Ecosystems are arranged by trophic (feeding)levels between various producers, the Weather and climate Types of Plants

• About 1,700 kinds of plants

autotrophs, and consumers, the heterotrophs: • Biome = a large region of land characterized by the climax vegetation of the ecosystems within
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its boundaries • Tiny flowering plants (4 inches or less in height)
• First trophic level - contains the autotrophs which build energy containing molecules • The distribution and key features of biomes are the outcome of temperatures, soils and moisture • grasses
• They also absorb nitrogen, phosphorous, sulfur and other molecules necessary for life levels (which vary with latitude and altitude), and evolutionary history • lichens – crustose and foliose
• They provide both an energy-fixation base as well as the nutrient-concentration base for • sedges
• Weather = the condition of the atmosphere at any given time
• willows
ecosystems • Climate = the accumulation of weather events over a long period of time (temperatures, Plant Adaptations
• Two types of autotrophs: Photoautotrophs - plants and some Protista humidity, wind, cloud cover, rainfall) • Many of the plants are perennials so they can store food from season to season
• Climate is dependent upon several factors: • Must adapt to strong winds and disturbances in soil
• Chemoautotrophs - bacteria  Solar radiation • Plants are short and group together
• Form little cushions or mats close to the ground where ground is warmer than the air
• Second trophic level - contains the primary consumers which eat the primary producers  The earth's daily rotation • Carry out photosynthesis at low temperatures and low light intensities
including herbivores, decomposers and detritivores, e.g. insects, grasshoppers, deer and  The earth's rotation around the sun • Adapt to short growing seasons by reproducing by asexually rather than sexually
 The distributions of continents and oceans Types of Animals
wildebeest • Primary consumers (Herbivores) – lemmings, insects, musk oxen, reindeer,
• Third trophic level - contains the secondary consumers, primary carnivores which eat the Elevation Heat energy from the sun drives the earth's weather systems, which ultimately
• Secondary consumers ( Carnivores) – snow owls, artic foxes, polar bears
determine the composition of ecosystems • Migratory birds: ravens, snow buntings, falcons, loons, sandpipers, terns, snow birds, and
herbivores, e.g. mice, spiders and many birds 8 various species of gulls
• Fourth trophic level - contains the tertiary consumers, secondary carnivores who eat the Part II: North American Biomes – Taiga and Tundra • Insects: mosquitoes, flies, moths, grasshoppers, blackflies and arctic bumble bees
• Fish: cod, flatfish, salmon, and trout
primary carnivores, e.g. weasel, owl, sharks and wolves. Ecological Principles applied to North American Biomes
• Reptiles and amphibians are few or absent
• Linear food chains as described above are probably rare in nature because the same food Abiotic Factors of Biomes
Biotic Features of Biomes – Organisms Types of Animals
source may be part of several interwoven food chains and many organisms have several food
• Not intended to be a taxonomic event • Insects – millions of insects in the summer help to feed the migration
sources • Emphasis on adaptations of common plants and animals for each biome • birds – up to 3 billion insect-eating birds breed each year in Taiga – over 200 species
Energy flow though ecosystems • Common members of food chains and food webs of each biome • Seed eaters like finches and sparrows as well as omnivorous birds as crows stay all year
• Gross primary productivity = the rate at which the primary producers capture and store • Limiting factors for each biome • Crossbill has specialized bill for prying open cones and nuthatch can break the cones open
energy per unit time since the primary producers expend energy during respiration the net Characteristics of Taiga (Coniferous or Boreal Forests) : • Herbivores as small mammals, snowshoe rabbits, red squirrels, voles and lemming
• 2nd largest forest in the world • Predators feeding on small mammals as owls, wolves, lynx, bobcats, minks, wolverines,
primary productivity is considerably lower than the gross productivity
• Ring Artic between Artic and Deciduous Forest – 50 to 60 weasels, mink, otters, martens, fishers
• Productivity is usually measured as biomass (dry weight of organic matter) per unit area per a degrees North Latitude • Deer, elk and moose
specified time interval, e.g. kg/m2/yr • Upper elevations of Mountains • Largest predators as grizzlies, lynx, and mountain lions will also feed on weakened
• The trophic structure of an ecosystem is often represented by an ecological pyramid, with the • Angle of incidence for incoming solar radiation is low and or young deer, elk or moose
primary producers at the base and the other levels above twilight lasts many hours Animal Adaptations – for very long cold winters and short warm summers
• Seasons are divided into short, moist and moderately warm • migrate south in winter (birds)
