MSTE MIDTERMS EXAM REVIEWER

An ecosystem has gained much attention because of the worsening condition of

the environment which is thought to be caused by human activities influenced by an
imbalance between population size (demand) and the available resources and services
(supply) and a materialistic concept of economic development which focuses on
quantity of material goods acquired and neglects the quality of life (Rabago, 2010).

Ecology - deals with the relationship of organisms to one another and to their
physical environment.

Ecosystem - refers to the biological community of living organisms with their

physical surroundings.

SCOPE OF ECOLOGICAL STUDIES:

● Organismal Ecology – includes the subdiscipline of physiological, evolutionary,
and behavioral ecology concerned with how an organism’s structure, physiology,
and behavior meet the challenges posed by its environment.
● Population Ecology – analyzes the factors that affect population size and
how & why it changes through time.
● Community Ecology – examines how interactions between species affect
community structure and organization.
● Ecosystem Ecology – emphasizes energy flow and chemical cycling
between the organism and the environment.
● Landscape/Seascape Ecology – focuses on the factors controlling exchanges
of energy, materials and organisms across multiple ecosystems.
● Global Ecology - Biosphere – examines how the regional exchanges of
energy and materials influence the functioning and distribution of
organisms across the biosphere.

BIOTIC COMPONENTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM:

Biotic Components - different kinds of organisms that interact with their environment.
(producers, consumers (heterotrophs), and detritivores.

Producers (produce their own food):

1. Chlorophyll-bearing plants
2. Photosynthetic bacteria
3. Chemosynthetic bacteria

Consumers (cannot make their own food):

 1. Herbivores
2. Carnivores
3. Omnivores
4. Detritivores

Decomposers:
● Mostly bacteria and fungi
ABIOTIC COMPONENT OF ECOSYSTEM:

ABIOTIC FACTORS:
Climate
● Light
● Temperature
● Moisture
● Air/wind

Soil
● Nutrients present
● Acidity
● Moisture content

Topography
● Altitude
● Angle of slope
● Orientation of slope
 The plants which play the role of producers of an ecosystem are eaten by
consumers either directly or indirectly. The series of organisms through which food
nutrients travel from the producers to the different consumers and up to the
decomposers is called a food chain. Each step of the food chain is called a trophic
level.

FOOD CHAIN
● Linear network of links in a food web starting from a producer organism and
ending at apex predator species, detritivores, or decomposers.
● Sequence of transfers of matter and energy in the form of food from organism to
organism.

Food chains intertwine locally into a food web because most organisms consume
more than one type of animal or plant. Plants which convert solar energy into food by
photosynthesis are the primary food source. In a predator chain, a plant-eating animal is
eaten by a flesh-eating animal. In a parasite chain, a smaller organism consumes part
of a larger host and may itself be parasitized by even smaller organisms. In the
saprophytic chain, microorganisms live on dead organic matter.
FOOD WEB
● Natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation of what-
eats-what in an ecological community.
● “Consumer-resource system”

TWO TYPES OF FOOD WEB:

● Grazing food web - based on photosynthetic plants or algae.
● Detrital food web - based on decomposers such as fungi.

CHARACTERISTICS OF FOOD WEB:

1. It consists of a number of interconnected food chains through which energy
travels in an ecosystem.
2. Usually members of higher trophic level feed upon many organisms of lower
trophic level.
3. Presence of complex food webs increases the stability of the ecosystem.
4. More complex food webs improve the adaptability and competitiveness.
 In a balanced ecosystem, the processes that naturally take place in nature
are not disrupted. This is demonstrated by the interactions in a food web. In the
diagram above the base is occupied by producers and decomposers. The second level
shows the primary consumers, the third level, the secondary consumers, and the
topmost are the tertiary consumers.

POPULATION
● The total number of a particular kind of organism occupying a particular
area.
● It also includes the total number of people in a region.
● A group of interbreeding numbers of the same species.

