Co Sci B4 Energy flow in ecosystems and Human Influences

Core
Energy flow in ecosystems 1 State that the Sun is the principal source of energy input to biological systems. 2 Define the terms: food chain as a chart showing the flow of energy (food) from one organism to the next beginning with a producer (e.g. mahogany tree caterpillar song bird hawk), food web as a network of interconnected food chains showing the energy flow through part of an ecosystem, producer as an organism that makes its own organic nutrients, usually using energy from sunlight, through photosynthesis, consumer as an organism that gets its energy by feeding on other organisms, herbivore as an animal that gets its energy by eating plants, carnivore as an animal that gets its energy by eating other animals. 6 Describe the carbon cycle. Human influences on the ecosystem 1 List the undesirable effects of deforestation (to include extinction, loss of soil, flooding, carbon dioxide build up). 3 Describe the undesirable effects of pollution to include: water pollution by sewage and chemical waste, air pollution by greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide and methane) contributing to global warming. 7 Discuss the effects of the combustion of fossil fuels and the cutting down of forests on the oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. 2 Describe the undesirable effects of overuse of fertilisers (to include eutrophication of lakes and rivers). 4 Discuss the causes and effects on the environment of acid rain, and the measures that might be taken to reduce its incidence. 3 Describe energy losses between trophic levels. 4 Define the terms: decomposer as an organism that gets its energy from dead or waste organic matter, ecosystem as a unit containing all of the organisms and their environment, interacting together, in a given area e.g. decomposing log or a lake, trophic level as the position of an organism in a food chain or food web. 5 Explain why food chains usually have fewer than five trophic levels

Supplement

6 Describe the need for conservation of: species and their habitats, natural resources (limited to water and non-renewable materials including fossil fuels).

5 Explain how increases in greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide and methane) are thought to cause global warming.

Introduction to Ecology
Ecology is the study of the interactions of organisms with each other and their environment. A community is all the living things in a habitat. A population is all the living organisms of one species in a habitat. A habitat is the place where an organism lives. The ecosystem is an interacting group of organisms and their environment. Define and give an example of each of the following: What is a habitat? The place where an organism lives What is a community? all of the organisms in a given area What is an ecosystem? a unit containing all of the organisms and their environment, interacting together, in a given area

Food Chains and Food Webs

Food Chains
Food chains show how living things get their food. They also show how they get their energy. This is why they are sometimes written to include the Sun. The sun is the principal source of energy input to biological systems. Food chains can be written going up or down a page, or even from right to left. All are correct, as long as the arrows always point towards the living thing that is taking in the food or energy. ARROWS SHOW THE DIRECTION OF THE FLOW OF ENERGY. Food chains are charts showing the flow of energy from one organism to the next beginning with a producer. Stages of a food chain Producers are the green plants (such as grass). They make their own organic nutrients, usually by photosynthesis, using energy from the Sun. Consumers are organisms that get their energy by feeding on other organisms. 3

Primary consumers (such as grasshoppers) are animals that eat plants or parts of plants, such as fruit. They are also called herbivores. Secondary consumers (such as voles) eat other animals. They may be called carnivores or predators. Herbivores are animals that get their energy by eating plants whereas carnivores get their energy by eating other animals. Animals that eat both plants and animals are called omnivores. Tertiary consumers (such as snakes) are animals that eat some secondary consumers. They are also called carnivores or predators. The animals hunted and eaten by predators are called prey. The different stages of a food chain are sometimes called trophic levels (trophic means feeding). So, for example, producers make up the first trophic level, primary consumers make up the second trophic level and so on. Most food chains are not very long. They usually end with a secondary consumer or a tertiary consumer, but occasionally there is an animal that feeds on tertiary consumers. This would be called a quaternary consumer. Eventually all the organisms involved in the food chain will die and become food for decomposers, organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break down dead plants and animals or waste organic matter to get energy.

