Chapter 13 Biology Florida Next Generation Sunshine State

Chapter 13 Biology

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards • SC. 912. L. 17. 9* Use a food web to identify and distinguish producers, consumers, and decomposers. Explain the pathway of energy transfer through trophic levels and the reduction of available energy at successive trophic levels. (MODERATE) • SC. 912. E. 7. 1 Analyze the movement of matter and energy through the different biogeochemical cycles, including water and carbon. (HIGH)

BENCHMARK SC. 912. L. 17. 9 Benchmark Clarifications Students will describe the energy pathways through the different trophic levels of a food web or energy pyramid. Students will analyze the movement of matter through different biogeochemical cycles. Content Limits Items referring to organisms in food webs are limited to the impact of changes in matter or energy in trophic levels. Items addressing food webs will require application of the knowledge of roles of organisms in a food web to describe energy pathways rather than the identification of producers, consumers (primary, secondary, tertiary), and decomposers. Items will not require knowledge of specific organisms or their feeding habits. Items assessing biogeochemical cycles are limited to the water cycle and the carbon cycle. Items referring to the biogeochemical cycles may address but will not assess photosynthesis and cellular respiration in isolation. Stimulus Attribute Scenarios will express energy in joules (J).

What is Ecology? • Ecology is the scientific study of interactions of organisms with one another and with the physical and chemical environment.

• Although it includes the study of environmental problems such as pollution, the science of ecology mainly involves research on the natural world from many viewpoints, using many techniques. Modern ecology relies heavily on experiments, both in laboratory and in field settings. These techniques have proved useful in testing ecological theories, and in arriving at practical decisions concerning the management of natural resources.

• An understanding of ecology is essential for the survival of the human species. Our populations are increasing rapidly, all around the world, and we are in grave danger of outstripping the earth’s ability to supply the resources that we need for our long-term survival. Furthermore, social, economic and political factors often influence the short-term distribution of resources needed by a specific human population. An understanding of ecological principles can help us understand the global and regional consequences of competition among humans for the scarce natural resources that support us.

What Is An Ecosystem? • An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system.

Bell Ringer • Battle at Kruger (long but cool)

Abiotic and Biotic Factors • Abiotic factors are non living things within an environment which include rocks, dirt, water, air, etc. • Biotic are living factors within an environment that include plants, animals, fungi and bacteria.

Biodiversity • What is Biodiversity? – The variety of life – the number, or abundance of different species living within a particular region.

Why is Biodiversity important? • Everything that lives in an ecosystem is part of the web of life, including humans. Each species of vegetation and each creature has a place on the earth and plays a vital role in the circle of life. Plant, animal, and insect species interact and depend upon one another for what each offers, such as food, shelter, oxygen, and soil enrichment.

• Maintaining a wide diversity of species in each ecosystem is necessary to preserve the web of life that sustains all living things. • "It is reckless to suppose that biodiversity can be diminished indefinitely without threatening humanity itself. " – Famed Harvard University biologist Edward O. Wilson "father of biodiversity"

Keystone Species • Keystone species are apart of a complex relationship that exist within an ecosystem. The removal of a keystone species will have detrimental effects on the organisms within that particular ecosystem. May even cause extinction of other organisms. • A keystone species holds together a dynamic ecosystem.

Keystone Species Examples • American alligator: Alligators use their tails to make burrows to stay warm and when they move on, these burrows fill with water which is used by other species. Alligators are also predators, keeping the numbers of other species in check.

• Beavers: Beavers are considered habitat engineers because they change the environment by building dams. This dam building provides still water in which many species flourish. • Bees: By pollinating plants, bees contribute to their survival. The plants are shelter for insects, which are then eaten by other species, like birds.

Bee Shortage Video • http: //www. nbcnews. com/video/nightlynews/5179

Flow of energy & cycling of matter • Types of energy – Mechanical – Chemical – Thermal (heat) – Nuclear – Solar – Electrical .

