Environmental Systems and Society Topics 1 and 2

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Environmental Systems and © www.sciencebitz.com 2010
Society
Topic 1: Systems and models
1.1. 1: Systems
Why Environmental Systems?
SYSTEM: an assemblage of parts and their relationship forming a functioning

entirety or whole.
During the 1970’s, British chemist James Lovelock and American biologist Lynn
Margulis came up with the GAIA HYPOTHESIS: That the world acts like a single
biological being made up of many individual and interconnected units ( A SYSTEM ).
Gaia was the Greek Earth goddess
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figure 1. A systematic view of the Earth’s biological and chemical components
The Components
The Earth’s systems comprise interactions between the living ( Biotic ) and non-
living ( Abiotic ) constituent parts. As in any system these interactions involve
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INPUTS, PROCESSING of the inputs to

create OUPUTS.
Even if we look at the starting point of

all food chains on Earth, photosynthesis
and conversion of light energy to stored
chemical energy in the leaf, this to can
be viewed as a system component
within a bigger system.
So Photosynthesis comprises inputs, a

process and outputs
But photosynthesis is also a component in a larger system. A food chain the initial
light energy gets processed and converted into chemical energy (food) that is
passed along the system.
Yet if you take each of the organisms in the diagram above and place them in
individual plant pots or cages at a zoo and the system breaks down: the
interactions between the components are what make the system not the
components themselves
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1.1. 2: Types of System
Systems can be thought of as fitting

into one of three types: Open
(exchange matter and energy with
its surroundings), Closed and
Isolated
Open Systems: exchange matter

and energy with its surroundings.
Most systems are open, including

ecosystems. In forest ecosystems
plants fix energy from light entering
the system during photosynthesis. Nitrogen is fixed by soil bacteria. Herbivores that
live within the forest canopy may graze in adjacent ecosystems such as a
grassland, but when they return they enrich the soil with feces. After a forest fire
top soil may be removed by wind and rain. Mineral nutrients are dissolved out of
the soil and transported in ground water to streams and rivers.
Open system models can even be applied to the remotest oceanic island - energy
and mater is exchanged with the atmosphere, surrounding oceans and even
migratory birds.
It is important to remember that if we are
thinking in the terms of systems, then each
component of a system is surrounded by a
larger environment. A single tree ( a system
in its own right ) within a forest system
exchanges energy and material with the
surrounding forest.
Closed Systems: exchange energy but not

matter.
Closed systems are extremely rare in nature.
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No natural closed systems exist on Earth but the planet itself can be thought of as
an “almost” closed system.
Light energy in large amounts enters the Earth’s system and some is eventually
returned to space a long wave radiation (heat).
Biosphere 2 was a human attempt to create a habitable Closed system on Earth.

build in Arizona at the end of
the 1980’s Biosphere 2 was
intended to explore the use of
closed biospheres in space
colonization. Two major
“missions” were conducted but
both run into problems. The
Biosphere never managed to
produce enough food to
adequately sustain the the
participants and at times
oxygen levels became
dangerously low and needed augmenting.
Isolated Systems: An isolated system exchanges neither matter nor energy.
These do not exist naturally. Though it is possible to think of the entire Universe as
an isolated system.
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1.1. 3: Energy in Systems
Energy in all systems is subject to the Laws of Thermodynamics.
According to the First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy is neither created or

destroyed. What this really means is that the total energy in any system including
the entire universe is constant all that can happen is that the form the energy takes
changes. This first law is often called the law of conservation of energy.
In the food chain above the energy enters the system as light energy, during
photosynthesis it gets converted to stored chemical energy (glucose). It is the
stored chemical energy that is passed along as food. No new energy is created it is
just passed along.
Even if we look at the sunlight falling on Earth not all of it is used for
photosynthesis.
30% is reflected, around 50% is converted to heat,

and most of the rest powers the hydrological cycle -
rain, evaporation, wind, etc. Less than 1% of
incoming light is use for photosynthesis.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that

the entropy of an isolated system not in equilibrium
will tend to increase over time. what this really
means is that the energy conversions are never
100% efficient: When energy is transformed into
work, some energy is always dissipated as waste
heat.
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If you examine the food chain again in

terms of the second law then: when
the lion chases the zebra, the zebra
attempts to escape changing the
stored chemical energy in its cells into
useful work. But during its attempted
escape some of the stored energy is converted to
heat and lost from the food chain.
This process can be summarized by a simple diagram showing the energy input and
outputs.
The Second Law can also be thought off as a

simple word equation:
ENERGY = WORK + HEAT (and other

wasted energy)
So what does the term ENTROPY mean?
Entropy refers to the spreading out or

dispersal of energy. Using the above
example the energy spreads out - the useful energy consumed by one level is less
than the total energy at the level below - energy transfer is never 100% efficient.
Depending on the plant their efficiency at converting solar energy to stored sugars
is around 2%. Herbivores on average only use around 10% of the total plant energy
they consume the rest is lost in metabolic processes and a carnivores efficiency is
also only around 10%.
So the carnivores total efficiency in the chain is 0.02 x 0.1 x 0.1 = 0.0002
This means the carnivore only uses 0.02% of incoming solar energy that went into
the grass. The rest of the energy is dispersed into the surrounding environment.
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1.1. 4: Equilibria
Open systems tend to exist in a state of balance: Equilibrium. Equilibrium avoids

sudden changes in a system, though this does not mean that all systems are none
changing. If change exists it tends to exist between limits. We can therefore think
of equilibrium states in two ways STATIC and “STEADY STATE”.
Static Equilibrium is where the components of a system remain constant over a

long period of time.
Possibly the best example of static equilibrium in the environmental system in

which we ourselves have to survive is the oxygen content of the atmosphere.
Around 4 billion years ago there was very little oxygen in the atmosphere. Why?
Our planet was void of life. Then life appeared and importantly photosynthesizing
life, first cyanobacteria (bacteria with chlorophyll) and later plants. Both of which
produce molecular oxygen a a waste product.
As the oxygen levels rose so a new type of organism appeared that could use the
external oxygen in respiration - animals - and so the Oxygen cycle was born.
Eventually over time a balance was achieved in the level of atmospheric oxygen and
for the last 2 billion years, plants and
animals have held the oxygen level
stable at 21% of the atmosphere.
Steady State equilibria: this is a

much harder concept to define and
there are still arguments for what a
dynamic equilibrium really is. The
best way to think about it is that a
system is in a steady state because
the inputs and outputs that affect it
approximately balance over a long
period of time.
An example of this can be seen in a classic study of the populations of Snowshoe

