LA SALLE UNIVERSITY

Ozamiz City

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

LEARNING MODULE

Course EarthEco (People and Earth Ecosystems)

Module/Term Module 1
TITLE: Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work?
Despite our ingenuity and development of technology, humans are
totally reliant on the world’s ecosystems to provide oxygenated air,
clean water, food, fiber for clothing, and raw materials for both building
and producing medicines.
OVERVIEW:
Ecosystem services are naturally produced by healthy ecosystems. The
concept of ecosystem services evolved out of a union between the
disciplines of ecology and economics. Much of the research into
ecosystem services is based on determining their economic value, in
order to use and manage ecosystems and their products more
sustainably and effectively. Throughout this Module, we will consider
human use of, and impact on, natural capital and ecosystem services.
At the end of the module, the students must have:
1. identified the major components of an ecosystem;
2. discussed the flow of energy in food chains and webs and
LEARNING 3. traced how matter in the form of nutrients cycles within and among
OUTCOMES: ecosystems and how human activities are altering these cycles.
EXPLORE: INTRODUCTION:
(4 hrs. & 30 mins.) Let us start by studying this Core Case Study.

Natural Capital Degradation: Satellite Image of the Loss of

Tropical Rain Forest

We will divide this Module into the following key concepts:

 What is Ecology?
 What Keeps Us and Other Organisms Alive?
 What Are The Major Components of An Ecosystem?
 What Happens to Energy in an Ecosystem?
 Species Interaction
 What Happens to Matter in an Ecosystem?
 How Do Scientists Study Ecosystems?
 What is Ecology?
Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with one another and
with their physical environment of matter and energy.

Ecology: how organisms interact with each other and their nonliving
environment
 What Keeps Us and Other Organisms Alive?
Life is sustained by the flow of energy from the sun through the
biosphere, the cycling of nutrients within the biosphere, and gravity.
The four major components of the earth’s life-support system are
the atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere (water), the geosphere (rock, soil,
and sediment), and the biosphere (living things).

The Earth’s Life-Support System Has Four Major Components:

 Atmosphere
 Troposphere
 Stratosphere
 Hydrosphere
 Geosphere
 Biosphere

Three Factors Sustain Life on Earth:

 One-way flow of high-quality energy:
Sun → plants → living things → environment as heat →
radiation to space
 Cycling of nutrients through parts of the biosphere
 Gravity holds earths atmosphere

Sun, Earth, Life, and Climate

• Sun: UV, visible, and IR energy
• Radiation
Absorbed by ozone and other atmosphere gases
Absorbed by the earth
Reflected by the earth
Radiated by the atmosphere as heat
• Natural greenhouse effect

 What Are The Major Components of An Ecosystem?

Some organisms produce the nutrients they need, others get their
nutrients by consuming other organisms, and some recycle nutrients
back to producers by decomposing the wastes and remains of organisms.
Ecosystems Have Living and Nonliving Components
Abiotic
• Water
• Air
• Nutrients
• Rocks
• Heat
• Solar energy

Biotic
• Living and once living

Producers and Consumers Are the Living Components of Ecosystems.

Producers are autotrophs while consumers are heterotrophs. Consumers
can be:
• Primary consumers = herbivores
• Secondary consumers
• Tertiary consumers
• Carnivores, Omnivores

Producers or autotrophs make their own food from compound obtained

from environment. Example: plant gets energy or food from sun.

Consumers or Heterotrophs obtain energy and nutrients by feeding on

other organisms or their remains. Herbivores (plant-eaters) or primary
consumers, feed directly on producers. Examples are Deer, goats,
rabbits. Carnivores (meat eater) or secondary consumers feed only on
primary consumer. Examples are Lions and Tigers. While Tertiary
(higher level) consumers feed only on other carnivores. On the other
hand, Omnivores are consumers that eat both plants and animals.
Examples are pigs, humans and bears. Some consumers are Scavengers.
They feed on dead organisms. Some examples of scavengers are
vultures, flies and crows.

