Reviewer in Science – 2nd Monthly
Acid rain
Species Richness
- Refers to the number of species in a
particular place.
Species Evenness
- Refers to the extent to which individuals are
distributed evenly among species
- Gives info about the relative quantities or
proportions of individuals belonging to
different species
Extinct species example:
1. Procoptodon vivincurrus (giant short-faced
kangaroo)
2. Diprotodon optatum (giant wombat-like
marsupial)
Natural Causes of Extinction
1. Genetics and Demographics
- If a population becomes small for any
reason, the members of the population
become more inbred, further reducing
population size. A smaller population also
loses genetic diversity because of
inbreeding and suffers reduction in the
ability to adapt to the changing environment.
2. Uncontrolled Predation
- Animals become extinct when exotic or non-
native species are introduced to a new
habitat. If they have no natural enemies in
their new habitat, then their prey eventually
becomes extinct.
3. Coextinction
- Loss of one species leads to loss of
another. It becomes a chain of extinction
4. Mass extinction
- Refers to the sharp decrease in the number
of species on Earth in a short period of time.
- Caused by asteroids, impacts, climate
change, and other catastrophic events on
Earth.
5. Climatic heating and cooling
- This natural event has a very significant
effect on extinction.
- Severe weather conditions and long
seasons or a changing chemical make up of
their surroundings.
6. Changes in sea levels
- Spreading of ocean floor causes the rising
of sea levels
7.
- Increases the acidity of the soil which
affects plants and lakes to possibly lethal
levels.
Janitor fish
- Non-native species; originally imported as
aquarium cleaners; Laguna Lake and
Marikina River
Characteristics of species vulnerable to extinction
1. Large species with low reproductive
potential such as whales, rhinos, great
apes, condors, and whooping cranes.
2. Species with high economic value such as
whales, sea turtles, elephants, spotted cats,
and rhinoceroses.
3. Species at the end of long food chains such
as birds of prey, cats and reptiles.
4. Species restricted to local, insular habitats,
such as snail darters and key deer.
5. Highly specialized species such as giant
pandas and black-footed ferrets.
6. Migratory species such as monarch
butterflies, marine mammals, and many
birds.
3 Eras
Cenezoic (Recent Life)
Mesozoic (Middle Life)
Paleozoic (Ancient Life)
3 Categories of Species Extinction:
1. Extinct in the wild
- If individual species remain alive in captivity
or in other human-controlled situations.
- Black soft-shell turtle, red-tailed shark, and
the scimitar-horned oryx
2. Locally extinct
- If individual members of a species are no
longer in an area it once inhabited but are
still found elsewhere in the wild.
- Gray wolf (extinct in Massachusetts but
found in other parts of North America),
Asiatic Lion (can only be found in Gujarat,
India), South China tiger (once native to the
provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan,
and Jiangxi in southern China
 1. Globally Extinct
- When the members of a species can no
longer be found anywhere on Earth.
- Wooly mammoth, Pinta island tortoise,
dodo, Tasmanian Tiger, and antelope
2. Ecologically Extinct
- When a species persists at such reduced
numbers that its effect on the other species
in its community is negligible.
- Some species of tigers
Causes of Anthropogenic Extinction
1. Habitat Destruction
- Deforestation-leading cause of habitat
destruction
2. Habitat degradation
- Biological communities can be damaged,
and species may be driven to extinction by
external factors that do not change the
structure of dominant plants in the
community.
3. Bottom trawling or dragging
- A fishing method in which a boat drags a
net along the ocean bottom, scooping up
sea life but also damaging the structure of
the marine community
4. Pesticide Pollution
- Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) – is
used to kill insects. It is sprayed on bodies
of water to kill mosquito larvae.
- Birds might release large amounts of
nitrates and phosphates which leads to
eutrophication
- Eutrophication – has a disastrous effect on
the environment because it may lead to the
deaths of organisms because of lack of
oxygen
- Pollution in the air, water, and land.
- Acid rain-results of pollution, inhibits the
microbial process of decomposition,
lowering the rate of mineral recycling and
ecosystem productivity. Also lowers the pH
of soil moisture and bodies of water. It
increases the concentration of toxic metals
(aluminum) and damages the plant and
animal species. Many scientists believed
that the decline of amphibians is a result of
acid rain.
