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Biosphere

The biosphere is the area around the Earthwhere life can exist within the lithos phere, theatmosphere and the hydros phe re.Thebiosphere is a closed (no thing enters /leavesexcept light energy), self-r egu lat ed( mai ntainssustai nable living conditions on it's own) systemconsisting of all life on Earth.The supply ofresources for a living thing to surviv e(w ater,space and nutrients) is limited, thus it puts alimit on the number of indivi duals of a certainspecies that can live.

Ecosystems and their Variances

An ecosystem is all of the livingorgani sms (bi otic) that share a region andinteract with each other and their non-li vin g(a biotic) enviro nment. Ecosystems canvary in; size, location, climate, biotic and abioticfactors and whether they are terres tri al(on land)or aquatic(in water).Large ecosystems caninclude many smaller ecosys tems.

Photos ynt hesis

Photos ynt hesis is the process in which greenplants convert light energy from the Sun intochemical energy (su gar ).The cell in the plantthat does this process is called the chloro plastand it contains a special, green chemical calledchloro phyll that capture the light energy andturn it, along with water from the soil andcarbon dioxide from the air, into energy for theplant as well as oxygen (O2 ).The formula forthis is transf orm ation is CO2 and H2O thoughlight energy into C6H12O 6+O2.

Food Chain

Food Chains illustrate who eats whom in anecosys tem.It also shows how energy passesthrough an ecosys tem.All organismscontin ually use and release energy to theirenviro nment, meaning that energy iscontin uously lost from all levels of the foodchain.Food chains are rarely longer than 4organisms as energy available decreasesquickl y.Only 10% of the energy that is gainedby the first organism is passed on to the secondorganism, and so on.

Pyramid of Energy

Illust rates energy loss and transfer betweentrophic levels.Sp ecies in the highest trophiclevels have less energy available to them thanthe species near the bottom.

Water Cycle

The water cycle first starts off in the process ofeither evapor ation or transp ira tio n.E vap orationis the process where a liquid, in this casewater, changes from a liquid state to a gaseousstate.The gas then rises up and goes into theair.Tr ans pir ation is where a plant absorbswater from the soil and as the water reachesthe leaves, some of it evaporates and goes intothe air.The cycle moves on throughconden sation which is where the water vapourgained through evapor ation or transp irationbecomes cooler and turns back into aliquid.This liquid then falls to the earth asprecip ita tio n.P rec ipi tation can be either snow,hail or rain.This precip itation then collects oneither the surface soil and then flows to thelakes and oceans as rivers or it can collectunderg round as ground water..

Biotic and Abiotic Limiting Factors andInfluences

LimitingFactors

Any factors that limits the size of apopulation

AbioticLimitingFactor

A non-living limitingfactor (ex :access to water)

BioticLimitingFactor

A living limitingfactor (ex :av ail ability of food)

AbioticInfleu ences

Ability to surviv e(l ight, H2O,nutrients, O2, temper ature, soil,acidity, salinity)

BioticInfluences

Intera ctions betweenspecie s(food, light, space, mates)

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Biodiv ersity

Biodiv ersity is the variety of life found in anarea.It is often measured by counting thenumber of species in a specific ecosystem.

Ex-situ and In-situ Conser vation

Ex-situConser vation

This conser vation method is when weremove that species from theirnatural habita t.This method is usedwhen a specie's habitat is threatenedor no longer exists or if the existingpopulation is extremely small.

In-situConser vation

This conser vation method is focusedon conserving the species in theirnatural habitat.

