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Each of these materials has remained at a relative constant number on the Earth. This is because they cycle through living and nonliving materials, but are never changed.
A. The cycle of water is dependant on the sun. It may start out as a lake or ocean, the sun causes it to evaporate and rise into the atmosphere. There it forms clouds and precipitates back down. The precipitation may form runoff, which dose a number of things. The runoff can be used by a living organism, after which it will be giving off as waste or transpired. The runoff can return to a body of water such as a lake or an ocean, or it can be absorbed by the ground where it will later return to a body of water.
B. Carbons move through living and nonliving things, but in a very different way form water. Carbon is very much linked to the path of energy in living things. Carbon starts out in the atmosphere and is absorbed by autotrophic organisms to build organic molecules. It can then reenter the atmosphere through respiration, burning of materials that contain it, or it can become fossil fuel through decomposition of an organism. Carbon can also be returned to the atmosphere when limestone from the sea (containing dead organisms) is exposed to the surface. The limestone erodes and leaves the carbon dioxide free.
C. Nitrogen is necessary to living things because protein and nucleic acids contain a lot of it. About 80 percent of the earth’s atmosphere is nitrogen. However it is very hard to obtain by most organisms. It is in an N2 form which has a very strong bond. Only a few bacteria contain an enzyme which can perform this task. They combine the nitrogen with hydrogen to form ammonia in a process called nitrogen fixation. However this process is impossible in the presence of oxygen. Because of this bacteria must perform the task in soil or the roots of plants.
The nitrogen cycle has four basic stages. First is assimilation, this is where the ammonia produced spreads into the soil and is used by plants to build organic molecules.
The next step is ammonification. This is the conversion from ammonia stored in organisms released as urine, or when the organism dies. It enters the soil and then is converted back to regular ammonia.
After that is nitrification, that is the production of nitrate(NO3-) from ammonia. This is done by plants and bacteria.
Last comes dentrification, which is the conversion of nitrate into nitrogen gas, which reenters the environment. This is done by bacteria.
D. Phosphorus is necessary to all living things. It is usually found in soil and rock. It is dissolved into water and then consumed by plants. When animals eat the plants, the phosphorus is transferred to the consumer. When the plants or animals die, their decay put the phosphorus back into the soil.
Phosphorus can be transferred from one ecosystem to another, when decay floats down in a stream, or river. The soil cycle starts out with dirt. Dirt is particles of rock that have no living material in it. It comes in there sizes silt, clay and sand. Mulch is added to the dirt. Mulch is any organic material, be it an apple, a tree branch or a grandmother. Once the mulch decays, it collects living organisms, and becomes humans. Humans is fertile soil and can be used to grow things. Erosion and clear-cutting complete the cycle by cleaning the organic material from the dirt.
A. Another kind of biotic relationship is predation, in which one organism feeds upon another. In any other ecosystem the relative numbers of predators and prey vary from year to year. Over time, however, a biological balance is established.
Predators and prey are part of the food web of an ecosystem. Therefore a change in the number of either affect the entire ecosystem. In some areas, for example, sheep are preyed upon by coyotes. However, coyotes also prey on other animals, such as jackrabbits. Therefore if ranchers kill coyotes to protect their sheep, a few more sheep may survive, but the number of jackrabbits in the area may rise, allowing them to compete with the sheep for food and other necessary resources.
B. Parasitism is a close, long-term symbiotic relationship in which one organism obtains its nutrition from another organism. The organism receiving the benefits is a parasite. The organism providing them is a host. For example, the parasitic worms in the digestive tract of a white-tailed deer survive by consuming some of the deer host’s own partially digested food. In time the parasite’s food consumption may be enough to deprive the deer of nutrition. The deprivation weakens the host, making it less fit to survive.
C. Color and shape to the environment can make animals harder to see by predators. This is called Protective Resemblance like in the Prairie Dog. Western and Eastern Chipmunks also match their environment. The cottontail rabbit has a darker color than the jack rabbit to help it suit its community. Shape is also a form of protective resemblance, like in the Praying Mantis which feeds on other insects. There is the walking stick which looks like the sticks on a branch, matching shape and color. Then there is mimicry, where one animal mimics color or shape of another animal that is dangerous, poisonous, or does not taste good to animals which eat it. An example of this is within the butterfly which mimics the monarch. The monarch tastes bad so the birds do not eat the butterfly which looks like the monarch. The Coral Snake has the same color as a poisonous snake, due to mimicking an animal that is not being eaten. The Gold Finch, and Bobeyed Quail also have defensive measures. Squirrels have stripes which often times conceal their motion. The seagull has counter shading and it resembles the environment. Bobolinks have different color and patterns which blend with the environment in the mating season. The father does not match the environment and drives predators away from the nest. Phalarope also has a different color pattern. Egrets are protected by color when young and are white, and they turn dark when they are older. The Fawn is yet another example of changing color patterns. The Jargemon’s color change matches the type of season. Snowshoe rabbit matches the snow in the winter and his fur color changes from white to brown in the summer. The Tree Frog is another example of an animal that matches its color to the surroundings. The Flounder mixes with the ocean floor and is almost invisible against the sand and even changes color on an artificial background. A porcupine has sharp quills and does not need protective resemblance. A bear does not need it either but many animals do. It is the natural type of camouflage, the way animals adapt to environments.
