WEEK 1-3 Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOb):

METALANGUAGE

In this section, the essential terms relevant to the study of environmental science ULO-1 will be
operationally defined to establish a typical frame in the field of natural sciences and social influences
towards the quality-of-life and sustainability. Please refer to the definition in case you will encounter
difficulty in the understanding of environmental science concepts.

1. Ecosystem – a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.

2. Biome – a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat, e.g.,
forest or tundra.

3. Flora – the plants of a particular region, habitat, or geological period.

4. Fauna – the animals of a particular region, habitat, or geological period.

5. Region - an area or division, especially part of a country or the world having definable characteristics
but not always fixed boundaries.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE

BIOMES

Biomes are diverse biological communities where various plants and animal species share common
characteristics for the environment, they are thriving in. They are formed in response to a shared
physical climate and on the world's different continents. While these local communities have distinctive
characteristics, they can understand concerning a few general groups with the same climate conditions,
patterns of growth, and vegetation types.

Tropical Moist Forest

The tropical moist forest supports the world's one of the most complex and biologically rich biome.
These forests do share standard features such as rain fall and unchanging temperatures. One type of
moist forest is the cool cloud forests found in high mountains where fog and mist provide sufficient
moisture for the vegetation. On the other hand, the tropical rainforest has an abundant rainfall per year
(more than 200 cm.) and warm to hot temperatures all year round.

Both tropical moist forests have an old, thin, acidic, and nutrient-poor soil. However, the presence of
species on these forests is overwhelming in the canopy of the tropical rainforest, where millions of
insect species are present. In mountainous regions, temperatures are more relaxed, and precipitation is
usually more significant at high elevations. Communities can transition quickly from warm and dry to
cold and wet as you go up a mountain. Vertical zonation refers to the vegetation zones defined by
altitude.
Tropical Seasonal

Although the temperatures are hot throughout the year, wet and dry seasons are the distinct
characteristics of many tropical regions. These are the areas that support drought-tolerant forests that
are dormant and appear to be brown during the dry season; however, they will turn into the vibrant
green during rainy months. Tropical seasonal forests have annual dry seasons but with periodic rain to
support tree growth. The trees and shrubs that grow in these forests are drought-deciduous in which
during drought or water is unavailable, will lose their leaves and cease to grow. Moreover, seasonal
forests are often open woodlands that grade into savannahs.

Tropical Savannas and Grasslands

Both grasslands and savannahs are areas with too little rainfall to support forests. However, unlike
grasslands, the savannahs have thin tree cover. Like tropical seasonal forests, most tropical savannahs
and grasslands have a rainy season, but typically, rains are less abundant than in a forest. The plants in
these areas have adaptations to survive drought, heat, and even fires. Many of these plants have long-
lived roots that seek deep groundwater and can persist even the leaves and stems die.

Deserts

Deserts occur when rainfall is rare and unpredictable (less than 30 cm) and hot or cold yet always dry.
The vegetation in deserts is remarkably diverse, although sparse. Well- adapted plants have water-
storing leaves and stems, thick epidermal layers to prevent excessive water loss and salt tolerance. Most
desert plants and animals are adapting to prolonged droughts, and both extreme heat and cold.
Whenever spring rainfalls, most of these plants blossom and rapidly dispose of seeds.

Temperate Grasslands

As in tropical latitudes, temperate (mid-latitude) grasslands occur where there is enough rain to support
abundant grass but not enough for forests. Generally, grasslands are involved with diverse grasses and
flowering herbaceous plants or forbs that create a colorful grassland during summer. Vegetation can be
less than a meter in dry grasslands while in more humid areas, the vegetation can exceed two meters.
The accumulation of dead leaves during the annual winter produces thick and organic-rich soil where
roots can dig deep to survive drought, fire, and extreme heat and cold.

Temperate Shrublands

Dry environments can be biologically rich, where they can support drought-adapted trees, shrubs, and
grasses. In Mediterranean areas, hot season coincides with dry season creating warm, dry summers and
cold, moist winters. Dense thickets are forming from evergreen shrubs with small, leathery, hard, and
waxy(sclerophyllous) leaves—a cluster of shrub oaks, dry-resistant pines, or other small trees in
sheltering valleys. Due to fuel-rich plant assemblage, periodic fires burn ferociously, allowing plant
succession and spring flowers to bloom abundantly. Temperate shrublands or chaparral (Sp. Thicket)
have summer droughts.

