6.1: Ecosystems and the Biosphere
- Page ID
- 86298
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- Discuss how life and the planet exist as a system
- Outline the flow of energy through an ecosystem using trophic dynamics theory
- Describe the basic ecosystem types
- Explain the methods that ecologists use to study ecosystem structure and dynamics
- Identify the different methods of ecosystem modeling
In this 10-minute video, Hank will provide an overview of ecosystem ecology and its various subfields.
Question after watching: After watching this video, make a list of questions that you have about ecosystems.
- 6.1.1: Ecology of Ecosystems
- An ecosystem is a community of living organisms and their interactions with their abiotic (non-living) environment. Ecosystems can be small, such as the tide pools found near the rocky shores of many oceans, or large, such as the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil. Ecosystem ecology is the integrated study of living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This field examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components
- 6.1.2: Energy Flow through Ecosystems
- All living things require energy in one form or another. Energy is required by most complex metabolic pathways (often in the form of adenosine triphosphate, ATP), especially those responsible for building large molecules from smaller compounds, and life itself is an energy-driven process. Living organisms would not be able to assemble macromolecules (proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and complex carbohydrates) from their monomeric subunits without a constant energy input.
- 6.1.3: Terrestrial Biomes
- The Earth’s biomes are categorized into two major groups: terrestrial and aquatic. Terrestrial biomes are based on land, while aquatic biomes include both ocean and freshwater biomes. The eight major terrestrial biomes on Earth are each distinguished by characteristic temperatures and amount of precipitation. Comparing the annual totals of precipitation and fluctuations in precipitation from one biome to another provides clues as to the importance of abiotic factors in biome distribution.
- 6.1.4: Aquatic Biomes
- Like terrestrial biomes, aquatic biomes are influenced by a series of abiotic factors. The aquatic medium—water— has different physical and chemical properties than air. Even if the water in a pond or other body of water is perfectly clear (there are no suspended particles), water, on its own, absorbs light. As one descends into a deep body of water, there will eventually be a depth, which the sunlight cannot reach.
- 6.1.5: Biogeochemical Cycles
- The matter that makes up living organisms is conserved and recycled. The six most common elements associated with organic molecules—carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur—take a variety of chemical forms and may exist for long periods in the atmosphere, on land, in water, or beneath the Earth’s surface. Geologic processes, such as weathering, erosion, water drainage, and the subduction of the continental plates, all play a role in this recycling of materials.
- 6.1.6: Biogeography
- Many forces influence the communities of living organisms present in different parts of the biosphere (all of the parts of Earth inhabited by life). The biosphere extends into the atmosphere (several kilometers above Earth) and into the depths of the oceans. Despite its apparent vastness to an individual human, the biosphere occupies only a minute space when compared to the known universe. Many abiotic forces influence where life can exist and the types of organisms found in the biosphere.