D. One of the primary ways that organisms interact is through competition. Competition is the use or defense of a resource by one individual that reduces the availability of that resource to other individuals. For example, a brook trout may compete for habitat by defending an area directly around a fallen log. When other fish attempt to move into this territory, the brook trout fights to hold it. If the trout is successful, it retains access to food and space. Fish that do not gain this prime habitat may be less successful in the struggle to survive and reproduce.
Biologists recognize two main types of competition - intraspecific and interspecific competition. Intraspecific competition occurs between organisms of the same species. Interspecific competition occurs between organisms of different species.
Intraspecific Competition
Intraspecific competition is very keen because members of the same species require the same food, space, and mates. For example, in many mammalian species, such as the musk-ox and baboon, the males fight for the social status that will allow them to mate. Beech trees likewise compete for access to nutrients and water in the soil and for the sunlight needed for photosynthesis.
In a population the individuals best adapted to survive will pass their genetic material on to offspring at a greater rate than less fit competitors. Thus intraspecific competition, a constant process in nature, is one of the driving forces of evolution.
Interspecific Competition
Interspecific competition is often less intense than intraspecific competition because individuals of different species do not compete for exactly the same kinds of food, space, or mates. However, when two species do compete for a certain natural resource, one will succeed in obtaining it and one the other will not. This was demonstrated in an experiment conducted in the 1930s by soviet ecologist G.F. Gause. Gause used two species of paramecia that compete intensely for one kind of food. Each species grew well in a separate culture, but when Gause placed the two species in the same culture, the population of Paramecium caudatum always died, and the population of P. aurelia always survived.
Gause’s work and similar experiments by other scientists established that when two or more species compete for the very same resource, all but one will eventually fail as a competitor. In other words, two competitors cannot coexist on the same limiting resource. Biologists call this idea the competitive exclusion principle. The three species of warblers shown eat similar types of food and can occupy the same forest, but they differ in their feeding patterns. Each species feeds at a different height in the trees. Such behavioral adaptations greatly reduce - but do not entirely eliminate - the competition for food.
E1. Mutualism is a form of symbiosis in which both organisms benefit from living together. For example, the enzymatic action of bacteria that live in the digestive tracts of cattle enables the cattle to digest grasses. By breaking down the cellulose in the grasses, the bacteria make it possible for the cattle to use the nutrients the grasses contain. At the same time the bacteria take in nutrients for themselves - but not enough to harm the host. Both organisms therefore benefit from this close association. The clam and the algae have a similar relationship. While the clam provides the algae with a place to anchor, the algae camouflage the clam, thus providing protection.
Many flowers produce nectar, which insects eat and in turn transfer pollen from the flowers.. The bumblebee and the passion flower have such a relationship, the passion flower benefits from having its seeds spread and the bumble bee benefits from having food. Patches on rock are algae and lichens living together. Threads of fungus grow around the algae, providing protection and moisture. The algae provides the food for both, this way both benefit and can survive in harsh conditions. The problem with getting food is one reason for mutualism. Termites them selves can not digest cellulose from the wood that they eat, so they are dependent on one-celled organisms called protozoa’s. Protozoa’s change the cellulose to sugar which the termites eat and the one-celled organisms also get food. Young leaf-hoppers produce honeydew for ants to feed on.. In turn, ants move the leaf-hoppers from place to place so they can get food. This relationship is also exhibited by ants and mealy bugs. Aphids are also suppliers of honey dew to ants. In turn, the aphids are protected by the ants from organisms which damage the aphid such as a lady bug.
E2. Commensalism is a form of symbiosis in which one organism benefits and the other neither benefits nor suffers harm. Epiphytes, plants that grow on other plants, are examples. Among these are the orchid species that grow high in the trees of tropical forests. The trees provide the orchids with the support to grow and allow them to capture more sunlight than they would on the forest floor. The trees are not harmed, since the orchids neither feed on their tissues nor prevent significant amounts of sunlight from reaching their leaves.
An example of commensalism would be the respora living on the shark. It is attached to the shark and eats when the shark eats. The shark scatters his food when he eats and tears it to pieces and the respora picks up the particles from the shark. The shark is not harmed and the respora gets to eat food. The cocklebur is shaped so that it easily catches onto an animals fur as he walks past it. The animal then spreads the seeds of the cocklebur, the animal is not harmed and the cocklebur benefits from the relationship. In the ocean the sea cucumber picks up food on its body. The scale worm lives within it and eats the food the sea cucumber gathers along with the sea cucumber. The scale worm benefits and the sea cucumber is not harmed. The clown fish finds shelter in the tentacles of the sea entemenie and eats small fish which the sea entemenie catches. The sea entemenie is not harmed and the clown fish benefits from the relationship.