Hares and Lynx in Canada. As the population of the Lynx rises the Hare population
falls this is then followed by a fall in the Lynx population which in itself is followed
by a rise in the Hare population etc. etc.
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1.1. 5: Feedback systems
Systems are continually affected by information they have to react to from both
within and outside. Two simplistic examples, if you start to feel cold you can either
put on more clothes or turn the heating up. The sense of cold is information putting
on clothes is the reaction. Secondly if you feel hungry, you have a choice of
reactions that you can take to this “information”
Natural systems act in exactly the same way. The information starts a reaction
which in turn may input more information which may start another reaction. This is
called a Feedback Loop.
Negative Feedback:this tends to damp down, neutralize or counteract any

deviation from an equilibrium, and promotes stability.
Using the example of the Snowshoe Hare / Lynx population cycle presented in the
last section
When Hare the population is high, there is surplus food for the Lynx so their
numbers go up. This puts a pressure on the Hare population as more are eaten and
their numbers fall. Less food for the Lynx so they start to starve and their numbers
fall. Fewer Lynx means fewer hares are eaten and their numbers start to go back
up. And so it continues as a loop.
Positive Feedback amplifies or

increases change; it leads to
exponential deviation away from an
equilibrium.
An example of this is the possible

effect that rising global temperature
could have by adding more water
vapor to the atmosphere. Water is a
powerful greenhouse molecule
trapping heat in the atmosphere. If
there is a global temperature rise
more water will evaporate trapping more heat making more water evaporate
trapping more heat and on and on. Again a diagram helps explain the idea.
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1.1. 6: Transfers and Transformations
Both Material and Energy move or flow through ecosystems. A transfer is when the
flow does not involve a change of form and a transformation is a flow involving a
change of form. Both types of flow use energy, transfers being simpler use less
energy and are therefore more efficient than transformations.
Transfers can involve:

The movement of material through living organisms (carnivores eating other
animals)
The movement of material in a non-living process (water being carried by a stream)
The movement of energy (ocean currents transferring heat)
Transformations can involve:

Matter (glucose converted to starch in plants)
Energy (Light converted to heat by radiating surfaces)
Matter to energy (burning fossil fuels)
Energy to matter (photosynthesis)
1.1. 7: Flows and Storages
Both energy and matter flows (inputs and outputs) through ecosystems but at
times is also stored (stock) within the ecosystem:
The Biogeochemical Cycle illustrates the general flows in an ecosystem.
Energy flows from one compartment to another. E.g. a food chain. But when one
organism eats another organism the energy that moves between them is in the
form of stored chemical energy: Flesh
Energy Flows through an ecosystems in the form of carbon–carbon bonds within

organic compounds. These bonds ae broken during respiration when carbon joins
with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide. Respiration releases enrgy that is either
used by organisms (life processes) or is lost as heat.
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The origin of all the energy in an ecosystem is the sun and the fate of the energy is
eventually to be released as
heat
In the diagram the flow of

energy is shown by the red
arrows.
Unlike energy MATTER cycles

through the system as minerals
(blue arrows). Plants absorb
mineral nutrients from the soil.
These nutrients are combined in to cells. Consumers eat plants and other
consumers egest the minerals they contain and re-combining them in cells.
Eventually decomposers break down dead organic matter (DOM) and then return
the minerals to the soil. These minerals may betaken out of the soil quickly by
plants or can eventually through geological processes become locked within rocks
until erosion eventually returns them to new soil.
The geochemical cycles illustrate the flows

and storage of energy and matter: The
carbon cycle shows the flow of both where as
the other geochemical cycles e.g. nitrogen
only show the flow and storage of matter.
In both cases though the direction of the flow

- producer to consumer, and the magnitude -
loss of material up a food chain, amount of
carbon dioxide moving from respiration and
combustion to the atmosphere, can be
described.
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Topic 2: The ecosystem
2.1. 1: Biotic and Abiotic.
The components of an ecosystem
Ecosystems are made up of the interactions between the living and non-living
components within them.
It is impossible to think of an ecosystem without including these interactions
The living components of an ecosystem are known as the “biotic factors” - living
biological factors that influence the other organsims or environment of an
ecosystem.
This is a lot more than just listing the plants, animals or micro-organisms found in
an ecosystem. It includes the roles played by the organisms.
Biotic factors interact as : Producers, consumers, detrivores, decomposers,

parasite, host, predator, competitor, herbivore, symbiant and pathogen.
A tree in a woodland is a producer providing the

basic unit of energy for the rest of the
ecosystem. But at the same time it competes
for light with other trees and may be the host to
parasitic plants such as mistletoe or
decomposing fungi. During the annual cycle in
the wood, the tree will at times take water and
mineral nutrients from the soil and at others
return nutrients from fallen wood and leaves.
The Physical and Chemical components of an ecosystem are called the “abiotic
factors” and include:
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• The atmosphere
• Climate and water
• Soil structure and chemistry
• Water chemistry
• Seasonality
These factors operate at a broad

scale but within ecosystems smaller
component abiotic factors also work.
The relative humidity within the

bowl of an oak tree is higher than
that of a woodland as a whole. This
provides the physical and chemical conditions needed for a community
of mosses, lichens and ferns to develop.
In a very simplistic form it is the availability of suitable abiotic environment that

provides the conditions for a distinct biotic community to exist. Importantly
thought, the biotic community can greatly influence and even change the abiotic
one.
Commercial Forestry in parts of Scotland illustrates

this well.
Until the 1970’s large areas of Scottish Blanket Bog

was viewed beyond the reach of commercial forest
operations. It was to wet for Sitka spruce the
predominant cash wood crop to grow and too
expensive to drain.
Then it was discovered that if a “nurse” crop of