Energy flow
The arrows in food chains and webs show the transfer of energy. Not all the energy that enters an animal or plant is available to the next trophic level. Only energy that has resulted in an organisms growth will be available to the animal that eats it. Weeds
Producer

Tadpoles
Primary Consumer

Water Beetles
Secondary Consumer

Pike
Tertiary Consumer

Some of the food made by the weeds will be used for respiration, but some will be used for growth and will be available for a future consumer. However, not all the energy in the weed will be available to the tadpoles: some weed may be eaten by other animals the tadpoles will not eat all of the weed (e.g. the roots)

Some of the weed will not be digested by the tadpole and will be passed out unused. Of the energy the tadpoles do ingest (eat), they will use only a small proportion for growth. The rest of the energy will be used by the tadpole in its life processes, e.g. for movement, digestion etc., or lost as heat. At each trophic level a large amount of energy is lost to the system. This is why food chains rarely have more than four steps. Almost all the energy is gone by the fourth trophic level. This means that a short food chain with only one or two links between the original producers and the final consumers is more efficient in terms of energy. Q What is the source of all energy for ecosystems? How does energy from that source become available to a predator like a tiger? The sun. Light energy is converted into chemical energy in the biomass which is passed along the food chain when one organism is consumed by another.

Food Webs
Food webs are networks of interconnected food chains showing the energy flow through part of the ecosystem. It would be unusual to find a food chain that was not part of a larger food web. Here is part of a food web:

Food webs show how different animals feed, and they can help us see what might happen if the food web is disturbed in some way. What might happen if the elephant seals were removed from this web? Initially, increase in fish and squid numbers as fewer predators. Fall in smaller toothed whale and humans as less food. Increase in leopard seal and sperm whale more food available.

Nutrient Cycles
The minerals that plants need from the soil are mostly released from the decayed remains of animals and plants and their waste. This is one example of natural recycling. There is only a limited amount (on Earth) of the elements that living things need and use. Four of the most important elements in living things are carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (0) and nitrogen (N). Important substances such as carbohydrates, fats and proteins are made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Proteins also contain nitrogen. The only way that animals and plants can continue to take in and use substances containing these elements is if the substances are constantly cycled around the ecosystem for reuse.

The Carbon Cycle

Plants take in carbon dioxide because they need the carbon (and oxygen) to use in photosynthesis to make carbohydrates and then other substances such as protein. When animals eat plants they use some of the carbon-containing compounds to grow and some to release energy by respiration. As a waste product of respiration, animals breathe out carbon as carbon dioxide, which is then available for plants to use. (Dont forget that plants also respire producing carbon dioxide.) Carbon dioxide is also released when animal and plant remains decay (decomposition) and when wood, peat or fossil fuels are burnt (combustion).

CARBON CYCLE DIAGRAM

Name the processes taking place at 1 2 3 Photosynthesis [1] Eating/consuming [1] Respiration[1]

The level of CO2 is kept in careful balance by nature. However, over the past 200 years it has been increasing in the atmosphere, as can be seen in the graph, due to human activities. These include:

Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) which release CO2 Burning peat for fuel Making concrete and cement from limestone Deforestation of tropical rain forests

What effect does deforestation have on the amount of carbon entering the atmosphere, and why? Increase. Less CO2 absorbed by photosynthesis. What other gas concentration might be affected by deforestation and why? Water vapour less transpiration Oxygen less photosynthesis

Human Influences on the Ecosystem

Agriculture: Deforestation
Reduction in soil fertility Deciduous trees may contain 90 of the nutrients in a forest ecosystem. These nutrients are removed if the trees are cut down and taken away. Soil erosion may be rapid in the absence of trees because wind and direct rain may remove the soil, and soil structure is no longer stabilised by tree root systems. The soil below coniferous forests is often of poor quality for agriculture because the shed pine needles contain toxic compounds that inhibit germination and growth.

