Biology 100/101
Lecture 2: Ecosystems in Space
(Print Version)

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Assignments

Lecture Objectives

Terminology:
Assemblages of organisms

Terminology:
Assemblages of organisms
& the environment

Biome Location

Characteristics
of Biomes

Lecture Syllabus

IB 100/101 Home Page

Announcements

Text readings in Biology: Concepts and Investigations, 1st edition, by Marielle Hoefnagels

Chapter 40 (Communities and Ecosystems
Pgs 804-809)

Chapter 41 (Biomes
Pgs 824-833)

You have open access (no log-in or password needed) to instructional materials on the Text web site. Select "Resources" from the upper left of the page and select the text chapter you want.

Moodle

You may also ask questions and see answers to your classmates' questions in Moodle in the "Talk to Ed and Mike" forum.

Objectives:

The content of today's lecture will help you answer parts a and b of question #1 on this assignment:

Take-home Assignment #1, Ecosystems, Biomes, and Succession Due at Lecture Monday September 14.

Note that exam questions and written assignments will be based on the learner objectives included in this lecture outline. Not all the questions provided at the chapter ends in the text or on the text web pages may be appropriate study aids. Use those that reflect the lecture objectives.

After studying this material you should be able to:

1. Define and explain the relationships among these concepts: individual organisms, populations, species, biological communities, ecosystems, biomes, and the biosphere.

2. Give an explanation why many species can coexist in an ecosystem when they are competing for limited resources.

3. Explain why different regions of the globe have different climates, and consequently support different biomes. Describe and explain the effect the following have on the climate (rainfall and temperature) of an area:

   latitude

   altitude

   tilt of the axis of the earth

   global air circulation patterns

   global ocean currents

   proximity to bodies of water

   mountain ranges

4. Describe the characteristics of the following major terrestrial biomes: tundra, desert, prairie (grassland), temperate deciduous forest, temperate rain forest, tropical rain forest.

Key Terms:

Terminology: Assemblages of organisms

Individual: One organism - could be one human being, one corn plant, one bacterial cell.

Population: "Members of the same species occupying a region." (Hoefnagels, Biology Concepts and Investigations - glossary)

Biological Species: "A population or group of populations, whose members can interbreed and produce fertile offspring" (Hoefnagels, Biology Concepts and Investigations - glossary)

Biological Community: "A group of interacting populations that occupy the same region" (Hoefnagels, Biology Concepts and Investigations - glossary)

• Champaign-Urbana, your room, even your roommate, all harbor biological communities...

  • Eyelash Creatures

  • Body Creepy Crawlies from PBS' Nova Series

Terminology: Assemblages of organisms + the environment

Ecosystem: "A community and its nonliving environment" (Hoefnagels, Biology Concepts and Investigations - glossary)

• Includes all biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors in the environment.

• Ecosystems may be:

  • Large or small - we could think of a small pool or the entire earth as ecosystems.

  • distinct or indistinct - ecosystems sometimes blend one into another so the boundaries are not distinct.

  • Nested - small, separate ecosystems can be nested within a larger ecosystem, like a pond ecosystem located in a forest ecosystem.

Habitat: "the physical place where an organism lives" (Hoefnagels, BiologyConcepts and Investigations - glossary)

Niche: "all resources a species uses for survival, growth, or reproduction" (Hoefnagels, Biology Concepts and Investigations - glossary)

• HOW (and where) individuals "MAKE A LIVING" in their habitat

• Differences in niches among species allow multiple species to occupy the same habitat.

• Niches - Resource Partitioning (Hoefnagels, Biology Concepts and Investigations Fig. 40.4, page 807)

Biome: "one of several major types of terrestrial ecosystems" (Hoefnagels, Biology Concepts and Investigations - glossary)

• At large spatial scales, groups of interacting ecosystems are called Biomes, characterized by a particular type of vegetation and largely determined by temperature and rainfall.

• Spread over large areas

• Not sharply delineated - vegetation types tend to blend into another where temperature and rainfall change.

• You probably know the major types of biomes already - deserts, grasslands, tundra, rainforests, etc.

Biosphere "the ecosystem of the entire planet" (Lewis, Life - glossary)

• At the largest scale the biosphere is the living shell around the planet

In what biome is Champaign-Urbana located?

• Biomes of Central and North America Image from ecologyandsociety.org,

• Tallgrass Prairie Photo

• Prior to settlement, more than 60% of Illinois, approximately 22 million acres, were covered with prairie. Today, just over 2,000 acres remain, less than one-hundredth of one percent. Tall grass prairies are endangered ecosystems in Illinois.

• Types of grasslands in NA

Why are biomes located where they are?

Earth's Major Terrestrial Biomes (Hoefnagels, Biology Concepts and Investigations Fig. 41.5, page 829)

The location of different biomes is determined by local climatic conditions, mainly average annual TEMPERATURE and PRECIPITATION.

