CHAPTER 3

Ecosystems: What Are They

and How Do They Work?

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 First Law of Ecology: Everything
is connected to everything else.
BARRY COMMONER

Key Questions 3.3 What happens to energy in an Scientists studying life in the treetops of a
ecosystem? tropical forest.
3.1 How does the earth’s life-support Bill Hatcher/National Geographic Creative
3.4 What happens to matter in an
system work?
ecosystem?
3.2 What are the major components
3.5 How do scientists study
of an ecosystem?
ecosystems?

45

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 Core Case Study
Tropical Rain Forests Are Disappearing
Tropical rain forests are found gone or severely degraded by the end of quantities of fossil fuels. The resulting
near the earth’s equator and contain an this century. increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere
incredible variety of life. Rain forests cover Why should we care that tropical rain contributes to atmospheric warming and
only 7% of the earth’s dry land surface forests are disappearing? Scientists give climate change, which you will learn more
but contain up to half of the world’s three reasons. First, clearing these forests about in ­Chapter 15.
known plant and animal species found causes the extinction of many of their Third, large-scale losses of tropical rain
on land. These lush forests are warm and plant and animal species by destroying forests can change regional weather pat-
humid year round because of their almost the habitats where they live. The loss of tern in ways that can prevent the forest
daily rainfall and nearness to the equator. key species in these forests can have a from returning in cleared or degraded
The biodiversity of tropical rain forests ripple effect that leads to the extinction of areas. When this irreversible ecological
makes them an excellent natural labora- other species that they help support. tipping point is reached, the tropical rain
tory for the study of ecosystems Second, destroying these forests forests in such areas become drier and
(see chapter-opening photo). warms the atmosphere and speeds up less-diverse tropical grasslands.
To date, human activities have climate change. How does this occur? In this chapter, you will learn about
destroyed or degraded more than half Eliminating large areas of trees faster than the living and nonliving components of
of the earth’s tropical rain forests. People they can grow back means that there tropical rain forests and other ecosystems
continue clearing the forests to grow are fewer plants using photosynthesis to and how they work, how human activities
crops, graze cattle, and build settlements remove some of the human-­generated are affecting them, and how we can help
(Figure 3.1). Ecologists warn that without emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), which sustain them. ●
protection, most of these forests will be are caused mostly by the burning of huge

Left: United Nations Environment Programme ; Right: United Nations Environment Programme

FIGURE 3.1 ​Natural Capital Degradation: Satellite image of the loss of tropical rain forest, cleared for farming, cattle grazing,
and settlements, near the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz between June 1975 (left) and May 2003 (right). This is the latest available view of
the area, but forest degradation has continued since 2003.

46

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 3.1 HOW DOES THE EARTH’S South Poles. The troposphere contains the air we breathe.
It is 78% nitrogen (N2) and 21% oxygen (O2). The remain-
LIFE-SUPPORT SYSTEM WORK? ing 1% of air is mostly water vapor, carbon dioxide, and
methane. The troposphere is the layer in which the earth’s
CONCEPT 3.1 A ​The four major components of the earth’s weather occurs and where life can survive.
life-support system are the atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere The stratosphere is the atmospheric layer above
(water), the geosphere (rock, soil, and sediment), and the the troposphere. It reaches 17 to 50 kilometers (11 to
­biosphere (living things). 31 miles) above the earth’s surface. The lower strato-
CONCEPT 3.1 B ​Life is sustained by the flow of energy from sphere, called the ozone layer, contains enough ozone (O3)
the sun through the biosphere, the cycling of nutrients within gas to filter out about 95% of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet
the biosphere, and gravity. (UV) radiation. It acts as a global sunscreen that allows life
to exist on the earth’s surface.
The hydrosphere contains all of the water on or near
Earth’s Life-Support System Has Four the earth’s surface. It is found as water vapor in the atmos-
Major Components phere, as liquid water on the surface and underground,
The earth’s life-support system consists of four main and as ice—polar ice, icebergs, glaciers, and ice in frozen
spherical systems (Figure 3.2) that interact with one soil-layers called permafrost. Salty oceans that cover that
another. They are the atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere about 71% of the earth’s surface contain 97% of the plan-
(water), the geosphere (rock, soil, and sediment), and the et’s water and support almost half of the world’s species.
biosphere (living things) (Concept 3.1A). About 2.5% of the earth’s water is fresh water and three-
The atmosphere is a spherical mass of air surround- fourths of that is ice.
ing the earth’s surface that is held to the earth by g­ ravity. The geosphere contains the earth’s rocks, minerals,
Its innermost layer, the troposphere, extends about and soil. It consists of an intensely hot core, a thick mantle
19 ­kilometers (12 miles) above sea level at the equator and of very hot rock, and a thin outer crust of rock and soil.
about 6 kilometers (4 miles) above the earth’s North and The crust’s upper portion contains soil chemicals or nutri-
ents that organisms need to live, grow, and reproduce. It
also contains nonrenewable fossil fuels—coal, oil, and nat-
ural gas—and minerals that we extract and use.
Atmosphere The biosphere consists of the parts of the atmosphere,
hydrosphere, and geosphere where life is found. If the
Biosphere earth were the size of an apple, the biosphere would be no
(living organisms)
Soil thicker than the apple’s skin.

Rock
Crust Three Factors Sustain the Earth’s Life
Life on the earth depends on three interconnected factors
Mantle (Concept 3.1B):
• One-way flow of high-quality energy from the sun. The
sun’s energy supports plant growth, which provides
Geosphere energy for plants and animals, in keeping with
(crust, mantle, core)
Mantle the solar energy principle of sustainability.
As solar energy interacts with carbon dioxide (CO2),
water vapor, and several other gases in the tropo-
Core sphere, it warms the troposphere—a process known
Atmosphere
(air)
as the greenhouse effect (Figure 3.3). Without this
natural process, the earth would be too cold to support
humans and most other forms of life found on the
earth today.
• Cycling of nutrients through parts of the biosphere.
Hydrosphere ­Nutrients are chemicals that organisms need to sur-
(water) vive. Because the earth does not get significant
inputs of matter from space, its fixed supply of nutri-
FIGURE 3.2 Natural Capital: The earth consists of a land ents must be recycled to support life. This is in
sphere (geosphere), an air sphere (atmosphere), a water sphere keeping with the chemical cycling principle of
(hydrosphere), and a life sphere (biosphere) (Concept 3.1A). sustainability.

Concept 3.1   47

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 1. The solar energy that

National Geographic Visual Atlas of the World. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2008.
powers the earth’s
climate system is
short-wave radiation.

4. The solar radiation absorbed by

the earth’s surface is converted to
3. Some of the incoming solar heat and emitted as long-wave
radiation is reflected by the radiation.
earth’s surface and atmosphere 5. Some of the infrared radiation
back out to space. escapes into space, but most of it is
2. Roughly half of the
incoming solar radiation absorbed by greenhouse gases and
is absorbed by the clouds in the earth’s atmosphere, and
earth’s surface. this interaction between gases and
radiation warms the earth’s lower
atmosphere and surface.

