Post on 15-Dec-2015
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Plants and Fungi: Plants and Fungi: Ecosystem EssentialsEcosystem Essentials
Biology 2410
Utah State University
Course Outline
• Three weeks: Diversity– Plants– Fungi– Bryophytes
• Fourth week: Human impact on ecosystems– Environmental impact study
Diversity
• Focus on seeing the diversity that exists
• Use identification as a tool to – Induce close
examination
– Help understand role in ecosystem
– Embed basic material deep into brain
Housekeeping
• 2 credits in 4 weeks• 20-25 hours per week expected; 12 in class,
the remainder outside of class• Four small assignments, collection, report,
midterm, final• Slides summarize – learn more• Grading – based on top score• Lots of work, but learning tangible
Grading
• Flower, leaf, fungus, bryophyte assignments 10 points each
• Collection 20 points
• Ecosystem report 20 points
• Midterm 20 points
• Final 30 points
Collection and report
• Collection– 20 specimens– Well documented– At least 3 fungi and 3 bryophytes
• Report– On EIS exercise– Draft of first part – Complete report due in June 3.
End of Housekeeping!
Ecosystem
A particular environment and the interacting biotic and non-biotic components of which it is composed. Note: Interacting – important part of concept.Particular environment? Desert, mangrove swamp, montane forest, agricultural field, town, whatever suits. A holistic view of an environment.
Ecosystem Needs: Energy Flow• Most energy from sun
– Some from earth’s core as heat
• Photosynthesis converts sun’s light energy to chemical energy
• Chemical energy transformed into – Other forms of chemical energy – Heat energy– Kinetic (motion) energy– Light energy
Photosynthesizers
• Plants– Oxygen as by-product
• Algae– Oxygen as by-product
• Bacteria– Methane, hydrogen
sulfide as by-products
• Manufacture sugars
http://www2.ecology.su.se/dbbm/images/fucus.jpg
Chemical energy converters
• Rely on other organisms for previous energy capture via photosynthesis or use of earth’s heat energy (thermophilic bacteria)
• Fungi• Animals• Bacteria• Archaebacteria
Ecosystem Needs: Nutrient Cycling• Three major cycles
– Carbon– Nitrogen– Water
• Maintaining these cycles vitally important
• Other cycles usually less important
• What is impact of slowing down cycles?
Ecosystem Structure
• Physical– Location– Topography– Rock type
• Biotic– Species present and their abundance and
distribution
PlantsTerrestrial, photosynthetic organisms• Green – absorb all but green from
visible light spectrum• Capture light energy and convert it to
chemical energy – sugars; oxygen as by-product
• Store energy as starch• Cellulose cell walls• Essential - most extant organisms
require oxygen for metabolism
Building BlocksOf Starch
Plants: additional contributions
• Food
• Soil stability
• Soil creation
• Protection
• Shade
www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/ plants/plantae.html
Plant Diversity
• Green algae
• Mosses• Liverworts
• Ferns• Gymnosperms• Flowering plants
Fungi – closer to animals than plants• Obtain nutrients via external
digestion of complex carbon compounds
• Not photosynthetic, not motile
• Use glycogen as their primary form of energy storage
• Have chitinous cell walls (see next slide)
Glycogen
Less linear than cellulose and hasprotein at center
Chitin and Cellulose
• Chitin – polymer of glucosamide• Cellulose – polymer of glucose
Fungal Importance• Primary recyclers - break down complex
compounds to simpler compounds that can be used by other organisms
• Aid plants obtain nutrients by extending effective reach and breaking down compounds (mycorrhizae)
The Fungi Rot Them All
Fungi: additional contributions• Food
• Drink
• Disease
• Medicine
• Bioremediation