Various Abiotic Components

of Ecosystem
(Part 3)
JAIRA ANGELINE T. BALISI
Department of Environmental Science
College of Science
Tarlac State University
Atmospheric Circulation
• When surface of the Earth is heated, air above is
also heated, and it becomes light and rises.
• As warm air rises, it encounters lower pressure and
expands, spending some of its energy.
• The rate of decrease in temperature of the rising
air mass is called the dry adiabatic lapse rate.

• The decrease in internal energy of the air parcel

cools it a rate of 10°c/1000m. When it sinks, the air
mass warms at the same rate.

• 0 ° to 30 ° – Hadley Cells
• 30 ° to 60 ° – Ferrel Cells
• 60 ° to 90 ° – Polar Cells
 front
• Boundary between two contrasting air masses
• Warm fronts – more gentle
• Cold fronts – less gentle
• In front of the usually strong advancing cold air mass,
warm air is pushed up and over the steep front, and if
laden with moisture, cumulonimbus clouds develop over
a rather narrow zone, often bring rainfall initially as
thunderstorms.
• The cold air mass pushes the warm air which falls back or
recedes in consort with the advance
• Warm fronts develop when low pressure, warmer, moist
air overtakes a Cold Front. The warm air glides up and
over the cold air mass. Precipitation is strung out over a
much broader area and thick nimbostratus and other
stratified cloud types are characteristic.
 Elliptical Orbit and the Earth’s Rotation
around the Sun
• Ellipse - Orbit of the Earth’s rotation around the sun

• Earth rotates around the sun = 365.25 days/revolution.

• Average Earth-sun distance =149.7 x 106 km (April 4 and October 5)

• Distance determines the amount energy received by the surface =

heating of the Earth, produces seasons and climate patterns..
• Perihelion – when Earth is nearest to the sun (147.3 x 106 km)
observed at Jan. 3
• Aphelion – when Earth is farthest to the sun (152.1 x 106 km),
occurs at about July 4

• Seasonal tilting of the Earth’s axis means that there is no sunlight at the
poles during much of the winter

• Tropical region, almost uniform amount of solar energy, minimal variation

in temperature is experienced.
 + Global wind patterns and Earth’s rotation create
warm and cold surface currents in the oceans =

PLACEMENT OF
affect the climate on the continents.
+ The interior of a continent is usually drier than
its coast simply because the interior is farther
CONTINENTS away from the major site of water evaporation.
+ Maritime (coastal) climates are also less variable
AND OCEANS than continental (interior) climates
+ Amount of the energy needed to change the
temp. of one cc of water is higher compared to
land.
Mountains and other geographical
barriers also affect the circulation
of air and water.

Rain shadow effect

• Placement of Continents and Oceans
• The interior of a continent Is usually drier than
its coast simply because the interior is farther
away from the major site of water evaporation.
• Maritime (coastal) climates are also less
variable than continental (interior) climates
amount of the energy needed to change the
temp. of one cc of water is higher compared to
land
OCEAN CURRENT
+ Plays a major role in transferring heat over
the surface of the earth.
+ In large ocean basins, cold water tends to
move toward the tropics along the western
coast.
+ Helps mix ocean waters and redistribute
nutrients needed by aquatic organisms
+ Outgoing surface water is replaced by
upwelling of nutrient-rich, cold bottom
water
+ Changes in prevailing winds can change
the temperatures of surface waters,
suppress upwelling and triggers weather.
 Winds, Waves, and Currents

• In streams and rivers – constant hazard of being washed away

Repeated pounding and suction of wave action on seashores

Holdfasts, flexible bodies

 Salinity

Halophytes – have
Osmotic resistance
metabolites for
to water uptake
osmoregulation

Creates
osmoregulatory Others have a way of
problems (same as pumping out excess
drought and salt from their tissues
freezing) to avoid damage
Dynamic of Upwelling
and Downwelling
JAIRA ANGELINE T. BALISI
Department of Environmental Science
College of Science
Tarlac State University
Upwelling and Downwelling
+ Upwelling - Occurs when dense cool nutrient rich
water from the bottom of the water column offshore
replaces the nutrient depleted surface water in the
nearshore.