• Most of the food eaten by organisms is converted to biomass, or used to maintain metabolic
summers and long, cold, dry winters. • go into hibernation during winter
functions, or lost as heat, only about 10% of the energy makes it to the next level This massive • Temperature – vary greatly from summer to winter (-65 to +70 • store extra fat layers on their bodies for winter
energy loss between trophic levels explains why food chains can't contain more than a few degrees Fahrenheit) • change diets from season to season
levels It takes billions of primary producers (plants) to support millions of primary consumers, • Variable precipitation: 6-40 in (15-100 cm). • grow extra fur on the bottom of their feet to tread on snow easier (lynx and snowshoe rabbit)
which support a few secondary consumers. This is why there are so few large carnivores on • Soils – thin because they were scraped by glaciers and • change fur color and coat thickness from season to season
very acid because of decomposition of pine needles • live under snow in winter in snow tunnels (lemmings, mice, shrews, voles)
earth
• Absence of earth-churning invertebrates as earthworms so soil is hard and compact Conservation Concerns for Taiga (Boreal forest)
• An energy pyramid is a more useful way to depict an ecosystem's trophic structure • Fire a major factor in maintaining biome • Pollution – chemical waste, mining, hydroelectric development
• Each block of the pyramid is proportional to the amount of energy it contains Environmental importance of the Taiga • Clear cutting – trees are cut in large sections leaving no protection for wildlife or soil
• Pyramids may also represent biomass or numbers of individuals • Filters millions of liters of water 2.5 million acres are harvested per year with 2/3 going for newspapers promotional mailings
• The energy pyramid concept helps explain the phenomenon of biological magnification - the • Stores large amounts of carbon and catalogs – which end up in landfills
• Produces oxygen • Illegal logging – logging in national parks and other protected areas without government
tendency for toxic substances to increase in concentration at progressively higher levels of the
• Rebuilds soils and restores nutrients permission
food chain • Bogs and marshes provides habitats for large numbers of species from fish to birds • Poaching – hunting and fishing out of season, on protected land, or to endangered species
7 Types of Plants • Forest fires – unnatural fires caused by careless humans.
Ecological succession = a directional, cumulative change in the species that occupy a given area, • Conifers are major producer • Mining – can destroy wildlife habitat
through time • Most common types – spruce, balsam fir and pine • Drilling for oil and natural gas disrupt the forest
• Others – hemlock, cedar, redwood, junipers • Global warming
• Primary succession - starts from barren ground, e.g. new islands or de-glaciated areas • Latitude and altitude influences species Role of Taiga in regulating the Earth’s climate
• Secondary succession - starts from disturbed areas, e.g. abandoned farm land or storm ravaged • Berry-producing shrubs important to birds, mammals and people • It stores large quantities of carbon stored as plant material on forest floor (up to 10 feet in some
land • Some types of fungi, lichens, and mosses areas
• Succession starts with a pioneer community, the first organisms to occupy an area Plant Adaptations • 1 cm of plant material can hold 2.5 tons of carbon per acre
• Several transitional communities may come and go • Trees have upside down cone shape so snow slides off the branches • Taiga acts like a large refrigerator preventing fallen trees, needles and other debris from
• Branches are flexible to hold great amounts of snow and not break decomposing (decomposition would put carbon dioxide into the atmosphere)
• A climax community, a stable, self-perpetuating array of species in equilibrium with one • Trees grow thin and close together to protect them from cold and wind • Heating up the taiga is causing the following problems
another and their habitat, will form • Needles waxy for protection from freezing temperatures and prevent them from drying out Litter begins to decompose putting carbon into the atmosphere
Biodiversity - Biodiversity, the number of different species within an area, is greatest in tropical • Needles are present year round and deep green to absorb the maximum warmth from the sun Increases in forest fires
areas near the equator and it decreases towards the poles • Thick bark which does not easily burn and protects inner layers from heat and cones protect Infestation by bark beetles which is killing the trees and forming tinder to fuel the forest
• Tropical areas have more sunlight and of greater intensity, more rainfall and longer growing 9 fires and adding more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
the seeds 10
seasons for plants
Characteristics of Tundra:
• This environment is quite stable and contains many vertical "layers" which provide more • About one fifth of the land surface of the earth is tundra.