PATTERN OF DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION:

● Clumped pattern - organisms are clustered together in groups. This reflects a

patchy distribution of resources in the environment. It is the most common
pattern of population distribution.
 ● Random Distribution - organisms have an unpredictable distribution. This is
typical of species in which individuals do not interact strongly.

● Uniform Distribution - organisms are evenly spaced over the area they
occupy. Typical for organisms that compete for scarce environmental resources.

POPULATION SIZE & DENSITY:

POPULATION SIZE - number of individuals in a population. It influences the

chances of a species surviving or going extinct. Can be determined in several ways.
● Mark-recapture method - for organisms that move around such as fish, birds,
etc.
● For others, population size is determined by direct observation and sampling.

POPULATION DENSITY
● The number of people per unit area, usually quoted per square kilometer or
square mile.
● PD = No. of people/land area

A high population density implies that the population is high relative to the
size of the country. The ideal population density is 50-100 people per square
kilometer.

FACTORS AFFECTING POPULATION SIZE:

1. Slow rate reproduction
2. Presence of predators, parasites, and other enemies that prevent growth in
population
3. Balance between biotic potential and environmental resistance
4. Migration
5. Immigration (movement of individuals or organisms into a population from other
areas)
6. Emigration (movement of individuals out of a population)

PATTERNS OF POPULATION GROWTH:

● Exponential growth pattern (J curve) - occurs in an ideal unlimited
environment.
● Logistic growth pattern (S curve) - occurs when environmental pressures
slow the rate of growth.

ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
 ➢ Process of how a structure of a biological community (the biotic and abiotic
components interacting in a specific environment) changes over time. It is also
the time where new species arrive and occupy an environment and how it
replaces one another over time.

● Primary Succession - process in which organisms inhabit a lifeless habitat.

(life begins newly because there were no organisms living in that area before it
was populated, so basically the organisms will start from scratch)

● Secondary Succession - process in which there is already a biological

community but a part of it or the entire community was wiped out by
disturbances (wildfire, flash flood, landslide etc). The species living in that area
before the disturbances will be replaced by other organisms that can survive
disturbances.

Climax community - an ecological setting where organisms are stable and living in
accordance with one another and their environment. The last stage of succession is
a climax community, which lasts until it is destroyed by a disturbance like a fire or flood
or human intervention.

FOREST ECOSYSTEM
FOREST
➢ a natural woodland unit consisting of biotic components (plants, animals, and
microorganisms) in that area functioning together with abiotic factors of the
environment.

Six Layers of Forest:

1. Upper canopy
2. Low-tree layer
3. Shrub understory
4. Ground layer of herbaceous plants
5. Forest floor
6. Root layer

● Distribution - tropical forest occurs in the equatorial and sub-equatorial

regions.
● Precipitation - In tropical rainforests, rainfall is relatively constant about 200-
400cm annually. In tropical dry forest, precipitation is highly seasonal about 150-
200cm annually with a six to seven months dry season.
● Temperature - High year-round averaging 25-29°C with little seasonal
variation.
 ● Plants - Tropical forests are vertically layered and competition for light is
intense. Layers in rainforest include trees that grow above a closed canopy,
layers of shrubs and herbs. There are generally 4 fewer layers in tropical dry
forests. Broadleaf evergreen trees are dominant in tropical rainforests whereas
many tropical dry forest trees drop their leaves during dry season. Epiphytes
such as bromeliads and orchids generally cover tropical forest trees but are less
abundant in dry forests. Thorny shrubs and succulents are common in some
tropical dry forests.
● Animals - Earth’s tropical forests are home to millions of species including
an estimated 5-30 million still undescribed species of insects, spiders, and other
arthropods. In fact, animal diversity is higher in tropical forests than in any other
terrestrial biomes. The animals including amphibians, birds, and other reptiles,
mammals, and arthropods are adapted to the vertically layered environment.