+ Downwelling - Occurs when surface water becomes

denser and sinks to the bottom of the lake.

+ Upward and downward water movement can occur if

certain wind conditions exist…

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 Physical Properties of Water Drives
Upwelling and Downwelling

Temperature pH Density Upwelling and downwelling

illustrate the MASS
CONTINUITY of ocean.

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 Importance of + Winds causes water to build up along a coastline.
+ Surface water eventually sinks towards the bottom.
Upwelling and + Heat, dissolved materials and oxygen rich
water are transported to greater depths
Downwelling + Reduced biological activity

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 Site of Upwelling and Downwelling
Inter-tropical Convergence
Coastlines Open ocean
Zone (ITCZ)

currents change direction due where winds cause surface water opposing rotation of the wind causes surface
water to diverge
to contact with land masses to diverse (move away) from a
region (causing upwelling) or to Region of low pressure that encircles the
Earth near the equator where trade winds of
converge toward some region Northern and Southern Hemisphere comes
(causing downwelling) together

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 Mechanisms of 1. Wind

Upwelling and 2. Coriolis Effect

3. Ekman Transport

Downwelling

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 1. WIND
WIND - flow of gases on a large scale;
bulk movement of air

Gust – sudden brief rush of wind/ short

bursts of high-speed wind

Squalls – sudden violent wind often with

rain or snow/ strong wind of
intermediate duration (around 1min).
Breeze, gale, storm, hurricane, typhoon–
long duration winds
 Two main causes of • Differential heating
between equator and
large-scale poles

atmospheric circulation • Rotation of the planet

(Coriolis effect)
 2. Coriolis Effect
(Gustave Coriolis)
In Physics – deflection of moving objects when they are viewed
in a rotating reference frame.
• Resultant wind direction is the product of two competing
forces
• Pressure Gradient Force (PGF) – from high to low; is acting in
a North-South direction and the Coriolis Force (not as strong)
in a West to East direction.
• The Net Direction of Motion is the resultant of vector addition
of the two forces.

deflection is to the left of the motion of the deflection is to the right (South to North
object (North to South Pole) Pole)

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 EKMAN TRANSPORT
Vagn Walfrid Ekman (1874-1954)
90⁰ net transport of surface layer (depth to which the wind penetrates) due to
wind forcings.

1. Wind blows across the sea surface at a particular direction.

2. Water is transported a net degrees from the direction of the wind.
3. Ekman transport causes the surface layer of water to move at about
45oangle from direction of the wind.
4. Coriolis force dictates which way water will move.

• NORTHERN HEMISPHERE - 90o angle to the RIGHT of the direction of

the wind.
• SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE - 90o angle to the LEFT of the direction of
the wind.

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 + External processes
+ Changes based on sun’s energy or on
gravity

Geologic + Internal processes

Processes + Geologic changes emanating from the

interior of the earth
+ The energy driving the processes comes
from the heat coming from the earth’s
interior.

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2/2/20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 21
Internal Process: Plate Tectonics
Even though the theory of
continental drift was
Produces mountains, Trace the patterns of
proposed in 1912 by Alfred
volcanoes, ocean ridge biological evolution in the
Wegener, the idea of moving
systems, trenches and other migration of species from
continents wasn’t generally
features of earth surface. one continent to another.
accepted until the early
1960s.

The ensuing theory, known as

That’s when Wegener’s
plate tectonics, has had a
theory was resurrected by Evidences: Continents seem
major impact on Earth
Harry Hess, Robert Dietz, to fit together, Fossils, and
Sciences. It represents a
Fred Vine, and Drummond rocks
scientific revolution in
Matthews.
geology.