FIGURE 3.3 Greenhouse Earth. High-quality solar energy flows from the sun to the earth. It is degraded to lower-quality energy
(mostly heat) as it interacts with the earth’s air, water, soil, and life forms, and eventually some of it returns to space. Certain gases in
the earth’s atmosphere retain enough of the sun’s incoming energy as heat to warm the planet in what is known as the greenhouse
effect.

• Gravity allows the planet to hold on to its atmosphere The biosphere and its ecosystems are made up of living
and enables the movement and cycling of chemicals (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) components. Examples of
through air, water, soil, and organisms. living components include plants, animals, and microbes.
Nonliving components include water, air, nutrients, rocks,
heat, and solar energy.
Ecologists assign each organism in an ecosystem to a
3.2 WHAT ARE THE MAJOR feeding level, or trophic level, depending on its source of
­COMPONENTS OF AN nutrients. Organisms are classified as producers and con-
ECOSYSTEM? sumers based on whether they make (produce) or find
(consume) food.
CONCEPT 3.2A ​Some organisms produce the nutrients they Producers are organisms, such as green plants, that
need, others get the nutrients they need by consuming other make the nutrients they need from compounds and
organisms, and some recycle nutrients back to producers by energy obtained from their environment (Concept 3.3A).
decomposing the wastes and remains of other organisms. In the process known as photosynthesis, plants capture
solar energy that falls on their leaves and use it to com-
CONCEPT 3.3B Soil is a renewable resource that provides bine carbon dioxide and water to form carbohydrates,
nutrients that support terrestrial plants and helps purify water such as glucose (C6H12O6), which they store as a source
and control the earth’s climate. of the chemical energy. In the process, they emit oxygen
(O2) gas into the atmosphere. Oxygen keeps us and most
Ecosystems Have Several Important other animal species alive. The following chemical reac-
Components tion summarizes the overall process of photosynthesis.

Ecology is the science that focuses on how organisms carbon dioxide + water + solar energy S glucose + oxygen
interact with one another and with their nonliving phys- 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + solar energy S C6H12O6 + 6 O2
ical environment of matter and energy. Scientists classify
matter into levels of organization ranging from atoms About 2.8 billion years ago, producer organisms called
to galaxies. Ecologists study five levels of matter: the cyanobacteria started carrying out photosynthesis and add-
­biosphere, ecosystems, communities, populations, ing oxygen to the atmosphere. After several hundred
and organisms, all shown and defined in Figure 3.4. million years, oxygen levels reached about 21%—high

48     ChapTer 3 Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work?

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 are secondary consumers that feed on the flesh of her-
Parts of the earth's air, bivores. Other carnivores such as tigers, hawks, and killer
Biosphere water, and soil where life
is found
whales (orcas) are tertiary (or higher-level) consumers
that feed on the flesh of herbivores and other carnivores.
A community of different Some of these relationships are shown in Figure 3.6.
species interacting with one
Omnivores such as pigs, rats, and humans eat both plants
Ecosystem another and with their
nonliving environment of and animals.
matter and energy

Populations of different
species living in a particular CONSIDER THIS …
Community
place, and potentially
interacting with each other
THINKING ABOUT What You Eat
When you ate your most recent meal, were you an herbivore,
A group of individuals of the a carnivore, or an omnivore?
Population same species living in a
particular place

Organism An individual living being Decomposers are consumers that get their nutrients
by breaking down (decomposing) the wastes or remains of
plants and animals. The process of decomposition returns
these nutrients to the soil, water, and air for reuse by pro-
The fundamental structural ducers (Concept 3.2A). Most decomposers are bacteria
Cell
and functional unit of life
and fungi. Other consumers, called detritus feeders, or
detritivores, get their nutrients by feeding on the wastes
Chemical combination of two
or dead bodies (detritus) of other organisms. Examples are
O
H H Molecule or more atoms of the same or earthworms, some soil insects, hyenas, and vultures.
different elements Detritivores and decomposers can transform a fallen
Water
tree trunk into simple inorganic molecules that plants can
Smallest unit of a chemical absorb as nutrients (Figure 3.7). In natural ecosystems, the
H O
Atom element that exhibits its
wastes and dead bodies of organisms are resources
Hydrogen Oxygen chemical properties
for other organisms in keeping with the chemical
cycling principle of sustainability. Without decom-
FIGURE 3.4 Ecology focuses on the top five of these levels of posers and detritivores, many of which are microscopic
the organization of matter in nature.
organisms (Science Focus 3.1), the planet would be bur-
ied in plant litter, animal wastes, dead animal bodies, dead
and fallen trees, and garbage.
enough to keep humans and other oxygen-breathing Producers, consumers, and decomposers use the chem-
­animals alive. ical energy stored in glucose and other organic compounds
On land, most producers are green plants such as trees to fuel their life processes through cellular respiration. In
and grasses. In freshwater and ocean ecosystems, algae most cells, this energy is released by aerobic respiration,
and aquatic plants growing near shorelines are the major which uses oxygen to convert glucose and other organic
producers. In open water, the dominant producers are compounds back into carbon dioxide and water, as shown
phytoplankton—mostly microscopic organisms that float or below.
drift in the water. glucose + oxygen S carbon dioxide + water + energy
The other organisms in an ecosystem are consumers
C6H12O6 + 6 O2 S 6 CO2   + 6 H2O + energy
that cannot produce their own food (Concept 3.2). They
get the nutrients they need by feeding on other producers Some decomposers, such as yeast and some bacteria
or other consumers, or on the wastes and remains of pro- get the energy they need by breaking down glucose (or
ducers and consumers. other organic compounds) in the absence of oxygen. This
There are several types of consumers. Primary con- form of cellular respiration is called anaerobic respira-
sumers, or herbivores (plant eaters), are animals that tion, or fermentation. Instead of carbon dioxide and
eat mostly green plants or algae. Examples are caterpillars, water, the products of this process are compounds such
giraffes, and zooplankton (tiny sea animals that feed on as methane gas (CH4), ethyl alcohol (C2H6O), acetic acid
phytoplankton). Carnivores (meat eaters) are animals (C2H4O2, the key component of vinegar), and hydrogen
that feed on the flesh of other animals. Some carnivores sulfide (H2S, a highly poisonous gas that smells like rot-
such as spiders, lions (Figure 3.5), and most small fishes ten eggs). Note that all organisms get their energy from

Concept 3.2   49

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 iStockphoto.com/nikpal
FIGURE 3.5 Lions feeding on prey.

aerobic or anaerobic respiration but only plants carry out

Oxygen (O2) photosynthesis.
Precipitation
To summarize, ecosystems and the biosphere are sus-
tained by the one-way energy flow from the sun and the
nutrient cycling of key materials (Concept 3.1B)—in
Carbon dioxide (CO2) keeping with two of the scientific principles of
­sustainability (Figure 3.8).
Producer

