Ecology

1. CYCLES OF MATTER:
* CARBON AND OXYGEN
CYCLE
CYCLES OF CHANGE:
ECOLOGICAL
SUCCESSION

2. OXYGEN CYCLE

3. Required for Life
 All living things use oxygen or depend on
organisms that use oxygen in some way.

4. All Animals and Other Consumers
Use Oxygen
 We use oxygen to break down simple
sugar and release energy.
 This can be done through respiration or
fermentation.
 Animals mainly use respiration.

5. Respiration
 The process that breaks apart simple food
molecules to release energy.
 It occurs inside cells.
 What YOU do with the oxygen you take in.

6. Simple Sugar — Glucose
The molecule most living things use for
energy — including us!
 We break down food into smaller molecules
during digestion. One of the small molecules is
glucose.
 Glucose leaves your intestines, goes into your
blood and is taken to every cell in your body.

7. Respiration in Cells
 In your cells, oxygen is used to split
glucose apart — releasing energy, water
and carbon dioxide.

8. Photosynthesis
 Plants take in carbon dioxide and water
and use them to make food. Their food is
simple sugar — glucose.

9. Photosynthesis (continued)
 Plants pull the carbon off CO2 and use the
carbon in glucose. (They do not need the oxygen for this. They
get that from water, H2O.)
 Plants release the oxygen (O2) back into the
atmosphere.
 Other organisms use the free oxygen for
respiration.

10. How are photosynthesis and
cellular respiration similar?

 Photosynthesis uses carbon dioxide and
produces oxygen.
 Cellular respiration uses oxygen and produces
carbon dioxide.

11. Basic idea
Rabbit eats food,
breaks it down
and releases
CO2.
Plant uses CO2
to make food.
Rabbit gives off CO2,
which is taken in by the plant.
Plant gives off O2,
which is taken in by the rabbit.

12. Everywhere
 This happens on land and in the water.
 Algae and aquatic plants produce food
underwater through photosynthesis.
 They use CO2 dissolved in the water.
 Other aquatic organisms use the dissolved
oxygen these plants release into the water.

13. Respiration
Photosynthesis

14. Kind of a C-on/C-off Cycle
 Plants take the carbon off the CO2, freeing the
oxygen so it can be used for respiration.
 During respiration, organisms attach a carbon to
the O2 and release CO2 so it can be used for
photosynthesis.
 One big cycle — all living things depend on each
other for it to work!

15. Human Impact
 We keep destroying natural areas, especially
forested areas with many plants and replacing
them with buildings, parking lots, lawns, etc.
 Fewer plants mean less oxygen and more
carbon dioxide.
 This disturbs the balance of the natural cycle.

16. More Human Impact
 Every time something burns (combustion),
more carbon dioxide is released into the
atmosphere.
 We add more and more CO2 and destroy
more and more of the plants that clean
the air for us.

17. What We Need to Do
 Stop destroying and promote regrowth of
natural areas — especially forests.
 Burn less (fossil fuels, forest fires, etc.)

18. CARBON CYCLE

19. What Is Carbon?
 An element
 The basis of life of earth
 Found in rocks, oceans, atmosphere

20. Carbon Cycle
 The same carbon atoms are used
repeatedly on earth. They cycle between
the earth and the atmosphere.

21. Plants Use Carbon Dioxide
 Plants pull carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere and use it to make food –—
photosynthesis.
 The carbon becomes part of the plant
(stored food).

22. Animals Eat Plants
 When organisms eat plants, they take in
the carbon and some of it becomes part of
their own bodies.

23. Plants and Animal Die
 When plants and animals die, most of their
bodies are decomposed and carbon
atoms are returned to the atmosphere.
 Some are not decomposed fully and end
up in deposits underground (oil, coal, etc.).

24. Carbon Slowly Returns to Atmosphere
 Carbon in rocks and underground
deposits is released very slowly into the
atmosphere.
 This process takes many years.

25. Cycle – Repeats
Over and Over and
Over and Over …

26. Carbon Cycle Diagram
Carbon in Atmosphere
Plants use
carbon to make
food
Animals eat
plants and
take in carbon
Plants and
animals die
Decomposers
break down dead
things, releasing
carbon to
atmosphere and
soil
Bodies not
decomposed —
after many
years, become
part of oil or
coal deposits
Fossil fuels are
burned; carbon
is returned to
atmosphere
Carbon slowly
released from
these substances
returns to
atmosphere

27. Carbon in Oceans
 Additional carbon is stored in the ocean.
 Many animals pull carbon from water to use in
shells, etc.
 Animals die and carbon substances are
deposited at the bottom of the ocean.
 Oceans contain earth’s largest store of carbon.

28. The Carbon Cycle

29. Human Impact
 Fossil fuels release carbon stores very
slowly
 Burning anything releases more carbon
into atmosphere — especially fossil fuels
 Increased carbon dioxide in atmosphere
increases global warming
 Fewer plants mean less CO2 removed
from atmosphere

30. What We Need to Do
 Burn less, especially fossil fuels
 Promote plant life, especially trees

31. ECOLOGICAL
SUCCESSION

32. Definition:
 Natural, gradual changes in the types of
species that live in an area; can be
primary or secondary
 The gradual replacement of one plant
community by another through natural
processes over time

33. Primary Succession
 Begins in a place without any soil
Sides of volcanoes
Landslides
Flooding
 Starts with the arrival of living things such
as lichens that do not need soil to survive
 Called PIONEER SPECIES

34. http://botit.botany.wisc.edu
http://www.saguaro-juniper.com/

35. Primary Succession
 Soil starts to form as lichens and the
forces of weather and erosion help break
down rocks into smaller pieces
 When lichens die, they decompose,
adding small amounts of organic matter to
the rock to make soil

36. http://www.life.uiuc.edu

37. Primary Succession
 Simple plants like mosses and ferns can
grow in the new soil
http://uisstc.georgetow
n.edu
http://www.uncw.edu

38. Primary Succession
 The simple plants die, adding more
organic material
 The soil layer thickens, and grasses,
wildflowers, and other plants begin to take
over
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu

39. Primary Succession
 These plants die, and they add more
nutrients to the soil
 Shrubs and trees can survive now
http://www.rowan.edu

40. Primary Succession
 Insects, small birds, and mammals have
begun to move in
 What was once bare rock now supports a
variety of life
http://p2-raw.greenpeace.org

41. Secondary Succession
 Begins in a place that already has soil and
was once the home of living organisms
 Occurs faster and has different pioneer
species than primary succession
 Example: after forest fires

42. http://www.geo.arizona.edu

43. http://www.ux1.eiu.edu

44. http://www.agen.ufl.edu

45. Climax Community
 A stable group of plants and animals that
is the end result of the succession process
 Does not always mean big trees
Grasses in prairies
Cacti in deserts

46. REFERENCES:
www.google.com
www.yahoo.com

47. MEMBERS:
 Jasper E. Garais
 Vincent Jed V. Gnilo
 Bren Dale M. Miranda