Effects of Acid Rain

Soil Burn skin of Earthworm andincreases the soil's acidit y(l owersthe pH)

Vegetation Damages the waxy coating thatprotects leaves from infection andaffects plants roots' ability toabsorb nutrients

Water Makes bodies of water moreacidic (lowers the pH)

AquaticAnimals

Dissolves the shells of shellfish

Stewar dship

A good steward is someone who manages anysort of resource wisely.An enviro nmentalsteward means taking care of our naturalresources to ensure that they are used insustai nable way for current and futuregenera tio ns.This includes;>Re ducing the amount of resources we use>Re using items instead of throwing them away>Re cycling used items

Soil Types

SandySoil

Large sand particles, permit rootgrowth and air pockets, permit waterto drain away quickly, carryingessential nutrients away from roots,less fertile than loam soil

LoamSoil

Has rock particles, has pockets thathold air or water, lots of humus, drainswell without drying out, most fertilesoil

ClaySoil

Small particles packed tightlytogether, plant roots do not grow well,block root growth and trap water,making soil wet, least fertile soil

The 3 Spheres

Lithos phe re:Is the Earth's solid, rocky outershell.C on sists of rocks and minerals that makeup the mountains, oceans and all of Earth'ssolid landsc ape.Ranges from about 50 to 150km in thickness down from the surface.

The 3 Spheres (cont)

Atmosp here:Is the layer of gases that surroundthe Earth.This layer is critical to life on Earth asit moderates surface temper atures by actinglike a blanket, it blocks some incoming solarradiation, such as ultrav iol et(UV) rays, andprevents excessive heating during the day andcooling during the night.

Hydros phe re:Is all of the water on Earth(bothsolid, liquid and gas form).It includes; Clouds,ground water, ice, lakes and oceans.

Popula tion, Community and Ecosystem.

A population is all indivi duals of the samespecies living in an ecosys tem.A community isall indivi duals from all the popula tio ns.Anecosystem is made up of a community and it'sintera ctions with abiotic features.

Cellular Respir ation

Cellular Respir ation is a process in which theplant uses the stored energy (sugar) and O2produced in photos ynt hesis and it converts andreleases it as CO2, H2O and energy.The plantis able to use this released energy for cellularfunctions such as; movement, growth andreprod uct ion.The formula for this equation isC6H12O6+O2 into CO2, H20 and energy.Bothplants and animals undergo cellularrespir ation.

Study Note:The Cellular Respir ation formula isthe exact reverse of the Photos ynt hesisformula.

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Food Webs

Food webs are more accurate, but still anincomplete way to illustrate intera ctionsbetween organisms in an ecosys tem.They areuseful to figure what may happen when aspecies is removed from or added to anecosys tem.The arrows indicate the direction ofenergy flow in both a food web and foodchain.Food webs are highly complex, withconsumers feeding on many different species.

Pyramid of Numbers

Shows the number of indivi duals of allpopula tions in each trophic level.

Water Cycle Example

Carbon Cycle Example

Nitrogen Cycle

The first step for the nitrogen cycle is forspecial bacteria in the soil to convert nitrogenfrom the atmosphere into forms that plants canuse (nitrates, nitrites and ammoni a).Thisprocess is called nitrogen fixati on.The plantsabsorb the nitrat es/ nit rites through their rootsand use it.When they die or, if they get eaten,the consumer dies, the nitrogen is releasedback into the atmosp her e.The bacteria get thenew nitrogen and the cycle continues.

Extinction

Extinction is a natural process, which involvesan entire species to be wiped out.Onlycatast rophic events can cause extinc tion, suchas an asteroid impact or a massive volcanoerupti on.T hese are very rare so the number ofspecies that are extinct is low.

Invasi ve, Endemic and Indicator Species

An invasive species is a species which is notnative to the ecosystem and causes harm tothat ecosys tem.An endemic species is aspecies whose habitat is restricted to aparticular area or space on the globe.Anindicator species is sensitive to slightenviro nm ental changes and therefore servesas an early warning indicator for things such asglobal warming or chemical changes.

Oil Spills

Happen when an oil tanker or rig leaks andreleases oil into the body of water.S ince oil istoxic and is slow to break down, takes a longtime to clean up.Harms wildlife that lives inocean and surrou nding land.

Natural Resources

Natural Resour ces (wood, water, etc) aregained from ecosystems that have anabundance of that certain resource.