Temperate Forests

Temperate forests can be evergreen or deciduous. Temperate, or midlatitude, forests occupy a wide
range of precipitation conditions, mainly between 30 and 55-degrees. In general, we can group these
forests by tree type, which can be broadleaf deciduous (losing leaves seasonally) or evergreen
coniferous (cone-bearing).

Deciduous Forests. Broadleaf forests occur throughout the world, where rainfall is plentiful, in
mid-latitudes, deciduous forests located in the forest lose their leaves during winter. The loss of
green pigments in plants produces brilliant colors in the forest during the autumn season.
Broadleaf forests are evergreen or drought-deciduous, such as Southern live oaks usually found
at a lower latitude. Deciduous forests can regrow very fast since they inhabit warm, moderate
climates.

Coniferous Forests. These forests grow in a wide range of temperatures and moisture
conditions. They occur in a limited moisture area that may experience cold climates such as
winter wherein moisture is unavailable (frozen), and hot climates might have a seasonal
drought. It also includes sandy soils that hold little moisture that is often occupied by conifers.
Waterless of these trees reduced by thin, wayleaves common to pine needles. The coniferous
forest of the Pacific coast grows in extremely wet conditions. Rainy forests often enclosed in fog,
cool in temperature, and the most humid coastal forests are known as temperate rainforest.
Condensation in the canopy (leaf drip) is a significant source of precipitation in the understory.

Boreal Forests

Since conifers can survive winter cold, they tend to limit the existence of boreal forest or
northern forest between about 50° and 60° north. Numerous qualities and types of boreal forest in the
mountainous areas area a lower latitude where dominant trees are pines, hemlocks, spruce, cedar, and
fir. Boreal forest, such as taiga (snow forest), known by its Russian name, describe as extreme, and
ragged edge where forest progressively gives way to open tundra. In this area, extreme cold and short
summer limit the growth rate of trees. About 10 cm diameter of trees may be over 200 years old in the
far north. Boreal forests occur at high latitudes

Tundra

Tundra. It is a treeless landscape located in the mountaintops or high latitudes, and the growing
season of this biome is only two to three months. Timewave frosted any month of the year, and
most of the year, temperatures are below the freezing point where only small, hardy vegetation
can survive. Tundra can freeze in any month.

Arctic Tundra. It is an extended biome that has a short growing season. Hence, it has low
productivity. During midsummer, however,24-hour sunshine supports the booming of plant
growth and plenty of insect’s life. Arctic tundra is essential for birds as well as to global
biodiversity.
 Alpine Tundra. It has a similar environmental condition and vegetation to the arctic tundra. It
occurs on near mountaintops, and these zones have a short and extraordinary growing season.
Often one sees amend-blowing abundance of flowers in alpine tundra. Hence, everything must
bloom immediately to create seeds in half a month before the arrival of snow. Numerous alpine
tundra plants have deep pigmentation and weathered leaves to secure against the sunlight in
the thin mountain atmosphere. Compared to other biomes, the tundra has relatively low
diversity.

MARINE ECOSYSTEMS

The diversity of organism in oceans and seas are no seen effectively. However, they are also as diverse
and complex as terrestrial biomes. The oceans cover three-fourths of the Earth’s surface, and it has an
essential role but often unrecognized compared to terrestrial ecosystems. Most of the marine species
depend on photosynthetic organisms the same as terrestrial animals.

Open Oceans The open ocean is usually associated with a biological desert since it generally has
low productivity. But like terrestrial deserts, the open ocean has areas of productive richness
and diversity. Fish and plankton abound in regions such as the equatorial Pacific and Antarctic
oceans, where currents distribute nutrients. Phytoplankton, free-floating photosynthetic plants,
microscopic algae are essential to support the marine food web. Oceanographers have
discovered thousands of varieties of organisms, and most of them are microscopic organisms.
Open ocean (middle of the Pacific Ocean) communities vary from surface to hadal zones.

Coastal Zones

Shoreline communities vary in terms of depth, light, nutrient concentrations, and temperature. Estuaries
have high biological productivity and diversity due to the abundant nutrients that came from the land.
However, excessive loads of nutrients may stimulate bacterial growth that consumes oxygen in the
water, which is more than 200 "dead zones” occur in coastal zones. Coastal zones support vibrant,
diverse biological communities.