Conservation of Categories of Species
International Union for Conservation of Nature
and Natural Resources (IUCN)7
- International agency that monitors Earth’s
biodiversity.
Different Categories developed by IUCN
1. Extinct (EX)
- There is no reasonable doubt that the last
individual has died.
2. Extinct in the Wild (EW)
- The species survive in cultivation, in
captivity, or as a naturalized population/s
well outside the past range
3. Near Threatened (NT)
- Species does not qualify for Critically
Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), or
Vulnerable (VU) as of now, but it is close to
qualifying for, or is likely to qualify for, a
threatened category in the near future.
4. Least Concern (LC)
- Species does not qualify for Critically
Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN),
Vulnerable (VU), or Near Threatened (NT)
categories.
- Widespread and abundant taxa(taxon) are
included in this category
5. Data Deficient (DD)
- Is inadequate info to make a direct, or
indirect, assessment of its risk of extinction
based on its distribution and/or population
status. A taxon in this category may be well
studied, and its biology well known, but
appropriate data on abundance and/or
distribution are lacking. Therefore, DD is not
a category of threat.
Biodiversity Conservation
Conservation leasing
- Form of leasing provides payments to
private owners who actively manage their
land for biodiversity protection.
Nongoverment organizations (NGOs)
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
- First international NGO to provide
substantial support for conservation
programs and draw attention to biodiversity.
Biodiversity Conservation Network (BCN)
Provided funds for 3 major projects focused on
sustainable utilization of biodiversity resources. The
recipients of this grants are
 - the Manila Observatory, World Wide Fund
for Nature Philippine Program, and Kalahan
Educational Foundation.
Al Gore
- 45th Vice president of the United States and
is considered as environmental activist for
his work regarding environmental issues.
- Was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
for his work on global warming.
- Donated his share to a nonprofit
organization, the Climate Reality Project,
known for taking action on the climate
change problem.
Climate Change
- Worldwide problem affecting almost all
systems in the biosphere.
Woodlands
- Parts of the forest where people enjoy to
visit for a walk
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for
Sustainability (BESS)
- Has a project that aims to understand how
major ecological changes occur in
woodlands, and their ecological and societal
impacts
1st Periodical Reviewer in Science
Photosynthesis
- Process of converting light energy to
chemical energy
Photorespiration
- A light-dependent process in some plants
resulting in the oxidation of glycolic acid and
release of carbon dioxide under some
environmental conditions.
Chlorophyll
- Green substance in plants that makes it
possible for them to make food from carbon
dioxide and water
Guard cell
- One of the two crescent-shaped epidermal
cells that border and control the opening
and closing of the stoma
Stomata
- Minute openings in the epidermis of a plant
organ (as a leaf) through which gaseous
interchange takes place.
Photon
- Pocket of light
Sugar
- End product of photosynthesis
Chlorophyll
- Traps light energy from the sun and
converts it into chemical energy stored in
sugar (glucose) and other organic
molecules.
- Green pigment in plants that is found in
chloroplast
Photosynthesis
- Greek word – phos – light – synthesis –
putting together
Xylem & Phloem
- Tubes or veins which run throughout the
plant’s bodies and bring water and minerals
from the soil to the leaves.
*** leaves take in carbon dioxide in its stomata.
Internal Structure of a Leaf
1. Cuticle
- Waxy substance covering the upper
epidermis.
- Protects the leaf from dehydration
2. Upper epidermis
- Protects the leaf and has no chloroplast
3. Palisade mesophyll cell
- Cell containing chloroplast
4. Chloroplast
- Cell organelle that contains chlorophyll
5. Xylem
- Vascular tube carrying water throughout the
plant
6. Phloem
- Vascular tube carrying dissolved sugar
molecules throughout the plant
7. Guard cell
- One of the two crescent-shaped epidermal
cells that border and control the opening
and closing of the stoma (plural: stomata
8. Stomata
- One of the minute openings in the epidermis
of a plant organ, where exchange of gases
takes place.