Lodgepole pine was planted ahead of the Sitka,
even though the pines would eventually die in the
very wet conditions, they would dry the soil enough
to allow Sitka to take hold.
Along with this the drying of the area and closing in of the canopy with trees
planted tightly in rows would prevent continued growth and accumulation of
sphagnum moss. This in turn aided the drying process.
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Many different abiotic factors an animal or plant species and also interact and
change with time themselves.
E.g. temperature is dependent upon:

solar radiation, wind speed, time of year, time of day, altitude and aspect.
Temperature affects water loss from organisms and respiration, and for plants the
rate of photosynthesis. Changes in temperature affect relative humidity and
evaporation from water bodies and soils.
It is the abiotic conditions in an environment which ultimately give rise to

the biotic community present. This is illustrated below with examples of six
different ecosystems, including an ecosystem found on the surface of some
rocks, each of which is the result of the initial controlling abiotic factors
which operate.
Alpine Grassland Acidic Heath Temperate Deciduous

Forest
Mediterranean Maquis or Sand dune system

Chaparral
Lichen rock face

ecosystem
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2.1. 2: Trophic Levels
Trophic level:The position that an organism occupies in a food chain, or a group of

organisms in a community that occupy the same position in food chains.
It is possible to classify the way organisms obtain energy into two categories.
Producers or Autotrophs: These manufacture their own food from simple inorganic
substances (plants)
Consumers or Heterotrophs: Feed on autotrophs or
other heterotrophs to obtain energy (herbivores,
carnivores, omnivores, detrivores and decomposers
But within the consumers their is a feeding hierarchy of

feeding
Plants capture the suns energy and convert it to

glucose, herbivores eat plants and carnivores eat
herbivores - different feeding levels (Greek for food is
trophe)
Trophic level 1 - producer

Trophic level 2 - herbivore (primary consumers)
Trophic level 3 - carnivore (secondary consumers)
Trophic level 4 - carnivore (tertiary consumer)
The first trophic level, the autotrophs supports the energy requirements of all the
other trophic levels above.
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2.1. 3: Food chains and Food webs
Ecosystems have an hierarchy of feeding relationships (trophic levels) that

determine the pathway of energy flow in the ecosystem. The energy
flow in the ecosystem can be illustrated as a Food chain.
It is possible to construct food chains for an entire

ecosystem, but this starts to create a problem.
The food chains below are form a European Oak
Woodland. In fact they are based on real food chains at Wytham Wood in Oxford
In the four different food chains only ten species are listed and some of them are in
more than one food chain. If we continued to list all the species in the wood and
their interactions in every food chain the list would run for many pages.
Food chains only illustrate a direct feeding relationship between one organism and
another in a single hierarchy. The reality though is very different. The diet of almost
all consumers is not limited to a single food species. So a single species can appear
in more than one food chain.
A further limitation of representing feeding relationships by food chains is when a

species feeds at more than one trophic level. Voles are omnivores and as well as
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eating insects they also eat plants. We would then have to list all the food chains
again that contained voles but moving them to the second trophic level rather than
the third in a shorter food chain.
The reality is that there is a complex network of interrelated food chains which
create a food web.
2.1. 4: Ecological pyramids

Pyramids of number
A bar diagram that indicates the relative numbers of organisms at each trophic level
in a food chain. The length of each bar gives a measure of the relative numbers.
Pyramids begin with producers, usually the greatest number at the bottom
decreasing upwards.
Advantages
This is a simple easy method of

giving an overview and is good at
comparing changes in population
numbers with time or season.
Disadvantages
All organisms are included regardless of their size, therefore a system say based on
an oak tree would be inverted (have a small bottom and bet larger as it goes up
trophic levels). Also they do not allow for juvenilles or immature forms. Numbers
can be to great to represent accurately.
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Pyramids of biomass
As pyramids of number but uses

dry mass of all organisms at
each trophic level.
Advantages
Overcomes the problems of pyramids of number.
Disadvantages
Only uses samples from populations, so it is impossible to measure biomass

exactly.also the time of the year that biomass is measured affects the result.
Pyramids of energy
The bars are drawn in proportion to the total energy utilized at each trophic level.
Also the productivity of producers in a given area measured for a standard time,
and the proportion utilized by consumers can be calculated.
Advantages
Most accurate system shows the actual energy transferred and allows for rate of
production.
Disadvantages
It is very difficult and complex to to collect energy data.
Why use ecological pyramids.
Ecological pyramids allow you to examine easily energy transfers and losses. They
give an idea of what feed s on what and what organisms exist at the different
trophic levels. They also help to demonstrate that ecosystems are unified
systems,that they are in balance.
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2.1. 5: Pyramids and Ecosystem Function
Bioaccumulation
Story of Minamata Bay.
Minamata is a small factory town in Japan, dominated by one factory, The Chisso
Factory. Chisso make petrochemical based substances from fertilizer to plastics.
Between 1932 and 1968 Chisso dumped an estimated 27 tons of mercury into
Minamata Bay.
Beginning in the 1950’s, thousands of people started to suffer from mercury

poisoning.
What had happened?
Some bacteria can change mercury to a modified form called methylmercury.

Methylmercury is easily absorbed into the bodies of small organisms such as
shrimp. When the shrimp are eaten by fish, the methylmercury enter the fish. The
methylmercury does not break down easily and can stay in the fish bodies for a
long time. As the fish eat more and more shrimp, the amount of methylmercury
increases. The same increase in concentration happens when people then eat the
fish. fish are a major part of the diet of people around Minamata bay. This process
is known as bioaccumulation.
There is a slow magnitude build up along the food chain: Very many bacteria
absorb very small amounts of mercury - many shrimp eat a lot of bacteria building
up the mercury concentration - lots of fish eat lots of shrimp again building up the
concentration and finally a small number of humans at the top of the food chain
eventually eat a lot of fish and absorb high levels of methylmercury.
The end of the food chain
It is the often the highest trophic level in a food chain that is the most susceptible
alterations in the environment. Another example of the effects of toxins on a food
chain was DDT (a pesticide) and Peregrine folcans in Britain in the 1950’s and 60’s.
Follow this link to find out more PEREGRINES IN YORKSHIRE
The top of the food chain is always vulnerable to the effects of changes further
down the chain. Top carnivores often have a limited diet so a change in their food
prey has a knock on effect. Their population numbers are low because of the fall in
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efficiency alone a food chain, therefore their ability to withstand negative influences
is more limited than species lower in the food chain with larger populations.
2.1. 7: Population interactions
COMPETITION
1. All the organisms in any ecosystem have some effect on every other organism in
that ecosystem.
2. Also any resource in any ecosystem exists only in a limited supply.
When these two conditions apply jointly, competition takes place.
In a seagull colony on an oceanic outcrop, as the