2/2/20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 22

 Internal Process:
Plate Tectonics
• Theory explaining the movements of the lithosphere
plates
• Convection currents and uneven heat flows passing
through the core and mantle break up the overlying
crust into huge blocks
• Pieces of lithosphere that move around on top of the
asthenosphere
• Could contain different kinds of lithosphere:
• Oceanic lithosphere
• Continental lithosphere

2/2/20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 23

 Convection Currents
• The middle mantle "flows“ because of convection currents. Convection currents are caused by
the very hot material at the deepest part of the mantle rising, then cooling and sinking again - -
repeating this cycle over and over.
• When the convection currents flow in the asthenosphere they also move the crust.

2/2/20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 24

 Pangea / Pangaea
• About 245 MYA, all the continents were
joined into a single SUPERCONTINENT
called PANGAEA

• About ~200 MYA, Pangaea began breaking

apart

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 The Pacific Ring
of Fire
+ is a string of volcanoes (>450) and sites of
seismic activity, or earthquakes, around the edges
of the Pacific Ocean.

+ Roughly 90% of all earthquakes occur along the

Ring of Fire, and the ring is dotted with 75% of all
active volcanoes on Earth.

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 Exogenic Processes
1. Aggradation processes
a. Deposition

2. Degradation processes (Denudation)

a. Weathering – physical or chemical disintegration of rocks

b. Mass wasting – also known as slope movement or mass movement, is

the geomorphic process by which soil, sand, and rock moved own slope
typically as a mass, largely under the force of gravity.

c. Erosion - loosened materials as well as materials not yet separated, is

dissolved, loosened or worn away from one part of the earth’s surface and
deposited in other places.

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 + Physical weathering
+ Large mass of rock is broken into smaller
fragments of the original material
+ Depends upon temperature fluctuations

Weathering
+ Chemical weathering
+ Mass of rock is decomposed by one or
more chemical reactions
+ Products are chemically different from the
original material
+ Involves reaction of rock material with O2,
CO2 and moisture in the atmosphere and
the ground

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 + Rock is any material that makes up a
large, natural, continuous part of
earth’s crust
+ Interaction of processes that change

Rock Cycle rocks from one type to another

+ Slowest of the earth’s cyclic processes
+ Processes: melting, erosion and
metamorphism
+ Products: igneous, sedimentary
and metamorphic rocks

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 Types of rocks
• Igneous rocks – molten rock material (magma) well
sup from the earth’s interior, cools and solidifies into
rock masses; Provides non-fuel minerals, decorative
and precious stones

• Sedimentary rocks – produced from accumulated

products of erosion from compacted shells, skeletons
and other remains of dead organisms

• Metamorphic rocks – When preexisting rock is

subjected to high temperatures, pressures, chemically
fluids or combination of these agents; Economically
important (i.e. anthracitecoal, marble)

2/2/20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 30

CYCLES IN ECOSYSTEM
JAIRA ANGELINE T. BALISI
Department of Environmental Science
College of Science
Tarlac State University
 Biogeochemical Cycles
Chemical exchanges of elements among
atmosphere, rocks of Earth’s crust, water, and
living things

+ Bios (Grk) – life

+ Geo (Grk) – earth

+ Chemeia (Grk) – alchemy

+ Kyklos (Grk) – circle / wheel

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 Components of Biogeochemical Cycle
+ Active components - Always participating
in the cycling process of:
• living organisms
• organic detritus
• available inorganic nutrients

+ Inactive components - do not always

participate in the cycle:
• indirectly available organic nutrients
• indirectly available organic nutrients

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 + 1.Gaseous Cycle - Atmospheric and oceanic inputs;
Pronounced global circulation patterns (e.g., C, N cycles)

Types of Nutrient Cycles + 2. Sedimentary Cycle - Inputs dependent on

weathering of rocks and minerals; Solution phase and rock

(based on primary phase (e.g., Ca, P cycle

+ *Both involve biological and non-biological agents;
source of nutrient input) driven by the flow of energy; tied to the water cycle
General Model of Nutrient Cycles
Input – Internal cycling – Output
Nutrient Cycling in Terrestrial and
Aquatic Ecosystems
 Hydrologic Cycle
+ Evaporation - driven by radiant energy
+ Transpiration - Water loss from plants
+ Evapotranspiration - sum of evaporation
from the land surface plus transpiration from
plants
+ Condensation - aggregation of water
molecules from vapor to liquid or solid upon
exceeding saturation concentration
+ Precipitation - water back to earth
+ Infiltration and Percolation
+ Surface Run-off

2/2/20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 36

 1. Human withdraw large quantities of freshwater

Human Activities
from streams, lakes, and underground sources.
2. Clearing of vegetation from land for agriculture,
mining, road and building construction, and

Affecting the Water

other activities and sometimes cover the land
with buildings, concrete, or asphalt.