By product of photosynthesis – oxygen
2 Sequential stages: light-dependent reactions and
light-independent reactions or Calvin Cycle
1. Light-dependent reaction
- Occur inside the chloroplast, specifically in
the thylakoid membrane, where two
important reaction centers are embedded:
ETC and the photosystems
Electron Transport Chain
- Series of enzymes embedded in the
membrane
***Electrons are passed along from one
molecule to the next, and energy is given off to
make adenosine triphosphate (ATP)
Photosystems
- Photopigments such as chlorophyll a,
chlorophyll b, and carotenoids that are
embedded in a membrane.
- Efficient in absorbing energy
***In chloroplast, they are 2 photosystems:
 1. Photosystem I or P700
- Absorbs wavelengths of light at P700
nanometers
2. Photosystem II or P680
- Absorbs wavelengths of light at P680
nanometers
*** these 2 photosystems work together and use
light energy to generate ATP and nicotinamide
adenine dinucleotide triphosphate (NADPH)
***There are 2 distinct pathways in the light
reaction: cyclic and noncyclic

Calvin Cycle
- light-independent reactions / dark reactions
- takes place in the stroma of the chloroplast
- aided by a set of enzymes that catalyzes
the reactions.
- Dependent on products of the light-
dependent reactions: ATP and NADPH

Photolysis
- a process wherein an enzyme extracts
electrons from water and supplies them to
the oxidized reaction center.
*** Noncyclic pathway produces ATP, O2, and
NADPH
***cyclic pathway employ photosystem I
 - Organisms that take in organic compounds
and convert them into carbon dioxide and
energy
- Animals, fungi, bacteria and humans
Autotrophs
- Organisms that turn carbon dioxide into
sugar and oxygen
- Plants, some forms of bacteria and algae
3 Stages in Cellular Respiration

Photorespiration 1. Glycolysis
- Takes place outside the mitochondria, in the
- Occurs if there is not enough carbon dioxide cytosol
in the stroma - Begins with the breakdown of glucose. Its
C3 Plants series of 10 catalyzed chemical reactions
can be divided into 2 main phases: energy
- Are greatly affected by photorespiration investment phase & energy payoff phase
because their stomata can only tolerate a - Metabolic phase that serves as the
temperature of 15-25OC foundation for both aerobic and anaerobic
- Most trees, gasses, cereal grains, peanuts, cellular respiration
cotton, sugar beets, tobacco, spinach and - In this process, glucose is converted into
soybeans pyruvate
C4 Plants ***in the EIP, ATP energy is used to start the
process of glucose oxidation. By the end of the
- Efficient even in dry environments
phase, the six-carbon molecules has been split
- Can tolerate a temperature of 30-40 OC
into two three-carbon molecules
CAM Plants (glyceralhehyde 3-phosphate). The 3-
glyceralhehyde phosphate molecules enter EPP
- Open their stomata at night
***In the EPP, chemical bonds are broken and
Cellular respiration NAD+ picks up the electron in energy ion
- Takes place at cellular level, specially in the forming NADH. The energy released is used to
mitochondria attach a phosphate group. This way of making
- Breaking down of food to produce ATP in ATPs is called substrate level phospholyration.
the presence of oxygen A couple more reactions rearrange the atom in
- Opposite of photosynthesis a carbon molecule, and more ATPs are
generated in the final reaction that produces
Bacteria pyruvate.
- Single-celled organisms that do not have 2. Krebs Cycle or Citric Acid Cycle
mitochondria - Where the oxidation of glucose takes place.
- Use their outer membranes for cellular - Occurs in the matrix
respiration - Discovered by Hans Krebs in 1937
2 Types of Respiration
1. Aerobic Respiration
- Happens in the presence of oxygen
2. Anaerobic Respiration
- Happens in the absence of oxygen
Heterotrophs – cellular respiration
 1. Electron Transport Chain
- Collection of molecules (mostly proteins)
built in the inner membrane of the
mitochondrion.
- In ETC, most of the energy harvested from
organic molecules during glycolysis and the
citric acid cycle are stored in NADH and
FADH2. These molecules give up their high-
energy electrons in a third phase of cellular
respiration, which is oxidative
phosphorylation.
- Stage where most of ATP fuels are formed
Dr. Peter Mitchell
- Awarded the 1978 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry.
Chemiosmotic theory
- Chemical process responsible for energy
supply of living cells