Changes in recycling of materials - fewer trees means: atmospheric CO2 concentration may rise as less CO2 is removed for photosynthesis atmospheric O2 - vital for aerobic respiration - is diminished as less is produced by photosynthesis the atmosphere may become drier and the soil wetter as evaporation (from soil) is slower than transpiration (from trees).

Flooding and landslips Normally in a woodland, 25 of rainfall is absorbed by foliage or evaporates and 50 is absorbed by root systems. After deforestation water may accumulate rapidly in river valleys, often causing landslips from steep hillsides.

Climatic changes Reduced transpiration rates and drier atmosphere affect the water cycle and reduce rainfall. Rapid heat absorption by bare soil raises the temperature of the lower atmosphere in some areas, causing thermal gradients which result in more frequent and intense winds.

Species extinction Many species are dependent on forest conditions: mountain gorillas depend on cloud forest of central Africa golden lion tamarins depend on coastal rainforest of Brazil ospreys depend on mature pine S in northern Europe.

Agriculture: Using nitrogen fertilisers

Soils do not always contain enough nitrates to allow enough food to be grown to feed everybody. With the human population pushing 6.2 billion and growing, fertilisers have to be used in order to increase the food production. Chemical or artificial fertilisers are used in huge amounts. They are easy to store and add to the land. The farmer knows exactly how much of each nutrient there is in the fertiliser. The farmer has to be very careful about how much fertiliser is used and when. Rain can wash fertiliser into rivers and streams where it causes water pollution. But before adding the fertiliser the farmer needs to know the nutrients already present in the soil. Once tests have been carried out the farmer knows: the best type of fertiliser to use for his or her particular soil and crop. how much of the fertiliser to add. However, problems can occur if: the farmer uses too much fertiliser the fertiliser is added before a period of heavy rain.

How fertilisers and sewage can kill a lake

The result of either of the above is that fertiliser and sewage can cause water pollution: Fertiliser can be washed through the soil into rivers and streams this is called leaching. Once in the water it causes weeds and algae to grow. These plants eventually die and rot on the river bed. Decomposers like bacteria thrive with all the dead vegetation to eat. They multiply rapidly and use up a lot of oxygen. The river may become so low in oxygen that fish and freshwater invertebrates die. Adding nutrients to the environment in this way is called eutrophication.

Pollution
Air pollution by greenhouse gases
The Greenhouse Effect is a good thing. Without carbon dioxide and water vapour, the heat energy from the sun would reflect off the surface of the Earth and pass back into space. The Earths surface would average -40oC! However, too much CO2 and methane means too much heat energy is being absorbed by the atmosphere, so the Earth is getting warmer.

What processes add the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere? CO2- respiration, combustion of fossil fuels Methane fossil fuel mining, livestock (anaerobic fermentation), landfill This is leading to an enhanced greenhouse effect, and may lead to global warming. In fact, over the past century the Earths surface has warmed up by 0.7oC. This might not seem like much, but if the arctic sea temperatures go above 0oC, then the polar caps may melt and this could lead to a rise in sea-levels. Places like Singapore could literally disappear under the waves.

Other problems with burning fossil fuels

Coal and oil contain sulphur. When fossil fuels are burned, they release sulphur dioxide (SO2) into the air. Sulphur dioxide itself is harmful to living organisms when it comes into contact with them as dry fallout. The SO2 dissolves in rainwater to form sulphuric acid, or acid rain. Nitrogen oxide combines with water to form nitric acid. These substances can make the rain acidic (acid rain). Acid rain can have a pH of between 5 and 2 and is very damaging: Pine Trees lose their leaves and die.

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Effects of acid rain Acid rain causes problems Soils become very acidic. This causes leaching of minerals and inhibition of decomposition. Water in lakes and rivers collects excess minerals. This causes death of fish and invertebrates so that food chains are disrupted. Forest trees suffer starvation because of leaching of ions and destruction of photosynthetic tissue.
Solutions Acid rain can be reduced Clean up emissions from power stations with scrubbers. Clean up emissions from car exhausts with catalytic converters.