IMPORTANCE OF FOREST TO THE ENVIRONMENT:

1. Forests support countless species as well as 1.6 billion human livelihoods.
2. Forest products are used in daily life. The fruits, paper, and wood from trees go
into daily manufacturing of goods. Forest by-products like medicine, cosmetics,
and detergents are also used daily.
3. Forests are very important in biodiversity and livelihood for humans.
4. Forests provide habitat to diverse species.
5. Forests offer watershed protection, provide timber and non-timber products, and
recreational venues.
6. Forests prevent soil erosion; help maintain the water cycle and check global
warming by using carbon dioxide in photosynthesis.

GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM
GRASSLAND
➢ areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous
(nonwoody) plants. It is also called transitional landscape. Grasslands occur
naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of
the earth.
Primary function of grassland:
1. Provide forage for livestock
2. Protect and conserve soil and water resources
3. Furnish a habitat for livestock
4. Contribute to the attractiveness of the landscape

● Grasslands are important to maintain the crop of many domesticated and

wild herbivores such as horse, mule, ass, cow, pig, sheep, goat, buffalo, camel,
 deer, and many more. If grasslands are not protected and conserved, many
years from now supply of meat products will adversely be affected.

CHARACTERISTICS OF GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM

1. Vegetation structure is dominated by grasses.
2. Occur in semi-arid climates.
3. Rainfall and soil insufficient to support significant tree growth.
4. Most common at mid-latitudes and near the interior of continents.
5. Often exploited for agricultural use.

IMPORTANCE OF GRASSLAND
● Grasslands are the key life source to sustainability and are essential in
sustaining soil health. Having a wealth of grasslands provides the ecosystem
with sufficient clean water, helps prevent floods, and promotes the natural
production of food crops and meat.
● Grasslands in the Philippines have been traditionally referred to as cogonal
lands because cogon is the predominant species. It has been reduced from
11% of the total land area to 6% over the past few decades mainly due to
conversion of this ecosystem into croplands. Most grassland in the Philippines
are the result of the destruction of forests. Some like the grassland on top of
Mount Pulag in Mountain Province are natural formations.
● Location of Grasslands in the Philippines:
1. Laguna de Bay (Gulod, Cabuyao)
2. Alfonso, Cavite
3. Batangas
4. Bulacan
5. La Union
6. Laguna Province
7. Pangasinan
8. Rizal
9. Tarlac

ESTUARINE ECOSYSTEM
ESTUARIES
➢ A partially enclosed body of water and its surrounding coastal habitats where
saltwater from the ocean typically mixes with freshwater from rivers or
streams.
➢ Two ecosystem services that estuaries provide are water filtration and habitat
protection. Habitats associated with estuaries, such as salt marshes and
mangrove forests act like enormous filters. Estuaries are very productive
ecosystems because they constantly receive fresh nutrients from the river.
 They are important natural places because they provide goods and services that
are economically indispensable.

● Physical Environment. An estuary is a transition area between river

and sea. Seawater flows up the estuary channel during a rising tide and
flows back down during the falling tide. Often, higher-density seawater
occupies the bottom of the channel and mixes little with the lower-
density river water at the surface.
● Chemical Environment. Salinity varies spatially within estuaries, from
nearly that of freshwater to that of seawater. Salinity also varies with the
rise and fall of the tides. Nutrients from the river make estuaries, like
wetlands, among the most productive biomes.
● Geologic Features. Estuarine flow patterns combined with the
sediments carried by river and tidal waters create a complex network
of tidal channels, islands, natural levees, and mudflats.
● Photosynthetic Organisms. Saltmarsh grasses and algae, including
phytoplankton, are the major procedures in estuaries.
● Heterotrophs. Estuaries support an abundance of worms, oysters,
crabs, and many fish species that humans consume. Many marine
invertebrates and fishes use estuaries as a breeding ground or migrate
through them to freshwater habitats upstream. Estuaries are also crucial
feeding areas for waterfowl and some marine mammals.
● Human Impact. Filling, dredging, and pollution from upstream have
disrupted estuaries worldwide.

