~—
we
f.
‘1
“ad
Jee,
sols clusaad aitiMRehBASice tmaech sadnUra
te in marine waters may exert a limiting
vofeetupon phytoplankton production, and defi-
OLOGY
RON AND COBALT IN EC
ciencies of cobalt or copper in pasture lands may
produce anemia (wasting disease) in grazing stock
F.C. LOWMAN!
Hiologs.
Lavoretors of Radiation
le, Fashington
Caseevets of B ashington. Seatt
ia
ationships between organ isms and -
be iaterrel
p
ir eavironseats are usually assumed to bensreci
un~
the environsent controls the conditio
;
organisms, in
rowhich tbe orgaoisms exist and the
ronment.
say influence the state of the envi
envithe
upon
The effects of tbe organisms
c
the reciprorepent arc usually wore subtle than
result of ‘the
te) reiationship, primarily as a
latively small total mass of the organisms,
ever,one of the salient characteristics of the
dosphere is its chemical reactivity and, although
generation of organisms may produce an almost
Badetectable alteration, significant changes in
fee environment may be brought about by the organms over a period of many generations.
On the other hand, many effects of the en-
:
ronment upon the organisms are easily observed
ecause they are usually effective during the
Mfetine of any one organism and may be detected
reasonable period of observation,
wring a
The dominant environmental factors often pro@ immediate effects upon the organism that are
mmetimes considered to be of the greatest impor-
@lance, However, Within the environment, some
Shysical factors may cause minor changes which
“ire cumulative over a long period of time, result‘fing in greatly altered environmental conditions
“from those which would have existed had these “Processes not been in operation.
=
The environment is the result of the inter-
“Slay between matter and energy, In the material
‘@base of the environment, low availability of a
‘Riven chemical element may exert a limiting effect
pon local organisms, Thus, a low level of
2 ble 1.
solution.
Atnosphere
(grams per
100 grams)
=
SRlement
my drogen
53.0
Be lium
joron
{larbon
gnesium
Beever
Bum enun
en
MEP Ot aan tun
a tetun
Aa
aces
@eaca,
Iron and, to a lesser degree, cobalt are
elements which have exerted primary and secondary
effects upon the environments, and thus upon the
organisms, Some of these mechanisms have extended back to times earlier than the origin of the
biosphere,
The roles of iron and cobalt in ecosystems
~
are primarily dependent upon their availabilities
to the organisms, The availability of these elements is determined by their distribution and
chemical forms in the lithosphere and hydrosphere.
the present elemental composition of these environmental spheres has been determined by:
(a) the amounts of individual elements produced
by the reactions which formed the original material of the earth, (b) fractionation which oc-curred early in the formation of the earth, and
(c) fractionation which has occurred and is
occurring as the result of geochemical processes.
In Table 1 are shown the abundances of sevy~
eral elements in the solar atmosphere, the total
earth
(grams per
100 grams)
0.14
0.00000003
0.0003
0.03
Sea water“
(grama per
100 grams)
0 .0000000005
0.0005
0.003
0.005
46.6
2.8
oe
nos
2.7
he
"T0036"
0181
3.6
004
-00086
167
0.09
35.0
0.10
5.0
0,0000002
0.000001
.043
17.0
-0031
0.:
.
0.014
+
+
-00034
‘0029
Pettis
- 00021
.
Mason,
‘
+
0.20
2.7
+
+
+
+
2.1
8.1
1
0.05
0.02
.
0.02
0.00005
87.5
1.05
0.13
888M
0.060001
.
0.089
1.90
.
@.0000002
0.002
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.00000005
0.0000002
0 .0000003
0.000001
0.00003
0.000006
0.0015
Total
supplied
to sea‘
(grams per
100 per grams)
Percentage of
Total Element
Supplied to Sea
Water now in
Solution
10.8
+
28.0
0.14
————
from
Crust of
.031
4.7
.0024
000031
Micre|
Hop )0r
Blac
MO ly denus
earth
(grams per
100 grams)
+
*
+
.
Otannne
ron
Pete 11
Total
+
42.0
+
012
_pitrogen
“exy wen
od ium
;
A given chemical element may also exert secondary effects. A few elements have produced
significant alterations in the availability of
other chemical elements to the organisms during
the history of the biosphere. If some of these
alterations had not been effected, several ecological relationships would now be different from
those that are observed,
Plus (+) signifies trace amounts.
Solar
pS Od tne
(Underwood, 1956).
In addition to the immediate effects, the
characteristics and availability of a chemical
element throughout the history of the biosphere
may have resulted in detectable patterns of uvilization or non-utilization within organisms now
living. ‘hese patterns may not be easily discerned unless a large variety of organisms from
different environments are compared,
Abundances of elements in the solar atmosphere, total earth, crust of the earth, and in sea water.
The amounts of the elements supplied to the sea and the percentages of the amounts supplied now in
wt
sma
tennae no eet ee
0.000001
0.0002
0.019
250.0
16.0
0.0028
1.8
1.70
62.0
1.25
10.0
EE
4.88
0.0002
.071
.
0.03
0.019
2 18
1s
.
.
0.009
0.002
0.06
3.0
0.0003
0.00003
0.0014
0.005
0.004
0.008
0.004
0.004
0.007
0.01
0.0009
0.11
0.000018
33.0
1958
P Adaited trom Goldner Communication, after Goldberg, 1961
idt, in Rankama and Sahama, 1950.
earts*Presen
a... t address:.
.
300.0
10, 000.0
Job.
:
oo
Puerto Rico Nuclear Center, Mayaguez,
“th
_