GEE2: PEOPLE AND THE EARTH ECOSYSTEM

MODULE 1:
1ST SEMESTER │ S.Y. 2022-2023 │ HERNANDEZ, CATHRINE
LECTURER: MS. SANDY ELEPONIO
Community Ecology – study of how populations
interact with each other.
TOPIC
Conservation Ecology – study how to preserve and
SUBTOPIC
create a healthy, lasting biosphere.
SUB-SUB TOPPIC
ENERGY FLOW

ECOLOGY
Energy Flow

• Ecology is the study of interactions that take

place between organisms and their Chemical
Feeding Cycles
environment. Relationships
• These interactions determine the distribution f
Carbon
organisms and their abundance. Nitrogen
Cycles
• Modern ecology includes observation and Cycle
Trophic Levels
experimentation
• Ecology covers the study of plants and animals, Water Phosphorus
including where they grow and live, what they Cycles Cycle

eat, or what eats them, is called natural history.

• All organisms interact with other organism in
Energy Flow – the flow of energy through living things
their surroundings and with the nonliving part
within an ecosystem.
of their environment.
• Feeding Relationships – Food web is an
• The survival depends on their interdependence
important ecological concept. Basically, food
which is the key term found throughout
web represents feeding relationships within a
ecology.
community.
o Trophic levels – the number of steps it
Biology Conservation
is from the start of the chain.
Ecology

Ecology • Chemical Cycles – describes systems of

repeated circulation of chemicals between
Population Community
Ecology other compounds, states and materials, and
Ecology
back to their original state, that occurs in space,
Ecosystem and on many objects in space including the
Ecology
Earth.
o Carbon Cycles – nature's way of reusing
carbon atoms, which travel from the
BRANCHES OF ECOLOGY
atmosphere into organisms in the Earth
and then back into the atmosphere
Population Ecology – study of how population grow. over and over again.
Ecosystem Ecology – study of how populations interact
with their physical environment.
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 o Water Cycles – shows the continuous
movement of water within the Earth
and atmosphere.
o Nitrogen Cycles – a repeating cycle of
processes during which nitrogen moves
through both living and non-living
things: the atmosphere, soil, water,
plants, animals and bacteria.
o Phosphorus Cycle - moves in a cycle
through rocks, water, soil and
sediments and organisms.
ECOLOGICAL HIERARCHY
Organisms – a single living thing.
Population – a group of organisms of the same species
that live together.
Community – a group of population that live together.
Ecosystem – communities and their physical
environments.
Biome – a group of ecosystems that have the same
climate.
Biosphere – all the biomes on Earth. Thus, all the living
areas of the planet.
BIOTIC & ABIOTIC COMPNENTS
Abiotic Components
• Climatic Factors – rain, light, wind, temperature.
• Edaphic Factors – soil, minerals, oxygen,
topography.
Biotic Components
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• Producers – also known as autotrophs, they
produce energy.
• Consumers – also known as heterotrophs, they
consume and transfer energy.
• Decomposers – better known as reducers or
saprotrophs recycle energy.
FOOD WEB
The feeding relationship in an ecosystem. Also
called a food chain.
TROPHIC LEVELS
Each feeding level in a food web or chain.
• Producers – the backbone trophic level.
Autotrophs which get energy from the sun
using photosynthesis. Plants, algae &
phytoplankton.
• Consumers – heterotrophs which eat other
organisms of energy, such as snails and pigs.
There are many trophic levels of consumers.
o Herbivores – eats plant only. (cow)
o Carnivores – eats animals only, (sharks)
o Omnivores eats plants and animals.
(Humans, mice)
o Decomposers- break down dead,
rotting remains, (bacteria, mushrooms)
 Overview: Chemical Cycles

Biogeochemical cycles - The various material circuits,

which involve both the nutrient and physical
components of an ecosystem.

Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Water are needed

by every organism on Earth. C is needed to build organic
molecules. N is needed for nucleic acids. P is needed for
energy molecules. Water is needed to maintain life.
How does every organism on Earth have access to these
limited resources?