population grows, so the pressure for good nesting sites
increases. This can affect the number of eggs that each
female can successfully hatch, and so affects the birth rate
of the population as a whole. This sort of interaction is
called a Density Dependent factor - the effect is depends
on the population density ( low density small effect, high
density large effect). This mainly associated with pressure
for food, nutrients or space.
Competition between members of the same species is INTRASPECIFIC

COMPETITION.
When the numbers of a population are small, there is little real

competition between individuals for resources. Provided the
Small numbers are not too small for individuals to find mates,
population
population growth will be high.
As the population grows, so does the competition between

individuals for the same resources until eventually the carry
capacity of the ecosystem is reached. In this situation, often
the stronger individuals claim the larger share of the resources.
Large Some species deal with intraspecific competition by being

population
territorial. An individual or pair hold an area and fend off rivals.
Individuals that are the most successful reproductively will hold
the biggest territory and hence have access to more resources.
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Intraspecific competition tends

stabilize populations dependent
upon the controlling resources.
It produces something called
logistic growth. The graph
illustrates this for a colony of
yeast grown in a constant but
limited supply of nutrient.
During the first few days the
colony grows slowly as it starts
to multiply (lag phase) then it
starts to grow very rapidly as
the multiplying colony has a
plentiful nutrient supply
(exponential phase). Eventually the population size stabilizes as only a set number
of yeast cells can exploit the limited resources (stationary phase). Anymore yeast
cells and there is not enough food to go around.
Competition does not only occur between individuals of the same species.
Individuals of different species could be competing for
the same resource.
This is INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION.
Interspecific competition may result in a balance, in

which both species share the resource. The other
outcome is that one species may totally out compete the
other, this is the principal of competitive exclusion. An
example of both of these outcomes can be seen in a
garden that has become overrun by weeds. A number of
weed species coexist together, but often the original
domestic plants have been totally excluded.
In a woodland light is a limiting resource. Plant species that can not get enough
light will die out in a woodland. This is especially true of small flowering plants on
the woodland floor that are not only shaded out by trees but by shrubs and bushes
as well. Beech trees have very closely overlapping leaves, resulting in an almost
bare woodland floor.
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But even in beech woods flowers manage to grow in the spring.

Carpets of Snowdrops, Primroses and Bluebells an integral part
of all Northern European deciduous woodlands in the spring. The
key to these species success is that the grow, flower and
reproduce before the shrub and tree species burst into leaf. They
avoid competing directly with species that would out compete
them for light by completing the stages of their yearly cycle that
require the most energy and therefore the greatest
photosynthesis when competition is less.
The amount of competition

depends on how much each
species need for the resource
overlaps:
Interspecific competition may

result in a balance, in which both
species share the resource.
But with the population size of each species reduced compared to without
competition
The other outcome is that one species may totally out compete the other.
This is the principal of competitive exclusion
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2.4. 1: Biomes
What is a biome?
A collection of ecosystems sharing similar climatic conditions, eg tundra, tropical

rainforest, desert
How many biomes are there?
Opinion differs slightly on the number of biomes, but it is possible to group biomes
into six major types with sub divisions in each type.
Freshwater
Marine
Desert
Forest
Grassland
Tundra
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If we only consider the terrestrial biomes we can split the major groups up again:
Deserts - Hot and Cold

Forests - Tropical, Temperate and Boreal (Taiga)
Grasslands - Tropical or Savannah and Temperate
Tundra - Arctic and Alpine
2.4. 2: Why are Biomes where they are?
Ecologist Robert Whittaker plotted records

of annual precipitation against annual
temperature for locations around the
planet and then grouped them within the
biomes generally found in those places.
The result was the graph on the left. This
helps to illustrate that biomes that form
anywhere in the world are mainly the
result of the combination of rainfall and
temperature found in those areas. The
graph also illustrates that the concept of
biome may not be as precise and clear cut
as it at first appears. Marginal areas exist
where a continuum of climatic conditions
can give rise to a gradient of ecosystems
as one biome is slowly replaced by
another. Large areas of Boreal
forest in Northern Europe slowly At the Poles the suns energy
is spread over a large area
change as you move South into
areas that support predominantly
Deciduous forest.
At the Equator
This is because the climatic the suns energy

is spread over a
small area
conditions across the planet are
not distinct but themselves show a
gradients. From the equators out
both North and South temperature
drops until the permanently frozen
regions at the poles is
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encountered. The result of incoming

solar radiation being spread over
Northern Hemisphere
Winter
greater and greater area with the
curvature of the Earth.
The Earth also tilts at an angle of

23.5˚, creating summer and winter in
each hemisphere. During the Northern
Winter almost no solar energy reaches
the high arctic. This again reduces
Southern Hemisphere productivity at the poles
Summer
23.5˚
Tilt
The maximum incoming solar radiation
at the equator gives rise to high
temperatures which in turn lead to maximum evaporation of water from the large
expanses of ocean found here. As the moisture laden warm air at the equator rises
in the atmosphere it the water condenses out as clouds and falls back to Earth as
exceptionally high rainfall. the rainfall which when combined with high temperatures
and maximum sunlight creates the perfect conditions for maximum plant growth.
The result equatorial or tropical rainforest.
This rapidly rising warm air sucks in air from both Southern and Northern latitudes
along the planets surface. In the atmosphere the still warm but now dry air moves
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away from the equator. These two air currents set up an atmospheric cell with
descending warm dry air at around 30° north and south. This leads to the
establishment of desert biomes at these
latitudes.
2.5. 3: Energy flow through

