Three Factors Sustain Life

on Earth
 One-way flow of high-quality
energy from the sun

 Cycling
of matter or nutrients
through parts of the biosphere

 Gravity
 Definitions
 Irreversibility: Situations where future
effort cannot correct for current or
past damage. Death is irreversible.

 Uncertainty: Lack of knowledge about

the performance of ecological system.
Uncertainty requires (1) learning and (2)
caution in action

 Adaptive management: Resource

utilization approach that entails
constant learning and reassessment
 What is sustainability?
 “Meeting the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their needs” (United Nations 1987)
 Living in material comfort and peacefully with each
other within the means of nature (Wackernagel & Rees
1996)
 Living within the carrying capacity of environment
Carrying capacity
Population

Time
Classification of the Biosphere
 Biomes – terrestrial regions with
similar vegetation

 Aquatic life zones

 Freshwater life zones
 Marine life zones
 Climate
and
Biodiversity
 Weather and Climate
Weather
Short term (Daily, Weekly,
Monthly) variations in
temperature, moisture, pressure,
and winds

Climate
Long term (Yearly, Decadal,
Century) averages in temperature,
moisture, winds, and pressure
 Climate

Climate affects the characteristics

of an ecosystem; polar bears do
not live in the desert and desert
organisms cannot live in a
tropical rain forest
 Factors affecting weather and climate
• Global position
- latitudinal variations
> e.g., subtropical deserts in
the "Horse Latitudes"
> e.g., glaciers in Greenland,
Antarctica
• Geographic position
- location with respect to
oceans, prevailing winds, and
topographic barriers
(mountains)
• Elevation
- changes in moisture • Pressure and winds
and temperature - global and local
Dust Storm from Africa’s
Sahara Desert
 What Factors Influence
Climate?
 An area’s climate is determined
mostly by:
1. Solar radiation,
2. Earth’s rotation,
3. Global patterns of air and water
movement,
4. Gases in the atmosphere??, and
5. Earth’s surface features
 Many Different Climates
 Weather

 Climate

 Temperature and precipitation

determine climate
 Latitude and elevation determine
average temperature and precipitation
 Climate Affects Biomes
 Major biomes related to climate

 Biomes consist of a mosaic of

patches of communities

 Average temperature and

precipitation determine the
biome
Earth’s Major Biomes
 Biomes
 Leaf Part of an individual
 One tree Individual
 Trees of given species Population
 Valley in the forest Ecosystem
 Tropic rain forest Biomes

Biosphere
 Three Major Types of Deserts
 Tropical deserts –
Sahara

 Temperate deserts –
Arizona

 Cold deserts –
Gobi
Three Major Types of Grasslands

 Tropical grasslands –
savanna

 Temperate grasslands –
prairie

 Cold grasslands –
 tundra
 Three Major Types of Forests

 Tropical rain

 Temperate deciduous

 Evergreen coniferous
Biomes of the United States
What about the Biomes of Lebanon?
 Nature – How It Works
 When nature is left in peace(????) it
reaches some sort of equilibrium or
“Ecological Harmony”
 But this is not the whole truth
 There is a certain degree of balance in
nature ( still exists)
 Nature is changing all the time (there is
constant battle)
 The influence of mankind means that we
interfere in the processes of change
Structural Components of an Ecosystem
Second Law of Thermodynamics
and Its Effect on Living Systems
Generalized Pyramid of Energy Flow
 What Is Biodiversity and Why Is It
Important?
 The biodiversity found in the earth’s
genes, species, ecosystems, and
ecosystem processes is vital to
sustaining life on earth
 Soil is an important component of
biodiversity that supplies most of the
nutrients needed for plant growth and
helps purify and store water and
control levels of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere
 Biodiversity

1) Functional diversity
2) Ecological diversity
3) Genetic diversity
4) Species diversity
Functional Diversity Ecological Diversity
The biological and chemical processes such as energy The variety of terrestrial and
flow and matter recycling needed for the survival of aquatic ecosystems found in
species communities, and ecosystems. an area or on the earth.

Genetic Diversity Species Diversity

The variety of genetic material The number and abundance of species
within a species or a population. present in different communities
Fig. 3-12, p. 48
Species Diversity
 Transfer of energy across
trophic levels

 All energy used by higher trophic

levels originates with primary
producers

 With each step in the food chain,

80-95% of energy is lost
Three Factors Sustain Life
on Earth
 One-way flow of high-quality
energy from the sun

 Cycling
of matter or nutrients
through parts of the biosphere

 Gravity
Solar Energy Reaching the Earth
 Electromagnetic waves
 Visible light

 UV radiation

 Heat

 Natural greenhouse effect

 Energy in = energy out

 Human-enhanced global warming

Electromagnetic Radiation

sun
 Solar
Flow of energy to and from the earth
radiation
Energy in = Energy out

Reflected by
atmosphere Radiated by
UV radiation
atmosphere
as heat
Most Lower Stratosphere
absorbed (ozone layer)
by ozone Visible Troposphere
light Heat radiated
Heat by the earth

Absorbed Greenhouse
by the earth effect
 Laws of Conservation of
Energy (Thermodynamics)
 First law of thermodynamics
 Energy input = Energy output