ECOSYSTEMS SERVICES OF ESTUARINE

● Estuaries support diverse and abundant ecological communities of plants
and animals and provide important habitats for many fishes, birds, and shellfish.
● Nursery of the sea. Supports juvenile stage of fishes.
● Provides a range of valuable ecosystem services for humans such as food
provision, water filtration, nutrient regulation, and storm protection.
● Estuaries can also remove toxins from the environment. The filtered water
brings nutrients from the watershed and also many other pollutants.
● Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands filter out pollutants such as
herbicides, pesticides, heavy metals, and excess nutrients and sediments.

FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM
Every living thing on earth needs water to survive, but more than 100,000
species need a special kind of water that can only be found in certain places and is very
rare supply. The plants, animals, microbes, rocks, soil, sunlight, and water found in and
around this valuable resource are all part of the freshwater ecosystem. Less than 3%
of the earth is freshwater and less than half that is available as liquid. The rest is
locked away as ice in polar ice caps and glaciers thus, freshwater is a precious
resource.

IMPORTANCE OF FRESHWATER:
● Freshwater is vital for life supporting ecosystems and human civilizations. It
is used in many aspects of daily life including food production, power generation,
manufacturing, and sanitation.
● Healthy freshwater environments supply water for drinking and growing
crops.
● They also help prevent soil erosion, dispose of waste, and provide natural
protection from flooding.

TYPES OF FRESHWATER:
LENTIC ECOSYSTEM
➢ Those whose water is still and are made up of ponds, marshes, ditches,
lakes, and swamps.
➢ These ecosystems range in size from very small ponds that may be
temporary to large lakes.
➢ The consumer species found in lentic habitats include worms, snails,
amphibians, crustaceans, insects, reptiles, and birds.

LOTIC ECOSYSTEM
➢ Any kinds of moving water such as creek, brook, rivers, spring, or
stream.
➢ The water in a lotic ecosystem from source to mouth must have
atmospheric gasses, turbidity, longitudinal temperature gradation, and
materials dissolved in it.
➢ The organisms in these waters have suckers and hooks that help them
stick to the waterbed, rocks, or plants. Some of them have a streamlined
body that helps them swim against water currents. Some species
attach to the substratum

MARINE ECOSYSTEM
➢ Largest of earth’s aquatic ecosystems and are distinguished by waters that
have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater which have a
lower salt content. It includes marshes, tidal zones, estuaries, mangrove forests,
lagoons, seagrass beds, the ocean floor, and the coral reef.
➢ FOUR ZONES: intertidal, pelagic, benthic, and abyssal.
IMPORTANCE OF MARINE ECOSYSTEM
● Marine ecosystems are important for society since they provide services
including food security, feed for livestock, raw materials for medicine,
building materials from coral rock and sand, and natural defenses against
hazards such as coastal erosion and inundation.
● Marine ecosystem also provides other important services associated with
their regulatory and habitat function such as pollution control, storm
protections, flood control, habitat for species, and shoreline stabilization.

BIOTIC COMPONENTS OF MARINE ECOSYSTEM:

Most ocean life can be found in coastal habitats on the continental shelf, even if
this area occupies only 7% of the total ocean area. Most of the open ocean habitats are
found in the deep ocean beyond the edge of the continental shelf. The Pacific Ocean
has the most marine life.

A. Animals of the Marine Biome

1. Fish – sharks, swordfish, tuna, clownfish, stingray, flatfish, eels, rockfish,
seahorse, sunfish mola, and gurs.
2. Marine mammals – blue whale, seal, dolphins, manatees, and otters.
3. Mollusks – octopus, cuttlefish, clams, conch, squids, oysters, slugs, and
snails.
4. Jellyfishes
5. Reptiles

B. Plants in ocean
Phytoplankton. Serve as the major primary producers in the marine
ecosystem. These microscopic single-celled plants, bacteria, algae, and other
organisms harvest sunlight through photosynthesis and store it as chemical
energy. Kelps are also major producers in the ocean. It grows abundantly and
can be found throughout the ocean. They stay anchored in the ocean floor with a
structure call holdfast. Air filled sacs buoy the kelp up towards ocean surface
where the leaf blades collect sunlight for photosynthesis. Kelp provide food and
shelter for a variety of ocean creatures such as sea turtles, crabs, and fishes.