CARBON CYCLE

The Carbon cycle reflects the connected

processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY
1. Producers convert inorganic carbon dioxide into
The rate at which light energy is converted to
organic molecules. Consumers eat the
the chemical energy of organic compounds by
producers.
autotrophs in an ecosystem. primary productivity is
2. Consumers breathe out CO2 which is reused by
limited by a variety of factors that depend on the
the autotrophs.
specific ecosystem as well as change in season. Usually
only about 10% of the chemical energy available at one
trophic level appears at the next. Since photosynthesis generates oxygen, the oxygen
cycle is coupled with the carbon cycle.
ENERGY FLOW II
Another way in which energy flows through an
ecosystem is by the cycling of chemical materials.
Chemical materials are energy, which move as they
cycle from one location to another.

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 NITROGEN CYCLE
“Water moving through a plant is called Transpiration.”
• Certain prokaryotes fix Nitrogen in the
atmosphere into ammonia which other bacteria
convert into nitrites and nitrates.
• Plants absorb ammonia and nitrates and
convert them into proteins that can be passed
onto the food chain.
• Detritivores reduce dead plants, animals and
their products into ammonia which can be
reused by plants or deposited in the soil.
• Nitrogen in the soil is returned to the
atmosphere in the form of free nitrogen by
denitrifying bacteria for prokaryotes to fix
again.
POSPHORUS CYCLE
• Phosphorous from rocks leaks into the soil by
sediment runoff.
• Phosphorous is added to the soil as phosphate.
• Plants absorb the phosphate.
• Animals eat the plants.
• Consumers excrete feces or decomposers break
down the wastes, which drains by run-off to the
oceans.
• The oceans deposit the phosphorous onto
rocks.
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WATER CYCLE
• Rain precipitates water onto the Earth.
• Water lands into the oceans. It also lands on
soil, and runs-off into the oceans after use by
living things.
• Water from the ocean evaporates into the air.
• Water in the air condenses into clouds
• Feeding relationships circulate energy from the
sun to producers to consumers.
• Ecology is the study of interactions between
organisms and environments.
• Chemical cycles circulate raw materials for
organisms to use. Four major cycles Carbon,
Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Water.
• Ecology can be studied at the organism,
population, community, ecosystem, biome and
biosphere level.
• Energy flow is how the earth circulates energ to
support life. Two types of energy flow include
feeding relationships and chemical cycles.
ECOSYSTEM
• An ecosystem is defined as a community of
lifeforms in concurrence with non-living
components, interacting with each other
• The plants and animals within each ecosystem
interact with each other and non -living
elements of the ecosystem like climate, soil and
precipitation
• An ecosystem can be very small such as puddle
or under the rock
• It can also be as big as an ocean or desert
• The balance in ecosystem is very important. All
things must work together to provide a good
living environment
• For example, if there is not enough water, d. Desert Ecosystem - the region with very little
plants and animals will die and the ecosystem rainfall. the days are hot and the nights are cold
will not exist.
• First coined by
SIR ARTHUR GEORGE
TANSLEY in 1935

Aquatic Ecosystem

a. Freshwater Ecosystem - aquatic

ecosystem that includes lakes,
ponds, rivers, streams and
wetlands. No salt content.
2 TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS b. Marine
Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecosystem -
a. Forest Ecosystem - consist of plants, animals Consists of
and microorganisms that live in coordination seas and
with the abiotic factors of the environment. oceans. Has substantial
Forest help in maintaining the temperature of salt content and greater
the earth biodiversity

5 TYPES OF SPECIES INTERACTIONS

a. Mutualism – beneficial to both porganisms.
b. Commensalism – is a relationship in which one
individual benefits and the other is unaffected.
b. Grassland Ecosystem - dominated by grasses c. Parasitism – a type of interaction of organism
and herbs Savanna and grassland and one is benefited and the other one is harm.
temperate grassland d. Predation – one individual caputures, kills, and
consumes, another individual (predator-prey).
Evolution (natural selection) fvprs adaptations.
Helps to regulate populations size.
e. Competition – redults from the use of the dae
limited resources by 2 or mor species (niche
overlap). The more resoures the 2 species share
the more intense the competition. Competitive
exclusion is when one species is eliminated as a
result of competing fo the same limited
resource. Characted displacement is when
c. Tundra Ecosystem - devoid of trees and are
competitiors evolve niche differences or
found in cold climates or where rainfall scarce
anatomical differences that lessen the intensity
covered
of competition. The difference is often freatst
with
where the competitors overlap.
snow
ADAPTATION