Corals reefs are known in marine ecosystems because of their exceptional biological productivity
and their diverse, beautiful organisms—reefs form clusters as colonial animals (coral polyps)
that live symbiotically with photosynthetic algae. Calcium-rich coral skeletons build-up to make
reefs, atolls, and islands. Reefs protect shorelines and shelter of countless species of fish,
worms, crustaceans, and other life-forms. Reef-building corals exist where water is shallow and
clear enough for sunlight to reach the photosynthetic algae. However, the biggest threat to
reefs is global warming. Elevated water temperatures cause coral bleaching, in which corals
expel their algal partner and then die.

Mangroves are trees that grow in saltwater. They take place along calm, shallow, tropical
coastlines around the world. Swamps help stabilize shorelines, and they are also significant
nurseries for fish, shrimp, and other commercial species.
 Estuaries are bays where river water meets the sea; hence, there is a mixing of saltwater and
freshwater. Salt marshes are shallow wetlands flooded regularly or occasionally and drained by
seawater, usually on shallow coastlines, including estuaries.

In contrast to the shallow, calm conditions of estuaries, coral reefs, and mangroves, tide pools
may experience violent, wave-blasted shorelines that support enchanting life-forms. Tide pools
are depressions in a rocky shoreline that are flooded at high tide but retain some water at low
tide. These areas remain rocky, where wave action prevents most plant growth or sediment
(mud) accumulation.

Barrier islands are low, narrow, sandy islands that form parallel to coastline. They occur where
the continental shelf is shallow, and rivers or coastal currents provide a steady source of
sediments. They protect brackish (moderately salty), inshore lagoons and salt marshes from
storms, waves, and tides.

FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS

Freshwater environments are not that wide as the marine ecosystem, but they are abundant and center
of biodiversity. Most of the terrestrial communities rely relatively on freshwater habitats. In the desert,
isolated pools, streams, and even underground water systems support astounding biodiversity and land
animals with water.

Lakes

Like marine environments, freshwater lakes have distinct vertical zones. Close to the surface, a
subcommunity of plankton, primarily microscopic plants, animals, and protists (single-celled
organisms such as amoebae), float freely in the water column. Some insects may live at the air-
water interface such as water strider and mosquitoes. The fish move through the water column,
sometimes close to the surface and sometimes at depth. Finally, a variety of snails, burrowing
worms, fish, and other organisms occupy the bottom or benthos. They make up the benthic
community. They are reducing the levels of oxygen in the benthic environment, primarily
because there is little mixing to introduce oxygen to this zone. An aerobic bacteria (not using
oxygen) may exist in low-oxygen sediments. In the littoral zone, arising of plants such as cattails
and rushes grow in the bottom sediment.

Lakes, unless shallow, have a warmer upper layer mixed with wind and warmed by the sun. This
layer is the epilimnion. The epilimnion is the hypolimnion (hypo = below), a colder, deeper layer
that is not combined. You may have found the sharp temperature limit known as the
thermocline between these layers on the off chance that you have swum in a moderately deep
lake. Underneath this limit, the water is a lot colder. This limit is likewise called the mesolimbic.

Local conditions that influence the characteristics of an aquatic community include:

1. Excess nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates

2. suspended matter, such as silt that affects light penetration

3. depth
4. temperature

5. currents

6. bottom characteristics, such as muddy, sandy, or rocky floor

7. internal currents

8. connections to, or isolation from, other aquatic and terrestrial system

Wetlands

Wetlands are shallow biological systems where the land surface is saturated or lowered in the
late part of the year. Wetlands have vegetation that is adjusted to develop under saturated
conditions. These are shallow and beneficial. These relatively small systems rich in biodiversity
and are essential for both breeding and migratory birds. Wetlands catch, and often purify
industrial and farm wastewater, while bacteria and plants consume the nutrients and pollutants
in the water. Its biodiversity as wetlands. Wetlands may gradually convert to terrestrial
communities as they with sediment, and as the vegetation slowly fills in towards the center. This
process often accelerated by increased sediment loads from urban development, farms, and
roads.

Swamps are wetlands with trees.

Marshes are wetlands without trees.

Bogs are areas of concentrated land, and usually, the ground is comprised of deep layers
of accumulated, undecayed vegetation known as peat.

Fens are like bogs except that they are mainly fed by groundwater, so they have
mineral-rich water and exceptionally adapted plant species.

Bogs are primarily fed by precipitation.

Swamps and marches provide a significant degree of ecological sustainability. Bogs and fens,
mostly nutrient-poor and have limited environmental efficiency.