Producers:

Consumers:
Wolf an example of a tertiary consumer Vulture scavenging

Other biotic components of the ecosystem are the decomposers and the
detritivores. Decomposers are consumers that release nutrients like the
bacteria and fungi. They break down and recycle organic materials from
organisms’ wastes and from dead organisms. While Detritivores feed on
dead bodies of other organisms like earthworms. Detritivores live off
detritus. Detritus is composed of parts of dead organisms and wastes of
living organisms. Detritus feeders extract nutrients from partly
decomposed organic matter plant debris, and animal dung.

 What Happens to Energy in an Ecosystem?

As energy flows through ecosystems in food chains and webs, the
amount of chemical energy available to organisms at each succeeding
feeding level decreases.
A food chain

A food web
Complex network of interconnected food chains. Both food web and
chains involve a one-way flow of energy and there is cycling of
nutrients through the ecosystem.
Types of a food web:
 Grazing Food Web
Energy and nutrients move from plants to herbivores. Then
through an array of carnivores and eventually to decomposers.
 Detrital Food Web
Organic waste material or detritus is the major food source.
Energy flows mainly from producers (plants) to decomposers
and detritivores.

Food chain vs. Food web

Usable energy decreases with each link in a food chain or web. The
Biomass which refers to the dry weight of all organic matter of a given
trophic level in a food chain or food web decreases at each higher
trophic level due to heat loss. Approximately 90% of energy is lost with
each transfer. Which means that less chemical energy is available for
higher trophic levels.
Some ecosystems produce plant matter faster than others do. This is
measured in terms of Gross primary productivity (GPP) which refers
to the rate at which an ecosystem’s producers convert solar energy to
chemical energy and biomass. Expressed in terms of Kcal/m2/year. This
can also be measured in terms of Net primary productivity (NPP). The
rate at which an ecosystem’s producers convert solar energy to chemical
energy, minus the rate at which producers use energy for aerobic
respiration. Ecosystems and life zones differ in their NPP.
Species Interaction
Some of the most easily documented examples of interactions within
communities are feeding relationships. Food webs emphasize direct
trophic interactions between species. Direct interactions between two
species, including competition, predation, herbivory and mutualism,
involved positive or negative effects of one species on another without
the involvement of an intermediary species. However, direct
interspecific interactions can also result in ecologically significant
indirect interactions between species. In indirect interactions, one
species affects another through a third, intermediary species. Indirect
interactions include trophic cascades, apparent competition and indirect
mutualism or commensalism.

 What Happens to Matter in an Ecosystem?

Matter, in the form of nutrients, cycles within and among ecosystems
and the biosphere, and human activities are altering these chemical
cycles. These chemical cycles are called Nutrient Cycle or
Biogeochemical Cycle.

• Hydrologic
• Carbon
• Nitrogen
• Phosphorus
• Sulfur

These nutrients may remain in a reservoir for a period of time.

Hydrologic Cycle

Hydrologic Cycle Including Harmful Impacts of Human Activities

Let us look at the unique properties of Water.
The unique properties of water is due to its hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen
bonds that are present between water molecules.
• Exists as a liquid over a large range of temperature
• Changes temperature slowly
• High boiling point: 100˚C
• Adhesion and cohesion
• Expands as it freezes
• Solvent
• Filters out harmful UV

Carbon Cycle
Carbon cycle depends on photosynthesis and respiration.
Link between photosynthesis in producers and respiration in producers,
consumers, and decomposers. Additional CO2 added to the atmosphere
by
• Tree clearing
• Burning of fossil fuels
• Warms the atmosphere

Carbon Cycle with Major Harmful Impacts of Human Activities

Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen Cycles through the Biosphere: Bacteria in Action
• Nitrogen fixed by lightning
• Nitrogen fixed by bacteria and cyanobacteria
 Combine gaseous nitrogen with hydrogen to make ammonia
(NH3) and ammonium ions (NH4+)
• Nitrification
 Soil bacteria change ammonia and ammonium ions to nitrate
ions (NO3-)
• Denitrification
 Nitrate ions back to nitrogen gas