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Mimicry – often refers to as a group of oragnisms
capable of interbreeding and producing offspring.
Comauflage – is an ecological or environmental area
that is inahbited by particular species of animals, plants
and other organism.
Niche - refers to the way of life of an organism
Ecological Niche - describes how an organism or
population responds to the distribution of resources
and competitors.
ECOLOGICAL TERMS
Species - often refers to as a group of organisms
capable of interbreeding and producing offspring.
Habitat - is an ecological or environmental area that is
inhabited by particular.
species of animals, plants and other organism
Niche - refers to the way of life of an organism.
Ecological Niche - describes how an organism or
population responds to the distribution of resources
and competitors.
Ecosystem - A dynamic complex of plants and animals
and microorganisms inhabiting a particular area with
their nonliving environment interacting as functional
unit.
3 PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABILITY
1. Reliance to solar energy - The sun provides
warmth and fuels photosynthesis
2. Biodiversity- variety and adaptability of natural
systems and species
3. Chemical Cycling- circulation of chemicals from
the environment to the organisms and then back
to environment
Core Case Study: A Vision of a More Sustainable World
in 2060
A transition in human attitudes towards the
environment, and a shift in behavior that can lead to a
much better future for the planet in 2060.
SUSTAINABILITY
This is the practice of regulating natural
resources to meet the needs of society and industry
while preserving the health and condition of the
resources.
The capacity of the earth’s natural system and
human cultural system so survive, flourish and adapt
into a very long -term future.
Environment - is everything around us
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Environmental Science -interdisciplinary in science
connecting information and ideas from
• Natural Sciences (Ecology, Biology)
• Social Sciences (politics, economics)
• Humanities (ethics, philosophy)
• How nature works
• How the environment affects us
• How we affect the environment
• How to deal with environmental problems
• How to live more sustainably
Key Components of Sustainability
1. First Component- Natural Capital is equal to
natural resources and
natural services. Natural
capital is the natural
resources and natural
services that keep us and
other forms of life alive
and support human
economies.
• Renewable Resources – Air, water, sunlight
and wind.
• Non-renewable Resources – Oil, natural
gas, coal, nuclear fuel.
2. Second Component - Human activities degrade
natural capital. We need to recognize that many
human activities can degrade natural capital by
using normally renewable resources faster than
nature can restore them, and by overloading
natural systems with pollution and waste
3. Third Component – Solution Searching of
solutions-like scientific solution and political
solution. Scientific solutions to the problem
such as stop cutting down biologically diverse
mature forest and allow nature to replenish
them. Political solutions to the problem, the
government would implement such solution
through enforcing laws and regulations
• The search for solution often involves
conflict - Not only will the construction of
this dam cause irreversible environmental
damage to the Sierra Madre, but it will also
endanger numerous endemic wildlife, upset
the biodiversity, and displace so many
indigenous people native to the area.
(Rappler, 2021)
 • Dealing with such conflicts often involves
making trade-offs, or compromises another
component of sustainability.
4. Fourth Component - Individual matters
• Individual Matters
o A shift toward environmental
sustainability should be based on
scientific concepts that is widely
accepted by experts
o In making that shift individual
matters. Society’s shift toward
sustainability beginning with daily
choices we make.
o Sustainability begins at personal
and local level
o We must choose to priorities long -
term sustainability over short-term
gratification and calculate the true
cost borne by society in the future
instead by just the price of action
and policy today
o Global community has the
responsibility to facilitate this
transformation, and it starts by
recognizing the environment as the
key determinant of human health
• Some Resources are renewable and some
are not.
o Resource is anything obtained from
the environment and meet our
needs and wants.
o It takes nature anywhere from
several days to several hundreds of
years to replenish a renewable
resource through natural processes,
as long as we do not use up that
resource faster than nature can
renew it. Examples includes forest,
grasslands, fish population,
freshwater, fresh air, and fertile top
-soil.
o However, on the much shorter
human time scale of hundreds to
thousands of years, we can deplete
these resources much faster than
nature can form them.
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o Such exhaustible stocks include
energy resources, metallic mineral
resources, and non-metallic
resources.
o From an environmental and
sustainability point of view, the
priorities for more sustainable use
of non-renewable resources such as
metals and plastics should be:
Reduce (use less), Reuse, and
Recycle.
o According to a number of
environmental scientists, we
already know how to reuse or
recycle 80-90% of the non-
renewable metal and plastic
resources that we use.
o Sustainable yield-the highest rate at
which we can use a renewable
resource indefinitely without
reducing its available supply
o Non-renewable resources exist in
fixed quantity, or stock, in the
earth’s crust. On a time, scale of
millions to billions of years, geologic
processes can renew such
resources.
• We are living unsustainably
o According to number of research
studies and scientific evidences, we are
living unsustainably by wasting,
depleting, and degrading earth’s natural
capital at an accelerating rate.
o The entire process is known as
environmental degradation or natural
capital degradation.
o Therefore: “Human activity is putting
such strain on the natural functions of
Earth that the ability of the planet’s
ecosystems to sustain future
generations can no longer be taken for
granted.”
o Pollution is a major environmental
problem, it is a contamination of the
environment by a chemical or other
agent such as noise or heat at a level
that is harmful to the health, survival,
 or activities of humans or other
organisms.
o Polluting substances, or pollutants, can
enter the environment naturally, or
through human activities.
o The pollutants we produce come from
two types of sources. Point Sources are
single, identifiable source (ex.
Smokestack of an industrial plant).
Nonpoint sources are dispersed and
often difficult to identify (ex. Trash from
the land into streams and lakes).
SOLUTION
• Pollution Cleanup (output pollution control)
-involves cleaning up or diluting pollutants after
we have produced them.
• Pollution prevention (input pollution control)
-involves reducing or eliminating the production
of pollutants.
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS: OUR ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACTS
• Calculates the amount of productive land and
water a given population require to produce all
the resources they consume and take in all the
waste they make using prevailing technology.
• Used to estimate carrying capacity for human.
• It is an area required to sustainably support a
population.
• Per capita ecological footprint is the average
ecological footprint of an individual in a given
country or area.
• 2.3 hectares of Biologically productive and sea
per person.
• Set aside the 12% for Biodiversity.
• 2.0 per hectares per person.
• Global Hectare (GHA) is a measure of the
ecological footprints of people or activities and
biocapacity of the earth.
• If a country’s (or the world’s) total ecological
footprint is larger than its current biological
capacity to replenish its renewable resources
and absorb the resulting wastes and pollution, it
is said to have an ecological deficit.
• According to the ecological footprint model, to
sustain indefinitely the world’s current
population and average renewable resource use
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per person, and to dispose of the resulting
wastes and pollution, we would need the
equivalent of 1.3 planet earths. And if we
continue on our current path of renewable
resource use and population growth using
existing technology, by around 2035 we will
need 2 planet earths.
HOW ARE OUR ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS AFFECTING
EARTH?
1. We are living unsustainable by wasting and
degrading the natural resources or capital an
accelerating rate
2. The entire process is environmental
degradation
3. Renewable resources are shrinking and
desert are expanding, top - soil are eroding
4. Global warming or increase of temperature
gradually
5. Glaciers are melting
6. Sea level are rising therefore flooding and
droughts severe
7. Bodies of water running dry that causes
species extinction
SUSTAINABILITY MODEL VS. ECOLOGICAL FOORPRINTS
• We can calculate how much biological
productive area we have.
• We can calculate how much we are using or
consuming.
• Living sustainably means that we are not living
beyond what is available
Environmentally Sustainable Society -is one that meets
the current and future basic resources needs of its
people in a just and equitable manner without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their basic needs. • Demographers - A
person who studies
HUMAN POPULATION GROWTH
population size. Density
The power of Population Growth is greater than
and distribution. Age
the Power of Earth for subsistence - Thomas Malthus
structure. Sex ratio. Birth
Basic Concepts of Human Population:
rate. Death rate.
Population - a number of species interbreeding in a
Immigration and
given time and place
emigration
Species - all individuals that
are capable of interbreeding FACTORS AFFECTING HUMAN POPULATION SIZE
and made up the population. 1. Change in population size
• Migration – refers to the permanent change of
residence of a person or a group.
• Emigration – movement of people out of the
Ecosystem - all country.
interacting population • Immigration – movement of people into a
in a given time and country.
place. Push Factors – circumstances that origin country
leads to emigrate.
Community - all 1. No job opportunities
organisms living in a 2. Poverty
defined area. 3. War
4. Environmental Issues
Pull Factors – circumstances that makes
immigration attractive.
1. Better standard
• Sex Ratio - A relative number of males and of living.
females in a population. 2. Economic
Opportunity
3. Political
• Age Distribution - Refers to the number of Freedom.
individuals of each age in a population 2. Birth
Rate (Crude) The
number of
individuals born
• Demography - during a
The study particular time
populations, their interval.
characteristics and Birth Rate = number of birth / Total population X 1000
changes. Natural Increase - When the birth rate is higher than
the death rate, more people are being born than dying
so population grows
3. Death Rate (Mortality) - means the number
of individuals who die during a specified time
interval
Death Rate = number of death / total population X 1000