Environmental Variables Affecting the Biomes

1. SUNLIGHT. Sunlight powers the photosynthesis that supplies energy to nearly all life on earth.
It is also essential for vision, which many animals rely on for catching foods, spotting predators,
etc.

2. TEMPERATURE. Organisms can survive within a specific, limited range of temperature. If the
body temperature either rises above or falls below that range, the critical chemical reactions in
the tissues get “out of synch” with one another, resulting in metabolic chaos.

3. WATER AND DISSOLVED SALTS. Precise balance of water, dissolved salts, and organic
molecules in the body fluids of organisms must be maintained to keep the cells alive. Many
plants and animals cannot survive in dry conditions, such as deserts, because they cannot
 acquire and store water that are needed by their body cells. But some organisms cannot equally
live in swamps or marshes because of too much water in the soil. Hence, salinity which is the
concentration of dissolved organic salts, affects the ability of the organisms to control their
water balance.

4. OXYGEN. The concentration of available oxygen can be important limiting factor in a variety of
environments. Bacteria can either be aerobic or anaerobic. Too much oxygen for anaerobic
organisms can be fatal as lack of oxygen is for aerobic. Air-breathing animals need more oxygen
to sustain life.

5. METABOLIC WASTE. All organisms produce metabolic waste products. Plants release oxygen
by day, give off carbon dioxide by night, and discard leaves and stems on a seasonal basis. Waste
products must enter the biogeochemical cycle wherein they are broken down and carried away.

6. NUTRIENTS. Distribution of nutrients is important in determining where organisms can grow

and where they cannot. The more nutrients available in each area, the more living things can
successfully survive.

LET’S CHECK

Activity 2. Answer the following questions:

Biomes 1. They are diverse biological communities were various plants and animal species share
common characteristics for the environment, they are thriving in.

Tropical Moist Forest 2. These forests share standard features such as rainfall and unchanging
temperatures.

Tropical Seasonal forests 3. These forests have annual dry seasons but with periodic rain to support tree
growth.

Tropical Savannas and Grasslands 4. These are areas with too little rainfall to support forests.

Deserts 5. The plants and animals are adapting to prolonged droughts, and both
extreme heat and cold in this area.

Temperate rainforest 6. A rainy forest which is often enclosed in fog, cool in temperature, and the most
humid coastal forests.

Tundra 7. It is a treeless landscape located in the mountaintops or high latitudes, and the
growing season of this biome is only two to three months.

Phytoplankton 8. They are free-floating photosynthetic plants, microscopic algae which are essential to
support the marine food web.

Wetlands 9. They are shallow biological systems where the land surface is saturated or lowered in
the late part of the year.
 Bogs 10. They are areas of concentrated land, and usually, the ground is comprised of deep
layers of accumulated, undecayed vegetation known as peat.

Let's Check Activity #2 (1-10)

1. Biomes 
2. Tropical Moist Forest 
3. Tropical Seasonal Forest
4. Tropical Savannas and Grasslands
5. Deserts
6. Temperate Rainforest
7. Tundra 
8. Phytoplankton 
9. Wetlands 
10. Bogs 

Let's Analyze Activity # 2 (1-3)

1. Because there are thousands, perhaps millions, of different species of plants and animals
living in tropical rain forests like the Amazon, there. It is of interest to scientists,
particularly those who study such life forms as botanists and zoologists. Due to the
abundance of natural resources there, it might be valuable to human society.
2. Environmental variables are elements (variables) in a person's physical environment that
have an impact on their behavior. This can include things like a person's residence, their
social circle, their personal circumstances, and more.
The majority of plants and animals are able to thrive in places with very specific climate
conditions, such as temperature and rainfall patterns. Any change in the local climate has
the potential to have an impact on the local flora and fauna as well as the ecosystem as a
whole.
3.
a. Tundra from Taiga
The presence of trees distinguishes taiga from tundra most noticeably. When
compared to the tundra, which has no trees at all, the taiga has a dense conifer
forest. This is caused by permafrost as well as the fact that there isn't much water
in the tundra. In frozen ground, trees have a very difficult time developing strong
roots.
b. Temperate Forest from Boreal Forest
The climate in which they thrive is what separates temperate and boreal forests. In
contrast to the boreal forest, temperate forests are found in areas with milder
summers and winters. As a result, the boreal forest is located north of the
temperate forest.
c. Wetlands from Lakes
Lakes are typically kept full by a variety of sources of water. Through
evaporation, they take in more water than they expend. An area that has water in
it for the majority of the year is called a wetland. A wetland might not always be
wet, which is strange.