Introduction to Environmental Science

Chapter 3

Dr. Regina Alvarez

Ecology Is the Study of the Relationship between
Organisms and Their Environment
▪ Ecologists study the interactions between
organisms and their environment
▪ What are the components of an organism’s
environment?
▪ Earth’s life-support system has four spherical
components that interact with each other.
▪ Life is sustained by the cycling of nutrients and
energy between and through these systems.
▪ Atmosphere: composed of the troposphere and the
stratosphere
▪ Hydrosphere: water at or near the earth’s surface
(ice, water, and water vapor)
▪ Geosphere: composed of a hot core, a thick, mostly
rocky mantle, and a thin outer crust
▪ Biosphere: wherever life is found within the other
three spheres
▪ The one-way flow of high-quality energy
▪ Solar energy principle of sustainability
▪ Greenhouse effect
▪ The cycling of nutrients
▪ Chemical cycling principle of sustainability
▪ Gravity
Ecology Is the Study of the Relationship between
Organisms and Their Environment
▪ What are the components of an organism’s
environment?
▪ physical conditions
▪ chemical conditions
▪ other organisms, both the same and different species
▪ “Ecology is the study of all of those complex
interrelationships referred to by Darwin as the
conditions of the struggle for existence.” (Haeckel)
Organisms Interact with the Environment in the
Context of the Ecosystem
▪ Organisms interact with their environment at many
levels
▪ What are some of the physical and chemical
conditions in an organism’s environment?
▪ How do organisms interact with other organisms in
their environment?
Organisms Interact with the Environment in the
Context of the Ecosystem
▪ Physical and chemical conditions include:
▪ temperature
▪ moisture
▪ concentration of gases (O2 and CO2)
▪ light intensity
▪ Interactions with other organisms include:
▪ mating
▪ predator and prey
Organisms Interact with the Environment in the
Context of the Ecosystem
▪ What is the environment in which an organism lives?
▪ It is a place
▪ a physical location in time and space
▪ can be large or small
▪ can be aquatic or terrestrial
▪ can be stable or transient
▪ Includes physical and chemical conditions and other
organisms
Organisms Interact with the Environment in the
Context of the Ecosystem
▪ An ecosystem is a collection of parts that function as
a unit
▪ biotic – living components
▪ abiotic – nonliving (physical and chemical)
components
▪ A forest is an ecosystem
▪ What are the abiotic components?
▪ What are the biotic components?

▪ microhabitats
▪ [Link]
Organisms Interact with the Environment in the
Context of the Ecosystem
▪ Abiotic – atmosphere, climate, soil, water
▪ Biotic – other organisms in the forest
Figure 1.2

Precipitation (mm)
(c)

Temperature (°C)
350 35
300 30
250 25
200 20
150 15
100 10
50 5
0 0
J F MA M J J A S O N D
Year
(a)

(d)

(e)

(b)
(f)
Ecological Systems Form a Hierarchy

▪ Ecologists study interactions at different levels of

organization
▪ These levels can be arranged in a hierarchy
▪ All levels involve biotic and abiotic interactions
▪ The biosphere is the highest level of organization
Figure 1.3 Step 7 Slide 7

Individual Landscape
What characteristics allow How do variations in topography
the Echinacea to survive, and soils across the landscape
grow, and reproduce in the influence patterns of species
environment of the prairie composition and diversity in the
grasslands of central North different prairie communities?
America?

Population Biome
Is the population of this species What features of geology and
increasing, decreasing, or regional climate determine the
remaining relatively constant transition from forest to prairie
from year to year? grassland ecosystems
in North America?

Community
How does this species interact Biosphere
with other species of plants What is the role of the grassland
and animals in the prairie biome in the global carbon cycle?
community?