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Natural Decrease - when the death rate is higher than Means:
the birth rate
• Availability of resources
4. Total Fertility Rate (TFR) - refers the average
number of children a woman has during her • Accessibility to ones resources
reproductive years. • Affordability of food to all people at all times
Biotic Potential when the birth and death • is a situation that exist when people, at all times
rate is in maximal have physical, social and economic access to
5. Replacement Fertility – refers to the number sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meet
of children to replace everyone in the their dietary needs and food preferences for
population active and healthy life.
Zero Population Growth when the birth
FOUR PILLARS OF FOOD
RATE IS EQUAL TO death rate
1. Availability
FACTORS AFFECTING BIRTH RATES TOTAL FERTILITY • there is a reliable and consistent source of
quality food
2. Accessibility
• People has sufficient resources to
produce/purchase food.
3. Utilization
• People have the knowledge and basic
sanitary condition to choose, prepare and
distribute food in a way that results in good
condition.
4. Stability/Sustainability
1. Children in labor force
• People’s ability to access and utilize food
2. Cost of raising and educating children
that remains stable and sustain over time.
3. Urbanization
Stability of stock and access.
4. Education level and employment of women
5. Infant mortality rate AVAILABILITY ACCESSIBILITY UTILIZATION SUSTANABIL
6. Population’s religious beliefs, culture and domestic purchasing food securityweather
traditions production power variability
7. Average marrying age import income of hygiene and price
8. Availability of birth control and abortions capacity population manufacturing fluctuation
process
food stacks transport and harvesting political fact
market and process
infrastructure and storage
food economic
processing factor
diet quality social facto

