Biology and the environment notes

Regardless of an ecosystem's size, all energy flowing through it was initially

captured by autotrophs, organisms that synthesize organic molecules from
inorganic building blocks through the process of primary production.
Production is the creation of new biomass. New biomass that is synthesized from
inorganic molecules like CO2 and H2O is called primary production. Primary
production contrasts with secondary production, in which new biomass is created
via consumption.
Ecologists refer to the creation of new biomass as production. New biomass
created from existing organic matter, as when animals build new tissue out of the
food that they eat, is called secondary production, which is expressed as a
rate.
Secondary production contrasts with primary production, in which new biomass
is synthesized from inorganic molecules.
Plants are responsible for the bulk of primary production. They use
photosynthesis to power production. Other primary producers, called
chemotrophs, use chemoautotrophy to build new biomass.
Photosynthesis is the process by which autotrophic organisms use solar energy
to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and oxygen.
The photosynthetic reaction can be summarized as:
6 CO2 + 6 H2O C6H12O6 + 6 O2
where C6H12O6 represents the simple sugars that store the energy captured in
photosynthesis.
Chemoautotrophy is a form of autotrophism where an inorganic compound is
oxidized to produce energy.
While the vast majority of autotrophs on Earth capture energy from sunlight, there
are a few that have found other means of gaining energy from inorganic sources.
These chemoautotrophs use free energy contained in chemicals such as
hydrogen sulfide to fix carbon. They are often found in harsh environments such
as hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor.

Primary production is a rate (i.e., amount per unit time). Ecologists often
distinguish between gross primary production, the rate at which photosynthesis
occurs, and net primary production, the rate at which biomass accumulates.
Gross primary production is a measure of the rate at which new organic matter is
being synthesized. Because plants are the most important primary producers,
gross primary production is typically a measure of the rate at which
photosynthesis occurs. It does not account for organic matter that is lost through
respiration. Although gross primary production is frequently expressed as
biomass synthesized per unit time, it is more properly expressed as the mass of
carbon incorporated in organic matter per unit time.
Net primary production (NPP) indicates how quickly something is growing. More
formally, it is the difference between gross primary production (GPP) and
respiration (R):

NPP = GPP - R
All three entities are expressed as rates of mass per unit time or energy per unit
time. Ecologists may calculate the rate of net primary production for an individual
plant, a group of plants (e.g., a forest stand) or an entire ecosystem (e.g., a lake).

Cellular respiration is the process by which all living organisms convert chemical
energy into energy needed for life's functions. Most frequently, this chemical
energy is stored in organic molecules like glucose, amino acids and fatty acids.
When these organic molecules are broken down, CO 2 and H2O are released.
Although there are other important pathways, aerobic respiration may be the
most important. During aerobic respiration, energy is released when sugar
(C6H12O6) is combined with O2 to produce CO2 and H2O. In essence, aerobic
respiration is the reverse ofphotosynthesis.
Primary producers, also known as autotrophs, are organisms that synthesize
organic compounds from inorganic compounds. For example, green plants
capture solar energy and synthesize carbohydrates during photosynthesis. In
contrast, heterotrophsgain energy from breaking down organic material (that is,
via consumption). Autotrophs are vital components of ecosystemsbecause they
capture the energy (typically solar energy) that ultimately reaches all trophic

levels, fueling all life on Earth.

In order to do the work of life, plants may burn up to half the energy initially
captured during photosynthesis, releasing it as heat during respiration.1 The
remaining energy is stored as biomass for later use.

Gross primary production describes the rate at which solar energy is captured by
a plant during photosynthesis. It does not account for energy lost via respiration.

Net primary production describes the difference between photosynthesis and

respiration. It is the rate at which the plant stores energy as biomass.
He emphasized that as energy flows through different compartments, it must
obey the laws of thermodynamics. Specifically, energy inputs must equal
outputs and, because all spontaneous energy transfers are inefficient, each loses
some energy as heat.