Ecosystem
How do yearly variations in
rainfall influence the productivity
of plants in this prairie grassland
ecosystem?
Ecology Has Strong Ties to Other
Disciplines
▪ Ecologists must draw on information from other
sciences
▪ Geology
▪ Hydrology
▪ Meteorology
Ecology Has Strong Ties to Other
Disciplines
▪ For example:
▪ plants take up water, influencing soil moisture and
surface water flow
▪ plants lose water to the atmosphere, increasing water
vapor and influencing precipitation
▪ the geology of an area influences the available water
and nutrients that plants need
Ecology Has Strong Ties to Other
Disciplines
▪ Today, many ecologists are studying the dominant
role that humans are playing in earth’s ecosystems
▪ There are four main areas of impact:
▪ human population growth
▪ biological diversity
▪ sustainability
▪ global climate change
Natural History

▪ The search for and description of the patterns in

nature – all parts of nature – biotic and abiotic
▪ What is it?
▪ What does it do?
▪ To what is it connected?

▪ Some consider it “old fashioned”

▪ But it builds the foundation for ecology and other
sciences
Ecological Issues & Applications: Ecology
Has a Rich History
▪ Other areas of natural history also played
important roles in the development of ecology
▪ Charles Darwin: theory of the origin of species by
means of natural selection
▪ Gregor Mendel: principles of inheritance of genetic
information from one generation to the next
▪ Works by these scientists provided the
mechanisms needed to understand the link
between organisms and their environment
Soil is the foundation of life on land

▪ Soil is a complex mixture of:

▪ Rock pieces and particles
▪ Mineral nutrients
▪ Decaying organic matter
▪ Water, air, and living organisms
▪ One of earth’s most important natural capital
▪ A renewable resource that is renewed very slowly
What happens to energy in an ecosystem?

▪ Energy flows through ecosystems via movement

between trophic levels through food chains and food
webs.
▪ The quality of energy available to organisms
decreases as each successive trophic level is
reached, because so much energy (heat) is lost
moving from one level to the next.
▪ Food chains
▪ A sequence of organisms, each of which serves as a
nutritional source for the next (big fish eat little fish)
▪ Food webs
▪ A complex network of interconnected food chains
▪ Pyramid of energy flow
▪ Energy flow through various trophic levels
Pyramid of energy flow
What happens to matter in an ecosystem

▪ Matter in the form of nutrients and energy are

naturally cycled and recycled through ecosystems
and the biosphere.
▪ However, these chemical cycles are being altered by
human activities.
Nutrients cycle within and among
ecosystems
▪ Biogeochemical cycling, driven by incoming solar
radiation and earth’s gravity continually, moves
nutrients and energy through air, water, soils, rocks,
and living organisms
▪ Supports the chemical cycling principle of
sustainability
The water cycle – evaporation and
transpiration
▪ The hydrologic cycle or water cycle collects, purifies,
and distributes the earth’s fixed supply of water
▪ The cycle of natural water quality renewal
▪ Incoming solar radiation moves water at the surface
into the atmosphere through evaporation
▪ Mainly via transpiration (evaporation from the surface
of plants)
The water cycle – precipitation and runoff

▪ Condensation in the atmosphere and effects of

gravity create precipitation, which returns water to
the earth’s surface
▪ Surface runoff
▪ Aquifers and ground water
▪ Only a very small portion of earth’s water is fresh
water
▪ The rest is in oceans, stored as ice or is too deep to
access
How do humans alter the water cycle?

▪ By withdrawing fresh water resources faster than

natural processes replenish it
▪ By replacing forests/vegetation with urban
development—reducing transpiration and increasing
runoff
▪ By draining and filling in wetlands, which disturbs
the renewal abilities of the hydrologic cycle
The carbon cycle

▪ Atmospheric carbon dioxide, a key component of the

carbon cycle, has a significant temperature effect
(greenhouse effect)
▪ How does carbon cycle through the biosphere?
▪ Photosynthesis by producers
▪ Aerobic respiration by producers, consumers, and
decomposers
How do humans alter the carbon cycle?

▪ By extracting and burning fossil fuels at a much

higher rate than they are naturally formed
▪ This adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere
▪ By clearing forests faster than they regrow
▪ This destroys carbon-absorbing vegetation
The nitrogen cycle

▪ How does nitrogen cycle through the biosphere?

