CHAPTER 2 : ECOSYSTEM

Teacher Syuhada
 Learning Objectives
2.1
Energy flow in ecosystem
2.1.1 Explain with examples of
producer, consumer, and
decomposer
2.1.2 Interpret food chain and
food web
2.4 The role of human in
maintaining a balanced nature
24.1 Justify and communicate
that man needs a stable and
and productive ecosystem to
sustain life.
2.2
Nutrient cycle in the ecosystem
2.2.1 Elaborate and communicate about
the role of living things in the oxygen
and carbon cycles in the ecosystem
2.2.2 Justify the role of organisms in the
water cycle of an ecosystem
2.2.3 Solve problems when there are
interferences to the cycles caused by
human activities
2.3
Interdependence and interaction among
organisms and between organisms
and the environment
2.3.1 Explain with examples the interdependence
among living things anf the environment to
maintain a balanced ecosystem
2.3.2 Justify the importance of adaptations of
living things to the environment
2.3.3 Communicate examples of onteractions
between organisms and apply these interactions
in daily life
2.1 Energy Flow in Ecosystem
1. Green plants convert light energy from the Sun into chemical energy.
(photosynthesis)

2. The chemical energy is transfered to primary consumer and then to secondary

consumer and tertiary consumers in the food chain and food web.

3. Producers are all green plants that produces its own food through photosynthesis.

4. Consumers are all organisms that eat another organisms.

5. Decomposers are organisms that decompose dead organisms (plant/animal) and

change them into simple substances. (ex : bacteria, fungi)
6. Primary consumers are herbivores and omnivores that eat producers.
In other words, primary consumers are organisms that eat green plant.
(Ex: Grasshopper and caterpillar)

7. Secondary consumers are omnivores and carnivores that eat the primary consumers.
Example : Himalayan bluetail (bird) - omnivore that eats caterpillar and fruits
Kingfisher (bird) - primary carnivore that eats snails, fish, tadpoles.

8. Tertiary consumers are the secondary carnivore (bigger size than primary carnivore),
that eats secondary consumers. Example : Fox, snake
 Food Web

Interconnection of a few food chain

Food Chain

Method used to show the feeding

relationship between organisms
1. As seen in the food chain, energy
is also transfered from one
organism to another organism in
the food web.
2. Some of energy is lost because it
is used by the organism to move
and carry out the life process of
respiration
3. Energy is also lost in the form of
heat or chemical energy through
undigested food or faeces.
 HOMEWORK:
Do Formative Practice
2.1 (text book page 25,
question 1 - 2 )
Send your work
through GC
2.2 Nutrient Cycle in an Ecosystem

Definition: A nutrient cycle is a repeated pathway of a particular

nutrient or element from the environment through one or more
organisms and back to the environment.

Example: water cycle, carbon cycle and oxygen cycle.

 Water Cycle

The water cycle is the journey water takes

as it moves from the land to the sky and
back again. It follows a cycle of evaporation,
condensation and precipitation.
 The role of living things in the
water cycle

1. Water is absorbed by roots of plants and released into atmosphere through

transpiration. This will increase the water content in the atmospher.
2. Animals activity like respiration, defecation and excretion (sweating and
urination) also increase the water content in the atmosphere.
3. The sun's energy causes water to evaporate from oceans and lakes into the
atmosphere.
4. When the atmosphere cools, water vapour condenses, making clouds that might
produce rain.
 Carbon Cycle and Oxygen Cycle

The process by which

oxygen released into
the atmosphere by
green plants, while the
carbon dioxide
released as a product
of respiration and
decomposition, is taken
up for photosynthesis.
 The role of living things in the
carbon cycle and oxygen cycle

1. Plants and animals carry out respiration which uses oxygen and releases
carbon dioxide
2. The decay of dead plants and animals by bacteria and fungi in the soil uses
oxygen and releases carbon dioxide.
3. Green plants maintain the content of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the air
through photosynthesis which absorbs carbon dioxide and releases
oxygen.
 Steps to solve problems when there is
an interference to the Nutrient Cycle

Human activities that disrupt Steps to solve interference

the nutrient cycle to the nutrient cycle

1 Create planned agricultural systems

1 Unrestricted logging
2 Use public transport
2 Burning of fossil fuels
Store rain water for daily use
3
3 Over consumption of water
Tighten laws
resources 4
 HOMEWORK:
Do Formative Practice
2.2 (text book page
27, question 1 - 4 )
Send your work
through GC
2.3 Interdependence and Interaction among Organisms,
and between Organisms and the Environment

Ecosystem
Habitat 2.3

Species Population Community

 Species

A group of organisms that have common

characteristics and can reproduce to
breed offspring
Water plant species Frog species
Fish species

In the figure above, fish, frog and water plant are 3 different
species
 Population

A group of organisms of the same

species that live in the same habitat

A population on frogs
 Community

A few populations of different organisms

that live together in one habitat and have
mutual interaction with one another

Pond community
 Ecosystem

A few communities that live together in

one habitat and have mutual interaction
with one another, including all the non-living
components such as water, air and soil

Pond Ecosystem
 Habitat

Natural surroundings or home

of an organism

Habitat for frog

 A balanced ecosystem

An ecosystem is said to be balanced if the living organisms

and non-living components (water, light, air, soil) in the
environment are in a state of harmony without any
external interference
 Adaptation of living Things to the Environment

