their ecosystem. ENERGY As energy flows through ecosystems, from producers to consumers to detrivores to decomposers, some energy is lost at each level. The Sun is life’s main energy supply. Using energy from the Sun, plants make...
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...ENV/100 October 29, 2012 Shelby Barker Rainforest Rainforest covers about 6% of the earth's surface and is one of the most diverse ecosystems. Influencing how energy flows through this ecosystem is the fact that most f the plants living mass is above ground. There are plenty of cycle in the rainforest that make sure the flow of energy and nutrients through this ecosystem is continual. Photosynthesis is the process which energy is harnessed from the sun and used along with carbon dioxide and water to produce energy and food. This allows plants to provide food for the wildlife by distributing the energy. This cycle is completed when plants and animals die and decompose, making nutrients such as, carbon dioxide again. The rainforest has four layers that energy flows through. The ground level is the most heavily impacted in terms of how it adapts to shadowy conditions, which in term affects its impact on photosynthesis. Essential, in the flow of energy on the ground level through decomposing are fungi and earthworms. The cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and oxygen contribute to the transportation of matter along with other bioactive elements that are linked to animal life, plants, and bacterial life in this region. These cycles are associated with water, soil, and seasonal energy fluxes. This ecosystem has a surprising level of sophistication, the animal life, plants and bacterial life use to adapt to their surroundings to conserve and access nutrients. Due to the organisms...
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...Energy Flow in Ecosystem and Its Importance in Crop Production By gachura10@gmail.com Course Tutor Institution, City Date Energy Flow in Ecosystem and Its Importance in Crop Production Introduction An ecosystem is made up of of the organic community that take place in some area, and the bodily and biochemical influences that make up its lifeless or abiotic environs (Fraham, 1984: 143). There are several instances of ecosystems: a fish pond, a plantation, a river mouth, a savannah. The limits are not static in any impartial way, even though occasionally they look clear, as with the water's edge of a small fish pond. Typically the margins of an ecological unit are selected for real-world aims having to do with the objectives of the specific study. According to Perry (2008), study of ecological unit mostly comprises of the study of sure procedures that relates the living, or biotic, constituents to the inorganic, and abiotic constituents. Energy changes and biogeosubstance transformation are the key procedures that include the area of environment conservation. Ecology normally is well-defined as the connections of creatures with one another and with the environs in which they are living. Ecology can be studied at the level of the separate organism, the inhabitants, the community, and the environment. studies of ecology at individuals are concerned generally about composition, reproduction, growth or performance, while studies of ecology at inhabitants...
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...1.4.6 Energy Flow Worksheet What is an ecosystem? An ecosystem is a _________________________________________ with ___________________ and their __________________________ within _____________________, e.g. woodland, etc. Energy Flow Ecosystems are unable to function unless there is a constant ________________________________ _____________________. Where does this energy come from? __________________ The Sun The sun is the _________________________________________________ for our planet. Energy Flow is the _________________________________________________ from one organism to the next in an ecosystem due to ________________, e.g. along a food chain Feeding allows _____________________________________________________ in an ecosystem. Energy flow in the ecosystem Food Chain Is a flow diagram that begins with a _______________ and shows how _____________________ is passed through a series of ______________________________________. Each organism feeds on the one before it. A food chain ends when there is _____________________________________________________. An example of a food chain: __________ ( ____________ ( ______ A Grazing food chain is one where the __________________________________ e.g. ________________ ( grasshoppers ( frogs ( hawks ...