These two factors strongly influence the types of plants that can survive in the area.

Why do temperature and precipitation vary?

• Latitude and temperature from Encyclopedia of the Atmospheric Environment

  • The concepts to understand are these:

    The Earth is a sphere

    The sun's rays are more directly overhead and deliver more intense energy per unit area near the equator.

    The further away from the equator (north or south), the lower in the sky the sun appears and the same amount of solar energy is spread over a larger surface area.

• Seasons and the tilt of the earth (Hoefnagels, Biology Concepts and Investigations Fig. 41.2, page 827)

  • Earth Rotation and Revolution from physicalgeography.net

  • Northern hemisphere winter solstice animation from physicalgeography.net

  • Northern hemisphere summer solstice animation from physicalgeography.net

  • Comparison of the equinoxes and Northern hemisphere summer solstice from physicalgeography.net

  • Try the 5 question Survey to see if you really do understand this concept. (from learner.org, Annenberg/CPB)

  • Seasons on Mars?

  • The concepts to understand are these:

    The intensity of sunlight varies with the angle of the sun's rays.

    The angle of the sun's rays varies over the course of a year because the axis of the Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees.

  • Lecture Activity

• Global air circulation and precipitation

  • Altitude and temperature from USA Today Weather

  • Lewis, Life Fig. 45.1, page 891

  • Global Air Circulation (Hoefnagels, Biology Concepts and Investigations Fig. 41.3, page 827)

  • Location of deserts on earth (Hoefnagels, Biology Concepts and Investigations Fig. 41.5, page 829)

  • The concepts to understand are these:

    Rising, warm, moist air expands and cools at higher altitudes, causing the moisture in the air to condense and form rain clouds.

    Falling air is compressed and heated at lower altitudes, increasing it's ability to hold moisture and dry the surface of the land.

• Mountains and Rain Shadow (Hoefnagels, Biology Concepts and Investigations Fig. 41.4, page 828)

  • Mountains and the rain shadow effect from Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at St. Louis University

  • Local climate is affected by prevailing wind patterns and local topographic features

  • Rain Shadow in Washington state Prevailing winds W to E. Washington state elevation map.

  • Rain shadow in South America Prevailing winds E -> W from NASA Earth Observatory

  • The concepts to understand are these:

    Rising, warm, moist air expands and cools at higher altitudes, causing the moisture in the air to condense and form rain clouds.

    Falling air is compressed and heated at lower altitudes, increasing it's ability to hold moisture and dry the surface of the land.

• Global Ocean Currents and Climate

  • Current Sea Surface Temperature

  • Gulf Stream and Climate in N. Europe

  • What is El Niño? from illinois WW2010 Project

  • Lake Effect Snow from USA Today Weather

  • The concepts to understand are these:

    Water temperature changes more slowly than land surface temperatures.

    The temperature of large bodies of water affects the air temperature.

  ---

  Characteristics of some biomes

  We will not "cover" specific biome characteristics in lecture, but use your text to learn the basics and follow these links if you are interested in learning more about a particular biome.

  Tundra

  • Photo: Lewis, Life Fig. 45.13, page 901

  • Missouri Botanical Garden - Tundra Select the folowing links on the Tundra page:

    • Some tundra facts

    • Tundra plants

    • Tundra animals

  Taiga (northern coniferous forest)

  • Missouri Botanical Garden - Taiga Select the folowing links on the Taiga page:

    • Some tundra facts

    • Tundra plants

    • Tundra animals

  Desert

  • Photo: Lewis, Life Fig. 45.8, page 896

  • Missouri Botanical Garden - Deserts Select the folowing links on the Desert page:

    • Types of deserts - cold vs. hot deserts

    • Deserts of the world - see deserts of North America

    • Desert plants

    • Desert animals

  • The Ultimate Desert Resource

  Grasslands

  • Photo: Lewis, Life Fig. 45.10, page 898

  • Savannah photo

  • Types of grasslands in NA

  • The Tallgrass Prairie in Illinois

  • Ken Robertson's Prairie Page

  • Missouri Botanical Garden - Grasslands Select the folowing links on the Grassland page:

    • Grassland plants

    • Grassland animals

  Temperate Deciduous Forest

  • Photo: Lewis, Life Fig. 45.11, page 899

  • Missouri Botanical Garden - Temperate Forests Select the folowing links on the Temperate Forests page:

    • Temperate deciduous forest animals

  Temperate Rain Forests

  • Big tree!

  • The Coastal Temperate Rain Forests of North America

  Tropical Rain Forests

  • Photo: Lewis, Life Fig. 45.5, page 894

  • Rainforest Action Network

  • Missouri Botanical Garden - Rainforests Select the folowing links on the Tropical Rainforest page:

    • Rain forest plants

    • Rain forest animals