Ecosystems: Cycles and Services

Ecosystems

• Ecosystems are geographic areas where plants, animals, and other organisms interact with weather and landscape to form a bubble of life

Types of Ecosystem Services

• Provisioning services provide tangible resources like food, water, timber, fiber, and genetic resources
• Regulating services offer benefits from natural processes that moderate environmental conditions
• Cultural services give non-material benefits, like spiritual enrichment, recreation, and cultural identity
• Supporting systems encompass fundamental processes, such as nutrient cycling and soil formation

Carbon Cycle Steps

• Key processes include photosynthesis, respiration, exchange sedimentation, extraction, and combustion

Nitrogen Cycle Steps

• Key processes are nitrogen fixation, nitrification, assimilation, ammonification, and denitrification

Phosphate Cycle Steps

• Key processes include weathering of rocks, absorption by plants, composition by animals, dead organism decomposition and phosphate being returned to the soil

Energy Types

• Kinetic energy results from an object's motion
• Potential energy is energy stored based on an object's position

Steps in the Scientific Method

• Observation by asking a question
• Research background information
• Formulate a hypothesis
• Design an experiment
• Collection and analysis of data
• Draw conclusions
• Communicate results

Hypothesis Defined

• A hypothesis is an educated guess or tentative explanation

Theory Defined

• A theory is a well-substantiated explanation supported by evidence, tested, and confirmed through observation and experimentation

Earth's Spheres

• The four spheres are the lithosphere (land), hydrosphere (water), biosphere (living things), and atmosphere (air)

Feedback Loops

• Positive feedback loops amplify changes, pushing a system further in the same direction
• Negative feedback loops counteract changes, bringing a system back to a stable state

Law of Conservation of Matter

• Matter cannot be created or destroyed

Second Law of Thermodynamics

• In energy transfer or transformation within a closed system, total entropy increases, leading to irreversible change

Heat Transfer

• Heat transfer occurs through conduction (direct contact), convection (fluid movement), and radiation (electromagnetic waves)

Weather and Heat Transfer

• Convection is the method primarily responsible for weather and heat transfer in the lower atmospheric layer

Wind Generation

• Wind is generated by the sun's uneven heating of Earth's surface, creating pressure differences

El Nino Phenomenon

• El Nino is an unusual warming of surface waters in the tropical Pacific Ocean

Development of El Nino

• Weakened trade winds cause warm surface water to accumulate, altering weather and ocean conditions

Chemosynthesis

• Chemosynthesis is food made by bacteria using chemicals as the energy source, often in environments lacking light

Photosynthesis

• Plants use light energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen

Atmospheric Layers

• Troposphere: The lowest layer, where most weather occurs
• Stratosphere: Contains the ozone layer
• Mesosphere: Where most meteors burn up
• Thermosphere: Upper layer with high temperatures
• Exosphere: Outermost layer

Atmospheric Gases

• The two main gases in the lower atmosphere are nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%)

Primary Pollutant

• A substance emitted directly into the air from a source

Secondary Pollutant

• Air pollutant formed in the atmosphere when other pollutants react

Atmospheric Pollution

• Wind and atmospheric circulation disperse pollutants over vast distances

Albedo

• Albedo is the proportion of light reflected by a surface, ranging from 0 (complete absorption) to 1 (complete reflection)

Ozone Layer

• The ozone layer in the stratosphere protects Earth from harmful UV radiation

Greenhouse Effect

• Gases in Earth's atmosphere trap heat
• Common gases include carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, and hydrofluorocarbons

Acid Rain Formation

• Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals

Increased Carbon Dioxide Sources

• The burning of fossil fuels is the source of increased carbon dioxide, along with industrial processes and land-use changes

Marine Dead Zones

• Dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico are due to excessive nutrient runoff, leading to algae blooms and oxygen depletion

Pollution Sources

• Point source pollution comes from a single, identifiable source
• Non-point source pollution originates from diffuse sources

Water Use

• Agriculture dominates water consumption, with domestic use being a smaller fraction

Aquifer

• An aquifer is an underground layer of rock or sediment that stores and transmits water

Marine Pollution

• The solid waste component of marine pollution responsible for most deaths is plastic

Rock Types

• The three rock categories are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic

Rock Cycle Processes

• Crystallization: Magma cools and hardens into igneous rock
• Weathering: Rocks break down into smaller pieces
• Erosion: Transport of weathered rock fragments
• Sedimentation: Accumulation of eroded sediments
• Metamorphism: Rocks change due to heat and pressure
• Melting: Rocks melt to form magma

Earth's Layers

• The Earth's layers, from the surface to the center, are crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core

Asthenosphere Importance

• The asthenosphere's ductility allows tectonic plates to move

Plate Tectonics

• The scientific theory that Earth's surface is made up of plates that move

Plate Boundary Types

• Convergent: Plates collide
• Divergent: Plates move apart
• Transform: Plates slide past each other

Weathering

• Weathering breaks down rocks and minerals on Earth's surface

Volcano Formation

• Volcanoes form when subducting plates release fluids, causing the mantle to melt

Ring of Fire

• The region of intense earthquake and volcanic activity surrounding the Pacific Ocean basin

Earthquake Concentrations

• Movement causes earthquakes along plate boundaries

Tsunami Generation

• Tsunamis are generated by earthquake motion displacing the water column

Magma/Lava Formation

• Magma forms when rocks melt within Earth's mantle and crust

Magma vs. Lava

• Magma is molten rock beneath Earth's surface
• Lava is magma that has erupted onto the surface

Placer Deposit Formation

• Placer deposits form when heavy minerals are eroded, transported, and concentrated by water or wind

Placer Mining

• Panning, sluicing, dredging, and dry washing are methods used

Mining Implications

• Activities result in habitat destruction, water and air pollution, soil degradation, acid mine drainage, deforestation, and social disruptions