Soil is the Foundation of Life on Land

Secondary Soil is a complex mixture of rock pieces and particles,
consumer mineral nutrients, decaying organic matter, water, air, and
Primary (fox)
consumer living organisms that support plant life, which, in turn,
(rabbit) supports animal life (Concept 3.2B). Soil is one of the most
important components of the earth’s natural capital. It
purifies water and supplies most of the nutrients needed
Producers for plant growth. Through aerobic respiration, organisms
living in soil remove some of the carbon dioxide from the
Water Decomposers atmosphere and store it as organic carbon compounds,
thereby helping to control the earth’s climate.
Soluble mineral Most mature soils contain several horizontal layers or
nutrients
horizons. A cross-sectional view of the horizons of a soil
FIGURE 3.6 Key living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) compo- is called a soil profile (Figure 3.9, right). The major
nents of an ecosystem in a field. horizons in a mature soil are O (leaf litter), A (topsoil),

50     ChapTer 3 Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work?

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SCIENCEFOCUS 3.1
Many of the World’s Most Important Organisms Are Invisible to Us
They are everywhere. Trillions can be help purify the water we drink by break- carbon dioxide produced when we burn
found inside your body, on your body, in ing down plant and animal wastes in coal, natural gas, and gasoline. Other
a handful of soil, and in a cup of ocean the water. Bacteria and fungi in the soil microbes control diseases that harm
water. decompose organic wastes into nutrients plants and limit populations of insects
These mostly invisible rulers of the that can be taken up by plants that are that attack our food crops. In short,
earth are microbes, or microorganisms, then eaten by humans and other plant microbes are a vital part of the earth’s
catchall terms for many thousands of eaters. Without these tiny creatures, we natural capital.
species of bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and would go hungry and be up to our necks
floating phytoplankton. They play key in waste matter.
CRITICAL THINKING
roles in the earth’s life-support system. Some microorganisms, particularly
Bacteria in our intestinal tracts break phytoplankton in the ocean, provide What are two advantages that microbes
down the food we eat, and microbes in much of the planet’s oxygen. They also have over humans for thriving in the
our noses help prevent harmful bacteria help regulate the atmosphere’s average world?
from reaching our lungs. Other microbes temperature by removing some of the

Detritus feeders Decomposers FIGURE 3.7 Various

detritivores and
decomposers (mostly fungi
and bacteria) can “feed
on” or digest parts of a log
and eventually convert its
complex organic chemicals
into simpler inorganic
nutrients that can be taken
up by producers.
Carpenter
Termite and
Bark beetle ant galleries
carpenter
engraving ant work
Long-horned Dry rot
beetle holes fungus

Wood
reduced Mushroom
to powder

Time progression Powder broken down by

decomposers into plant
nutrients in soil

B (subsoil), and C (weathered parent material), which Every handful of topsoil contains billions of bacte-
build up over the parent material. ria and other decomposer organisms. They break down
The roots of most plants and the majority of a soil’s some of the soil’s complex organic compounds into a
organic matter are found in the soil’s two upper layers: mixture of the partially decomposed plant and animal
the O horizon of leaf litter and the A horizon of topsoil. remains, called humus. A fertile soil that produces high
In a fertile soil, these two layers teem with bacteria, fungi, crop yields has a thick topsoil layer with a lot of humus
earthworms, and numerous small insects, all interacting mixed with mineral particles from weathered plant
by feeding on and decomposing one another. material.

Concept 3.2   51

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 FIGURE 3.8 Natural Capital: The
main components of an ecosystem
are energy, chemicals, and organisms.
Solar Nutrient cycling and the flow of
Chemical nutrients energy
energy—first from the sun, then
(carbon dioxide,
Heat through organisms, and finally into the
oxygen, nitrogen,
minerals) environment as low-quality heat—link
these components.

Heat Heat

Decomposers Producers
(bacteria, fungi) (plants)

Consumers
(plant eaters,
Heat meat eaters) Heat

Oak Fern
Moss and Organic tree Millipede
lichen debris Honey
Rock Grasses and fungus Earthworm
fragments small shrubs Wood
sorrel
O horizon
Leaf litter
A horizon
Topsoil
Mole
Bacteria
B horizon
Subsoil

Fungus
C horizon
Parent
material
Bedrock

Immature so Mite
il
Young soil
Mature soil
Nematode
Root system
Red earth mite Beetle larva

FIGURE 3.9 Natural Capital: Generalized soil formation and soil profile. Critical thinking: What
role do you think the tree in this figure plays in soil formation? How might the soil-formation process
change if the tree were removed?

Soil is a renewable resource but it is renewed very plant cover from soil exposes its topsoil to erosion by
slowly and becomes a nonrenewable resource if we water and wind. This explains why protecting and
deplete it faster than natural processes can renew it. renewing topsoil is a key to sustainability. You will
The formation of just 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) of top- learn more about soil erosion and soil conservation in
soil can take hundreds to thousands of years. Removing Chapter 10.

52     ChapTer 3 Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work?

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 3.3 WHAT HAPPENS TO ENERGY In natural ecosystems, most consumers feed on more
than one type of organism, and most organisms are eaten
IN AN ECOSYSTEM? or decomposed by more than one type of consumer.
Because of this, organisms in most ecosystems form a
CONCEPT 3.3 ​As energy flows through ecosystems in food complex network of interconnected food chains called a
chains and food webs, the amount of high-quality chemical energy food web. Food chains and food webs show how pro-
available to organisms decreases at each successive feeding level. ducers, consumers, and decomposers are connected to
one another as energy flows through trophic levels in an
Energy Flows through Ecosystems ­ecosystem. Figure 3.12 shows an aquatic food web and
in Food Chains and Food Webs Figure 3.13 shows a terrestrial food web.

Chemical energy stored as nutrients in the bodies and

wastes of organisms flows through ecosystems from one CONSIDER THIS …
trophic (feeding) level to another in food chains and food LEARNING FROM NATURE
webs. A sequence of organisms with each serving as a There is no waste in nature because the wastes and remains
source of nutrients or energy for the next level of organ- of one organism become food for other organisms. Scientists
isms is called a food chain (Figure 3.10). Every use and and engineers study food webs to learn how to reduce or
transfer of energy by organisms involves a loss of some eliminate food waste and other forms of waste produced
by humans.
high-quality energy to the environment as low-quality
energy in the form of heat, as required by the second law
of thermodynamics. A graphic display of the energy loss
at each trophic level is called a pyramid of energy flow.
Figure 3.11 illustrates this energy loss for a food chain, Some Ecosystems Produce Plant Matter
assuming a 90% energy loss for each level of the chain. Faster than Others Do
CONSIDER THIS … Scientists measure the rates at which ecosystems pro-
CONNECTIONS Energy Flow and Feeding People duce chemical energy to compare ecosystems and under-
Energy flow pyramids explain why the earth could support more stand how they interact. Gross primary productivity
people if they all ate at a low trophic level by consuming grains, (GPP) is the rate at which an ecosystem’s producers (such
vegetables, and fruits directly rather than passing such crops as plants and phytoplankton) convert solar energy into
through another trophic level and eating the flesh of herbivores chemical energy, which they store as compounds in their
such as cattle, pigs, sheep, and chickens. About two-thirds of
the world’s people survive primarily by eating wheat, rice, and bodies. To stay alive, grow, and reproduce, producers must
corn at the first trophic level mostly because they cannot afford use some of their stored chemical energy for their own
to eat much meat. aerobic respiration.