Tropical Desert Tundra

Area which receive high Area which experience
Area which has extreme
distribution of rainfall long winters and short
hot and dry weather
and sunlight throughout summers
the year
 Example
Camel Animal Plant
Desert Cactus
1. Hill-like humps for storing fats
that relase water when broken
1. large stem that can store water
down Area which has extreme
2. Spines instead of leaves
2. Long eyelashes and silt-like not , hot and dry weather 3. Thick waxy skin to reduce
to prevent sand
water loss through pores
3. Wide feet to spread out weight on
sand
 TASK:
Adaptation of organisms to
the climate of their habitats :
1. Choose 1 organism
2. Find information on how
the organism adapt to the
climate of their habitat.
Send your work through GC
 Interaction between organisms

Competition

Interaction between
living organisms Prey-predator
Mutualism

Commensalism
Symbiosis

Parasitism
 Competition

1. Happen when organisms in a

habitat compete for the same
and limited basic need such as light,
food, space and mating partners
2. Intraspecific competiton : competition
between organisms of the same species
3. Interspecific competition : Competition
between organisms of different species
 Prey-predator

1. Involves the predator which hunts

and eats its prey
2. A predator is an organism which hunts
and eats other organisms
3. A prey is an organism that is being hunted
and eaten by other organisms
4. Predator benefits while prey is harmed
 Symbiosis

1. Happens when 2 or more organisms

of different species live together and
interact with one another
2. Symbiosis can be classified into 3 groups :
- Mutualism
- Commensalism
- Parasitism
 Mutualism

1. Interaction that benefits both

organism
2. Example : The clown fish is protected
from its predator by the sea anemone
and is supplied with food by the sea
anemone. The sea anemone is provided
with nutrients in the form of leftovers
by the clown fish.
 Commensalism

1. Interaction that benefits one organism

only without benefiting or harming the
other organism
2. Comensal is the organism that benefits
while the host is the organism that neither
loses nor benefits
3. Example : The remora fish (commensal)
which latches on the shark (host) gets its
foods from the scraps of the shark's
prey.
 Parasitism

1. Interaction that benefits only one

organism but harms the othe organism
2. Parasite is the organism which benefits
while the host is the organism which is
harmed.
3. Example : the tapeworm (parasite) in
in the human intestine absorbs nutrients
and obtains protection from the human
(host) that is harmed due to the lost
of nutrients.
 Biological
Control
Biological control is a method that applies the
interactions between organisms such as prey-predator
and parasitism to control the population of pests in a
habitat
 Examples

Owls are kept in palm oil plantations to control

the population of rats

The ladybird bettle eats

aphids, a crop pest
 Advantages

More environmental friendly

Does not pollute the environment

Does not cause the agricultural pests to become resistant

Does not affect the health of other organisms except agricultural pests

Cheaper / Low cost

 Disadvantages

Takes a longer period of time to control the population of

agricltural pests

Difficult to predict the results of biological control that involve

living organisms

Disrupts the balance of ecosystem if the population of the

species of predators gets out of control
Factors that influence population
size in an ecosystem
 The population size in an ecosystem might...
1. Continuously increase gradually. For example, the human population size
that is continuously increasing gradually

2. Increase but at a decreasing rate until a stable maximum number is

achieved. For example, the grass population in a vase is of increasing size
but at decreasing rate until a stable maximum number is achieved.

3. Decrease quickly or become extinct. For example, the population of

orang utan in Malaysia is fats decreasing or is becoming extinct.
Factors that influence population size
Disease Dangerous infectious diseases that spread quickly can decrease a population

Predators
In an ecosystem, the more predators there are, the less prey there will be

if the food source for a certain species decrease, the population of the

Food sources
species will also decrease

In the drought and rainy seasons, both type of weather can decrease the

Change of weather
population of plants and animals.
 Changes in the
ecosystem
Changes in the ecosystem such as
water supply, animal migration
and changes in population size can
influence available resources and
the balance between populations
in a habitat
 Water supply

Increase in water supply can

ensure sustainability and balance
between populations in the
habitat.
Animal migration

When a certain species migrates

from one ecosystem to a new
ecosystem, the population of the
species in the original ecosystem
will decrease while its population
in the new ecosystem will
increase
 Changes in population size

When the population of consumers A new balance among the

in an ecosystem decreases, the populations will emerge in the
available resources like water and ecosystem due to the changes
food for consumers will increase in the populations concerned

Conversely, if the population of

consumers in an ecosystem increase,
the available resources and food for
consumers will decrease
 HOMEWORK:
Answer Formative Practive
2.3 (Text book, page 39)
Send your work through GC
2.4 Role of Human in

Maintaining a Balanced

Nature

Human activities cause destruction

of nature. Due to that, humans are
responsible for conserving and
maintaining the balance of nature
 Effects of human activities on the environment

Forest logging

Industrialisation

Agriculture

Waste disposal
Steps to solve the effects of human activities on the environment

Practice Refuse, Reduce, Reuse,

Enforce Laws

Recycle, Repurpose (5R)

Use Biological control

Increase public awareness
 HOMEWORK:
Answer Formative Practive
2.4 (Text book, page 40)
Send your work through GC