Water pollution by chemical waste and sewage

People produce a lot of waste, some are persistent in the environment, they do not breakdown they are non-biodegradable. The picture below shows how mercury, released into the sea in chemical waste from a plastics factory, results in the poisoning of local fishermen.

(a)

Draw a food chain to show how the fishermen become poisoned with mercury. [3] Plankton small fishlarge fishfisherman (organisms;; arrows in correct direction;) 11

(b)

What information, missing from Fig. 3, is needed in order to construct a bar graph to show the levels of mercury in each organism? [2] Mercury levels in plankton and fisherman

(c)

Suggest why the fishermen are poisoned by the mercury, but the other organisms in the food chain are not affected. [2] Mercury bioaccumulates/does not break down; Reaches toxic levels in fishermen;

Sewage is usually treated before it is discharged from a treatment works. If there is not a good sewage system the water supplies can get contaminated and this can lead to eutrophication and the spread of disease.

Conservation
Humans do not always damage the environment - growing numbers of conservationists try to balance the human demands on the environment with the need to maintain wildlife habitat. Conservationists work to slow down or stop the decline in biodiversity (the number of different species), and also to raise public awareness of the need to maintain species, their habitats and natural resources. Natural resources may be renewable but limited, such as fresh water, or non-renewable such as fossil fuels. Individual species and ecosystems have evolved over millions of years into a complex interdependence. This can be viewed as being akin to a vast jigsaw puzzle of interlocking pieces. If you remove enough of the key pieces on which the framework is based then the whole picture may be in danger of collapsing. We have no idea how many key 'pieces' we can afford to lose before this might happen, nor even in many cases, which are the key pieces. The ecological arguments for conserving biodiversity are therefore based on the premise that we need to preserve biodiversity in order to maintain our own life support systems. Forest management Humans have been responsible for deforestation of much of the Earths surface. Humans have also set up schemes for the large-scale planting of trees in areas that have been cleared (reforestation) or in a new site (afforestation). There are a number of reasons for planting trees: as a cash crop, providing timber for building (coniferous plantations in the UK) or for fuel (quick-growing eucalyptus trees are widely planted in central Africa) to reverse soil erosion, particularly valuable in areas that have become deserts to provide valuable wildlife habitats for example, Scots pine plantations are important habitats for red squirrels as recreational areas, providing leisure activities such as camping and mountainbiking. 12

A well managed forest can combine all of these functions. Endangered species Competition between humans and other living organisms means that many species have disappeared or declined in number. The reasons for this are not always understood, but the following may be to blame: Pest control the term pest includes any species that causes inconvenience to humans. Many species have been hunted ruthlessly, such as red deer (which damage trees), and also predators such as pine martens and red kites. Commercial exploitation species of value to humans have been exploited, such as the beaver which was hunted and trapped to extinction for fur in the sixteenth century. Loss of habitat more land is being used for agriculture, including previously unusable land that has been drained. This removes habitats for many species,

How can water and fossil fuels be conserved? WATER : reduce water loss and reduce water use Water metering increases awareness, allows ID of leakage. Low flow showers, taps, low flush toilets. Rainwater harvesting. Waste water re-use. FOSSIL FUELS: use low-energy light bulbs and turn off lights when not in use wash clothes at 30 degrees recycle household waste e.g. paper, glass, food, plastic bags and aluminium minimise unnecessary travel e.g. work from or near home if possible, car share, walk or bike turn off electrical appliances at the switch instead of leaving them on stand-by buy and use economic cars eat locally grown food eat food that that doesnt require high energy inputs e.g. beans, legumes and white meat as opposed to red meat and processed food use a diesel, electric or hybrid car, if possible introduce carbon tax

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