the ecosystems
The sun produces immense amounts of

energy in the form of electromagnetic
radiation. This is a broad spectrum from
X rays to radio waves, though most exists
in the ultraviolet, visible light and infrared radiation bands. Almost half of the sun’s
total radiation is visible light.
The distance of the earths orbit around the

sun is fairly constant, around 1.5×10km, and
the amount of energy reaching the outer
atmosphere is within 5% of a constant
energy quantity of 1400 J/m2/s, this is the
Earths solar constant.
The second law states that the efficiency of

energy conversion to useful work is never
perfect: when energy changes from one
form, some of the energy is not available to
do useful work in the system. It leaves the
system mainly as useless heat. This is called
entropy. This is true for all energy changes
Boxes and Circles represent Storage and Arrow even those involving the living organisms.
thickness represents magnitude of flow
Only a very small part of the total sunlight

reaching the Earths surface is ever transformed into energy used by living
organisms. A study of an Illinois cornfield suggested only 1.6% was actually used
by the corn. Some of that energy becomes stored chemical energy (sugars, fats
and proteins) within the plants, some is used to maintain life processes and
ultimately is dissipated as heat during respiration. The stored energy can then
either be passed on to consumers as food or die and enter the detritus food chain.
Consumers again are inefficient processors of the energy consumed with
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respiration taking place and some

losses immediately as faeces and so the
process of flow, storages and losses
continues up the food chain.
Organisms that gain energy from inorganic

sources and fix it as energy rich organic
molecules are called Autotrophs. Most are
Cyclamen in an Alpine forest plants obtaining their energy directly from
light, carbon dioxide and water:
Photosynthetic autotrophs.
Some bacteria obtain energy directly from

inorganic chemicals: chemosynthetic
autotrophs.
Organisms that utilize energy rich organic

molecules, edible food, for their energy supply
are termed Heterotrophs. The hetrotrophs can
be split into two kinds, consumers that obtain
their from living organisms and decomposers
that obtain theirs from dead organisms or from
organic material dispersed in the environment
Autotrophs and particularly plants are the base

unit of all stored energy in any ecosystem. Light
energy is converted into chemical energy by photosynthesis within the cells of
plants. Pigments in plant cells of which chlorophyll is the most important catalyse
this reaction
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2.5. 4: Transfers and Transformations - Global Cycles
The biogeochemical cycles.
Movement of nutrients and energy through the ecosystem is quite different.
Energy travels from the sun, through food webs and is eventual lost to space as
heat.
Nutrients are recycled and reused. (Via the decomposer food chain)
Organisms die and are decomposed
Nutrients are released
Eventually become parts of living things again, when they are taken up by plants
These are the BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
The Carbon cycle.
The balance between

Photosynthesis, Respiration
and incorporation into the
lithosphere
Carbon is an essential
element in living systems,
providing the chemical
framework to form
molecules that make up
living organisms. Carbon
makes up around 0.03% of
the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, and is present in the Oceans as carbonate and
bicarbonates and in rocks such as limestone and coal.
Carbon cycles between living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) chemical cycles:
carbon is fixed by photosynthesis and released back to the atmosphere through
respiration. Carbon is also released back to the atmosphere through combustion,
including fossil fuels and biomass.
27
!
Carbon can remain locked in either cycle for long periods of time. ie in the wood of
trees or as coal and oil.
Human activity has disrupted the balance of the global carbon cycle (carbon
budget) through increased combustion, land use changes and deforestation.
Nitrogen gas in the atmosphere

N2 Atmospheric ﬁxation
during lightning
storms
Animals consume
plants
Plant and Animal Biomass Nitrates taken up

containing nitrogen by plants
Dead Organic Nitrogen

Excretion
Matter DOM Fixing
bacteria
Denitrifying
bacteria
Decomposition
Ammonia
NH3
Nitrite Nitrate
NO2 NO3
Nitrifying Nitrifying
bacteria bacteria Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen cycle
All living organisms use nitrogen to make molecules such as protein and DNA.
Nitrogen is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere but atmospheric nitrogen is
unavailable to plants and animals, though some specialized micro-organisms can fix
atmospheric nitrogen. The nitrogen cycle can be thought of in three basic stages.
Nitrogen fixation: atmospheric nitrogen is made available to plants through the

fixation of atmospheric nitrogen as ammonia by nitrogen fixing bacteria either free
living in the soil (Azotobacter) or symbiotically in root nodules (Rhizobium).
28
!
lightening also causes the oxidation of nitrogen gas

Nitrogen gas in the atmosphere
N2 Atmospheric ﬁxation
during lightning
storms
to nitrate which is washed into the soil.
Denitrification: denitrifying bacteria (Pseudomonas

Nitrogen
Fixing
bacteria
Denitrifying
denitrificans)in waterlogged and anearobic
conditions reverse this process converting ammonia,
bacteria
Ammonia
NH3
nitrate and nitrite to nitrogen gas which escapes to
Nitrifying
Nitrite
NO2
Nitrifying
Nitrate
NO3 the atmosphere.
Animals consume
Nitrification: some nitrifying bacteria are able to

plants
convert ammonium to nitrites (Nitrosomonas) while Plant and Animal Biomass

containing nitrogen
Nitrates taken up
by plants
other convert the nitrites to nitrates (Nitrobacter) Excretion

Dead Organic
Matter DOM
which is then available to be absorbed by roots.

