LESSON 2: ECOLOGICAL CONCEPT

Prepared by: Dr. Arnel B. Beltran

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ECOLOGICAL CONCEPTS
Ecology
- the scientific study of interactions
between different organisms and between
organisms and their environment or
surroundings

Ecosystem
All the organisms living in an area
and the nonliving features of their
Biosphere environment
- the part of Earth that supports life

 Top portion of Earth's crust

 All the waters that cover
Earth's surface
 Atmosphere that surrounds
Earth. 2
ECOLOGY AND LIFE
 Levels of Ecological Organization
 Species – all organisms which can reproduce
living offspring
 Populations – organism of the same species
living in the same place at the same time
 Several interacting populations occupying the
same habitat form a community
 All earth’s ecosystems form the ecosphere

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THE EARTH’S LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM

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 THE EARTH’S LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM
ATMOSPHERE
is a thin layer of gases that surrounds the Earth. It is
composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon,
0.03% carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of other gases

HYDROSPHERE
is the water portion of Earth. Earth is often
referred to as the blue planet because the
global ocean (which is the most prominent
feature of the hydrosphere) covers nearly
71% of Earth’s surface
LITHOSPHERE
is divided into three principal regions: core, mantle,
and the crust. The two principal divisions of Earth’s
lithosphere are the continents and the ocean
basins

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THE EARTH’S LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM

The Biosphere

• Closed system
• All materials are recycled over and over
• Only one contribution from the outside - the Sun
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INTERSECTION BETWEEN AIR, LAND, AND WATER
 BIOMES
 Broad terrestrial regions of the
biosphere
 Characterized by a particular climate
and specific assemblage of plants and
animals.
 Biomes contain many ecosystems
 They differ in climate
 Climate is weather – over the long
term, it determines the type of life
forms in the biomes
 Most important climatic factors are
precipitation and temperature.
ECOSYTEM CONCEPTS
 Ecosystems
 Consist of organisms, their
environment, and all of the
interactions that exists within
 Vary in complexity, not delineated by
sharp boundaries, merge with one
another
 Major Components
 Biotic – biological environment
 Plants, animals, microorganisms, fungi
 Abiotic – physical and chemical
environment
 Water, air, nutrients, solar energy

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 BIOTIC COMPONENTS
 Divisions of Biotic Components
 Producers
 Plants (autotrophs) – produce their own
food from inorganic compounds (CO2,
H2O) via photosynthesis (sunlight)
 Consumers
 Organisms (heterotrophs) – cannot
synthesize their own food and must obtain
it from other organisms; feed on plants or
other organisms
 Herbivores, carnivores and omnivores

 Decomposers
 break down the remains of dead animals
and plants, releasing the substances that
can be used by other members of the
ecosystem
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CLASSIFYING CONSUMERS
 Primary consumers – herbivores

 Secondary consumers – feed on

primary consumers

 Tertiary consumers – feed on

secondary consumers
BIOTIC-ABIOTIC INTERACTIONS

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INTERACTION AMONG ORGANISMS
 Predation
 one organism kills another for food.
 one form of population control.

 Commensalism
 beneficial to one but neutral to another

 Mutualism
 beneficial to both organisms

 Parasitism
 one species lives on or even inside another, the host.

 Competition
 two organisms vie for the same resource
FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS
 Food chains and food webs
 Conduits by which nutrients and energy flow through
an ecosystem
 Food chain - feeding of one organism upon
another in a sequence of food transfers
 Food web - set of interconnected food chains
by which energy and materials circulate within
an ecosystem
 In an ecosystem there are many different
food chains and many of these are cross-
linked to form a food web
 Ultimately all plants and animals in an
ecosystem are part of this complex food web
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FOOD CHAINS
Type of Food Chain

 Grazer food chain – start

with plants
 Decomposer food chain –
organic waste material
(detritus) is the major
food source

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FOOD WEB

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 MATTER CYCLING
 Plants, which are eaten by herbivores,
would be excreted later by these
consumers
 Carnivores also help recycle the minerals
found in the bodies of herbivores
 Scavengers consume the carcasses,
transferring some minerals to them
 The minerals in the plants are returned
to the soil by the bacteria and fungi that
consume fecal matter
 Some minerals, however, escape the
ecosystem and end up in the ocean

