Essential Biology 5.

1: Ecosystems & Communities 7/09/2011

Student Name: Yok Kradsanaoh

Main Source - http://click4biology.info/c4b/5/eco5.1.htm#five http://ecosystemsandbiomes.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/why-are-there-difficultiesin-classifying-organisms-into-different-trophic-levels/ 1. Define the following terms: Species: A group of organisms that can interbreed to produce fertile offspring. Habitat - A natural home or an environment of a living organism. Population - All the living inhabitants of a certain area. Community - A particular group of people living together in one place; practicing one ownership. Ecosystem - A biological community of organisms interacting and their physical environment. Ecology - The branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and their physical surroundings. Niche - A position or a role taken by a kind of organism in a community. Biodiversity - The variety of life in the world on in a particular habitat or ecosystem. Trophic level - A group of organisms that occupy the same position in a food chain.

Self-feeding Organisms which produce their own food from organic molecules

Other source-feeding Organisms which derive energy from other living organisms Lives in or nonliving organic matter, secreting digestive enzymes into it and absorbing digestive products.

Photosynthesis

Chemosyntheis

Ingest organic Ingests nonmatter which is living organic living or recentlymatter killed

Eat producers

Eat other consumers

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Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities 7/09/2011

Student Name: Yok Kradsanaoh

2. Complete the tree below with definitions and examples of each type of feeding strategy. Distinguish between the feeding strategies at each level of the diagram.

3. Food chains represent the flow of energy and nutrients in a series of feeding relationships. Give one example of a marine food chain (min. 4 organisms)

Seal > Cod > Krill > Diatoms

Give one example of a terrestrial food chain (min. 4 organisms)

Peacock > Snake > Frog > Grasshopper

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Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities 7/09/2011

Student Name: Yok Kradsanaoh

Give one other example of a food chain (min. 4 organisms)

osprey > bream > freshwater shrimp > phytoplankton

4. Describe what is meant by a food web. -Shows how food chains are linked together into a more complex feeding Number of advantages over food chains including - Shows more complex interactions between species within a community/ecosystem - More than one producer supporting a community - One producer being a food source for many other primary consumers - That a consumer may have many different food sources weather the same or different trophic levels - That a consumer can be an omnivore, feeding as a primary consumer and as a consumer at higher trophic levels

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Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities 7/09/2011

Student Name: Yok Kradsanaoh

5. The food web below shows some coral reef feeding relationships;

a. Identify species in the following trophic levels: i. ii. iii. Producers Trophic level 1 (phytoplankton, algae) Primary consumers Trophic level 2 (sea-whip, parrotfish, turtles, marine invertebrates) Secondary consumers Trophic level 3 ( reef sharks, snappers, gropers)

6. On a separate sheet, construct a freshwater food web based on the following information:
Organism Water crowfoot Cased caddisfly larva Damselfly nymph Mayfly nymph Dragonfly Duck Freshwater Shrimp Water vole Algae Otter Water starwort Pond snail Alderfly nymph Pond skater Energy sources Sunlight Micro-plants, algae, particles of dead plants and animals Micro-plants, algae, particles of dead plants and animals Micro-plants, algae, particles of dead plants and animals Other adult insects and small flies All nymphs, all plants, snails, tadpoles, young frogs Particles of dead plants and animals Plants Sunlight Fish, frogs and newts Sunlight Microplants, all water plants and algae Micro-plants, algae, particles of dead plants and animals Particles of dead plants and animals

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Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities 7/09/2011

Student Name: Yok Kradsanaoh Frog Tadpole Micro-plants Great diving beetle Bullhead fish Mayfly, midge larvae, pond skater, caddisfly, small flies Micro-plants, algae Sunlight Water flea, snails, tadpole, all nymphs Diving beetle, tadpole, all nymphs, water flea, snail, midge larvae Adapted from: http://www.cornwallriversproject.org.uk/education/education_pack.htm

7. For the food web created above: a. Identify organisms in each of the trophic levels.

b. Identify organisms that fit more than one trophic level.

c. Identify those which could be classed as detritivores

8. Suggest why it is sometimes difficult to classify organisms into trophic levels. Not all organisms all under just one trophic level, some secondary consumers can also be tertiary consumers, and since there is this ambiguity, categorization of organisms can fall into a grey area. An example would be human beings. Its hard to classify them into one trophic level because Human beings can be primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary consumers because humans can choose what kind of diet they have. Vegetarians do not eat meat and therefore makes them primary consumers. So depending on dietary choices of each individual, one can be considered either a primary, secondary, tertiary or quaternary consumer. 9. Outline why numbers of organisms are smaller at higher trophic levels. Thinking of trophic levels as a pyramid. A pyramid gets small the higher that you go. So when one organism consumes another one in the lower trophic level, only about 10% of the energy transfers from one trophic level to the next. With a smaller amount of energy filtering through, there is a smaller capacity that the energy can
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Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities 7/09/2011

Student Name: Yok Kradsanaoh

maintain. For example, there are more wolves then there are small woodland creatures. The wolves cant live off of the small amount of available prey, therefore several wolves will starve until there are fewer wolves than woodland creatures. 10.State the original source of energy for almost all communities. The original source of energy starts with the sun, then plants. Then herbivores eat the plants, the carnivores eat the herbivoes, vultures and humans eat plants, carnivores sometimes and then it is recycled by bacteria. It is stored in the tissue of the animals. 11.Explain how energy flows through a community, including why energy transfers are never 100% efficient. -The transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next is not efficient -Approximately 10-20% of the energy on one trophic level will be assimilated at the next higher trophic level 12.State the function of a pyramid of energy. -The volume of one is 10% of the layer below -It is this loss of energy which in part makes food chains relatively short -In a tropic rainforest the trapping of energy is more efficient, therefore the food chains are longer, & webs are more complex.