First Trophic Second Trophic Third Trophic Fourth Trophic

Level Level Level Level
Producers Primary Secondary Tertiary
(plants) consumers consumers consumers
(herbivores) (carnivores) (top carnivores)
Heat Heat Heat Heat

Solar
energy

Heat

Heat Heat

Decomposers and detritus feeders

FIGURE 3.10 In a food chain, chemical energy in nutrients flows through various trophic levels. Critical
thinking: Think about what you ate for breakfast. At what level or levels on a food chain were you eating?

Concept 3.3   53

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 Usable energy available FIGURE 3.11 Generalized
at each trophic level Heat pyramid of energy flow
(in kilocalories) showing the decrease in
Tertiary usable chemical energy
consumers 10 available at each succeeding
(human)
Heat trophic level in a food chain
or food web. This model
assumes that with each
Secondary transfer from one trophic level
consumers 100 to another, there is a 90%
(perch) Heat loss of usable energy to the
Decomposers Heat environment in the form of
low-quality heat. Calories and
Primary joules are used to measure
consumers 1,000 energy. 1 kilocalorie = 1,000
(zooplankton) calories = 4,184 joules.
Heat Critical thinking: Why is a
vegetarian diet more energy
10,000
efficient than a meat-based
Producers
(phytoplankton) diet?

FIGURE 3.12 This is a greatly

Humans simplified aquatic food web found in
the southern hemisphere. The shaded
middle area shows a simple food chain
Blue whale Sperm whale that is part of these complex interacting
feeding relationships. Many more
participants in the web, including an
array of decomposer and detritus feeder
Elephant organisms, are not shown here. Critical
seal thinking: Can you imagine a food web
of which you are a part? Try drawing a
Crabeater Killer simple diagram of it.
seal whale

Leopard
seal
Adelie Emperor
penguin penguin

Squid
Petrel

Fish

Carnivorous
zooplankton

Krill Herbivorous
zooplankton

Phytoplankton

54     ChapTer 3 Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work?

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 Red-tailed hawk

Gila woodpecker

Collared lizard

Grasshopper
mouse

Pallid-winged grasshopper

Antelope squirrel
Wood rat

Saguaro cactus Prickly-pear cactus

FIGURE 3.13 Greatly simplified terrestrial food web in a desert ecosystem. The shaded middle area shows a
simple food chain that is part of these complex interacting feeding relationships. Many more participants in the web,
including an array of decomposer and detritus feeder organisms, are not shown here.

Net primary productivity (NPP) is the rate at which Tropical rain forests have a very high NPP because
producers use photosynthesis to produce and store chemical they have an abundance and variety of producer trees
energy minus the rate at which they use some of this stored and other plants to support a large number of consum-
chemical energy through aerobic respiration. NPP measures ers. When such forests are cleared (Core Case Study) or
how fast producers can make the chemical energy that is burned to make way for crops or for grazing cattle, they
potentially available to the consumers in an ecosystem. suffer a sharp drop in NPP and lose many of their plant
Terrestrial ecosystems and aquatic life zones differ in and animal species.
their NPP as illustrated in Figure 3.14. Despite its low NPP, Only the plant matter represented by NPP is availa-
the open ocean produces more of the earth’s biomass per ble as nutrients for consumers. Thus, the planet’s NPP ulti-
year than any other ecosystem or life zone. This happens mately limits the number of consumers (including humans) that
because oceans cover 71% of the earth’s surface and con- can survive on the earth. This is one of nature’s important
tain huge numbers of phytoplankton and other producers. lessons.

Concept 3.3   55

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 Terrestrial Ecosystems
Swamps and marshes
Tropical rain forest
Temperate forest
Northern coniferous forest (taiga)
Savanna
Agricultural land
Woodland and shrubland
Temperate grassland
Tundra (arctic and alpine)
Desert scrub
Extreme desert
Aquatic Ecosystems
Estuaries
Lakes and streams
Continental shelf
Open ocean

800 1,600 2,400 3,200 4,000 4,800 5,600 6,400 7,200 8,000 8,800 9,600
Average net primary productivity (kcal/m2/yr)

FIGURE 3.14 Estimated annual average net primary productivity in major life zones and ecosystems expressed as kilocalories
of energy produced per square meter per year (kcal/m2/yr). Data analysis: What are the three most productive and the three
least productive systems?
Compiled by the authors using data from R. H. Whittaker, Communities and Ecosystems, 2nd ed., New York: Macmillan, 1975.

3.4 WHAT HAPPENS TO MATTER CONSIDER THIS …

CONNECTIONS Nutrient Cycles and Life
IN AN ECOSYSTEM? Nutrient cycles connect past, present, and future forms of life.
Some of the carbon atoms in your skin may once have been
CONCEPT 3.4 ​Matter, in the form of nutrients, cycles within part of an oak leaf, a dinosaur’s skin, or a layer of limestone
and among ecosystems and the biosphere, and human activities rock. Your grandmother, George Washington, or a hunter–­
are altering these chemical cycles. gatherer who lived 25,000 years ago may have inhaled some of
the nitrogen (N2) molecules you just inhaled.

Nutrients Cycle within and among

Ecosystems The Water Cycle
The elements and compounds that make up nutrients Water (H2O) is an amazing substance (Science Focus 3.2)
move continually through air, water, soil, rock, and liv- that is essential for life on the earth. The hydrologic
ing organisms within ecosystems, in cycles called nutri- cycle, or water cycle, collects, purifies, and distributes
ent cycles, or biogeochemical cycles. They represent the earth’s fixed supply of water, as shown in Figure 3.15.
the chemical cycling principle of sustainability The sun provides the energy needed to power the water
in action. These cycles are driven directly or indirectly cycle. Incoming solar energy causes evaporation—the con-
by energy from the sun and by the earth’s gravity. They version of some of the liquid water in the earth’s oceans,
include the hydrologic (water), carbon, nitrogen, and lakes, rivers, soil, and plants to vapor. Most water vapor
phosphorus cycles. Human activities are altering these rises into the atmosphere, where it condenses into droplets
important components of the earth’s natural capital (see in clouds. Gravity then draws the water back to the earth’s
Figure 1.3, p. 7). (­Concept 3.4) surface as precipitation, such as rain, snow, or sleet.