Cycle
3. We modify water quality by adding nutrients
(such as phosphates and nitrates found in
fertilizers) and other pollutants.

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 Carbon cycle
1. Photosynthesis/respiration - most
occurs in oceans
+ Photosynthesis - terrestrial autotrophs use
atmospheric carbon dioxide while aquatic
plants use dissolved carbonates
+ Respiration - releasing of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere

2.Ocean-atmosphere interchange
+ oceans absorb CO2 from air
+ this buffers CO2changes in the atmosphere

2/2/20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 38

 Carbon cycle
3. Precipitation of carbonates in water

• crystallizes into calcite and aragonite, the core

component of limestone
• building blocks for skeletons and shells of
marine organisms
• Cais replaced by input from surface water

39
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 Fossil Fuels

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 Nitrogen cycle

Often the limiting

Essential for proteins, resource for plants,
70% of the atmosphere
DNA/RNA especially in oceans,
deserts

Ammonification and
Atmospheric form (N2) Nitrogen fixation – Denitrification (In low-
can’t be used by plants conversion of N2 to NH3 oxygen settings such as
(must be reduced to (ammonia) by bacteria oceans, soils, sediments)
nitrates) or lightning

2/2/20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 41

 Nitrogen cycle

+ Energy-releasing reactions
+ Nitrogen is lost from the systems
+ Some N fixation occurs in free-living soil
bacteria
+ Most in roots of nitrogen-fixing plants
+ Legumes–plants in the pea family (Fabaceae)
+ Have root nodules inhabited by nitrogen-
fixing Rhizobium bacteria
+ Plants provide bacteria with carbohydrates

2/2/20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 42

 Human Intervention on Nitrogen Cycle

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 Phosphorus cycle
Used in nucleic acids,
cell membranes, Often limiting in
energy storage, aquatic environments
bones/teeth

Most P occurs as Absorbed from

phosphate (PO43-) soil/water by plants

Bacteria oxidize In aerobic water,

organic phosphorus precipitates and is
in detritus lost as sediments

2/2/20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 44

 Large quantities of phosphate rock are mined for
commercial inorganic fertilizers and detergents

Human
Intervention Reduce available phosphate in tropical forests by
removing trees through cutting and burning.

on Most remaining phosphorus and other soil

nutrients are washed away by heavy rains, and the

Phosphorus land become unproductive.

Cycle Addition of excess phosphates in aquatic system

from animal wastes run off from livestock feedlots,
run off commercial phosphates in fertilizers from
croplands and discharge of municipal sewage.

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 Sulfur cycle

Most organisms acquire S as

Used in amino acids
sulfates (SO42-) and assimilate S
by reduction

Bacteria and atmospheric O2 In anaerobic environments,

oxidize organic S in detritus, bacteria use sulfates as an
creating SO42- energy source and produce S or
H2S

2/2/20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 46

 + Burning of sulfur-containing coal and oil
to produce electric power produces 2/3 of
the human inputs of sulfur dioxide into the
atmosphere.
Human
Intervention on + Refining sulfur-containing petroleum to
make gasoline, heating oil, and other

Sulfur Cycle
useful products.

+ Smelting converts sulfur compounds of

metallic minerals into free metals such as
copper, lead, and zinc.

2/2/20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 47

 Linkages among
biogeochemical cycles

• Cycled nutrients are all components of living organisms

• They travel together through the process of internal cycling
which involves primary production and decomposition