INTERACTIONS IN ECOSYSTEMS“The Circle of Life”

Recall… The Lion King

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

• A process that occurs in the cells of plants, algae and some bacteria• Converts light energy from the Sun

into stored chemical energy• Uses carbon dioxide, water and light

to make oxygen and sugar

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

• Photosynthesis transforms the Sun’s energy into a form that living things can use to survive• Photosynthesis produces the oxygen

that most living things need to survive

CELLULAR RESPIRATION

• A process that occurs in the cells of most organisms• Converts the energy stored in

chemical compounds into usable energy• Uses oxygen and sugar to produce

water and carbon dioxide

CELLULAR RESPIRATION

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT?

• Cellular respiration releases the energy that living things use to survive

• Cellular respiration produces the carbon dioxide that green plant need to carry out photosynthesis

COMPLEMENTARY PROCESSES

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

• Producers use carbon dioxide to make sugars• Plants give off

oxygen gas into their surroundings

CELLULAR RESPIRATION

• Organisms give off carbon dioxide gas into their surroundings• Organisms give off

water into their surroundings

COMPLEMENTARY PROCESSES

OTHER INTERACTIONS

• Matter is recycled through ecosystems• Matter is transformed many times and used

over and over again• Three other types of cycles are:• The Water Cycle• The Carbon Cycle• The Nitrogen Cycle

THE WATER CYCLE

• The series of processes that moves water through the environment• Liquid water evaporates and changes to water

vapor• Water vapor condenses and forms water droplets• Water droplets form clouds and fall to Earth as

rain• Water enter enters lakes, oceans and the soil to

continue the process

THE WATER CYCLE

THE CARBON CYCLE

• The series of processes that moves carbon compounds throughout the environment• Most of our carbon is cycled through

photosynthesis and cellular respiration• A lot of carbon is stored in coal,

limestone, oil and natural gases

THE CARBON CYCLE

THE CARBON CYCLE

• Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gases) releases carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere• Clearing forests also causes the release of

carbon trapped in trees• All this extra carbon dioxide and carbon

monoxide causes trapped energy which causes global warming

NITROGEN CYCLE

• Nitrogen is a major part of all cells and a key building block for proteins• Our air is 78% Nitrogen • Nitrogen fixing bacteria are

responsible for turning nitrogen in the air into usable forms of Nitrogen

THE NITROGEN CYCLE

THE NITROGEN CYCLE

• Nitrogen in a key component of fertilizers• Rain will carry nitrogen from farms,

gardens etc. into aquatic ecosystems• Excess nitrogen can cause an overgrowth

of algae which can damage aquatic ecosystems• Called Algal Bloom