Urban Forests

They are forests growing in old buildings thatare either natural or man-de sig ned.They;>Remove excess carbon from the atmosphere>Reduce energy consum ption by providingshade>Help slow run-off of water from rainstorms>Pr otect soils from erosion and filter chemicalsfrom water and air>Pr ovide a tourist attraction and are enjoyableto look at and be around.

Biotic Factors

Biotic factors are the living components of anecosys tem.They include; organisms, organismremains (decom posing remains) and wasteproduces (feces ).A biotic factors are thenonliving components of an ecosys te m.Theyinclude; air, minerals, sun, temper ature, water,wind, etc.

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Abiotic vs Biotic

Abiotic: Biotic:

Non-living Living

Have never lived Have lived before

Are not dead Can be dead

Are not parts of livingthings

Can be parts of livingthings

Sustai nab ility

Most ecosystems are self-r egu lating orsustai nab le.S us tai nab ility is the ability tomaintain natural ecological condit ion swi thoutinterr uption, weakening or loss of value.

Producers and Consumers

A producer is a name given to an organism thatphotos ynt hes ize.These organisms are critical toecosystems as most energy that organismsother than produc ers (co nsu mers) comes fromproduc ers.A consumer is a name given to anorganism that cannot photos ynt hesize andtherefore must eat other organisms (producersor other consumers) to survive.

Energies

Thermal Energy :keeps the Earth's surfacewarm, but it cannot provide organisms with theenergy they need to grow and function.

Light Energy:Can be used by some organisms,but it cannot be stored and is not available inthe night.

Chemical Energy:Is used by all organisms toperform functions, including movement, growthand reprod uction.

Niches

Every species uniquely interacts with otherspecies and with it's own enviro nme nt.T heseintera ctions define the ecological job or niche ofa species.A species niche includ es;what it eats,what eats it and how it behaves.

Trophic Levels

Trophic Level or feeding level describes theposition of an organism along a food chain.

Pyramid of Biomass

Shows the total mass of organisms in eachtrophic level( nor mally producers have thegreatest biomass).

Basics of Bioche mical Cycles

The particles that make up matter cannot becreated nor destroyed, only cycled.This meansthat all water and nutrients must be producedor obtained from chemicals that already exist inthe enviro nme nt.This happens in a series ofcycles in which chemicals are contin uouslyconsumed, rearra nged, stored and used.Sincethese cycles involve organisms (bio) and occuras Earth (geo) processes, they are calledbiogeo che mical cycles.These cycles are theWater, Carbon and Nitrogen cycles.

The Carbon Cycle

Carbon moves through both the biotic andabiotic parts of an ecosys tem.The first step inthis process is when plants pull carbon from theatmosphere through photos ynt hes is.T heseplants are then eaten by consum ers.The plant'scarbon is passed to the consumer when it eatsthe plant.The consumer, after time, dies andgets decomp ose d.The carbon is released backinto the atmosp her e.A nother way for carbon toget released is through cellular respir ation.

Nitrogen Cycle Example

Biomes

A biome is a large region defined byclimat e(p rec ipi tation and temper ature) with aspecific set of abioti c/b iotic features.

Level of Risk

Extinct No longer exists on Earth

Extirpated No longer exists in a specificarea

Endangered May become extirpated orextinct

Threatened May become endangered

SpecialConcern

May become threatened orendangered

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Keystone Species

A keystone species is a species that when added or removed from anecosystem leads to major changes in abundance or occurrence of atleast one other species.

Acid Rain

Emissions and pollutants coming from factories and cars are combiningwith water vapour to form acid rain.We can reduce acid rain by puttinglimits on emissions and install special scrubbers, which cleanse theemissions to remove most of the nitrogen and sulphur, which causesacid rain.

Protecting Endangered Species

The plans to protect endangered species involves;>Go ver nments, industries and commun ities working together>Id ent ifying the specific causes of the problem.>De vel oping specific plans to fix the problems.>Mo nit oring conditions to check that the actions taken are working.

Soil Profile

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