Earlier in this section we posed the question: Where does the energy in wood
come from? As you have seen, this energy is supplied by the Sun and captured
by autotrophs during gross primary production (GPP). Much of this energy is
immediately lost during autotrophic respiration (Ra). The remainder, called the
net primary production (NPP), is available to fuel the tree's growth and
reproduction. The relationship between gross primary production, plant
respiration, and net primary production can be summarized as follows:

GPP - Ra = NPP
Although some of the forest's net primary production is used to power human
activities, most is consumed by herbivores or, after the plants die,
bydecomposers, and used to fuel their own growth and reproduction. In turn,
some of the energy and matter in the herbivores and decomposers is passed on
up the food chain when they are eaten by predators. In this way, primary
producers provide all of the energy and matter needed to support the growth and
reproduction of the ecosystem's higher trophic levels.
The carbon cycle is one of Earth's many nutrient cycles. Over time, carbon (C)
moves between different pools, including Earth's crust, atmosphere, and biota
(plants, animals, etc.). This movement is described as a "cycle" because carbon
is neither created nor destroyed as it moves. Because carbon is sometimes
incorporated into organic molecules, like those used to build plant tissue, and
sometimes into inorganic molecules, like CO2, this nutrient cycle is an example of
a biogeochemical cycle.
NPP = (m2 - m1) / (t2 - t1)
where m1 and m2 represent plant biomass density at times t1 and t2, respectively.
Because plants contain a lot of water, samples are typically dried and then
weighed, and NPP is reported as dry organic matter per unit area per unit time.
A carbon sink accumulates and stores carbon, often in the form of organic
matter, for an indefinite period of time. Carbon sinks such as growing forests and
kelp beds move CO2 from the atmosphere or hydrosphere to the biosphere.
Carbon sinks are considered carbon negative because their net emission of
carbon to the atmosphere is negative.
In contract, processes or entities that emit more CO2 than they absorb are
carbon sources. Examples include burning fossil fuels, cement production,
wildfires, and decomposition.

An endothermic chemical reaction is one that requires energy (heat) to proceed.

Endothermic reactions do not occur spontaneously, and their products contain
more energy (in the form of chemical bonds) than do their reactants.
An exothermic chemical reaction is one that releases energy (heat). Exothermic
reactions can occur spontaneously, and their products contain less energy (in the
form of chemical bonds) than do their reactants.
NPP is always much less than GPP.
What can you conclude if CO2 in the air around a plant is accumulating
over time (that is, net CO2 is increasing)?
NPP is negative (i.e. GPP < R).
If you were to track how the concentration of CO2 in an actively growing
forest changes over the course of 24 hours, when would you expect
concentrations to rise? When would you expect them to decrease?
CO2 will decrease during the day and increase at night.

At night most CO2 concentration is at the floor while during the day its low
throughout all location.
A positive annual NEP indicates that the forest is actively growing and, on an
annual basis, stores more carbon than it releases.
As you can see, in July (day 190 or so), GPP was much larger than Re, just as in
the simulated July measurements you've been working with. In contrast, during
the winter, without photosynthesis, Re exceeded GPP. This is a typical pattern for
temperate forests. In most years, Re increases early in the spring when soil

temperatures begin to increase. A little later, when trees sprout leaves, GPP
starts to climb, and by mid-summer it is much larger than Re. In the fall, GPP
drops quickly as trees shed leaves and photosynthesis stops. Respiration rates
also decline during the fall as soil temperatures decline
Forests tend to be least productive when they are very young or very old and
most productive when they are middle-aged.2
Nearly one half of global NPP occurs in the oceans, suggesting that these
ecosystems may be removing significant quantities of CO 2 from the water column
and storing it as biomass. In other words, ocean ecosystems may be acting as
important carbon sinks. Most of this production occurs in open-water regions
where tiny unicellular algae and photosynthetic bacteria, collectively called
phytoplankton, are the only primary producers.
Lakes display similar patterns. Phytoplankton dominate primary production in
deep, open waters while macrophytes and other bottom-dwelling plants dominate
production along shorelines and in shallow lakes.
How can you calculate daily ecosystem respiration? (Assume that light and
dark bottle DO is measured AFTER an incubation of exactly 24 hours.)
Re = (initial DO) - (dark bottle DO)

Primary production and respiration rates are then estimated as:

NEP = (light bottle DO) - (initial DO)
Re = (initial DO) - (dark bottle DO)
GPP = NEP + Re = (light bottle DO) - (dark bottle DO)
where:
The initial DO is dissolved oxygen in the bottles before the experiment.
Light bottle DO and dark bottle DO are measured after a 24-hour incubation at
the same water depth.

Photoinhibition occurs when light is so intense as to reduce thephotosynthetic

capacity of a plant or alga.
Photoinhibition often occurs because photosystem II (part of the photosynthetic

machinery) can be damaged by intense light at certain wavelengths (e.g.

ultraviolet light).
ecosystem respiration in aquatic systems is typically unaffected by light intensity.
Instead, it declines as temperatures drop or as food for heterotrophs becomes
scarce.
The compensation depth (also called the critical depth) is depth beneath the
surface of a body of water that receives just enough light so that net ecosystem
production is zero. In other words, at this depth, gross primary production exactly
balances ecosystem respiration in magnitude.
Because nutrients limit ocean phytoplankton, the most productive ocean
regions are near river mouths and upwelling zones where key nutrients are
plentiful.
As in aquatic ecosystems, the availability of both light and nutrientsparticularly
nitrogen and phosphoruscan influence NPP in terrestrial systems.
While light and nutrient availability are critically important at both local and
regional scales, the two most important drivers of terrestrial NPP at larger scales
are temperature and precipitation.
NPP tends to increase as temperature increases
NPP also increases as mean annual precipitation increases, but only to a point.
Once annual precipitation exceeds about 2500 mm/year, NPP begins to decline.
Model validation (or model verification) is the process of comparing the results of
a mathematical model with results from field experiments for the purpose of
evaluating the model's validity.
Across the globe, GPP is highest during the summer, but summer occurs
at the opposite time of the year in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
In the North, summer is from June to August while in the South summer is
from December to February. This difference is what drives the seasonal
swings seen in this animation.

What else can you say about the global patterns of GPP?
Seasonal swings in GPP are higher in the Northern Hemisphere than in the
Southern Hemisphere.
you would expect CO2 to increase during each hemisphere's winter and decrease
during their summers. This means the cycles in the two hemispheres should be
outof synch.
Seasonal swings in CO2concentrations are higher in the Northern Hemisphere.
Additionally, fluctuations in the Southern Hemisphere are out of phase with those
in the Northern Hemisphere and with the global average. Further, seasonal
variation in the Southern Hemisphere is more complex, suggesting that factors
other than terrestrial primary production contribute to observed patterns.
A grazer food chain is a food chain that includes a primary producer at the lowest
trophic level and a herbivorous primary consumer at the second level.
Assimilation is the process of converting consumed food into energy for work or
growth. Assimilation requires digestion and nutrient absorption.
Food ingested by heterotrophs is either assimilated or egested. Energetically
speaking:

Assimilation = Ingestion - Egestion

Nitrogen fixation is a process in the nitrogen cycle in which inert atmospheric
nitrogen (N2) is converted into plant-useable forms of nitrogen, such as
ammonium (NH4+) by fungi, bacteria, and other nitrogen fixers.
Below are the formulas for calculating ecological efficiencies for an herbivore
(subscript h) eating plants (subscript p). Here, I is ingestion, A is assimilation,
and P is production.
Consumption Efficiency (CE):

CE = I / P
h

Assimilation Efficiency (AE):

AE = A / I
h

Production Efficiency (PE):

PE = P / A
h

Trophic Efficiency (TE):

TE = P / P = (CE) (AE) (PE)

h

endothermic organisms must devote more of the energy they assimilate to

maintaining their energy budget than ectotherms, and consequently will have less
energy available for growth.
Reptiles have the lowest metabolic rates
A detrital food chain is a food chain whose primary consumers are decomposers,
organisms who consume dead organic matter.
A detrital food chain contrasts with a grazer food chain.

CEs are highest in ecosystems dominated by phytoplankton and benthic

microalgae, both of which tend to be relatively nutrient-rich. In contrast, the
lowest CEs are seen in forests and, to a lesser extent, grasslands, communities
whose plants have lots of unpalatable structural tissues.
biomass pyramids for open oceans are often inverted, with less biomass on the
bottom than on the top.

terrestrial ecosystems have lower trophic efficiencies than aquatic ecosystems

Residence time describes how quickly energy flows through an ecosystem.

Residence times are higher where organisms are long-lived (e.g., forests) and
short where organisms are short-lived (e.g., open ocean ecosystems).