Ecosystem and Energy Flow in the Ecosystem and Nutrient Cycling

Transfer of Energy through Trophic Levels

- Food web
Energy/Food Pyramid
(the joules are decreasing)
 How does energy transfer from one organism to another in the
ecosystem?
NUTRIENT CYCLING
 Name several examples of non-living things that organisms, such as
yourself, require to live.
- Oxygen, water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus are a few examples of
these.
Cycles in Nature
 Biogeochemical cycles
 - Cycles in which water and minerals are recycled and reused by moving
from the non-living portion of the environment into living things and back
again.
Water Cycle
 The water cycle continuously moves water between the atmosphere, the
land, and the oceans.
 STEPS:
 Evaporation/Transpiration
 Condensation
 Precipitation
 Runoff
 Percolation
Nitrogen Cycle
 The atmosphere is about 78% nitrogen gas, N2. But most organisms cannot
use nitrogen gas.
 Recall, Nitrogen is used for…
 The amino acids of proteins.
 In the nitrogenous bases of DNA & RNA
 The nitrogen cycle is the process in which nitrogen circulates among the air,
soil, water, and organisms in an ecosystem.
Carbon Cycle
 Carbon and oxygen are critical for life on Earth, and their cycles are tied
closely together.
 The carbon cycle is the continuous movement of carbon from the nonliving
environment into living things and back.
Carbon and Oxygen Cycles
  C, H & O basic elements of life; making up about 98% of plant biomass.
The Carbon Cycle
- CO2 enters living things from the atmosphere.
- Producers convert CO2 and H2O into carbohydrates (CH2O compounds) and
release O2 from water.
- Producers, consumers, and decomposers convert CH2O compounds, using
O2, back into CO2 and H2O.
- All life, plants, animals & everything else, eventually dies.
- When it does it is broken down, decays, and collects as fossil fuels.
- Fossil fuels, like oil and gasoline, accumulate after millions of years of this
process of death and decay.
- The burning of this fuel, called combustion, also releases carbon dioxide
back into the atmosphere.

** How does man contribute to carbon cycle?

We are responsible for burning fossil fuels, eating, releasing carbon
dioxide, and dying.
These all contribute to the cycling of carbon.
Phosphorus Cycle
 Remember, phosphorus is an important element in ATP and DNA.
The phosphorus cycle is the movement of phosphorus in different chemical
forms from the surroundings to organisms and then back to the
surroundings.
- Phosphorus is often found in soil and rock as calcium phosphate, which
dissolves in water to form phosphate.
- The roots of plants absorb phosphate. Humans and animals that eat the
plants reuse organic phosphorus.
- When humans and animals die, phosphorus is returned to the soil.