56     ChapTer 3 Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work?

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 SCIENCEFOCUS 3.2
Water’s Unique Properties
Without water, the earth would be a Water absorbs large amounts of heat (see Figure 2.9, p. 36). This allows life
lifeless planet. Water is a remarkable as it changes into water vapor and to exist in the upper layer of aquatic
compound with a unique combination of releases this heat as the vapor con- systems.
properties: denses back to liquid water. This helps • Unlike most liquids, water expands
• Water exists as a liquid over a wide to distribute heat throughout the world when it freezes. This means that ice
temperature range because of forces and to determine regional and local floats on water because it has a lower
of attraction between its molecules. If climates. It also makes evaporation a density (mass per unit of volume) than
liquid water had a much narrower range cooling process—explaining why you liquid water has. Otherwise, lakes and
of temperatures between freezing and feel cooler when perspiration evapo- streams in cold climates would freeze
boiling, the ocean would probably have rates from your skin. solid from the bottom up and lose
frozen solid or boiled away long ago. • Liquid water can dissolve more com- most of their aquatic life. Because
• Liquid water changes temperature pounds than other liquids. Water water expands upon freezing, it can
slowly because it can store a large carries dissolved nutrients into the tis- break pipes, crack a car’s engine block
amount of heat without a large change sues of living organisms, flushes waste (if it doesn’t contain antifreeze), break
in its own temperature. This property products out of those tissues, serves up pavement, and fracture rocks
helps protect living organisms from as an all-purpose cleanser, and helps (which helps form soil, see Figure 3.9).
temperature changes, moderates the to remove and dilute the water-soluble
earth’s climate, and makes water an wastes of civilization. This property also
CRITICAL THINKING
excellent coolant for car engines and means that water-soluble wastes can
power plants. easily pollute water. Pick two of the special properties listed
• It takes a large amount of energy to • Water filters out wavelengths of above and, for each property, explain how
evaporate water because of the attrac- the sun’s ultraviolet radiation that life on the earth would be different if it
tive forces between its molecules. would harm some aquatic organisms did not exist.

Most precipitation falling on terrestrial ecosystems Human activities alter the water cycle in three major
becomes surface runoff. This water flows over land sur- ways (see the red arrows and boxes in Figure 3.15). First,
faces into streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and the ocean people sometimes withdraw freshwater from rivers, lakes,
from which some of the water evaporates. Some of the water and aquifers, at rates faster than natural processes can
seeps into the upper layers of soils and is used by plants, and replace it. As a result, some aquifers are being depleted
some evaporates from the soils back into the atmosphere. and some rivers no longer flow to the ocean.
Some precipitation seeps into the soil. Water that seeps Second, people clear vegetation from land for agricul-
deeper into the soil is known as groundwater. Ground- ture, mining, road building, and other activities, and cover
water collects in aquifers, which are underground layers much of the land with buildings, concrete, and asphalt.
of sand, and water-bearing rock. Some precipitation is This increases water runoff and reduces infiltration that
converted to ice that is stored in glaciers. would normally recharge groundwater supplies.
Only about 0.024% of the earth’s vast water supply is Third, people drain and fill wetlands for farming and
available to humans and other species as liquid freshwa- urban development. Left undisturbed, wetlands pro-
ter in accessible groundwater deposits and in lakes, rivers, vide the ecosystem service of flood control. Wetlands act
and streams. The rest of the planet’s water is too salty, is like sponges to absorb and hold overflows of water from
too deep underground to extract at affordable prices, or is drenching rains and rapidly melting snow.
stored as ice in glaciers.
The Carbon Cycle
Percentage of the earth’s fresh- Carbon is the basic building block of the carbohydrates,

0.024% water supply that is available

to humans and other species
fats, proteins, DNA, and other organic compounds
required for life. Various compounds of carbon circulate
through the biosphere, the atmosphere, and parts of the

Concept 3.4   57

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 Condensation Condensation

Ice and
snow

Transpiration
from plants
Precipitation
to land Evaporation
of surface water
Evaporation
from ocean
Runoff

Lakes and
reservoirs Precipitation
to ocean
Runoff
Increased runoff on
land covered with crops,
buildings, and pavement
Infiltration
and percolation Increased runoff
into aquifer from cutting
Runoff forests and
filling wetlands

Groundwater Overpumping
in aquifers of aquifers Water pollution
Runoff

Ocean

Natural process
Natural reservoir
Human impacts

Natural pathway
Pathway affected by human activities

FIGURE 3.15 Natural Capital: Simplified model of the water cycle, or hydrologic cycle, in which water circulates in various ­physical
forms within the biosphere. The red arrows and boxes identify major effects of human activities on this cycle. Critical thinking:
What are three ways in which your lifestyle directly or indirectly affects the hydrologic cycle?

hydrosphere and geosphere in the carbon cycle shown Carbon is cycled through the biosphere by a combina-
in Figure 3.16. tion of photosynthesis by producers that remove CO2 from
A key component of the carbon cycle is carbon dioxide the air and water, and aerobic respiration by producers, con-
(CO2) gas. It makes up about 0.040% of the volume of the sumers, and decomposers that add CO2 to the atmosphere.
troposphere. The amount of carbon dioxide (along with Typically, CO2 remains in the atmosphere for 100 years or
water vapor in the water cycle) has a large effect on the longer. Some of the CO2 in the atmosphere dissolves in
temperature of the earth’s atmosphere (the greenhouse ocean waters. In the ocean, decomposers release carbon
effect, see Figure 3.3) and thus plays a major role in deter- that is stored as insoluble carbonate minerals and rocks in
mining the earth’s climate. bottom sediment for long periods.

58     ChapTer 3 Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work?

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 Carbon dioxide
in atmosphere Respiration

Photosynthesis

Animals
(consumers)
Burning
fossil fuels
Diffusion Forest fires

Plants
Deforestation (producers)

Transportation Respiration
Carbon
in plants
(producers)

Carbon dioxide Carbon

dissolved in ocean in animals
(consumers)
Decomposition
Carbon
Marine food webs
in fossil fuels
Producers, consumers,
decomposers

Carbon
in limestone or Compaction
dolomite sediments

Process
Reservoir

Pathway affected by humans

Natural pathway

FIGURE 3.16 Natural Capital: Simplified model showing the circulation of various chemical forms of carbon in the global
carbon cycle. Red arrows show major harmful impacts of human activities. (Yellow box sizes do not show relative reservoir sizes.)
Critical thinking: What are three ways in which you directly or indirectly affect the carbon cycle?