G. Predation prevents overpopulation within animals. Parasitism makes the animals weak and disease slow them down so it is possible for the predators to catch the animals. Competition makes all the animals better. If the animal does not make it, it dies. Then only the better animals get to pass on their genes making the community stronger. Nature focuses on the long term and makes it better. You have to focus on the long term and not the short term. Defensive measures help an animal to survive and not be eaten. Defensive measures are constantly being bettered in animals as evolution goes on and the tool for it is natural selection, such as in the peppered moth. In mutualism, the animals help each other and they both benefit making the community stronger, Commensalism is only half as strong as mutualism since only one animal benefits but it does not harm the other. Symbiosis greatly improves the animals chances of survival, as do defensive measures.
3. Explain the various concepts involved in the concept of a niche.
Gause’s competitive exclusion principle would lead one to expect that only dissimilar species would be found coexisting in natural communities. Yet, in fact, ecologically similar species are often found together in the same community. This observation raised the question of how similar two or more species can be and still continue to coexist in the same place at the same time, which led, in turn, to the concept of the ecological niche. This term is somewhat misleading because the word "niche" has a connotation of space, whereas an ecological niche is not the space occupied by an organism but rather the role that it plays. The simplest analogy is that the niche is an organism’s profession, as distinct from its habitat, which is its address.
A working definition of the niche is more complex, however, and includes many more factors than the way in which an organism makes it living. A niche is, in fact, the total environment and way of life of all the members of a particular species of organism in the community. Its description includes physical factors, such as the temperature limits within which the organisms can survive and their requirements for moisture. It include biological factors, such as the nature and amount of required food sources. It includes aspects of the behavior of the organism, such as patterns of movement and daily and seasonal activity cycles. Although only a few of these factors can be studied at any one time, all are likely to influence the interactions of the members of a species with the members of other species in the community.
4. Discuss the different aspects of the physical environment which affects living systems.
Precipitation makes a difference to which biome it is. Precipitation determines the environment of the living systems therefore determining which ones are supposed to live there. Latitude also determines types of animals within the biome. The more north you go, the colder it is. It is the same as going higher. What types of species live there are determined by this. Elevation is another factor that determines the organisms. It is colder at higher elevations and there might be less oxygen at the higher elevations. Higher elevations would cause ecological succession. Landform is also an important factor for environments, such as if there were a mountain. These physical things determine what grows where and which animal lives where. The animals living in a biome are based on the environment around the animals. Physical environment determines what lives where.
5. Explain the concept of the biome Name and describe the biomes found in Utah.
Climax Community would be a biome. The concept of a biome includes ecological succession. The succession determines which climax community lives where. Biome is the balance between physical environment and ecological succession. Biomes can be lakes which produce animals. Its not just the plants within the biome. A single biome does not exist. There are many biomes within a biome. There are biomes within the biome and their interaction is important.
There are Alpine Lakes in Utah above Brighton. An alpine has mosses, grasses, and only stubby trees. Coniferous forests have pine, fur, juniper, spruce, redwood, and conifers. Brighton is within a coniferous forest. The Alpine is above the coniferous forest. Deciduous Forest has deciduous trees which lose their leaves in the winter. Examples of these would be Aspen, Cottonwood, Willow, and Maple. A forest that has these would be deciduous. Below a deciduous forest would be the mountain shrub biome. The difference between shrubs and trees is that shrubs have multiple trunks and trees have only single trunks. Snowball bush is a shrub. Trunks come out of the ground in mountain shrub. Pigmy forest would have Pinion Juniper and trees that are not very big such as Pinion Pine. Desert shrub is sagebrush, with multiple trunks. Rabbit Bush and Creosote Bush would be shrubs. Grasslands have grass. In Utah they have a clumpy type of grass called Rhizomes grass or bunch grasses. Rhizomes grasses require more moisture. In the Cold Desert it is 120 degrees in the summer and below 0 degrees in the winter and very few species can survive there. You have a couple of species and many of them with very little animals. Warm Deserts have much more species but less numbers, and they do not get below 0 degrees. Mojave Desert is a warm desert. Cold Deserts also have prickly pear cactuses.
Marshes are the most productive biome and has the most plants and animals within the biome like Pawned and cattails. Freshwater lakes have very little salt and algae is the producer. Blue-green bacteria would be an example. Freshwater rivers have three parts. You have the pools, the riffles where water bubbles over rocks, and slack water. Slack water is where water does not move fast and young fish are there and is for reproduction. You need slack water within rivers because the young fish cannot flow in the main current of the river. Riparian Biome is along the river to protect erosion of the banks. The Jordan River has a Riparian Biome and needs more plants by it. You have to repair the banks of the Jordan River to prevent erosion. In a Salt Environment the plants by the side of the lake are a biome. Salt Water within the lake is a biome such as Salt Lake. They have brine shrimp as animals within them. North End of Salt Lake has a lot of Salt and The south end has less salty. A hole needs to be put into the causeway that separates them. We do not want the brine shrimp to die off, since we do not know the usefulness of them. The great Salt Lake has unique conditions with a cold desert around it.
6. Explain how ecological succession and biomes are related.
A biome is the relationship or balance between ecological succession and the physical environment.
Ecological Succession leads to a certain biome which has the climax community. One biome prepares another in ecological succession. Ecological succession determines which type of biome it will be along with the physical environment.