Energy Changes Are Governed by Two Scientific Laws • First Law of Thermodynamics – Energy input always equals energy output – Energy can be neither created nor destroyed. It can only change forms. • Second Law of Thermodynamics – Energy always goes from a more useful to a less useful form when it changes from one form to another – spontaneous natural processes increase entropy overall • Energy efficiency or productivity

The Second Law of Thermodynamics in Living Systems

What Sustains Life on Earth? • Life on the earth depends on three interconnected factors – One-way flow of high-quality energy from the sun – Cycling of matter or nutrients (all atoms, ions, or molecules needed for survival by living organisms), through all parts of the ecosphere – Gravity, which allows the planet to hold onto its atmosphere and causes the downward movement of chemicals What Sustains Life on Earth? in the matter cycles Sun, Cycles and Gravity

KEY CONCEPT Food chains and food webs model the flow of energy in an ecosystem. food web

A food chain is a model that shows a sequence of feeding relationships. • A food chain links species by their feeding relationships. • A food chain follows the connection between one producer and a single chain of consumers within an ecosystem. GRAMA GRASS DESERT COTTONTAIL HARRIS’S HAWK

• Consumers are not all alike. – – – Herbivores eat only plants. Carnivores eat only animals. Omnivores eat both plants and animals. Detritivores eat dead organic matter. Decomposers are detritivores that break down organic matter into simpler compounds. carnivore decomposer

• Specialists are consumers that primarily eat one specific organism or a very small number of organisms. Florida Snail Kite • Generalists are consumers that have a varying diet.

• Trophic levels are the nourishment levels in a food chain. – Producers are organisms that photosynthesize or chemosynthesize. They make their own food. They are also called autotrophs. – Primary consumers are herbivores that eat producers. – Secondary consumers are carnivores that eat herbivores. – Tertiary consumers are carnivores that eat secondary consumers. – Omnivores, such as humans that eat both plants and animals, may be listed at different trophic levels in different food chains.

• All consumers are called heterotrophs. Meaning they consumer different organisms. – Hetero means different.

Food Chain • How Andy Ate the Sun

A food web shows a complex network of feeding relationships. • An organism may have multiple feeding relationships in an ecosystem. • A food web emphasizes complicated feeding relationships and energy flow in an ecosystem.

Food Web Activity

KEY CONCEPT Pyramids model the distribution of energy and matter in an ecosystem.

Owl Pellet Lab Owl Pellet instructional Video

An energy pyramid shows the distribution of energy among trophic levels. • Energy pyramids compare energy used by producers and other organisms on trophic levels. • Between each tier of an energy pyramid, up to 90 percent of the energy is lost into the atmosphere as heat. • Only 10 percent of the energy at each tier is transferred from one trophic level to the next. energy lost energy transferred

Other pyramid models illustrate an ecosystem’s biomass and distribution of organisms. • Biomass is a measure of the total dry mass of organisms in a given area. tertiary consumers 75 g/m 2 150 g/m 2 secondary consumers primary consumers producers 675 g/m 2 2000 g/m 2

• A pyramid of numbers shows the numbers of individual organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem. tertiary consumers 5 secondary consumers 5000 primary consumers 500, 000 producers 5, 000 • A vast number of producers are required to support even a few top level consumers.

Trophic Pyramids Showcase

Follow –up • Additional activities – Food Web Animation

Carbon cycle Phosphorus cycle Nitrogen cycle Water cycle Oxygen cycle Heat in the environment Heat 39

Water Cycles through the Biosphere • Natural renewal of water quality: three major processes – Evaporation – Precipitation – Transpiration • Alteration of the hydrologic cycle by humans – Withdrawal of large amounts of freshwater at rates faster than nature can replace it – Clearing vegetation – Increased flooding when wetlands are drained – The Life of Water

Hydrologic Cycle Including Harmful Impacts of Human Activities

Carbon Cycle Depends on Photosynthesis and Respiration • Link between photosynthesis in producers and respiration in producers, consumers, and decomposers • Additional CO 2 added to the atmosphere – Tree clearing – Burning of fossil fuels

Carbon Cycle with Major Harmful Impacts of Human Activities

• Additional activities – – carbon cycle game-online Bill Nye - Water Cycle Animated Carbon Cycle Rap ; )