Environmental Biology

ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE
&
FUNCTION
• The Earth can be conceptualized as being
composed of “great spheres” of living and
nonliving material.
• The atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere
constitute the abiotic or nonliving component.
• The biosphere contains all of the living things on
Earth.
• Examples include both natural and engineered
ecosystems.
• Taken together, all of the ecosystems of the world
make up the ecosphere.
• Ecology is the study of structure and function in
nature: interactions between living things and their
nonliving environment or habitat.
• Although the field of taxonomy is highly dynamic
and hotly debated, biologists have traditionally
placed living things within one of the five
kingdoms, differentiated by the organization of
their nuclear material and by their feeding
strategies.
• Procaryotic organisms have their nuclear material
distributed throughout the cell, while eucaryotic
organisms utilize a membrane to segregate the
nuclear material, that is, a distinct nucleus is
present.
• Feeding strategies include absorption,
photosynthesis, and ingestion.
• The five kingdoms are Monera, Protista, Fungi,
Plantae, and Animalia.
• A species is a group of individuals that possess a
common gene pool and that can successfully
interbreed.
• Each species is assigned a scientific name, in
Latin, to avoid the confusion associated with
common names.
• Under this system of binomial nomenclature, Stizostedion
vitreum, is the scientific name for the fish species
commonly referred to as walleye, walleye pike, pike, pike
perch, pickerel, yellow pike, yellow pickerel, yellow pike
perch, or yellow walleye.
• All of the members of a species in a given area make up a
population, for example, the walleye population of a lake.
• All of the populations that interact in a given system make
up the community.
• An ecosystem may be natural or man-made,
temporary or permanent, aquatic or terrestrial.
 Major Organism Groups
• Environmental engineers encounter a variety of
populations and communities in both natural and
engineered systems.
 Viruses
• Submicroscopic particles ranging in size from
0.02 µm to 0.3 µm, composed of a nucleic acid
core and a protein coat and containing all of the
hereditary material required for reproduction; all
are parasitic, depending on a host for protein and
the energy needed to reproduce; all are
pathogenic, causing a variety of diseases; because
of public health concerns, viruses are of particular
importance to engineers involved in water and
wastewater treatment.
• Other noncellular agents of disease include the
viroids, consiting only of small RNA molecules
that infect plants and the prions, protein units that
infect animals, causing scrapie on sheep and goats
and mad cow disease.
 Rotavirus

The reconstructed 1918

influenza virus

The Marburg virus

 Bacteria
• Monerans; 0.1 – 10 µm in size; typically reproduce by
fission; acquire nutrients by absorption; many are
pathogenic, causing tuberculosis, diphtheria, strep throat,
whooping cough, Lyme disease, tetanus and, in water,
cholera and typhoid, thus also of importance in water and
wastewater disinfection.
• Bacteria are of major importance in cycling material and
energy in natural and engineered systems, for example
hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria have received significant
attention for their ability to break down toxic chemicals,
thus aiding in the remediation of contaminated soil and
water environments.
• In soils, the unsaturated zone typically contains
105 to 108 viable bacterial cells per gram of soil,
and the saturated zone typically contains 102 to
107 viable bacterial cells per gram of soil-water
mixture.
• Bacteria are important in the production of foods,
especially fermented milks and vegetables,
antibiotics, enzymes, and industrial solvents.
Escherichia coli cells magnified 25,000 times

Helicobacter pylori electron micrograph, showing multiple flagella on the cell surface

Filaments of photosynthetic cyanobacteria

Bacillus anthracis (stained purple) growing in cerebrospinal fluid

Streptococcus mutans visualized with a Gram stain

 Algae
• Protistans and nonvascular plant; obtain nutrition
through photosynthesis; reproduce asexually
and/or sexually.
• The free-floating algae of lakes are termed
phytoplankton.
 Rock lichens in Ireland.

Laurencia, a marine genus of Red Algae from Hawaii.

Floridian coral reef

Phytoplankton, Lake Chuzenji

The kelp forest exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

A three-dimensional, multicellular thallus.
 Fungi
• Unicellular or multicellular Fungi; range in size
from a few µm to several cm; reproduce asexually
or sexually; lack chlorophyll and feed by
absorption.
• In tribute to their role in cycling organic matter in
soil, water, and wastewater, fungi are sometimes
called “the great decomposers”.
• Fungi are important in the pharmaceutical and
food industries, during composting, and are
responsible for a variety of disease.
Clockwise from top left: Amanita muscaria, a basidiomycete;
Sarcoscypha coccinea, an ascomycete; black bread mold, a
zygomycete; a chytrid; a Penicillium conidiophore.
 Protozoa
• Protistans; 10 – 300 µm in size; reproduce asexually by
fission and budding or sexually; some form “resting” cysts
to weather hostile environmental conditions.
• Protozoa are considered to be “animal-like” because they
lack chlorophyll, are motile, and ingest dead particulate
matter or living cells.
• This group includes the well-known genera Amoeba and
Paramecium, and the pathogenic genera Giardia and
Cryptosporidium are of concern to drinking water supply
engineers because they produce cysts which are resistant to
disinfection.
Rotifers
 Rotifers
• Microscopic animal
• 100 – 1000 µm in size
• With one or more rings of cilia or hairs at the body
• Ingesting living and dead particles an excreting
soluble organic matter useful to bacteria and fungi.
 Microcrustaceans
• Microscopic animals; 1 – 10 mm in size;
commonly represented by the copepods and
cladocerans; relatives of crabs, lobster, and
shrimp; feed on bacteria, algae, and other particles
in lakes.
• Taken together, the free-floating animals of lakes
are termed the zooplankton.
 Macrophytes
• Large, vascular plants
• Provide important habitat
• Negative impacts;
 Nuisance proportions in river and lake
 Creating problems with recreational use
 Negatively impacting DO budgets.
 Macroinvertebrates
• Inhabiting the bottom mud
• Important in processing dead organic matter
• A major food source for fish
• Because of lack of mobility
~ often exposed to and accumulate toxic
chemicals
~ indicator of ecosystem health
 Fish
• Both influence and influenced by the environment
• Tendency to bioconcentrate hydrophobic organic
chemicals and mercuric in their tissues
• Impacts on the human health and other animals
• The public perception of water quality is clearly
linked to the presence of an abundant, diverse and
healthy fish community.