Ecosystem Ecology

“organisms in the ecosystem regulating the capture and expenditure of energy, and the cycling of chemicals.”

Ecosystem Ecology is

“organisms in the ecosystem

regulating the capture and expenditure of energy, and

the cycling of chemicals.”

Ecosystem Ecology is

Ecosphere

a closed system

Energy

Nutrients

(Chemicals)

Food Chains

Producers

Food Chains

Herbivore

Primary consumer

Food Chains

CarnivoreSecondary Consumer

Omnivore

Food Web

Food Web

Nutrients

(Chemicals)

Food Chain

No such thing as a free lunch …

… and no lunch goes uneaten

Detritus

Detritivores

Decomposers (detritivores)

Nutrients Cycle

Food chain

Energy

Lightenergy

Carbondioxide

Water

Photo-synthesis Glucose Oxygen

gas

Energy is stored in organic molecules during photosynthesis

Photosynthesis

Stored energy can be released

Where does the energy go?

Energy Input

Energy Loss

Food Chain Energy Flow

Food Chain Numbers

Primary production NOT based on solar energy

Galapagos Vent Community

Productivity

Coos Bay, Oregon

Salt Marsh

Tundra

Death Valley

Desert

Tropical Rain Forest

Primary Production

Biomass

Water Cycle

Transpiration

Water Cycle disrupted

Carbon Cycle

Global ClimateChange

Fossil Fuels

natural gasoil

coal

Carboniferous Period (354-290 mya)

Greenhouse Effect

Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen Cycle

Phosphorus Cycle

Wetlands

Distrurbed ecosystem…

disrupted cycles

Biomes

Sunlight strikes the Earth

It rains in the tropics --- lots.

Brazil

Movements of Air masses

falling air

rising air

rising air

falling air

Great deserts at around 30 degrees North and South

Egypt

Arizona

Movements of Air masses

falling air

rising air

rising air

falling air

1000 m up in elevation

6 degrees C drop in temperature

Elevation and Temperature

Albuquerquesame

elevation

725 km north

Denver

Elevation and Temperature

Elevation and Temperature

Latitude and Temperature

Latitude

Elevation

South Facing slope

North Facing Slope

Rain Shadow

Rain shadow

xeric face

mesic face

Sandia Mountains, northern New Mexico

World Biomes

Northern New Mexico

Semiarid Grassland

Pinon-Juniper scrub land

World Biomes

Tropical Rain Forest

Tropical Rain Forest

Forest canopy, Peru

Tropical Rain Forest

Slash and burn

Tropical Rain Forest

World Biomes

Savanna

Kenya

Savanna

World Biomes

Sonoran Desert, Arizona

Desert

World Biomes

Temperate Grasslands

World Biomes

Temperate Deciduous Forest

World Biomes

Taiga – Coniferous Forest

World Biomes

San Juan Wilderness area, Colorado

Alpine Tundra

Mount Rainier, Washington

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWAR)

Arctic Tundra

John Torrington, d. 1846

Permafrost

World Biomes

Distribution of Chaparral Biome

Southern California Coastal Chaparral

Mediterranean Chaparral

Spain

Oceans

Ocean Currents

Upwellings

Shallow Oceans

Intertidal Zone

Estuary

Coral Reef

Open ocean

Deep Ocean

Freshwaters

Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia

Kiamichi River, Oklahoma

Oligotrophic

Eutrophic