Day 72

1.1 Sustainability

Unit 4: Sustainable Ecosystems

Easter Islands

• Discovered in 1722• Treeless Island• After cutting down

all trees, loss of trees led to erosion, no materials for making boats or fishing population began declining

• Ecosystem: all the interacting parts of a biological community and its environment

• Sustainable ecosystem: an ecosystem that is capable of withstanding pressure and giving support (it must endure and support)

Parts of an Ecosystem

• Biotic: the living parts of an ecosystem

• Abiotic: the non-living parts of an ecosystem

CuPSBiotic Interaction How It Works

Competition When two or more organisms compete for the same resource such as food in the same location at the same time.

Predation When one organism consumes another organism for food. The organism consumed is the prey and the consumer is the predator.

Symbiosis The interaction between members of two different species

For Biotic Interactions

SNOWL - for Abiotic

For Abiotic Interactions

Abiotic Charact-

eristic

Why it’s Important Effects on Sustainability

Soil Provides nutrients for plants and a habitat for many micro-organisms

Top layers contain nutrients, can be washed away if there is heavy rain or if trees cut down

Nutrients Needed for growth, plants and animals need nitrogen and phosphorous

Nutrient levels can become unbalanced due to human activities

Oxygen Oxygen needed for life processes Human activities can cause oxygen levels in water to get so low that fish and other life forms can’t survive

Water Needed by all organisms – regulates body temperature & used to rid of waste

Water can dry out during long periods absent of rain, chemicals from industries can contaminate water

Light Needed for photosynthesis allows plants to produce their own food

Plants may not receive light blocked by tall trees

Cycling of Matter and Earth’s Spheres

Cycling of Matter and Earth’s Spheres

• Lithosphere: the hard part of Earth’s surface

• Hydrosphere: all the water found on Earth, including lakes oceans and ground water

• Atmosphere: the layer of gases above Earth’s surface

• Biosphere: the regions of Earth where living organisms exist

• Nutrients: a chemical that is essential to living things and is cycled through ecosystems

4 Types of Nutrient Cycles

• Water Cycle

• Carbon Cycle

• Nitrogen Cycle

• Phosphorous Cycle

• The Water Cycle: the most vital abiotic part. Condensation, precipitation, evaporation

abiotic

The Carbon Cycle

• Like water, carbon moves through Earth’s spheres.

Carbon dioxide, a gas, moves from atmosphere into the biosphere and back again.

CO2 is returned to the atmosphere when humans burn the fossil fuels for energy

The Nitrogen Cycle

• Nitrogen: 78% of atmosphere

• Terrestrial Ecosystem: a land-based ecosystem

• Aquatic Ecosystem: a water-based, either fresh water or salt water, ecosystem

The Phosphorous Cycle

• Phosphorous is stored in the lithosphere (rocks and in sediment on ocean floor)

• Humans mind for phosphate rock used to make fertilizers and detergents

• Phosphate is absorbed by plants through roots

• As decomposers, bacteria break down dead organisms, releasing phosphate back into soil