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Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities 7/09/2011

Student Name: Yok Kradsanaoh

13.Give an example of a unit of measurement used in a pyramid of energy, giving a description of each component. -The narrowing shape illustrates the gradual loss of energy progressing along the links of a food chain to high tropic levels -The base of the pyramid is (Scale=energy/area/unit time e. g. Kj m-2 yr-1

-Unlike pyramids with of number (of organisms) a pyramid cannot inver due to the second law of thermodynamics,energy cannot be created nor destroyed.

14.Energy flows through an ecosystem, nutrients are recycled.

Explain this statement with the aid of a flow chart. Include the roles of saprotrophic bacteria and fungi.

-Decomposition is a complex process and serves many functions including the formation of soil, the recycling of nutrients stored in the organic materials, and the reduction of high energy carbon compounds. -Is also a biological process which begins with the secretion of extra cellular digestive enzymes -The enzymes are produced by the saprophytic bacteria and fungi -secretes the enzymes onto the dead organism -hydrolyze the biological molecules of which dead organism is composed -the hydrolyzed molecules of which dead organisms are composed -Organic molecules are oxidized to release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere -oxidized to release carbon dioxide in for of nitrate, nitrate and ammonium. -Oxidation of the organic compounds produces energy for the saprophyte but returns to carious forms of matter to the abiotic environment.

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Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities 7/09/2011

Student Name: Yok Kradsanaoh

15.Outline three examples of cycles of inorganic nutrients. For each, outline the uses of the nutrients in living organisms, its method of transfer into and through the food chain and how it is returned to the inorganic nutrient pool. a. Carbon

All organic compounds contain carbon and the most important sources of all inorganic carbon is carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. carbon dioxide is taken up by autotrophic organisms during photosynthesis and the carbon is incorporated into carbohydrates and other compounds , such as proteins and fats; consumers (heterotrophic organisms) feed on plants, and their bodies assimilate carbon compounds derived from the plants; all organisms, including plants, release carbon dioxide during respiration as a by product. (Fermentation releases of carbon dioxide); when autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms die or lose body parts such as leaves, carbon dioxide is released as a result of decomposition; combustion of dead animal and plant material also releases carbon dioxide; under high pressures, dead plants and animals are carbonized, forming fossil-fuels, such as coal and crude-oil. These release carbon dioxide during combustion. (http://www.bcb.uwc.ac.za/Sci_Ed/grade10/ecology/cycling/nutr.htm)
b. Nitrogen

Nitrogen is an element essential in all organisms, occurring in proteins and other nitrogenous compounds, e.g. nucleic acids. Although organisms live in nitrogen-rich environments (78% of the atmosphere is nitrogen) the gaseous forms of nitrogen can only be used by certain organisms. Free nitrogen must first be fixed into a useable form.

free nitrogen in the atmosphere is mainly fixed by two groups of bacteria, nl. Azotobacter and Clostridium. The nitrogen is then used to manufacture proteins in their bodies, when they die, their proteins are broken down by decomposers (mainly bacteria and other micro-organisms), and

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Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities 7/09/2011

Student Name: Yok Kradsanaoh

converted into ammonia (blue-green algae, cyanobacteria, can also be use free nitrogen from the atmosphere); during electrical changes in the atmosphere(e.g. lightning), free nitrogen is fixed (combined) finally forming nitrate; nitrates are taken up by plants which use them to manufacture proteins; animals (herbivores) eat plants and convert plant proteins to animal proteins, while carnivores obtain their plant proteins by indirect means (by eating herbivores); when plants and animals die, the proteins in their bodies are broken down into ammonia by decomposers. The process is known as ammonification; ammonia is converted to nitrites by nitrite bacteria (Nitrosomonas and Nitrosococcus). Nitrites are again converted to nitrates by nitrate bacteria (Nitrobacter )This process is known as nitrification; different types of bacteria are also able to break down nitrates, nitrites and ammonia which results in the release of nitrogen. This process is known as denitrification.

(http://www.bcb.uwc.ac.za/Sci_Ed/grade10/ecology/cycling/nutr.htm)

c. Calcium

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Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities 7/09/2011

Student Name: Yok Kradsanaoh

Works Cited
1. Taylor, Stephen. Communities and Ecosystems. Science Video Resources (presentation). [Online] October 2009. http://sciencevideos.wordpress.com/bis-ibdiploma-programme-biology/05-ecology-and-evolution/02-communities-ecosystems 2. Allott, Andrew. IB Study Guide: Biology for the IB Diploma. s.l. : Oxford University Press, 2007. 978-0-19-915143-1.

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