Evolution, the Overarching Theme of Biology – the

premise of this week. Biomes explains the

environmental canvas.
• Evolution makes sense of everything we know
about living organisms
• Organisms living on Earth are modified
descendents of common ancestors

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Ecology – lets define it

Eco = home/ house

Ology = study of
Ecology = study of home… more scientifically,
ecology means the study of the function,
network, and distribution of biological elements
in an environment
Types of ecology: Wildlife ecology, human
ecology, political ecology, marine ecology
 Theme: New properties emerge at each level in the
biological hierarchy –

The biosphere

Ecosystems/ Cells
Biomes Organs and organ
systems

Atoms
1 µm
Biological
50 µm
Communities
Tissues

Populations Molecules
Individuals/species

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Fig. 1-4c

Define on the
board

The biosphere
Fig. 1-4d

Ecosystems – why biomes?

Biomes

• Biomes are defined as "the world's major

communities, classified according to the
predominant vegetation and characterized by
adaptations of organisms to that particular
environment" (Campbell 1996).
• Biomes have changed and moved many times
during the history of life on Earth. More
recently, human activities have drastically
altered these communities.
THE FRESHWATER
BIOME

Freshwater is defined as having less than

or equal to 1 % salt concentration.
Ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands
(bayou, marsh, bog, swamp…)
Plants and animals in freshwater regions are
adjusted to the low salt content and would
not be able to survive in areas of high salt
concentration (i.e., ocean).
THE MARINE
BIOME

Marine regions cover about three-fourths of

the Earth's surface and include oceans,
coral reefs, and estuaries. Marine algae
supply much of the world's oxygen supply
and take in a huge amount of atmospheric
Oceans, Rivers, carbon dioxide. The evaporation of the
seawater provides rainwater for the land.
Estuaries (Coves,
bogs) Where do rivers and oceans meet?
“THE DELTA or
ESTUARY
 The ten largest deserts
THE DESERT
DesertBIOME Area (km²)
Antarctic (Antarctic)
Hot and dry, semiarid, coastal, cold
14 000 000
Sahara (Africa) 9 000 000
Groenland (Arctic) 2 000 000
Deserts cover about one fifth of the Earth's surface and occur where rainfall is less than 250 mm
or 10 inches / year.
Gobi desert (Asia) 1 125 000
Most deserts (Sahara of North Africa and the deserts of the southwestern U.S., Mexico, and
Kalahari
Australia) occur atdesert (Africa)
low latitudes, 580 000
Some such as cold deserts, occur in the basin and range area of Utah and Nevada and in parts of
western
GreatAsia.
Sandy Desert (Australia) 414 000
Most deserts have a considerable amount of specialized vegetation, as well as specialized
vertebrate and invertebrate animals. Soils often have abundant nutrients because they need
Karakum (Asia) 350 000
only water to become very productive and have little or no organic matter.

Taklamakan
Disturbances are commondesert (Asia)
in the form 344 000 and sudden,
of occasional fires or cold weather,
infrequent, but intense rains that cause flooding.
Namib desert (Africa) 310 000
There are relatively few large mammals in deserts because most are not capable of storing
sufficient water and withstanding the heat. Deserts often provide little shelter from the sun
Thar
for large animals. The(Asia) 260 000
dominant animals of warm deserts are nonmammalian vertebrates,
such as reptiles. Mammals are usually small, like the kangaroo mice of North American
deserts.
The 10 largest deserts
Desert Area (km²)
Antarctic (Antarctic) 14 000 000
Sahara (Africa) 9 000 000
Groenland (Arctic) 2 000 000
Gobi desert (Asia) 1 125 000
Kalahari desert (Africa) 580 000
Great Sandy Desert
414 000
(Australia)
Karakum (Asia) 350 000
Taklamakan desert (Asia) 344 000
Namib desert (Africa) 310 000
Thar (Asia) 260 000
 THE FOREST
BIOME
Tropical, temperate,
boreal (taiga)

Forests occupy approximately one-third of Earth's land area, account for

over two-thirds of the leaf area of land plants, and contain about 70%
of carbon present in living things.
They have been held in reverence in folklore and worshipped in ancient
religions. However, forests are becoming major casualties of civilization as
human populations have increased over the past several thousand years,
bringing deforestation, pollution, and industrial usage problems to this
important biome.
Present-day forest biomes, biological communities that are dominated by trees
and other woody vegetation, can be classified according to numerous
characteristics, with seasonality being the most widely used.
There are three major types of forests, classed according to latitude – tropical,
temperate and boreal – each with distinct forest types that occur within these
broad groups.
 THE
TUNDRA
BIOME

Arctic and Alpine

Tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturi, meaning treeless plain.
Tundra is noted for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely low temperatures,
little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons. Dead organic
material functions as a nutrient pool. The two major nutrients are nitrogen,
created by biological fixation, and phosphorus, created by precipitation.
Extremely cold climate
Limited precipitation
Low biotic diversity
Simple vegetation structure
Limitation of drainage
Short season of growth and reproduction
Energy and nutrients in the form of dead organic material
Large population oscillations
 THE GRASSLAND
BIOME

Tropical grasslands,
(savannahs), temperate
grasslands
Grasslands are characterized as lands dominated by grasses** rather
than large shrubs or trees. Rainfall is between 20 – 30 inches (500-900
mm). Soil is porous and fire is a central function of the ecosystem.

In the Miocene and Pliocene Epochs, which spanned a period of about 25

million years, mountains rose in western North America and created a
continental climate favorable to grasslands. Ancient forests declined and
grasslands became widespread. Following the Pleistocene Ice Ages,
grasslands expanded in range as hotter and drier climates prevailed
worldwide.

** Grasses, sedges, rushes, forbs…

GRASSLANDS MAKE UP ~ 50 PERCENT OF THE
LAND MASS IN AFRICA, AND SIGNIFICANT
PORTIONS OF THE LANDMASS ON OTHER
CONTINENTS
St
BIOMES
REVISIT
ED

The
altitude
factor
 Theme: Organisms interact with their
environments, exchanging matter and energy –
foundational concept of biological communities:
• Every organism interacts with its environment, including
nonliving factors and other organisms
• Both organisms and their environments are affected by
the interactions between them
– For example, a tree takes up water and minerals from
the soil and carbon dioxide from the air; the tree
releases oxygen to the air and roots help form soil
Biological communities as a level of the environment
allow scientists to define their study area

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings

 Biological community

• The members of a species living in a

given area at the same time constitute a
population. All the populations living and
interacting within a particular geographic
area make up a biological (or biotic)
community.
 Ecosystem Dynamics

• The dynamics of an ecosystem include two

major processes:
– Cycling of nutrients, in which materials
acquired by plants eventually return to the
soil
See larger
version

– The flow of energy from sunlight to

producers to consumers, ex: leaf structure:
thin and flat, maximize the capture of light by
chloroplasts; thin and narrow limit water loss
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
 Species & Evolution, the Overarching Theme of
Biology

• Evolution makes sense of everything we know

about living organisms
• Organisms living on Earth are modified
descendents of common ancestors

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings