Cycle of Matter and Cycle of Change
Transcript of Cycle of Matter and Cycle of Change
CYCLES OF MATTER:* CARBON AND OXYGEN CYCLE
CYCLES OF CHANGE: ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
OXYGEN CYCLE
Required for Life
All living things use oxygen or depend on organisms that use oxygen in some way.
All Animals and Other Consumers Use Oxygen We use oxygen to break down simple
sugar and release energy.
This can be done through respiration or fermentation.
Animals mainly use respiration.
Respiration
The process that breaks apart simple food molecules to release energy.
It occurs inside cells.
What YOU do with the oxygen you take in.
Simple Sugar — Glucose
The molecule most living things use for energy — including us!
We break down food into smaller molecules during digestion. One of the small molecules is glucose.
Glucose leaves your intestines, goes into your blood and is taken to every cell in your body.
Respiration in Cells
In your cells, oxygen is used to split glucose apart — releasing energy, water and carbon dioxide.
Photosynthesis
Plants take in carbon dioxide and water and use them to make food. Their food is simple sugar — glucose.
Photosynthesis (continued)
Plants pull the carbon off CO2 and use the carbon in glucose. (They do not need the oxygen for this. They get that from water, H2O.)
Plants release the oxygen (O2) back into the atmosphere.
Other organisms use the free oxygen for respiration.
How are photosynthesis and cellular respiration similar?
Photosynthesis uses carbon dioxide and produces oxygen.
Cellular respiration uses oxygen and produces carbon dioxide.
Basic idea
Rabbit eats food, breaks it down and releases CO2.
Plant uses CO2 to make food.
Rabbit gives off CO2, which is taken in by the plant.
Plant gives off O2, which is taken in by the rabbit.
Everywhere
This happens on land and in the water.
Algae and aquatic plants produce food underwater through photosynthesis.
They use CO2 dissolved in the water.
Other aquatic organisms use the dissolved oxygen these plants release into the water.
Respiration
Photosynthesis
Kind of a C-on/C-off Cycle
Plants take the carbon off the CO2, freeing the oxygen so it can be used for respiration.
During respiration, organisms attach a carbon to the O2 and release CO2 so it can be used for photosynthesis.
One big cycle — all living things depend on each other for it to work!
Human Impact
We keep destroying natural areas, especially forested areas with many plants and replacing them with buildings, parking lots, lawns, etc.
Fewer plants mean less oxygen and more carbon dioxide.
This disturbs the balance of the natural cycle.
More Human Impact
Every time something burns (combustion), more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.
We add more and more CO2 and destroy more and more of the plants that clean the air for us.
What We Need to Do
Stop destroying and promote regrowth of natural areas — especially forests.
Burn less (fossil fuels, forest fires, etc.)
CARBON CYCLE
What Is Carbon?
An element
The basis of life of earth
Found in rocks, oceans, atmosphere
Carbon Cycle
The same carbon atoms are used repeatedly on earth. They cycle between the earth and the atmosphere.
Plants Use Carbon Dioxide
Plants pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it to make food –— photosynthesis.
The carbon becomes part of the plant (stored food).
Animals Eat Plants
When organisms eat plants, they take in the carbon and some of it becomes part of their own bodies.
Plants and Animal Die
When plants and animals die, most of their bodies are decomposed and carbon atoms are returned to the atmosphere.
Some are not decomposed fully and end up in deposits underground (oil, coal, etc.).
Carbon Slowly Returns to Atmosphere
Carbon in rocks and underground deposits is released very slowly into the atmosphere.
This process takes many years.
Cycle – Repeats Over and Over and Over and Over …
Carbon Cycle DiagramCarbon in Atmosphere
Plants use carbon to make food
Animals eat plants and
take in carbon
Plants and animals die
Decomposers break down dead things, releasing
carbon to atmosphere and
soil
Bodies not decomposed —
after many years, become part of oil or coal deposits
Fossil fuels are burned; carbon is returned to atmosphere
Carbon slowly released from
these substances returns to
atmosphere
Carbon in Oceans Additional carbon is stored in the ocean.
Many animals pull carbon from water to use in shells, etc.
Animals die and carbon substances are deposited at the bottom of the ocean.
Oceans contain earth’s largest store of carbon.
The Carbon Cycle
Human Impact
Fossil fuels release carbon stores very slowly Burning anything releases more carbon into
atmosphere — especially fossil fuels Increased carbon dioxide in atmosphere
increases global warming Fewer plants mean less CO2 removed from
atmosphere
What We Need to Do
Burn less, especially fossil fuels
Promote plant life, especially trees
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
Definition:
Natural, gradual changes in the types of species that live in an area; can be primary or secondary
The gradual replacement of one plant community by another through natural processes over time
Primary Succession
Begins in a place without any soil Sides of volcanoesLandslidesFlooding
Starts with the arrival of living things such as lichens that do not need soil to survive
Called PIONEER SPECIES
http://botit.botany.wisc.edu
http://www.saguaro-juniper.com/
Primary Succession Soil starts to form as lichens and the
forces of weather and erosion help break down rocks into smaller pieces
When lichens die, they decompose, adding small amounts of organic matter to the rock to make soil
http://www.life.uiuc.edu
Primary Succession
Simple plants like mosses and ferns can grow in the new soil
http://uisstc.georgetown.edu
http://www.uncw.edu
Primary Succession The simple plants die, adding more
organic material The soil layer thickens, and grasses,
wildflowers, and other plants begin to take over
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu
Primary Succession These plants die, and they add more
nutrients to the soil Shrubs and trees can survive now
http://www.rowan.edu
Primary Succession Insects, small birds, and mammals have
begun to move in What was once bare rock now supports a
variety of life
http://p2-raw.greenpeace.org
Secondary Succession
Begins in a place that already has soil and was once the home of living organisms
Occurs faster and has different pioneer species than primary succession
Example: after forest fires
http://www.geo.arizona.edu
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu
http://www.agen.ufl.edu
Climax Community
A stable group of plants and animals that is the end result of the succession process
Does not always mean big treesGrasses in prairiesCacti in deserts
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