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...Rainforest Ecosystem Functions Ben Barr, Melodie Ocampo, Marline Pierre, Martha Tejada BSBH/ENV100 October 17, 2011 Wendy Armstrong Rainforest Ecosystem Functions The rain forest can be believed to be a living organism; they are a forest categorized by the amount of rain that falls throughout the year. Rainforest are some of this planet’s most complex ecosystems. “They once covered 14% of the earth's land surface and now they cover a mere 6%” (RainTree, 2010). Nonetheless, more than half of plant and animal species make it their home. It is home to some magnificent creatures and even some unidentified species. The largest part of the plants and animals that exist in the rainforest are endemic, which means they do not live anywhere else in the world. For this paper, Team C will discover the different aspect of the rainforest; also, how it functions within itself. Rainforest Climate The rainforest climate is humid, and has rain most of the time. Michael, (2001),"The sun warms the land and sea and the water evaporates into the air. The warm air can hold a lot of water vapor. As the air rises, it cools. That means it can hold less water vapor” (para. 1). When the warm meets, the cold vapor happens, clouds produced, and clouds make rain. Adapting to the climate the plants make up the underlining of the rainforest. Moreover, the rainforest is hot because of where it is to the equator. In addition, its plant life will die out if the temperature...
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...Regulations Natural Resources- Healthy Ecosystems Recognizing healthy ecosystems as the basis for sustainable water resources, and stable food security can help produce more food per unit of agricultural land, improve resilience to climate change, and provide economic benefits for poor communities. According to, a report, from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and The International Water Management Institute (IWMI): in partnership with 19 other organizations. As well as, the Stockholm Environment Institute, the Stockholm Resilience Centre. The report shows how managing and investing in the connections between ecosystems, water and food, through diversifying crops, planting trees on farmland improving rainwater collection, and other practical steps, could help avoid water scarcity, and meet the growing food demands of a global population set to reach 9 billion by 2050 (sei-international.org, 2011). When Scientist tries to understand how ecosystems function, it is not simply out of curiosity about the world. They also know that human society depends on healthy, functioning ecosystems. When Earth’s ecosystems function normally and undisturbed, the provide good and services that we could not survive without (Wilcott, Brennan, 2011, p 121). Nutrients to our farmlands, waters and air help ecosystems cycle through the chemical elements and compounds, that we need such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, water, and many more that cycle through our environment in complex ways (Wilcott...
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...01/23/2012 SCI/256 Mrs Fields. 'Ecosystem' An ecosystem is a combination of all the biological and physical properties of the natural world, usually in a recognizable area. If that definition sounds rather dauntingly academic, its for two reasons: First it is academic definition , and second, the term “ecosystem” is not easy to define satisfactory. Perhaps the best way to think of a ecosystem is to envision all the biological and physical events , plants growth, rain, temperature fluctuations, predictions, parasitism, death and so on occurring in a relatively large geographic are tied together by some dominating physical feature. Thus one could envision ,and for example ”,the prairie ecosystem,”which would encompass a large, more or less self-sustaining, relatively flat and dry region in which perennial grasses were the dominant vegetation,characteristic native vertebrate animals were predominantly herbivores such as bis on and rodents, and the major shaping physical forces were fire,wind and extreme temperature fluctuations. If you're bored by prairie ecosystem,then of course you could envision a coral reef ecosystem,a desert ecosystem,or the most complicated ecosystem of all,the tropical forest ecosystem. In the absence of humane disturbance, ecosystem tend to remain stable for relatively long periods thousand of years. During most of Earths history, destruction resulted from global...
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...cycle, nitrogen cycle, and the ecosystem function and structure. Also discussing the disturbance and how natural can bounce back after these types of disturbance. 3 Tropical Rainforest The ecosystem of the Tropical Rainforest is a community of living organisms such as plants, animals and microbes in conjunctions with the nonliving components of their environment such as air, water and mineral soil, interacting as a system. (http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem.com) Ecosystems are controlled both by external and internal factors. The external factors such as climate, this is the material which forms the soil and topography, and control the overall structure of an ecosystem and the way things work with in it. Other external factors are time, potential biota. The internal factors not only control ecosystem processes but are also controlled by them and are often subject to feedback loops. The resource inputs are generally controlled by external processes like climate and parent material. (http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem.com) The ecosystem processes, is when the energy and carbon enter ecosystems through photosynthesis, are incorporated into living tissue, transferred to other organisms. The biotic and abiotic components are regarded as linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. The energy, water, nitrogen and soil minerals are other essential abiotic components of an ecosystem. The energy that flows through ecosystems is obtained primarily from...