Human intervention in the nitrogen cycle

1. Additional NO and N2O in atmosphere from burning fossil fuels;
also causes acid rain
2. N2O to atmosphere from bacteria acting on fertilizers and manure
3. Destruction of forest, grasslands, and wetlands
4. Add excess nitrates to bodies of water
5. Remove nitrogen from topsoil
Nitrogen gas (N2) makes up 78% of the volume of the atmosphere and is
a crucial component of proteins, many vitamins and DNA. However, N 2
in the atmosphere cannot be absorbed and used directly as a nutrient by
plants or other organisms. It becomes a plant nutrient only as a
component of nitrogen-containing ammonia (NH3), ammonium ions
(NH4+) and nitrate ions (NO3-), which are circulated through parts of the
biosphere in the nitrogen cycle.
Phosphorus Cycle
Phosphorus Cycles through the Biosphere
• Cycles through water, the earth’s crust, and living organisms
• Limiting factor for plant growth
• Impact of human activities
1. Clearing forests
2. Removing large amounts of phosphate from the earth to make
fertilizers
3. Erosion leaches phosphates into streams

Phosphorus (P) is an element that is essential for living organisms. It is

necessary for the production of DNA and cell membranes and is
important for the formation of bones and teeth. The cyclic movement of
phosphorus through water, the earth’s crust and living organisms is
called the phosphorus cycle. Most of phosphorus compounds in this
cycle contain phosphate ions (PO4-3), which are an important plant
nutrient. Phosphorus does not cycle through the atmosphere because few
of its compounds exists as gas. Phosphorus also cycles slower than
water, carbon and nitrogen.

Phosphorus cycle with human impacts.

Sulfur Cycle
Sulfur Cycles through the Biosphere
• Sulfur found in organisms, ocean sediments, soil, rocks, and fossil
fuels
• SO2 in the atmosphere
• H2SO4 and SO4-
• Human activities affect the sulfur cycle
 Burn sulfur-containing coal and oil
 Refine sulfur-containing petroleum
 Convert sulfur-containing metallic mineral ores

The ocean represents a major reservoir of sulfur on Earth, with

large quantities in the form of dissolved sulfate and sedimentary
minerals (e.g., gypsum and pyrite). Sulfur occurs in a variety of valence
states, ranging from –2 (as in sulfide and reduced organic sulfur) to +6
(as in sulfate). Sulfate is the most stable form of sulfur on today’s oxic
Earth; weathering and leaching of rocks and sediments are its main
sources to the ocean. In addition, the reduced inorganic forms of sulfur,
with oxidation states of –2 and 0 (as in elemental sulfur) are quite
common in anoxic environments, with sulfur compounds of mixed
valence states (e.g., thiosulfate and polythionates) produced transiently.
The natural release of volatile organic sulfur compounds from the ocean,
mainly as dimethyl sulfide (DMS), transports sulfur from the ocean to
terrestrial regions, and it also affects atmospheric chemistry and the
climate system.

Sulfur Cycle with Major Harmful Impacts of Human Activities

 How Do Scientists Study Ecosystems?

Scientists use both field research and laboratory research, as well as
mathematical and other models to learn about ecosystems.

Some Scientists Study Nature Directly

• Field research: “muddy-boots biology”
• New technologies available
• Remote sensors
• Geographic information system (GIS) software
• Digital satellite imaging
• 2005, Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)

Some Scientists Study Ecosystems in the Laboratory

• Simplified systems carried out in
• Culture tubes and bottles
• Aquaria tanks
• Greenhouses
• Indoor and outdoor chambers
• Supported by field research

Some Scientists Use Models to Simulate Ecosystems

• Mathematical and other models
• Computer simulations and projections
• Field and laboratory research needed for baseline data

Ecologists call for greatly increased research on the condition of the

world’s ecosystems to see how they are changing. This would help
scientists develop strategies for preventing or slowing natural capital
degradation. It would also help us to avoid going beyond ecological
tipping points, which could cause severe degradation or collapse of
ecosystems.