ECOSYSTEM, LANDSCAPE, AND GLOBAL ECOLOGYRachana Sudhir

Energy Cycling - Primary Production

• What is primary production?

- Total chemical energy produced by photosynthesis

Photosynthesis – process by which plants and other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon and water.

• Appeared on Earth 3.5 billion years ago (prokaryotes were the first to perform photosynthesis)

• {Bacterial Photosynthesis} came from the work of a Dutch microbiologist: Cornelius. B van Neil [1897-1985]

Chemosynthesis

• Chemosynthesis - The synthesis of organic compounds by bacteria using energy from reactions involving inorganic chemicals.

• “Photo” means light, so we are using light energy to absorb energy from the sun. “Chemo” means chemical, so we are using chemical energy to absorb energy by breaking down the chemical products in the bacteria.

• In 1890, Sergei Vinogradskii (or Winogradsky) proposed a process called chemosynthesis. His discovery suggested that some organisms could live on inorganic matter. This was confirmed 90 years later.

• Examples of chemosynthesis living organisms: Most of the organisms that depend on chemosynthesis to sustain their life mostly live in the deepest terrain of the ocean floor. (15.430+ miles deep)

Nutrient Cycling- Decomposition

• Process of rotting or decay; egg shells, onion skin, vegetable skin, soil and dung {compost pile}

• Use it as fertilizer for plants to grow crops

• Help provide nutrients

• Decomposition is many houses in India. They will have a ditch in the backyard where most kitchen waste go, afterward the wastes are covered with dry leaves/grass.