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...Energy flow through an Ecosystem Sommer Perry-Robinson SCIE131-E1FF James Hicks August 21, 2014 Freshwaters Sun Sun Decomposers Decomposers * Abiotic- air, water, sunlight * Biotic- plants, fish, etc. * Producers- plants (rooted to the bottom), algae (attached to the plants) and other solid substrate. * Consumers- tiny crustaceans, flatworms, insect larvae, snails, frogs, fish and turtles. Energy flow through an Ecosytem The ecosystem uses energy from the sun when the plants use a process called photosynthesis. This process is when the plant uses the sunlight to make sugar molecules. Also during this process the plants gain solar energy. The solar energy trap will produce chemical reactions that will require water and carbon dioxide. The carbohydrates (chemical reaction from water and carbon) are consumer by animals. Soon a chain reaction begins: plants- animals eat the plants- animals eat the animals that eat the plants. The sunlight energy will move, grow and reproduce. There are six characteristics that make water so unique and essential for life on earth: changing tetrahedrality, a versatile solvent, and attraction between molecules, freezing density, ability to hold nutrients and oxygen, state changes supporting energy transfer. Water can change from liquid to gas, making it possible to supply solar energy around the planet. Water also can hold nutrients and oxygen, which are both essential for organisms to survive. With water...
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...and Management | Cave Formation and the Ecosystem Within | By: Robert Luncsford | | The formation of a cave begins when rainwater falling through the atmosphere absorbs carbon dioxide causing it to become acidic. The rainwater then passes through the soil collecting more carbon dioxide from dead plant life and animals. The acidity allows the rainwater to chemically react to limestone or dolomite rock which starts the formation of caves through a process called chemical erosion. Physical erosion then takes place as the cave becomes larger and water flows through it washing away rocks and sand, and after thousands or even millions of years large caves are formed. There are four main types of cave classifications, since not all caves are formed through that one process, the process mentioned above forms what is known as a Solution Cave. Lava Caves are another type that is formed when the outer surface of a lava flow cools while the molten lava within continues to flow and eventually flow out. Sea caves are formed by waves eroding away the shores of large lakes and oceans. Glacier caves are the last main type of cave which is formed by melt water that causes drainage tunnels through the glacier. On our last forestry management class field trip we visited a solution cave that formed just west of Licking Missouri. During our trip we observed many interesting sights and types of wildlife who had formed their own ecosystem completely separate from the outside world...
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...All organisms in an ecosystem can be placed in trophic levels depending on what energy source they rely upon and how they provide energy for other organisms in the food web. With the exception of life near hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean, life is always dependent directly or indirectly on the energy from the sun. In every ecosystem, there is an organism at the lowest level that converts energy from the sun into useable energy for other organisms. For example, phytoplankton are photosynthesizers that provide energy for a vast number of primary consumers, which in turn provide energy for secondary consumers and decomposers. The flow of energy generally describes the movement and loss of energy and matter through a community or ecosystem,...
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...Name Class Date 3.4 Cycles of Matter Lesson Objectives Describe how matter cycles among the living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem. Describe how water cycles through the biosphere. Explain why nutrients are important in living systems. Describe how the availability of nutrients affects the productivity of ecosystems. Lesson Summary Recycling in the Biosphere Matter, unlike energy, is recycled within and between ecosystems. Elements pass from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another through biogeochemical cycles, which are closed loops powered by the flow of energy. The Water Cycle Water moves between the ocean, the atmosphere, and land. Evaporation is the process in which water changes from a liquid to a gas. Transpiration is the process in which water evaporates from the leaves of plants. Nutrient Cycles The chemical substances that an organism needs to survive are called nutrients. Like water, nutrients pass through organisms and the environment. Carbon Cycle: Carbon is a key ingredient of all organic compounds. Processes involved in the carbon cycle include photosynthesis and human activities such as burning. Nitrogen Cycle: Nitrogen is needed by all organisms to build proteins. Processes involved in the nitrogen cycle include nitrogen fixation and denitrification. • In nitrogen fixation, certain bacteria convert nitrogen gas into ammonia. • In denitrification, other soil bacteria convert nitrogen...
