Ecology Notes – Part 2:

Cycling of Matter in Ecosystems

Ecology Notes – Part 2:

Cycling of Matter in Ecosystems

BiologySpring 2012

BiologySpring 2012

Your last meal

•List all of the things you consumed during your last meal.

•Mrs. Slater’s breakfast = peanut butter granola bar, banana, nonfat milk, iced nonfat vanilla latte

•For each item, determine where the materials & energy in that food came from.

•Work “backwards” if you ate something that also ate food to live.

Mrs. Slater’s Nonfat MilkSkim MilkSkim MilkSkim MilkSkim Milk

Product of a Product of a cowcow

Product of a Product of a cowcow

GrassGrassGrassGrassSunSunSunSun

COCO22COCO22 HH22OOHH22OO

Minerals Minerals (N, P, K, (N, P, K,

Ca)Ca)

Minerals Minerals (N, P, K, (N, P, K,

Ca)Ca)

Some of your examples?

Mrs. Slater’s Nonfat MilkSkim MilkSkim MilkSkim MilkSkim Milk

Product of a Product of a cowcow

Product of a Product of a cowcow

GrassGrassGrassGrassSunSunSunSun

COCO22COCO22 HH22OOHH22OO

Minerals Minerals (N, P, K, (N, P, K,

Ca)Ca)

Minerals Minerals (N, P, K, (N, P, K,

Ca)Ca)

But where do the materialscome from?

Sources of Materials?•CO2?

•Respiration, combustion, decomposition?

•H2O?

•Precipitation, ground water?

•Minerals?

•Soil, bacteria or fungi breaking things down?

What about the energy?Skim MilkSkim MilkSkim MilkSkim Milk

Product of a Product of a cowcow

Product of a Product of a cowcow

GrassGrassGrassGrassSunSunSunSun

MetabolisMetabolismm

MetabolisMetabolismm

HeatHeatHeatHeat

HeatHeatHeatHeat

Conclude...•How does energy move through an

ecosystem?

•Energy flows from sun to chemical bond to cell work to heat

•How does material move through an ecosystem?

•It is cycled, converted to many forms

Simple Summary

How does this fit?

•What do you remember about the interactions between respiration & photosynthesis?

Remember this?

Ecosystem Matter Cycles

There are 3 cycles of matter that you need to be familiar with…

The Carbon Cycle

The Nitrogen Cycle

The Water Cycle

Overview…Energy flows

Matter cycles

Decomposers are important in the nitrogen and carbon cycles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_c0ZzZfC8c&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLE8BD15674EF17038

Remember…

Ecosystem: Interaction between abiotic and biotic factors in an environment create an ecosystem

Ex: Forest, Desert, Mountains, Ocean

Now we have some important abiotic factors (matter) included in the picture & see how they’re related to the biotic factors