Decomposition
Humans have intervened in the nitrogen cycle by Ammonia

NH3
Nitrite Nitrate
applying large amounts of nitrogen fertilisers to the

NO2 NO3
Nitrifying Nitrifying
land, either as organic sources (manure and green

crops) or as inorganic chemical fertilisers. overuse of fertilisers can lead to serious
pollution problems particularly to water supplies. (Eutrophication)
The Hydrological cycle
The hydrological or water cycle

involves the transfer of water
between atmosphere rivers lakes
and oceans and the lithosphere. To
move between these different
sections water molecules often
need to be transformed from one
phase to another. E.g. Liquid water
evaporates from surfaces allowing
transfer to the atmosphere as gas where it condenses out in clouds to fall as liquid
precipitation again.
It is easy to think about Lakes, Oceans and Ground water as stores (sinks), but the
largest store of fresh water is held within snow and ice. The polar ice caps and
mountain glaciers in particular are an enormous sinks of water temporarily removed
from the cycle ( though this could be for thousands of years) and unavailable for
use by organisms.
29
!
As well as being essential for life it is the water cycle that drives the worlds weather
systems.
2.5. 6: Primary and Secondary Productivity
Organisms that use inorganic sources of

energy, and particularly plants are the
base unit of stored energy in any
ecosystem. Light energy is converted
to chemical energy by photosynthesis
within the cells of plants
Because all the energy fixed by plants is

converted to sugars it is in theory
possible to calculate a plant’s energy
uptake by measuring the amount of
sugar produced. This is Gross Primary Production (GPP), because it occurs in the
primary producers, an abstract that is difficult to measure. More useful is the
measure of Net Primary Production (NPP).
An ecosystems NPP is the rate at which plants accumulate dry mass, usually
measured in kg,m-2,yr-1, or as the energy value gained per unit time kJ,m-2,yr-1.
This store of energy is potential food for consumers within the ecosystem.
NPP represents the difference between

the rate at which plants
photosynthesize (GPP) and the rate,
which they respire (R). This is because
the glucose produced in
photosynthesis has two main fates.
Some provides for growth,
maintenance and reproduction with
energy being lost as heat
during processes such as respiration.
The remainder is deposited in and
around cells represents the stored dry
mass (NPP=GPP-R).
30
!
The accumulation of dry mass is more usually termed biomass, and provides a
useful measure of the production and use of resources.
Primary production is the foundation of all metabolic processes in an ecosystem,

and the distribution of production has a key part in determining the structure of an
ecosystem. Biological communities include more than just plants, they also
include herbivores, carnivores and detritivores.
Gross Secondary Production = Energy assimilated

Food eaten - faeces
Production also occurs in animals
as Secondary Production.
Total energy
Importantly though animals do not taken in
(food eaten)
use all the biomass they consume.
Some passes through to become Usable energy
(Assimilation)
feces. Gross production in Waste
(faeces)
animals equals the amount of
biomass or energy assimilated or
biomass eaten less feces.
As with plants some of the energy assimilated by animals is used to drive cellular
processes via respiration the remainder is available to be laid down as new
biomass. This is Net Secondary Production. Net secondary productivity (NSP )
= food eaten - faeces - respiration energy so NSP = GSP- R (just like plants)
NSP = GSP - R
(Food eaten - Energy in faeces) - Respiration
Energy to drive cellular

processes
Total energy (Respiration)
taken in
(food eaten)
New
Biomass
Waste
(faeces)
2.6. 2: Population Growth

December 15th, 2009
31
!
Over time the numbers within a population change. If we were to collect a few
bacterial cells, place them in a suitable supply of nutrients and then under a
microscope cont the number of cells every hour we would find that there would be
many more bacteria at the end of a 24 hour period than at the start.
It is possible to model this growth as a mathematical equation:
Population growth = change in population

number / change in time
or dN/dt
Where dN = change in numbers and dt =

change in time
This equation can also be written using the

symbol delta to represent time:
Exponential Growth
Thinking about the bacteria above, if I started out with one bacteria (bacteria
reproduce asexually so a population can start with one)and if the bacteria
reproduced one after 5 minutes and then died every, after 30 minutes I would have
64 bacteria - the population size would double every 5 minutes. This means that
the each time the population changes it increases the amount of population change
next time. More simply the rate of population growth increases as the population
grows or exponential growth. This can be expressed as a rate equation.
32
!
This produces a J shaped curve. As long as

their is a plentiful supply of the resources
that the organism needs. in the case of
bacteria: sugars, moisture and warm the
population would keep growing indefinitely.
Obviously in nature this does not happen.

Darwin in Origin of Species (p117 -119)
recognizes that this would be an
absurd proposition
“There is no exception to the rule that

every organic being increases at so high a
rate, that if not destroyed, the earth would
soon be covered by the progeny of a single pair. Even slow-breeding man has
doubled in twenty-five years, and at this rate, in a few thousand years, there would
literally not be standing room for his progeny. Linnaeus has calculated that if an
annual plant produced only two seeds - and there is no plant so unproductive as
this - and their seedlings next year produced two, and so on, then in twenty years
there would be a million plants. The elephant is reckoned to be the slowest breeder
of all known animals, and I have taken some pains to estimate its probable
minimum rate of natural increase: it will be under the mark to assume that it
breeds when thirty years old, and goes on breeding till ninety years old, bringing
forth three pairs of young in this interval; if this be so, at the end of the fifth
century there would be alive fifteen million elephants, descended from the first
pair.”
So what stops the planet being knee deep in

elephant dung?
Limited resources
Al resources in an ecosystem are limited.

there is only so much food, only so much
space, only so many mates even. The results
of these ecological limits or
ECOLOGICAL RESISTANCE is that no
population can keep growing forever. There is
a ceiling limit that each ecosystem sets. This
limit set by the resources of the ecosystem is
33
!
the CARRYING CAPACITY, confusingly given the symbol K in ecology.
2.6. 3: Population Regulation
The number of organisms in any population continually

change. They never remain constant for ever. Many
factors can affect population size, but their combined
effect is going to be seen in an alteration in one of four
conditions: birth rate, death rate, gains from immigration
and losses from emigration.
Changes in these four conditions determine later

population numbers. These conditions in-turn are
affected by the available resources in any ecosystems. As
populations grow then competition tends to come into play and resources start to
become limited, this can continue until a theoretical point is reached where the
amount resources available can not support the current population. The resource
available define the maximum number of species (or individuals within a species)
that habitat can support throughout
their complete life cycle. This is the
Carrying Capacity of that
ecosystem.
It is the environmental carrying

capacity that limits how large a
population can grow to. I reality,
often the number of individuals in a
population is greater than the
carrying capacity. When this occurs
competition between individuals for
the limiting resources takes place.
These resources could be; food,
mates, breeding sites, water, soil
nutrients or anything else. This is
an example of Density dependent competition (see 2.1.7: Population
Interactions)
34
!
With Density dependent competition the larger the population the greater
the degree of competition for the limited resources. As the population grows so
fewer individuals will get the resources they require to survive.
This need not in itself result increased mortality but may

