Activity 2.3 – Biosphere and Interconnections

Energy and Energy in Ecosystem (From Freedman,2018, pp. 64-66, 69-76)


Biodiversity and how it is organized (From Freedman, 2018, pp.119-122, 123-129)



Major Biomes (from Freedman,2018, pp. 133-151)


Biosphere and Interconnections

 Energy is an essential element for ecosystems. Without energy, ecosystems are not able to work properly. Every organism needs to use some form of energy for their own function. In ecosystems, the energy usually come from the sun and it is synthesized by primary producers. This energy is after “transferred” and flow from primary producers to consumers, to consumers to decomposers and to decomposer to primary producer again. So, the ecosystem food web generates also a flow of energy. This energy is incorporated into biomass only in a certain percentage that is called productivity. According to the Second Law of Thermodynamic, part of the original energy is lost during the process and become heat (Freedman, 2018). 

 Energy flows only thanks to the many organisms present in a certain ecosystem. The variety of form of living, in general, is called Biodiversity. All the living organism, or all the biodiversity, is divided into five Kingdom. Organism belonging to the same kingdom share similar characteristics. The features that characterize each kingdom are not only physical. They also referred to how these organisms relates to others into ecosystems and so how the energy flow thanks to them. Some ecosystems have higher biodiversity than others because they have more suitable conditions for leaving.

 Community of organism from different kingdom form Biomes. Biomes are geographically extensive and occur “anywhere in the world where environmental conditions are suitable for their development” (Freedman, 2018). Biomes are characterized by the type of plants and animals that live in in it. However, in the same Biomes there are not necessary the same exact species of plants or animals. Similar organism is not always equal to equal species. Human prevalent ecosystems are the areas where humans live or dominate the area. Since they are not very suitable for species beside humans, they are one of the causes of biodiversity crisis (Freedman, 2018) However, biodiversity is essential for biome’s productivity. More a biome is higher in biodiversity, more its productivity would be higher. For example, the Evergreen Tropical Forest has an incredible biodiversity and, at the same time, an high productivity. This happens because biodiversity might increase the biomass that can be supported from the ecosystem and consequently its productivity. 
References:
Freedman, B. (2018). Environmental science: A Canadian perspective. Halifax, Canada: Dalhousie University Libraries.

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