Over millions of years, some of the carbon in deeply tropical forests (Figure 3.1), faster than it can grow back
buried deposits of dead plant matter and algae has been (Core Case Study). This reduces the ability of the carbon
converted into carbon-containing fossil fuels such as coal, cycle to remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere and it
oil, and natural gas (Figure 3.16). Within a few hundred contributes to climate change. We discuss the major envi-
years, we have extracted and burned huge quantities of ronmental problems of ocean acidification in Chapter 9 and
fossil fuels that took millions of years to form. This has climate change in Chapter 15.
added large quantities of CO2 to the atmosphere (see the
red arrows in Figure 3.16) faster than the carbon cycle can
recycle it. There is considerable scientific evidence that
The Nitrogen Cycle
this disruption of the carbon cycle is helping to warm the Nitrogen gas (N2) makes up 78% of the volume of the
atmosphere and change the earth’s climate. The oceans atmosphere and is a crucial component of proteins, many
remove some of this CO2 but as a result, the acidity of vitamins, and DNA. However, N2 in the atmosphere can-
ocean waters is rising. This is bad news for organisms that not be absorbed and used directly as a nutrient by plants
are adapted to less-acidic ocean waters. or other organisms. It becomes a plant nutrient only as
Another way in which we alter the cycle is by clearing a component of nitrogen-containing ammonia (NH 3),
carbon-absorbing vegetation from many forests, especially ammonium ions (NH4+), and nitrate ions (NO3–), which are

Concept 3.4   59

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 Process Denitrification by bacteria
Nitrogen
Reservoir in atmosphere
Nitrogen fixation by bacteria
Pathway affected by humans
Natural pathway
Nitrogen
Electrical storms in animals
Nitrogen oxides (consumers)
from burning fuel
and using inorganic
fertilizers
Commercial
nitrogen Nitrogen
fertilizer in plants
(producers)

Decomposition
Nitrates
from fertilizer
runoff and Uptake by plants
decomposition

Nitrate
in soil

Nitrogen Nitrogen Nitrification

loss to deep in ocean by bacteria
ocean sediments sediments Ammonia
in soil

FIGURE 3.17 Natural Capital: Simplified model showing the circulation of various chemical forms of nitrogen in the
nitrogen cycle, with major harmful human impacts shown by the red arrows. (Yellow box sizes do not show relative reservoir
sizes.) Critical thinking: What are two ways in which the carbon cycle and the nitrogen cycle are linked?

circulated through parts of the biosphere in the ­nitrogen called acid rain. Acid deposition damages stone buildings
cycle (Figure 3.17). and statues. It can also kill forests and other plant ecosys-
These chemical forms of nitrogen are created by light- tems, and wipe out life in ponds and lakes.
ning which converts N2 to NH3 and by specialized bacteria We also remove large amounts of N2 from the atmos-
in topsoil. Other bacteria in topsoil and bottom sediments phere to make ammonia (NH3) and ammonium ions (NH4+),
convert NH3 to NH4+ and nitrate ions (NO3−) that are taken used to make fertilizers. In addition, we add the greenhouse
up by the roots of plants. Plants then use these forms of gas nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere through the
nitrogen to produce various proteins, nucleic acids, and action of anaerobic bacteria on nitrogen-containing fertilizer
vitamins necessary for their own survival and that of other or organic animal manure applied to the soil.
organisms. Animals that eat plants consume these nitro- People also alter the nitrogen cycle in aquatic ecosys-
gen-containing compounds, as do detritus feeders and tems by adding excess nitrates (NO3−). These nitrates con-
decomposers. Bacteria in waterlogged soil and bottom sed- taminate bodies of water through agricultural runoff of
iments of lakes, oceans, swamps, and bogs convert nitro- fertilizers, animal manure, and discharges from municipal
gen compounds into nitrogen gas (N2), which is released sewage treatment systems. This plant nutrient can cause
to the atmosphere to begin the nitrogen cycle again. excessive growths of algae that can disrupt aquatic systems.
Human activities interfere with the nitrogen cycle in
several ways (see the red arrows in Figure 3.17). When we
burn gasoline and other fuels, the resulting high temper-
The Phosphorus Cycle
atures convert some of the N2 and O2 in air to nitric oxide Phosphorus (P) is an element that is essential for living
(NO). In the atmosphere, NO can be converted to nitrogen things. It is necessary for the production of DNA and cell
dioxide gas (NO2) and nitric acid vapor (HNO3), which can membranes, and is important for the formation of bones
return to the earth’s surface as acid deposition, commonly and teeth.

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 Process
Reservoir

Pathway affected by humans

Natural pathway
Phosphates Phosphates
in sewage in fertilizer Plate
tectonics
Phosphates
in mining waste Runoff Runoff

Sea
birds
Runoff
Phosphate
in rock
Erosion (fossil bones,
guano) Ocean
food webs
Animals
(consumers) Phosphate Phosphate
dissolved in in shallow
water ocean sediments
Phosphate
in deep ocean
Plants sediments
(producers)

Bacteria

FIGURE 3.18 Natural Capital: Simplified model showing the circulation of various chemical forms of phosphorus (mostly
phosphates) in the phosphorus cycle, with major harmful human impacts shown by the red arrows. (Yellow box sizes do not
show relative reservoir sizes.) Critical thinking: What are two ways in which the phosphorus cycle and the nitrogen cycle are
linked? What are two ways in which the phosphorus cycle and the carbon cycle are linked?

The cyclic movement of phosphorus (P) through Most soils contain little phosphate, which often lim-
water, the earth’s crust, and living organisms is called the its plant growth on land. For this reason, people often
phosphorus cycle (Figure 3.18). Most of phosphorus fertilize soil by adding phosphorous as phosphates
compounds in this cycle contain phosphate ions (PO 43−), mined from the ground. Lack of phosphorus also limits
which are an important plant nutrient. Phosphorus does the growth of producer populations in many freshwa-
not cycle through the atmosphere because few of its com- ter streams and lakes. This is because phosphate com-
pounds exist as a gas. Phosphorous also cycles slower than pounds are only slightly soluble in water and do not
water, carbon, and nitrogen. release many phosphate ions to producers in aquatic
As water runs over exposed rocks, it slowly erodes inor- systems.
ganic compounds that contain phosphate ions. Water carries Human activities, including the removal of large
these ions into the soil, where they are absorbed by the roots amounts of phosphate from the earth to make ferti-
of plants and by other producers. Phosphate compounds are lizer, disrupt the phosphorus cycle (see red arrows in
then transferred by food webs from producers to consumers ­Figure 3.18). By clearing tropical forests (Core Case Study),
and eventually to detritus feeders and decomposers. we expose the topsoil to increased erosion, which reduces
Much of the phosphate that erodes from rocks is car- phosphate levels in the tropical soils.
ried into rivers and streams and into the ocean. In the Eroded topsoil and fertilizer washed from fertilized
ocean, phosphates can be deposited as marine sediments crop fields, lawns, and golf courses carry large quantities
and remain trapped for millions of years. Over time, geo- of phosphate ions into streams, lakes, and oceans. There
logical processes uplift and expose some of these seafloor they stimulate the growth of producers such as algae and
deposits. The exposed rocks are then eroded, freeing up various aquatic plants, which can upset chemical cycling
the phosphorus to re-enter the phosphorus cycle. and other processes in bodies of water.

Concept 3.4   61

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 I N D I V I D U A L S M AT T E R 3 . 1

Thomas E. Lovejoy—Forest Researcher and Biodiversity Educator

For several decades, conservation biologist and National Geographic Explorer Thomas E. Lovejoy
has played a major role in educating scientists and the public about the need to understand and
protect tropical forests. He has carried out research in the Amazon forests of Brazil since 1965.

Luiz Rampelotto/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom
A major goal of this research is estimating the minimum area necessary for sustaining biodiversity
in national parks and biological reserves in tropical forests. In 1980, he coined the term biodiver-
sity, or biological diversity.
Lovejoy served as the principal adviser for the popular and widely acclaimed public television
series Nature. He has also written numerous articles and books on issues related to conserving
biodiversity. In addition to teaching environmental science and policy at George Mason University,
he has held several prominent posts, including director of the World Wildlife Fund’s conservation
program and president of the Society for Conservation Biology. In 2012, he was awarded the Blue
Planet Prize for his efforts to understand and sustain the earth’s biodiversity.

CONSIDER THIS …
and temporary platforms in the treetops. These devices
LEARNING FROM NATURE help ­scientists to identify and observe the diversity of spe-
Scientists study the water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cies living or feeding in these treetop habitats.
cycles to help us learn how to reuse and recycle the wastes we Ecologists carry out controlled experiments by ­isolating
create.
and changing a variable in part of an area and compar-
ing the results with nearby unchanged areas. You learned
about a classic example of this in the Core Case Study of
Chapter 2 (p. 28).
3.5 HOW DO SCIENTISTS STUDY Ecologists also use aircraft and satellites equipped
ECOSYSTEMS? with sophisticated cameras and other remote sensing
devices to scan and collect data about the earth’s sur-
CONCEPT 3.5 ​Scientists use field research and laboratory
face. In addition, they use geographic information system
research, and mathematical and other type of models, to learn (GIS) software to capture, store, analyze, and display
about ecosystems and how much stress they can take. such data. For example, a GIS can convert digital satel-
lite images into global, regional, and local maps. These
maps show variations in vegetation, GPP, deforesta-
Studying Ecosystems Directly tion, soil erosion, air pollution, drought, flooding, and
Ecologists and other scientists use several approaches to other variables.
increase their scientific understanding of ecosystems. Some researchers attach tiny radio transmitters to
These approaches include field and laboratory research and animals and use GPS to learn about the animals by track-
mathematical and other types of models (Concept 3.5). ing where and how far animals go. Scientists also study
Field research involves going into forests and other nature by mounting time-lapse cameras or video cameras
natural settings to study ecosystems. Ecologists use a on small drones and on stationary objects such as trees
variety of methods for field research. They include col- to capture images of wildlife. GREEN CAREERS: GIS analyst;
lecting water and soil samples, identifying and study- remote sensing analyst
ing the species in an area, observing feeding behaviors,
and using global positioning ­s ystem (GPS) to track the
movements of animals. Most of what we know about
Laboratory Research and Models
ecosystems has come from such research (Individuals Ecologists supplement their field research by conducting
Matter 3.1). GREEN CAREER: Ecologist laboratory research. In laboratories, scientists create simpli-
Scientists also use a variety of methods to study trop- fied systems in containers such as culture tubes, bottles,
ical rain forests (Core Case Study). Some erect construc- aquariums, and greenhouses, and in indoor and outdoor
tion cranes to reach the canopies. Others climb the trees chambers. In these structures, they control temperature,
and install ropes and pulleys (see chapter-opening photo) light, CO2, humidity, and other variables.

62     ChapTer 3 Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work?

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SCIENCEFOCUS 3.3
Planetary Boundaries
For most of the past 10,000–12,000 exceeding 9 major planetary boundaries These researchers warn that we need
years, humans have been living in an era or ecological tipping points as a result of to act to reverse or reduce these impacts
called the Holocene—a period of rela- certain human activities. They warn that and to avoid exceeding the following
tively stable climate and other environ- exceeding them could trigger abrupt and additional boundaries: (1) freshwater
mental conditions. This general stability long-lasting or irreversible environmental use, (2) ocean acidification, (3) ozone
has allowed the human population to changes that could seriously degrade depletion in the stratosphere, (4) fine-­
grow, develop agriculture, and take over the earth’s life-support system and our particle air pollution, and (5) pollution
a large share of the earth’s land and other economies. from chemicals such as toxic heavy metals
resources (Figure 1.9, p. 11). In 2015, the researchers estimated and chemicals that can disrupt the human
Most geologists contend that we are that we have exceeded four of these endocrine system.
still living in the Holocene era but some planetary boundaries. They are (1) There is an urgent need for more
scientists disagree. According to them, disruption of the nitrogen and phos- research to fill gaps in the data on plane-
when the Industrial Revolution began phorous cycles mostly due to greatly tary boundaries. Such information could
(around 1750), we entered an era called increased use of fertilizers to produce help us avoid exceeding such boundaries
the Anthropocene (the era of man). food, (2) biodiversity loss caused by by shrinking our ecological footprints
In this new era, our ecological foot- replacement of biologically diverse for- while expanding our beneficial environ-
prints have expanded significantly and ests and grasslands with monocultures, mental impacts.
are changing and stressing the earth’s or fields of single crops, (3) land system
life-support system, especially since 1950. change due to agriculture and urban
CRITICAL THINKING
In 2015, an international team of development, and (4) climate change
18 highly regarded researchers, led by caused by our disruption of the carbon Which two of these boundaries do you
Will Steffen and Johan Rockstrom of the cycle, mostly through excessive emis- think are the most important?
Stockholm Resilience Centre, published sions of carbon dioxide from the burning
a paper estimating how close we are to of fossil fuels.

These systems make it easier for scientists to carry out would also help us to avoid going beyond ecological tip-
controlled experiments. Laboratory experiments are often ping points, which could cause severe degradation or col-
faster and less costly than similar experiments in the field. lapse of ecosystems (Science Focus 3.3).
However, scientists must consider how well their scientific
observations and measurements in simplified, controlled
• Life is sustained by the flow of energy from the
systems in laboratory conditions reflect what takes place
BIG IDEAS

sun through the biosphere, the cycling of nutri-

under the more complex and often-changing conditions
found in nature.
ents within the biosphere, and gravity.
Since the late 1960s, ecologists have developed math- • Some organisms produce the nutrients they
ematical models that simulate ecosystems and they run need, others survive by consuming other
these models on high-speed supercomputers. The models organisms, and still others live on the wastes
help them understand large and complex systems such as and remains of organisms while recycling
lakes, oceans, forests, and the earth’s climate, which can-
nutrients that are used again by producer
not be adequately studied in field or laboratory research.
organisms.
GREEN CAREER: Ecosystem modeler
Ecologists call for greatly increased research on the • Human activities are altering the chemical
condition of the world’s ecosystems to see how they are cycling of nutrients and the flow of energy
changing. This would help scientists develop strategies through food chains and webs in ecosystems.
for preventing or slowing natural capital degradation. It