microhabitats • Located next to icy zones- the treeless regions - in the arctic encircling North Pole down to
• These areas can support more species, e.g. the number of bird species is directly correlated with Taiga. (Arctic Tundra) -
latitude • Located at the top of mountains above the tree line ( Alpine Tundra)
• Extremely cold climate- from -30oC to -40oC in winter; average winter temperature of -
34 degrees C ( -30 degrees F)
• Annual precipitation (mostly as snow) is six
Conservation Concerns for Tundra Animal Adaptations to ten inches (15 to 25 cm) making it desertlike
• Large scale extraction industries ( oil, gas, and minerals as uranium) • Must adapt to extremely cold winters • Winds often reach speeds of 30 to 60 miles
• Pollution – chemical waste, mining, hydroelectric development • Breed and raise their young very quickly during the short summers (48 to 97 km/hr)
• Expansion of agriculture/livestock, vehicular traffic, and tourism increase degradation • During the winter there are only a few hours
• Global warming – 1/3 of soil bound carbon is found in this area.
• Many as birds migrate south in the winter
or less of sunlight in the summer, there is
• Melting of permafrost releases large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere increasing • Many of those that stay - hibernate during the winter sunlight almost 24 hours a day.
“Greenhouse Affect” as organic matter decays and released carbon dioxide. • Constant immigration and emigration – Population constantly oscillates. • Ground surface is spongy, uneven as a result
• In Arctic tundra, erosion is emerging due to permafrost thaw and overgrazing Detritus Eaters of freezing and thawing
• Poaching – hunting and fishing out of season, on protected land, or to endangered species • Bacteria, Nematodes • Plains of tundra are covered with snow, ice
• Like deserts, the plant systems are fragile and the ground bears human traffic marks for years and frozen soil most of the year
• The tundra has short food chains and only a few species of animals – a fragile ecosystem Environmental importance of the Tundra
(permafrost)
The balance can be upset greatly if a specie is reduced or disease, over hunting or predation • Filters millions of liters of water • Highest summer temperature is only about 10o C
Role of Tundra in regulating the Earth’s climate • Stores large amounts of carbon • Short season of growth and reproduction - from 50 to 60 days
• global warming is happening at twice the rate of more temperate regions of the earth • The permafrost layers doesn’t normally thaw out, so the organic matter stored in them is • Low biotic diversity - only about 1700 varieties of plants and about 48 varieties of land
• affect the release or retention of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane effectively trapped forever mammals
• methane is 20 times more efficient at trapping warmth than carbon dioxide • Simple vegetation structure
• soil nutrients, plant type, and plant biomass will be affected by changes in soil moisture and can • Global warming lowers the thaw depth, and the peat and organic matter begins decaying
• Limitation of drainage
modify the amount and types of greenhouse gases inputting of CO2 to the atmosphere • Energy and nutrients in the form of dead organic material
• the climate balance could tip not just in the Arctic, but throughout the world 12 • Large population oscillations
Symbiosis = "intimate living together" between different
species
Several possible types, ranging from harm to mutual benefit.
Not clearly separated in nature; relationship may change
from beneficial to harmful as environment changes.
Commensalism
One benefits, one (host) is not obviously affected
either positively or negatively
Mutualism
Both benefit from the association
Parasitism
One benefits, the other (host) is (potentially) harmed