Organisms in the Environment

What do these

images shown above

have in common?

Which of these

organisms breathes?
Which of
these
organisms
breathes?

What Keeps Us and Other

Organisms Alive?

• The four major components of the earth’s

life-support system are the

atmosphere(air), the hydrosphere (water),

the geosphere (rock, soil, sediment), and the
biosphere (living things).

• Life is sustained by the flow of energy from

the sun through the biosphere, the cycling
of nutrients within the biosphere, and
gravity.

Name the four spheres.

Earth Has Four Major Life-

Support Components

• Atmosphere
• Hydrosphere
• Geosphere
• Biosphere

Multiple Choice

The four spheres of Earth...

• are all connected

• have nothing to do with one another

• exist on Venus and Mars

• don't affect human life

Fig. 3-2, p. 41

Rock

Crust

Atmosphere

Vegetation
and animals

Biosphere

Mantle

Lithosphere

Soil

Geosphere
(crust, mantle, core)

Mantle

Core

Crust
(soil and rock)

Biosphere
(living organisms)

Atmosphere
(air)

Hydrosphere
(water)

Can you name the four
spheres on earth?

Three Factors Sustain Life

on Earth

• One-way flow of high-quality

energy from the sun

• Cycling of matter or nutrients through

parts of the biosphere

• Gravity

Solar Energy Reaching

the Earth

• Electromagnetic waves

–Visible light
–UV radiation (UV)
–Heat (infrared)

• Natural greenhouse effect
• Energy in = energy out
• Human-enhanced global warming

Fig. 3-3, p. 41

Solar

radiation

Radiated by
atmosphere
as heat

Reflected by
atmosphere

Most
absorbed
by ozone

Absorbed
by the earth

Greenhouse

effect

Visible
light

UV radiation

Heat radiated
by the earth

Heat

Troposphere

Lower Stratosphere

(ozone layer)

Fig. 3-3, p. 41

What Are the Major

Components of an Ecosystem?

• Some organisms:
produce the nutrients they need,
others get the nutrients they need by

consuming other organisms, and

• some recycle nutrients back to

producers by decomposing the
wastes and remains of organisms.

Living and Nonliving

Components

Living and Nonliving

Components

• Abiotic

–Water
–Air
–Nutrients
–Solar energy
–Rocks
–Heat

Living and Nonliving

Components

• Biotic

–Plants
–Animals
–Microbes
–Dead organisms
–Waste products of dead organisms

Multiple Choice

Which of these is NOT an abiotic factor?

• water

• temperature

• grass

• soil

What is a trophic level?

Multiple Choice

An organism that gets energy from breaking down dead organisms, non-living material or waste is a(an) ___________.

• producer

• consumer

• decomposer

• autotroph

Multiple Choice

Eat primary consumers (can be carnivores and omnivores)

• Tertiary Consumers

• Secondary Consumers

• Quaternary Consumers 

• Top Predators 

Fig. 3-5, p. 43

Soluble mineral
nutrients

Producers

Decomposers

Secondary
consumer
(fox)

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Primary
consumer
(rabbit)

Producer

Oxygen (O2)
Precipitation

Water

Fig. 3-5, p. 43

Trophic Levels

• Producers – autotrophs

–Photosynthesis

• Consumers – heterotrophs

1. Primary - herbivores
2. Secondary - carnivores
3. Third-level

• Omnivores

Trophic Levels

• Decomposers

–Release nutrients from the dead bodies

of plants and animals

• Detrivores

–Feed on the waste or dead bodies of

organisms

Fig. 3-6, p. 44

Time
progression

Powder broken down by
decomposers into plant
nutrients in soil

Mushroom

Wood
reduced
to powder

Dry rot
fungus

Termite and
carpenter
ant work

Decomposers

Detritus feeders

Carpenter
ant galleries
Bark beetle
engraving
Long-horned
beetle holes

Fig. 3-6, p. 44

Production and Consumption

of Energy

• Photosynthesis
Carbon dioxide + water + solar energy
→glucose + oxygen
• Aerobic respiration
Glucose + oxygen → carbon dioxide +
water + energy

Energy Flow and
Nutrient Recycling

• Ecosystems sustained through:

–One-way energy flow from the sun
–Nutrient recycling

Fig. 3-7, p. 45

Abiotic chemicals
(carbon dioxide,
oxygen, nitrogen,

minerals)

Decomposers
(bacteria, fungi)

Consumers
(herbivores,
carnivores)

Producers

(plants)

Solar
energy

Heat

Heat

Heat

Heat

Heat

Fig. 3-7, p. 45

Tertiary
consumers
(human)

Secondary
consumers
(perch)

Producers
(phytoplankton)

Primary
consumers
(zooplankton)

Usable energy available

at each trophic level

(in kilocalories)

Heat

Decomposers

10

100

1,000

10,000

Heat

Heat

Heat

Heat

Fig. 3-10, p. 47

Respiration

Forest fires

Deforestation

Diffusion

Carbon dioxide

dissolved in ocean

Carbon

in limestone or

dolomite sediments

Marine food webs

Producers, consumers,

decomposers

Transportation

Carbon dioxide
in atmosphere

Carbon

in animals

(consumers)

Plants

(producers)

Animals

(consumers)

Decomposition

Respiration

Compaction

Carbon
in fossil

fuels

Carbon
in plants

(producers)

Burning

fossil fuels

Photosynthesis

Fig. 3-13, p. 51

Processes

Reservoir

Pathway affected by humans

Natural pathway