Chapter 2: Environmental

Systems: Connections, Cycles,

Flows, and Feedback Loops

from your text, Principles of Environmental

Science: Inquiry and Applications, 3rd ed.
William and Mary Ann Cunningham. (New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2006)

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

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 Chapter Two Key Terms
McGraw-Hill Course Glossary
 Acids  Ecosystem  Organic compounds
 Atom  Energy  pH
 Bases  First law of  Photosynthesis
thermodynamics
 Biological community  Population
 Food web
 Biomass  Potential energy
 Herbivores
 Carbon cycle  Primary producers
 Ions
 Carnivores  Productivity
 Kinetic energy
 Cellular respiration  Second law of thermodynamics
 Matter
 Chemical compounds  Species
 Metabolism
 Conservation of matter  Tropic level
 Molecules
 Consumers
 Nitrogen cycle
 Decomposers
 Omnivores
 Ecology 2
 Chapter Two - Topics
• Principles of Matter & Energy
• The Building Blocks of Earth and Life
• Sunlight: Energy for Life
• Energy and Matter and the Environment
• Biochemical Cycles and Life Processes

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 Part 1: Principles of Matter
and Energy
To understand how ecosystems function, it is
important to first know something about how
energy and matter behave - in the universe and
in living things. It is also important to
understand the basic building blocks of life,
starting with cells and organisms, and
proceeding to communities and populations.

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 Ecology
• The scientific study of relationships between
organisms and their environment
• Examines the life histories, distribution, and behavior
of individual species, as well as the structure and
function of natural systems at the level of
populations, communities, ecosystems, and
landscapes
• Encourages us to think holistically about
interconnections that make whole systems more
than just the sum of their individual parts
• Examines how and why materials cycle between the
living and nonliving parts of our environment
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 Matter and Energy
• Matter and energy are essential
constituents of both the universe and
living organisms.
• Matter - everything that takes up space
and has mass
• Energy - the capacity to do work

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 Potential vs. Kinetic Energy

• Potential energy - stored energy that is latent but

available for use
• Kinetic energy - the energy contained in moving
object 7
 Energy Quality
Low Quality Energy
• Diffused, dispersed, or low in temperature
• Difficult to gather and use for productive purposes
• Example: heat stored in the oceans

High Quality Energy

• Intense, concentrated, or high in temperature
• Useful in carrying out work
• Example: high-voltage electrical energy

Many of our most common energy sources are low-

quality and must be concentrated or transformed into
high-quality sources before they are useful to us.
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 Conservation of Matter

Under ordinary circumstances, matter is

neither created nor destroyed. It is recycled
endlessly.

• Matter is transformed and combined in different

ways, but it doesn't disappear. Everything goes
somewhere.
• The atoms and molecules in your body have passed
through many other organisms, over millions of
years.

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 Properties of Energy
Energy cannot be recycled. Energy is reused, but it
is constantly degraded or lost from the system.

Most energy used in ecosystems originates as

solar energy. Green plants convert some of this
energy to chemical energy, which is then converted
to heat or kinetic energy by the animal that eats the
plant.

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 Laws of Thermodynamics
First Law of Thermodynamics
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed

Second Law of Thermodynamics

With each successive energy transfer or transformation in a
system, less energy is available to do work. Even though the
the total amount of energy remains the same, the energy's
intensity and usefulness deteriorate.

The second law recognizes the principle of entropy, the

tendency of all natural systems to move towards a state of
increasing disorder.
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 The Building Blocks of
Earth and Life

The basic units of matter are called “elements”,

which can’t be subdivided chemically into
smaller units. Elements make up molecules
and compounds. It is important to understand
basic chemistry in order to understand the
critical role of chemistry in Environmental
Science.

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 Atoms, Molecules, and
Compounds
• Most material substances can exist in three
interchangeable states: solid, liquid, or gas.
• Element - substance that cannot be broken down
into simpler substances by ordinary chemical
reactions
• Atom - the smallest particle that exhibits the
characteristics of an element
• Molecule - a combination of two or more atoms
• Compound - a molecule made up of two or more
kinds of atoms held together by chemical bonds

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Fig. 2.3

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Periodic Table of the Elements

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16
 Chemical Bonding
• Ionic Bond - Formed when one atom gives
up an electron to another atom.
• Covalent Bond - Formed when two or more
atoms share electrons.
– Energy is needed to break chemical bonds.
– Energy is released when bonds are formed.

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Fig. 2.4

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 Acids and Bases
• Acids are compounds that readily release
hydrogen ions (H+) in water.
• Bases are substances that readily take up
hydrogen ions (H+) and release hydroxide
ions (OH-) in solution.
• Strength measured by concentration of H+.
– pH scale
• 0-14

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Fig. 2.5

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Water Molecule

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Water: A Unique Compound
• Sixty to 70 percent of the weight of living organisms
• Medium in which all of life's chemical reactions occur
• Good electrical conductor
• Highest surface tension of any common, natural liquid
• Liquid over a wide temperature range
• Expands when it crystallizes, unlike most substances
• High heat of vaporization
• High specific heat

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23
Cells: The Fundamental Units
of Life
• Microscopic organisms, such as bacteria and
protozoa, are composed of single cells.
• The human body contains several trillion cells of
about two hundred distinct types.
• Enzymes – catalysts that speed up the rate of
chemical reactions in living systems
• Metabolism - all the energy and matter exchanges
that occur within a living cell or organism

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The Electromagnetic
Spectrum

The wavelengths of visible

light drive photosynthesis.

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Photosynthesis

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Light and Dark
Reactions of
Photosynthesis 27
Energy Exchange in an Ecosystem

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Energy & Matter in the Environment

• Organism (species)
• Population
• Biological
• Community
• Ecosystem
• Biosphere

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Food Web: Cross-connected Food Chains

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31
 Energy Pyramid

ADD FIG. 2.18

Most energy in most ecosystems is stored in the bodies of

primary producers. Only about 10 percent of the energy
at one energy level passes to the next highest trophic level.
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The Water Cycle

ADD FIG. 2.19

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The Carbon Cycle

ADD FIG. 2.20

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The Nitrogen Cycle

ADD FIG. 2.21

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 Nitrogen
Fixation
The nodules on the roots
of this plant contain
bacteria that help convert
nitrogen in the soil to a
form the plant can utilize.

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The Phosphorous Cycle

ADD FIG. 2.23

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The Sulfur Cycle

ADD FIG. 2.24

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