 Second law of thermodynamics

 Energy use results in lower-
quality energy
 Dispersed heat loss
 Consequences of the Second
Law of Thermodynamics
 Automobiles
 ~6% moves car
 ~94% dissipates as low-quality heat into
the environment
 Incandescent light bulb
 ~5% useful light
~95% heat
 Living systems
 Energy lost with every conversion
 Nutrients
 Organisms are made up of matter and need a
constant supply of chemical nutrients to grow

 The main components of living tissues are:

- Carbon
- Hydrogen
- Oxygen
- Nitrogen
- Phosphorus
- Sulfur
 Nutrients are found in the air, soil and water
Ecosystem Productivity
 Biogeochemical cycles
 Cycling of matter driven by the flow of energy
Matter

Biosphere
Heat
What is Photosynthesis?
6H2O + 6CO2 ----------> C6H12O6+ 6O2
six molecules of water plus six molecules
of carbon dioxide produce one molecule of
sugar plus six molecules of oxygen
 During Photosynthesis
Organic energy-poor molecules
(CO2 & H2 O)

Organic energy-rich food molecules

(sugars)

 Since plants do not need to feed on other organisms,

they are called Autotrophs
 Age Dating
1- A section showing 27 annual
growth rings

2- Carbon 14
 Carbon dioxide
in atmosphere
Respiration

Photosynthesis
Burning
Forest fires
fossil fuels
Diffusion Animals
(consumers)

Deforestation
Plants Carbon
Respiration (producers)
Transportation in plants
(producers)
Carbon
Carbon dioxide in animals
dissolved in ocean (consumers) Carbon
Decomposition in fossil fuels
Marine food webs
Producers, consumers,
decomposers

Carbon Compaction
in limestone or
dolomite sediments
 The
Carbon
Cycle and
Fossil
Fuels
 The Carbon Cycle
1- Daily cycles

2- Cycles requiring years, decades, or

centuries

3- Cycles of 100.000 years or more

4- cycles involving millions of years

 The Nitrogen Cycle
 Our Atmosphere is mostly nitrogen
(78%)
 The growth of many organisms is
limited by a shortage in nitrogen
 Very few organisms can utilize the
atmospheric nitrogen N2 directly
 Most plants can absorb N only when
it is in form of : Nitrites (NO-2),
Nitrates (NO-3), or Ammonium
ions (NH+4)
 Plants and animals cannot utilize
atmospheric nitrogen (N2)

 Nitrogen-fixation

 Nitrification

 Ammonification

 Denitrification
 Nitrogen Fixation
 Nitrogen-fixing bacteria
 Lightening

 Erosion of rocks rich in nitrates

and the decomposition of
organic matter
 Denitrifying Bacteria (break up
organic molecules and N is
returned to the atmosphere)
 Nitrogen
in
atmosphere

Denitrification
Electrical
Nitrogen by bacteria
storms
in animals
Nitrogen oxides (consumers)
from burning fuel Volcanic
activity Nitrification
by bacteria
Nitrogen
in plants
(producers)
Nitrates
from fertilizer
Decomposition
runoff and Uptake by plants
decomposition
Nitrate
in soil
Nitrogen Nitrogen
loss to deep in ocean
sediments Ammonia Bacteria
ocean
in soil
sediments

Nitrogen Cycle in a Terrestrial Ecosystem

 Phosphorus Cycle
Phosphate (PO43-) does not undergo oxidation-
reduction reactions under most conditions

no gas forms of P

P can be bound tightly to soil minerals in soils

aquatic systems (lakes) are often limited

by P
Old tropical soils can be limited by P
 Model of the Phosphorus Cycle
Phosphates Fertilizer
in sewage phosphates
Plate
Phosphates tectonics
in mining waste Runoff
Runoff
Sea
birds
Runoff
Erosion Phosphate
in rock
Ocean
food chain
Animals
(consumers) Phosphate
Phosphate In ocean
dissolved in sediments
water Phosphate
in deep ocean
Pants sediments
(producers)

Bacteria
 Percentage of World's:
Population 18%
82%

Population 0.1%
growth 1.5%

Life 77 years
expectancy 66 years

85%
Wealth and
15%
income

Resource 88%
use 12%

Pollution 75%
and waste 25%
Lack of Number of people (% of world's population)
access to
Sanitation 2.6 billion (39%)

Fuel 2 billion (30%)

Electricity 2 billion (30%)

Drinking water 1.1 billion (16%)

Health care 1.1 billion (16%)

Housing 1 billion (15%)

Enough food 0.84 billion (13%)

 Forest
conservation Underground CO2
storage using
abandoned oil wells
No-till Production of
cultivation energy-efficient
fuel-cell cars
High-speed trains
Deep-sea
CO2 storage
Solar-cell fields Components of Environmentally
Sustainable Economic Development
Bicycling

Cluster housing
development
Landfill Wind farms
Communities
Of passive Recycling plant
Solar homes
Water Recycling, reuse,
conservation and composting
 Insulate your house
and plug air leaks
Use renewable energy, Reduce meat consumption
especially wind and direct solar

Use energy-efficient
heating and cooling Buy locally grown food
systems, lights, and
appliances The Sustainability Dozen

Refuse, reduce, Buy or grow

reuse, and recycle organic food

Use water-saving Don't use

appliances and pesticides on your
irrigation methods garden

Reduce car use Walk, bike,

Drive an , or take mass
energy-efficient transit whenever possible
vehicle
Fig. 17-19, p. 428