also cause emigration of individuals to areas where the
resource is in greater supply or a lowering of reproductive
success. This can be illustrated by examining the declining
Swallow population in Europe. Since the 1970’s concern has
been raised about an apparent decline in the breeding
populations of these birds across Europe. Two possible
explanations are linked to changes in farming practices.
Extensive use of pesticides on crop plants has reduced the
number of insects that swallows can feed on. However a
another factor is the loss of old brick and stone farm
buildings that Swallows require for nest sites: this is an
effect on their reproductive success, fewer breeding sites means fewer young and
so eventually fewer adults. This is a density dependent factor leading a new pop
ulation equilibrium.
Density independent factors also regulate population size for many organisms.
Seasonal changes in weather act as a controlling factor for many populations.
Mosquitos are plentiful in the summer months when the reproduce rapidly. However
when autumn sets in the populations crashes. This leads to a cycle of Boom or bust.
35
!
Boom or bust may also be driven by density dependent factors. Some species are
very good at taking full advantage of any opportunity to exploit resources within
their ecosystem. Locust populations can explode when food is plentiful. They swarm
in thousands eat everything in their path and eventually totally outstrip their food
supply
Both mosquitoes and locusts share a

similar population growth curve.
Factors that regulate population size can be

Population
categorized as INTERNAL or EXTERNAL
INTERNAL - fertility rates, territory size
EXTERNAL - predation pressure,

parasitism, disease
The interactions between internal and

Time external pressures lead to to development
of both Equilibrium or Boom and bust
population patterns or life strategies
Two types of life strategies can be identified:
• Equilibrium or K strategy species
• Opportunist or r strategy species
The two variables which define population curves also

defines the life strategies of organisms which exhibit
those curves.
36
!
K Strategists r Strategists
Low reproductive rate High reproductive rate
Large investment in parental care Low investment in parental care
Late maturity Early maturity
Slow growth Rapid growth
Large organisms Small organisms
Late successional species Pioneer species species
Niche specialist Generalists
Require stable environment Rapidly adapt to environmental variation
The graph illustrates the features of both types of life strategies however the reality
is much more of a continuum rather than organisms being able to be grouped
discretely as K or r strategists.
If life Tables (Survivorship) is plotted for different species

three generalised types of life curve form
Rabbit
Bacteria
r
Type 1 - Survivorship is high, most mortality later in life span
Type II - Constant mortality throughout life span
Type III - High mortality early in life, low survivorship into late life span
37
!
2.6. 5: Succession
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
After the retreat of glaciers following the last ice age, new virgin land was exposed
with nothing living on it. It didn’t remain that way for long. Soon the land was
covered with mosses and lichen. Gradually organic material was added to the
simple mineral soils left behind by the glaciers and from the erosion of bare rock.
This created conditions that allowed, first grasses and small herbs to establish, and
eventually over time for northern Europe to be covered by woodland.
This directional change in community is termed succession.
PRIMARY SUCCESSION
Involves the colonization of newly

created land by organisms.
o River deltas
o Volcanic larva fields
o Sand dunes
o Glacial deposits
Simple mineral soils evolved from

erosion are, slowly invaded by mosses
and lichen. These and other early
plants are adapted to survive periods
of drought as water drains quickly
away from the mineral soils. These
contribute organic matter to the soil
as they die and spread, this creates
conditions that allow larger mosses to
invade. These help add more organic
matter to the soil, which improves its
water holding capacity, and provide a habitat for soil organisms that help speed up
the breakdown of organic matter and release of nutrients.
38
!
Conditions then become favorable for ferns and

higher plants to establish on the primitive soils and
humus forms as more organic matter is added.
Eventually shrubs and trees invade, first from wind-
dispersed seeds and eventfully by animal dispersal.
Eventually over time a stable woodland community
develops.
Succession progress in stages from;
Pioneer species that are adapted to develop in limiting environments to a stable

developed community. This final community is termed a CLIMAX COMMUNITY .
As the community develops, so biodiversity also increases.
The entire process from bare rock to climax is called a SERE and that progress
directionally through SERAL STAGES.
An example of primary succession can be seen in the development of the natural

broad-leafed forest that covered much of Northern Europe following the end of the
last Ice Age.
We know that following the retreat of ice around 10,000 years until around 7,500
years ago, a Boreal community formed. First of Juniper then birch and later pine. As
the climate warmed so the community changed from a dominance of birch to Oak
with abundant wych elm, alder and lime, marking a change to warm, moist Atlantic
period until about 5,000 years ago. Much of Northern Europe would still be covered
in this mixed broad leaf forest if Neolithic man had not started changes the plant
community around him as agriculture developed.
39
!
Ecological period Years ago Community
Pre-Boreal 10,000 - 9,500 Tundra with patches of willow, birch and

pine
Boreal 9,500 - 7,500 Hazel, Pine
Atlantic 7,500 - 5,000 Hazel, Oak, Elm
Lime , Ash, Alder
Sub-Boreal 5,000 - 2,500 Mixed Oak with many cleared areas

either being farmed or abandoned and
returned to woodland
If primary succession starts on dry land it is a XEROSERE
If it starts in water (a pond) it is a

HYDROSERE.
Pond and lakes get continuous inputs

of sediment from streams and rivers
that open into them. Some of this
sediment passes through but a lot
sinks to the pond bottom. As plant
communities develop they add dead
organic material to these sediments.
Over time these sediments build up allowing rooted plants to invade the pond
margins as the pond slowly fills in. This eventually leads to the establishment of
climax communities around the pond margins and in smaller ponds the eventual
disappearance of the pond. In regions where rainfall is high, the xerosere climax
community mat not establish after a hydrosere. The wet conditions creat the
development of raised bogs as the climax following hydrosere succession.
40
!
SECONDARY SUCCESSION
Where an already established community is suddenly

destroyed, such as following fire or flood or even human
activity (ploughing) an abridged version of succession
occurs.
This secondary succession occurs on soils that are already

developed and ready to accept seeds carried in by the
wind. Also there are often dormant seeds left in the soil
from the previous community. This shortens the number of
seral stages the community goes through .
41
!
Good examples of secondary succession have been studied in abandoned form land
in North Carolina in the United States. The farmland had become infertile through
not enough nutrients being returned after crops had been taken and through wind
erosion. As the land became unproductive and uneconomical to farm, farmers
simply abandoned the land. This left patches of former farmland of various ages.
Years after Dominant species Predominant Forest Vegetation

abandonment
0 Crabgrass Developing grassland community
1 Crabgrass, Community starts to be dominated by