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 ENERGY FLOW
 Energy is also cycled
 All energy in an ecosystem comes from
the sun
 However, only 1-2% is captured by
plants and stored as chemical bonds
 Only 1-20% is consumed by herbivores
and the loss of energy continues at
each trophic level
 It is constantly transferred from one
trophic level to another
 Energy passes from the producers to
the consumers and back to the
producers
 Energy is lost, however, at each trophic
level
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ENERGY FLOW

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 ENERGY FLOW

 Loss of energy at each trophic level

 The energy is transformed into mechanical
energy or other forms
 Energy is lost during metabolic processes

 The organisms at one tropic level are not

completely utilized by those at the next level
 Food passing through animals are not
completely digested

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ENERGY FLOW

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 ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
 Ecosystem services constitute the
earth’s natural capital
 The benefits people obtain from
ecosystems

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 ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
 Provisioning services
 Products obtained from ecosystems
 Genetic resource, food and fiber, and freshwater
 Regulating services
 Benefits obtained from the regulation of
ecosystem services
 Regulation of climate, pest control, and waste
decomposition
 Cultural services
 Non-material benefits people obtain from
ecosystems
 Spiritual enrichment, cognitive development,
reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experience
 Supporting services
 Necessary for the production of all other
ecosystem services
 Biomass production, production of atmospheric
oxygen, nutrient cycling, and water cycling
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 SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEM
 Principles of natural ecosystem
sustainability:
o Use renewable solar energy
o Recycle nutrients efficiently

 Sustainable ecosystem
o Meeting the needs of the present
generation without impairing future
generations from meeting theirs
o Lives within the carrying capacity of the
environment
 Carrying capacity – the number of
organisms an ecosystem can support
indefinitely

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LAND RESOURCES
 A very important resource that
we cannot do without
 The survival of animals and
plants and other living
organisms depend much on
the condition of the lands.
 Contain essential nutrients
and minerals that sustain
plants' lives, which in turn
sustain human existence.
 THE SOIL
 Can maintain the balance
in an ecosystem if not
disturbed.
 It is reproduced from its
parent material at a very
slow rate: 300 to 1,000
years or more to build
just a single inch of
topsoil.

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SOIL LAYER
1. Topsoil contains
 Most of the nutrients needed by plants
and animals.
 Important microorganisms that are
helpful in the maintenance of
ecological balance.

2. Subsoil - works as a water

catchment system.
3. Substratum - the home of minerals
such as coal and other mined
minerals.
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SOIL DESTRUCTION
Erosion
 Accelerated process of soil removal brought
about by human interference with the normal
equilibrium between soil building and soil
removal.
 artificial erosion (human activities)
 geological or natural erosion (caused by nature)
 Water erosion - Transposition of soil by rainwater,
including melted snow, running rapidly over exposed
land surfaces. (sheet erosion, rill erosion, gully
erosion)
 Wind erosion - Blowing of loose soil from one
place to another.
 destructive as water erosion and is usually
occurring in places where water erosion is
also active. (dust storm or sand storm)
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AGRICULTURAL CROP LAND
 Land used primarily for
production of food and fiber
 Agriculture relies heavily on
irrigation
 Overgrazing and poor cropping
lead to major losses of soil.
 Erosion is a threat to productivity
of agricultural land

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SILVICULTURE
 The art and science of controlling the
establishment, growth, composition,
health, and quality of forests and
woodlands to meet the diverse needs
and values of landowners and society on
a sustainable basis

 Silvics - provide descriptions of individual

tree species in the context of sciences
basic to understanding how trees grow.
 Ecology - explains the relationships
between trees, other living organisms and
their environment: soil, climate, and the
land itself.
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WATERSHEDS
 A region of land where water drains downhill into a
specified body of water, such as a river, lake, sea, ocean, or
wetland.
 Includes both the waterway and the land that drains to it
 Separated topographically by a ridge, hill or mountain

 Provide habitats for animals, lessen flooding, and prevent

erosion

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WATERSHEDS IN THE PHILIPPINES
AKLAN RIVER
ANGAT/BULACAN
RIVER

CAGAYAN RIVER PAMPANGA RIVER

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