2.A.

3 Environmental Exchanges

Organisms must exchange matter with

the environment to grow, reproduce and
maintain organization.
 Molecules and atoms from the
environment are necessary to build
new molecules.
Nutrient Cycling is the cycling of matter
between reservoirs.
• In some reservoirs, materials are
available as nutrients (living
organisms, detritus, atmosphere, soil,
water)
• In other reservoirs, materials are
unavailable as nutrients (coal, oil,
peat, rocks)
The Carbon Cycle
 Carbon is used in organisms to build
carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids.
Carbon is used in storage compounds and cell
formation in all organisms.
Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen moves from the environment to
organisms where it is used in building
proteins and nucleic acids.
The Phosphorus Cycle
Phosphorus moves from the environment
to organisms where it is used in nucleic
acids and certain lipids.
Decomposition and nutrient cycling rates

• Rates of nutrient cycling vary

mostly due to rates of
decomposition
• Warmer and more precipitation
mean faster decomposition and
faster nutrient cycling.
 Vegetation and Nutrient Cycling
Hubbard Brook Experiment:
• Long-term ecology study in the Hubbard
Brook Experimental Forest in NH found that
the amount of nutrients leaving an ecosystem
is controlled mainly by plant growth.
 Nutrient Enrichment

• Humans remove nutrients

from one part of
biosphere and add them
to another.
• Also add toxic materials.
• Agriculture – nutrients not
recycled, but exported
with crops. Nitrogen is
the main material lost.
Contamination of aquatic ecosystems

• Critical load is the amount of

added nutrient (usually N or P)
that can be absorbed by plants
without damaging an ecosystem
• After reaching critical load in the
soil, nutrients enter groundwater
and run off into streams and
rivers.
• Agricultural runoff, sewage, and industrial waste cause
overload of nutrients in lakes and rivers.
• Algae blooms cause eutrophic lakes that become
depleted of oxygen at night when photosynthesis stops.
 Atmospheric CO2
• Increasing CO2 levels drives global warming.
• Greenhouse effect – CO2 and water vapor in the
atmosphere “trap” infrared radiation and re-
reflecting it back toward earth.
Some Impacts of global warming:
• Melting of polar icecaps, rising sea levels.
• Alter weather patterns, drying agricultural land.
• Mass extinctions of plants and animals that
cannot move or adapt.
The Water Cycle
Living systems depend on the
properties of water.
The polarity of water results in
hydrogen bonding (H-bonds).
Water is a polar molecule; oxygen is
more electronegative than hydrogen.

Oxygen
pulls
electrons
toward it
 Oxygen acquires a partial negative charge (δ-);
hydrogen acquires a partial positive charge (δ-).

Dipole
moment
(partial
charge)
Attraction between the partial negative charges
on one water molecule to the partial positive
charges on another water molecule results in
hydrogen bonding.

Hydrogen
bond
Properties of Water
 In cohesion, water has a tendency to
cling to other water molecules.
Cohesion is due to hydrogen bonding.

• Surface
tension is how
difficult it is to
break the
surface of a
liquid. Due to
cohesion.
In adhesion, water has a tendency to cling to
other substances. Adhesion is also due to
hydrogen bonding.
Water has a high specific heat, the energy
needed to heat 1g of a substance by 1°C.
Because of this, it takes a great deal of
energy to heat or cool water.
Water also has a high heat of vaporization,
the amount of heat required to convert a
liquid into a vapor without a change in
temperature. This is due to the hydrogen
bonds that must be overcome.
This property of water stabilizes temperatures
of oceans, and is why coastal areas have
moderate climates.
 Evaporative cooling: when water evaporates, it
cools the area around it. The molecules of water
left behind will have a lower average kinetic
energy, and their temperature decreases.
Water is a good conductor of heat.
 The high specific heat of water is due to hydrogen
bonds. Hydrogen bonds must be broken before water
can evaporate. Evaporative cooling is why animals
pant or sweat; it also stabilizes temperatures in
ponds.
 Ice is less dense than water due to hydrogen
bonds forming a crystal. Most other solids are
more dense than their liquids. The fact that ice
floats means that lakes don’t freeze solid in
winter.
Water is called the universal solvent.

solvent – dissolving
agent of a solution

solute – substance
dissolved in a
solution
 aqueous solution – a solution in which water is the
solvent.
molarity – a measure of how much solute is dissolved
in a solution.
 Dilution – used to create a dilute
solution from a concentrated stock
solution.

CiVi = CfVf
Water is added to 0.200 L of a 2.40 mol/L solution of
ammonia until the final volume is 1.000 L. What is
the concentration of the diluted solution?

Ci 2.40 mol/L
Vi 0.200 L
Cf ?
Cf =(2.40 mol/L)(0.200 L)
Vf 1.000 L 1.000 L

Cf = .0480 mol/L
Surface area-to-volume ratios affect a
biological system’s ability to obtain
necessary resources or eliminate waste
products.
 As cells increase in volume, the relative surface
area decreases and demand for material
resources increases. In large cells, more cellular
structures are necessary to adequately
exchange materials and energy with the
environment. These limitations restrict cell size.
The surface area of the plasma membrane must
be large enough to adequately exchange
materials. Smaller cells have a more favorable
surface area-to-volume ratio for exchange of
materials with the environment.
Example: Root hairs increase surface area
for absorption of water and minerals.
Example: A typical pair of human lungs
contain about 700 million alveoli,
producing 70m² of surface area.
Example: Cells of the villi in the small
intestine increase surface area for
absorption of nutrients.
Example: Microvilli are extensions of the
plasma membrane on certain cells that
increase surface area for absorption.
Surface Area to Volume Ratio Calculation:
Which cell has the greatest surface area to
volume ratio: (a = 4) or (a =8)?

SA = ( 4 • 4 • 6) = 96 SA = ( 8 • 8 • 6) = 384
V = (4 • 4 • 4) = 64 V = (8 • 8 • 8) = 512
= = 1.5 = = .75
 Learning Objectives
LO 2.6 The student is able to use calculated surface area-to-volume
ratios to predict which cell(s) might eliminate wastes or procure
nutrients faster by diffusion. [See SP 2.2]
LO 2.7 Students will be able to explain how cell size and shape affect
the overall rate of nutrient intake and the rate of waste elimination.
[See SP 6.2]
LO 2.8 The student is able to justify the selection of data regarding the
types of molecules that an animal, plant or bacterium will take up
as necessary building blocks and excrete as waste products. [See SP
4.1]
LO 2.9 The student is able to represent graphically or model
quantitatively the exchange of molecules between an organism and
its environment, and the subsequent use of these molecules to
build new molecules that facilitate dynamic homeostasis, growth
and reproduction. [See SP 1.1, 1.4]