▪ Atmospheric nitrogen cannot be absorbed or used
directly by most organisms.
▪ Bacteria convert the nitrogen into a usable form, so it
becomes a useful plant nutrient.
▪ Consumers (herbivores) and decomposers convert
the nitrogen back into nitrogen gas, which is then
released into the atmosphere.
How do humans alter the nitrogen cycle?

▪ By burning fossil fuels that adds nitric oxide to the

atmosphere
▪ Nitrogen dioxide gas/nitric acid vapor causes acid rain
▪ By removing atmospheric nitrogen to make fertilizer
▪ Agricultural runoff from fields into the water supply
leads to algal overgrowth that disrupts the oxygen
balance in aquatic systems
The phosphorous cycle

▪ How does phosphorus cycle through the biosphere?

▪ Cycles through soils, rocks, water, and plants but not
through the atmosphere
▪ Can be temporarily removed from natural cycling
when washed into oceans and trapped in marine
sediments
▪ As with nitrogen, contributes to agricultural runoff
How do humans alter the phosphorous
cycle?
▪ By mining phosphorus deposits to make fertilizer
▪ Through clearing of tropical forests, which reduces
phosphorus in the topsoil
▪ Through agricultural runoff and topsoil erosion,
which disturbs biogeochemical cycling
How do scientists study ecosystems?

▪ Scientists learn about ecosystems by:

▪ Using field and laboratory research
▪ Designing controlled experiments
▪ Developing mathematical and statistical models
▪ Make direct observations and take measurements of
ecosystems in the field (field research).
▪ Fly over ecosystems to photograph them.
▪ Carry out controlled experiments.
▪ Use radio transmitters and remote sensing to track
organisms.
▪ Run mathematical models for issues that cannot be studied
in the lab or field.
Ecosystems and three big ideas

▪ Life is sustained by the flow of energy and nutrients

through ecosystems, which are continually recycled.
▪ Ecosystems are characterized by producers,
consumers, and decomposers—all aid in the cycling
process.
▪ Human activities impact ecosystem cycling,
sometimes negatively, sometimes positively
Global Climate Patterns

▪ Global climate patterns are determined largely by

solar energy and Earth’s movement in space
▪ The warming effect of the sun causes temperature
variations, which drive evaporation and the
circulation of air and water
▪ This causes latitudinal variations in climate
Latitudinal Variation in Sunlight Intensity

▪ The angle at which sunlight hits Earth affects its

intensity, the amount of heat and light per unit of
surface area
▪ The intensity of sunlight is strongest in the tropics
(between 23.5° north latitude and 23.5° south
latitude) where sunlight strikes Earth most directly
Figure 52.3a

Atmosphere
90°N (North Pole)
Low angle of incoming sunlight

23.5°N (Tropic of Cancer)

Sun overhead at equinoxes 0° (Equator)

23.5°S (Tropic of Capricorn)

Low angle of incoming sunlight

90°S (South Pole)

Latitudinal variation in sunlight intensity

Global Air Circulation and Precipitation Patterns
▪ Global air circulation and precipitation patterns play
major roles in determining climate patterns
▪ Water evaporates in the tropics, and warm, wet air
masses flow from the tropics toward the poles
Figure 52.3b

66.5N (Arctic Circle)

60 N
Descending
Westerlies dry air
30N
30N absorbs
moisture.
Northeast trades
Ascending
moist air
0
releases
moisture.
Southeast trades

30S
Westerlies
0
60S

66.5S (Antarctic Circle)

Global air circulation and precipitation patterns

▪ Rising air masses release water and cause high
precipitation, especially in the tropics
▪ Dry, descending air masses create arid climates,
especially near 30° north and south
▪ Air flowing close to Earth’s surface creates
predictable global wind patterns
▪ Cooling trade winds blow from east to west in the
tropics; prevailing westerlies blow from west to east
in the temperate zones
Seasonality

▪ Seasonal variations of light and temperature

increase steadily toward the poles
▪ Seasonality at high latitudes is caused by the tilt of
Earth’s axis of rotation and its annual passage
around the sun
▪ Belts of wet and dry air straddling the equator shift
throughout the year with the changing angle of the
sun
▪ Changing wind patterns affect ocean currents
Figure 52.4

March equinox

December
June solstice solstice

60N
Constant tilt
of 23.5 30N

0 (equator)
30S

September equinox
Bodies of Water

▪ Oceans, their currents, and large lakes moderate

the climate of nearby terrestrial environments
▪ Currents flowing toward the equator carry cold water
from the poles; currents flowing away from the
equator carry warm water toward the poles
Figure 52.5

Labrador
Current

Gulf
California Current
Stream North Atlantic
30N North Pacific Subtropical
Subtropical Gyre Gyre

Equator

Indian South
Ocean Atlantic
Subtropical South Pacific
Subtropical
Gyre 30S Subtropical Gyre
Gyre

Antarctic Circumpolar Current

Mountains

▪ Rising air releases moisture on the windward side of

a peak and creates a “rain shadow” as it absorbs
moisture on the leeward side
▪ Mountains affect the amount of sunlight reaching an
area
▪ In the Northern Hemisphere, south-facing slopes
receive more sunlight than north-facing slopes
▪ Every 1,000 m increase in elevation produces a
temperature drop of approximately 6C
Figure 52.6

2 Precipitation

3 Rain shadow

1 Cool air flow Leeward side

of mountains

Mountain
range

Ocean
Microclimate

▪ Microclimate is determined by fine-scale differences

in the environment that affect light
and wind patterns
▪ Every environment is characterized by
differences in
▪ Abiotic factors, including nonliving attributes such as
temperature, light, water, and nutrients
▪ Biotic factors, including other organisms that are part
of an individual’s environment
The structure and distribution of terrestrial
biomes are controlled by climate and
disturbance

▪ Biomes are major life zones characterized by

vegetation type (terrestrial biomes) or physical
environment (aquatic biomes)
▪ Climate is very important in determining why
terrestrial biomes are found in certain areas
▪ Climate is a major factor determining the locations
of terrestrial biomes
Figure 52.8

30N
Tropic of Cancer

Equator

Tropic of Capricorn
30S

Tropical forest Temperate broadleaf forest

Savanna Northern coniferous forest
Desert Tundra
Chaparral High mountains
Temperate grassland Polar ice
General Features of Terrestrial Biomes

▪ Terrestrial biomes are often named for major

physical or climatic factors and for vegetation
▪ Terrestrial biomes usually grade into each other,
without sharp boundaries
▪ The area of intergradation, called an ecotone, may
be wide or narrow
▪ Vertical layering is an important feature of terrestrial
biomes, and in a forest it might consist of an upper
canopy, low-tree layer, shrub understory, ground
layer of herbaceous plants, forest floor, and root
layer
▪ Layering of vegetation in all biomes provides diverse
habitats for animals
▪ The species composition of each kind of biome
varies from one location to another
▪ Similar characteristics can arise in distant biomes
through convergent evolution
▪ For example, cacti in North America and euphorbs
in African deserts appear similar but are from
different evolutionary lineages

Cereus sp. Euphorbia

canariensis
Terrestrial Biomes
▪ Terrestrial biomes can be characterized by
distribution, precipitation, temperature, plants, and
animals
Temperate Grassland
▪ Temperate grasslands are found on many
continents
▪ Precipitation is highly seasonal
▪ Winters are cold (often below −10C) and dry;
summers are hot (often near 30C) and wet
Figure 52.11e