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...1“Describe how climate affects your selected ecosystem?” The tropical rainforest is extremely important to the earth's climate. It affects temperatures worldwide, since as the name suggests, there is a lot of rainfall as a result of the forest's existence. The tropical rainforest aids in maintaining a somewhat stable weather habit and reduced global warming effects. This is why the clearing out of the rainforest has been extremely detrimental to the earth's climate the forest's rainfall helps reduce global warming, and without it, temperatures will continue to increase. The climate of the tropical rainforest itself is typically humid, warm, and the temperature rarely changes from daytime to nighttime. The extreme humidity causes the average rainfall each year to be around 200 cm. This type of warm temperature that ranges anywhere from 70 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal for lush growth and is very supportive of life and growth. The fact that the tropical rainforest supports great growth and life is an extremely important reason for humans to not destroy it. Species continue to become endangered and even extinct, so it is our responsibility to protect their habitat and growth as much as possible, not only for their sake, but for our own too. 2 “Explain, based on the first and second laws of thermodynamics, how energy flows through your selected ecosystem?” The Tropical Rain Forest, nowhere on earth, or ecosystem for that matter, has a richer and more blossoming...
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...living or nonliving? You can determine if something is living or nonliving by if something can reproduce asexually or sexually. Also if they can respond to stimuli or if the something has cells. You can also tell if they have grown or can develop. Plus if they have homeostasis or can simply just move. Chapter 3: The Biosphere 1. Compare and contrast photosynthetic producers with chemosynthetic producers. Chemosynthesis get energy from oxidation of inorganic substances. Photosynthesis gets energy from light. 2. Give an example of how the biotic factors in an ecosystem can affect the abiotic factors. Abiotic objects are pretty much resources to biotic factors. 3. Describe the roles of bacteria in the nitrogen cycle. Be sure to address nitrogen fixation and denitrification. Be sure to address nitrogen fixation and denitrification. Nitrogen fixing bacteria are found as nodules. 4. Explain how energy flows through an ecosystem. Include and explain terms such as food chain, food web, and energy pyramids. They can flow through a food chain, producers....
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...Texas. It is a wonderful representative natural ecosystem that is receiving worthy considerations for native species preservation and management. There is no roadside sign to announce the Nash Prairie, no fence around more than 400 acres of tall grasses that have never been plowed. The grassland remained unplowed because of the farming methods. Cattle infrequently grazed on the property, and the landowners harvested hay once, maybe twice, a year and never in the same pattern, which allows plants time to regenerate. This has resulted in a rich and subtle ecosystem. Serious bird watchers, wildflower enthusiasts, and botanists tend to know about this place and its native grasses. Laura Huffman, Texas director of the Nature Conservancy (an environmental group) says that “this prairie is a beautiful representation of what Texas really looked like.” It is said to be a beauty in a haystack for many reasons. According to Wiley Plus (2009) publication, the structural and functional dynamics of this ecosystem is comprised of nonliving and living fundamentals. The nonliving part is the physical-chemical environment, including the local atmosphere, water, and mineral soil (on land) or other substrate (in water). The living part, called the ecological community, is the set of species interacting within the ecosystem. There are two basic kinds of processes that must occur in an ecosystem: a cycling of chemical elements and a flow of energy in order for it to sustain life on earth. Sustaining...
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