Horseweeds, Pigweed Horseweed
2 Aster, Crabgrass, Grass scrub is developing

Ragweed
3-18 Broomsedge, Pine Developed grass scrub community with

later later invading pine
18-30 Pine Immature pine forest
30-70 Pine, Young Hickories Mature pine wood with understorey of

and Oaks later young hardwoods later
70-100 Pine, Hickories, Oaks Transitional stage between Pine and

Hardwood forest
100+ Oak, Hickory Mature mixed hardwood forest
42
!
2.6. 6: Succession, Productivity and Diversity.
Productivity
During succession Gross Primary Productivity tends

to increase through the pioneer and early wooded
stages and then decreases as climax community
reaches maturity. This increase in productivity is
linked to growth and biomass.
Early seral stages are usually marked by
rapid growth and biomass biomass
accumulation - grasses, herbs and small
shrubs. Gross Primary Productivity is low but
Net Primary Productivity tends to be be a
large proportion of GPP as with little biomass in the early seral stages respiration is
low. As the community develops towards woodland and biomass increases so does
productivity. But NPP as a percentage of GPP can fall as respiration rates increase
with more biomass.
Studies have shown that standing crop (biomass) in succession to deciduous

woodland reaches a peak within the first few centuries. Following the establishment
of mature climax forest biomass tends to fall as trees age growths slows and an
extended canopy crowds out ground cover. Also Older trees become less
photosynthetically efficient and more NPP is allocated to none photosynthetic
structural biomass such as root systems.
Biomass Accumulation and Successional Stage:
Early Stage Middle Stage Late Stage
Low GPP but High Gross Productivity high Tree reach their maximum size
percetage NPP increased
Ratio of NPP to R is roughly equal
photosynthesis
Little increase in
biomass Increases in biomass as
plant forms become
bigger
43
!
Biodiversity
Early stages of succession tend to be marked by

few species within the community. As the
community passes through subsequent seral
stages so the number of species found
increases. Very few pioneer species are ever
totally replaced as succession continues. The
result is increasing diversity - more species. This
increase tends to continue until a balance is
reached between possibilities for new species to
establish, existing species to expand their range
and local extinction. Evidence following the eruption of the Mount St Helens volcano
in 1980 has provided ecologists with a natural laboratory to study succession. In
the first 10 years after the eruption species diversity increased dramatically but
after 20 years very little additional increase in the diversity occurred1
Disturbance
Early ideas about succession suggested that the Climax community of any area was
almost self perpetuating. This is unrealistic as communities are affected by periods
of disturbance to greater or lesser extent. Even in large forests trees eventually
age, die and fall over leaving a gap. Other communities are affected by flood, fire,
land slides earthquakes, hurricanes etc. All of these have an effect of making gaps
available that can be colonised by pioneer species within the surrounding
community. This adds to both the productivity and diversity of the community.
1. Carey, Susan, John Harte & R. del Moral. 2006. Effect of community assembly and primary succession on
the species-area relationship in disturbed systems. Ecography 29:866-872. [↩]
44

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Environmental Systems and © www.sciencebitz.com 2010

Topic 1: Systems and models

Why Environmental Systems?

SYSTEM: an assemblage of parts and their relationship forming a functioning

Gaia was the Greek Earth goddess

INPUTS, PROCESSING of the inputs to

Even if we look at the starting point of

So Photosynthesis comprises inputs, a

1.1. 2: Types of System

Systems can be thought of as fitting

Open Systems: exchange matter

Most systems are open, including

Closed Systems: exchange energy but not

Closed systems are extremely rare in nature.

Biosphere 2 was a human attempt to create a habitable Closed system on Earth.

Isolated Systems: An isolated system exchanges neither matter nor energy.

1.1. 3: Energy in Systems

Energy in all systems is subject to the Laws of Thermodynamics.

According to the First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy is neither created or

30% is reflected, around 50% is converted to heat,

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that

If you examine the food chain again in

The Second Law can also be thought off as a

ENERGY = WORK + HEAT (and other

So what does the term ENTROPY mean?

Entropy refers to the spreading out or

Open systems tend to exist in a state of balance: Equilibrium. Equilibrium avoids

Static Equilibrium is where the components of a system remain constant over a

Possibly the best example of static equilibrium in the environmental system in

Steady State equilibria: this is a

An example of this can be seen in a classic study of the populations of Snowshoe

1.1. 5: Feedback systems

Negative Feedback:this tends to damp down, neutralize or counteract any

Positive Feedback amplifies or

An example of this is the possible

1.1. 6: Transfers and Transformations

Transfers can involve:

Transformations can involve:

1.1. 7: Flows and Storages

The Biogeochemical Cycle illustrates the general flows in an ecosystem.

Energy Flows through an ecosystems in the form of carbon–carbon bonds within

In the diagram the flow of

Unlike energy MATTER cycles

The geochemical cycles illustrate the flows

In both cases though the direction of the flow

Topic 2: The ecosystem

2.1. 1: Biotic and Abiotic.

The components of an ecosystem

It is impossible to think of an ecosystem without including these interactions

Biotic factors interact as : Producers, consumers, detrivores, decomposers,

A tree in a woodland is a producer providing the

These factors operate at a broad

The relative humidity within the

In a very simplistic form it is the availability of suitable abiotic environment that

Commercial Forestry in parts of Scotland illustrates

Until the 1970’s large areas of Scottish Blanket Bog

Then it was discovered that if a “nurse” crop of

E.g. temperature is dependent upon:

It is the abiotic conditions in an environment which ultimately give rise to

Alpine Grassland Acidic Heath Temperate Deciduous

Mediterranean Maquis or Sand dune system

Lichen rock face

2.1. 2: Trophic Levels