A grassland in Mongolia
▪ The dominant plants, grasses and forbs, are
adapted to droughts and fire
▪ Native mammals include large grazers such as
bison and wild horses and small burrowers such as
prairie dogs
▪ Most grasslands have been converted to farmland
Temperate Broadleaf Forest
▪ Distribution is primarily at midlatitudes in the
Northern Hemisphere, with smaller areas in Chile,
South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand
▪ Significant amounts of precipitation fall during all
seasons as rain or snow
▪ Winters average 0C; summers are hot and humid
(near 35C)
Figure 52.11g

A temperate broadleaf forest in New Jersey

▪ A mature temperate broadleaf forest has vertical
layers, including a closed canopy, understory trees,
a shrub layer, and an herb layer
▪ The dominant plants are deciduous trees in the
Northern Hemisphere and evergreen eucalyptus in
Australia
▪ Mammals, birds, and insects make use of all vertical
layers in the forest
▪ In the Northern Hemisphere, many mammals
hibernate in the winter
▪ These forests have been heavily settled on all
continents but are recovering in places
Aquatic biomes are diverse and dynamic
systems that cover most of Earth
▪ Aquatic biomes are characterized by their physical
environment
▪ They show less latitudinal variation than terrestrial
biomes
▪ Marine biomes have salt concentrations of
about 3%
▪ The largest marine biome is made up of oceans,
which cover about 75% of Earth’s surface and have
an enormous impact on the biosphere
▪ Freshwater biomes have salt concentrations of less
than 0.1%
▪ Freshwater biomes are closely linked to soils and
the biotic components of the surrounding terrestrial
biome
Zonation in Aquatic Biomes

▪ Many aquatic biomes are stratified into zones or

layers defined by light penetration, temperature, and
depth
▪ The upper photic zone has sufficient light for
photosynthesis, while the lower aphotic zone
receives little light
▪ The photic and aphotic zones make up the pelagic
zone
▪ Deep in the aphotic zone lies the abyssal zone with
a depth of 2,000 to 6,000 m
▪ The organic and inorganic sediment at the bottom of
all aquatic zones is called the benthic zone
▪ The communities of organisms in the benthic zone
are collectively called the benthos
▪ Detritus, dead organic matter, falls from the
productive surface water and is an important source
of food
Figure 52.12

(b) Marine zonation

Intertidal zone Neritic
zone Oceanic
zone

0
(a) Zonation in a lake 200 m Photic
Littoral zone
Limnetic Continental
zone
zone shelf
Pelagic
zone
Photic Benthic
Pelagic zone Aphotic
zone
zone zone
Benthic
zone Aphotic 2,000–
zone 6,000 m

Abyssal
zone
Lakes
▪ Size varies from small ponds to very large lakes
▪ Temperate lakes may have a seasonal thermocline;
tropical lowland lakes have a year-round
thermocline
▪ Oligotrophic lakes are nutrient-poor and generally
oxygen-rich
▪ Eutrophic lakes are nutrient-rich and often depleted
of oxygen in deep zones or throughout if ice covered
in winter
 A eutrophic lake
An oligotrophic lake in Montana
▪ Zooplankton are drifting heterotrophs that graze on
the phytoplankton
▪ Invertebrates live in the benthic zone
▪ Fishes live in all zones with sufficient oxygen
▪ Human-induced nutrient enrichment can lead to
algal blooms, oxygen depletion, and fish kills
Intertidal Zones
▪ An intertidal zone is periodically submerged and
exposed by the tides
▪ Intertidal organisms are challenged by variations in
temperature and salinity and by the mechanical
forces of wave action
▪ Oxygen and nutrient levels are high
▪ Substrate varies from rocky to sandy
Tidal Pools
Bruney Island, Tasmania
Australia
Tidal Pools
Bruney Island, Tasmania
Australia
Salt marsh
Orchard Beach
Bronx, NY
Low tide
Oceanic Pelagic Zone
▪ The oceanic pelagic zone is constantly mixed by
wind-driven oceanic currents
▪ Oxygen levels are high
▪ Turnover in temperate oceans renews nutrients in
the photic zones; year-round stratification in tropical
oceans leads to lower nutrient concentrations
▪ This biome covers approximately 70% of Earth’s
surface