Concept 3.5   63

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 Tying It All Together
Tropical Rain Forests and Sustainability
This chapter began with a dis- of the earth’s biodiversity, and
cussion of the importance of the world’s interactions among species living
incredibly diverse tropical rain forests in these forests help to sustain
(Core Case Study). These ecosystems these complex ecosystems.
showcase the functioning of the We also reported recent
three scientific principles of sus- research on the possible
tainability, which apply as well to long-lasting, harmful effects

Anneka/Shutterstock.com
the world’s other ecosystems. of our exceeding any key plan-
First, producers within rain forests rely etary boundaries. In many of
on solar energy to produce a vast amount the chapters to follow, we will
of biomass through photosynthesis. Sec- further examine such risks, and
ond, species living in the forests take part in we will consider ways in which
and depend on the cycling of nutrients and we can apply the six principles sustainably, and to create and expand
the flow of energy within the forests and of sustainability (see inside back cover beneficial environmental impacts.
throughout the biosphere. Third, tropical of this book) to try to stay within the
rain forests contain a huge and vital part key planetary boundaries, to live more

Chapter Review
Core Case Study 4. Distinguish between the living and nonliving compo-
1. What are three harmful effects of the clearing and nents in ecosystems and give two examples of each.
degradation of tropical rain forests? 5. What is a trophic level? Distinguish among pro-
ducers, consumers, decomposers, and detritus
Section 3.1 feeders (detritivores), and give an example of
2. What are the two key concepts for this section? each. Summarize the processes of photosynthesis.
Define and distinguish among the atmosphere, Distinguish among primary consumers (herbi-
troposphere, stratosphere, hydrosphere, geo- vores), carnivores, secondary consumers, ter-
sphere, and biosphere. What three intercon- tiary consumers, and omnivores, and give an
nected factors sustain life on the earth? Describe the example of each.
flow of energy to and from the earth. What is the 6. Explain the importance of microbes. What is aerobic
­greenhouse effect and why is it important? respiration (fermentation)? What two processes
sustain ecosystems and the biosphere and how are
Section 3.2 they linked? Define soil and soil profile. What are
3. What are the two key concepts for this section? Define soil horizons? Name four major horizons. What is
ecology. Define organism, population, commu- humus and how does it relate to fertile soil?
nity, and ecosystem, and give an example of each.

64     ChapTer 3 Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work?

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Section 3.3 other species as liquid freshwater? Summarize the
7. What is the key concept for this section? Define and unique properties of water. Explain how human activ-
distinguish between a food chain and a food web. ities are affecting the water cycle. Describe the car-
Explain what happens to energy as it flows through bon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles, and explain
food chains and food webs. What is a pyramid of how human activities are affecting each cycle.
energy flow?
Section 3.5
8. Distinguish between GPP and NPP, and explain 10. What is the key concept for this section? Describe
their importance. What are the two most productive three ways in which scientists study ecosystems.
land ecosystems and the two most productive aquatic Explain why we need much more basic data about
ecosystems? the structure and condition of the world’s eco-
systems. Distinguish between the Holocene and
Section 3.4 Anthropocene eras. List four planetary boundaries
9. What is the key concept for this section? What hap- that we have exceeded, according to some scientists.
pens to matter in an ecosystem? What is a nutrient What are this chapter’s three big ideas? How are
cycle? Explain how nutrient cycles connect past, pres- the three ­scientific principles of sustainabil-
ent, and future life. Describe the hydrologic cycle, ity ­showcased in tropical rain forests?
or water cycle. What is surface runoff? Define
groundwater. What is an aquifer? What percentage Note: Key terms are in bold type.
of the earth’s water supply is available to humans and

Critical Thinking
1. How would you explain the importance of tropical producer species. Describe the sequence of feeding
rain forests (Core Case Study) to people who think levels that led to your feeding.
that such forests have no connection to their lives?
5. Use the second law of thermodynamics (see
2. Explain (a) why the flow of energy through the ­Chapter 2, p. 38) to explain why many poor people
biosphere depends on the cycling of nutrients, and in less-developed countries live on a mostly vegetar-
(b) why the cycling of nutrients depends on gravity. ian diet.
3. Explain why microbes are so important. What are two 6. How might your life and the lives of any children or
ways in which they benefit your health or lifestyle? grandchildren you might have be affected if human activ-
Write a brief description of what you think would hap- ities as a whole continue to intensify the water cycle?
pen to you if microbes were eliminated from the earth.
7. What would happen to an ecosystem if (a) all of its
4. Make a list of the foods you ate for lunch or dinner decomposers and detritus feeders were eliminated,
today. Trace each type of food back to a particular (b) all of its producers were eliminated, and (c) all of

Critical Thinking    65

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 its insects were eliminated? Could an ecosystem func- cycles, biodiversity loss, land system change, and climate
tion with only producers and decomposers and no change—might affect (a) you, (b) any child you might
consumers? Explain. have, and (c) any grandchild you might have.
8. Describe how exceeding each of the planetary
­boundaries—disruption of the nitrogen and phosphorous

Doing Environmental Science

Visit a nearby terrestrial ecosystem or aquatic life zone these organisms might be related to each other or to other
and try to identify major producers, primary and second- organisms in a food chain or food web. Think of two ways
ary consumers, detritus feeders, and decomposers. Take in which this food chain or web could be disrupted. Write
notes and describe at least one example of each of these a report summarizing your research and conclusions.
types of organisms. Make a simple sketch showing how

Global Environment Watch Exercise

Go to your MindTap course to access the GREENR data- ecological effects of the runoff of nitrate fertilizers into
base. Using the “Basic Search” box at the top of the page, rivers and lakes. Make a list of these impacts and use this
search for Nitrogen Cycle and look for information on how information to review your daily activities. Find three
humans are affecting the nitrogen cycle. Specifically look things that you do regularly that contribute to these
for impacts on the atmosphere and on human health from impacts.
emissions of nitrogen oxides, and look for the harmful

66     ChapTer 3 Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work?

Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Data Analysis
Recall that NPP is the rate at which producers can make 2. Early in the 20th century, large areas of temperate
the chemical energy that is stored in their tissues and that forestland in the United States were cleared to make
is potentially available to other organisms (consumers) way for agricultural land. For each unit of this forest
in an ecosystem. In Figure 3.14, it is expressed as units area that was cleared and replaced by farmland, by
of energy (kilocalories, or kcal) produced in a given area about how much was NPP reduced?
(square meters, or m2) over a period of time (a year). Look
3. Why do you think deserts and grasslands have dra-
again at Figure 3.14 and consider the differences in NPP
matically lower NPP than swamps and marshes?
among various ecosystems. Then answer the following
questions: 4. About how many times higher is NPP in estuaries
than in lakes and streams? Why do you think this
1. What is the approximate NPP of a tropical rain forest
is so?
in kcal/m2/yr? Which terrestrial ecosystem produces
at about one-third of that rate? Which aquatic ecosys-
tem has about the same NPP as a tropical rain forest?

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WWW.CENGAGEBRAIN.COM   67

Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.