FOOD SECURITY Food Security:

• With the increase of population per year, there
is an increase of demand for basic needs
• During calamities demand also increases
• Granaries were built and food are rationalized
• Due to food crisis the Food security become the
program of the World Health Organization of
United Nation
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• Food security is basically a way to making
sure that everyone is able to access food
services at all time without shortage for
nutrition purposes
• Upholding the four pillars of food security
 • Food security is a complex sustainable species is continuously cropped and also
development issue linked to health through improve soil structure and fertility.
malnutrition, but also to sustainable • Organic Agriculture
economic development, environment and • Integrated Farming
trade • Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a broad
• This also help the world to prepare for base approach that integrates sustainable
future consumption needs that will arise practice for economic control of pest. It is a
due to influx of population number. careful consideration of all available pest
control techniques and subsequent integration
EFFECTS OF FOOD PRODUCTION of appropriate measure that discourages the
1. Climate change development of pest population to minimize
2. Eutrophication the use of pesticide to minimize health hazard
3. Acid rain to human.
4. Ozone layer depletion • Biotechnology use of living systems or organism
5. Biodiversity depletion to develop or make a useful product. It can
6. Natural resources degradation provide appropriate new tools for use in
7. Habitat destruction solution of specific problems in sustainable
agriculture.
CHALLENGE FOR FOOD PRODUCTION
• Use of Organic Fertilizer is derived from animal
• Sustainable agriculture
manure or vegetable matter. The used of
• Improve production
organic fertilizer in sustainable agriculture is
• Reduce of chemicals quickly gaining popularity.
• Improve environmental condition • Conservation Tillage is any method of soil
• Safe food conservation that leaves the previous year’s
crop residue on fields before and after planting
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
the next crop
1. To produce high quality
food which is safe for IMMEDIATE ACTION TO IMPROVE FOOD SECURITY
human consumption • Intensify research and development (R&D)
2. No negative impact to • Innovation to improve productivity in food
environment. This is the processing
practice of farming using • Find alternative solutions
principles of ecology. • Strengthen policy and guidelines to food
security
Sustainable Agriculture Practice
• Implement best practice for sustainable
• Agroforestry agriculture
• Huge culture • Empowering local farmers
• Permaculture
• Soil Health Management
• Community Supported Agriculture
• Pest Management
• Urban Gardening/Farming
• Crop Rotation - is a sustainable practice of
growing series of different types of crops in the
same area in sequential seasons. It gives also
various nutrients to soil, to mitigate the buildup
of pathogens and pest that often occurs when 1
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