Environmental

science
This course provides comprehensive overview of environmental science. By
using an “earth systems” approach, you will recognize society and the
environment as an interrelated system. Throughout the course, we will
examine environmental issues and investigate realistic solutions.
 CHAPTER
BASIC ECOLOGY PRINCIPLES
AND CONCEPTS 2
OBJECTIVES:

Upon completion of this lesson, the students should be able to:

1. discover the most interesting facts about the Planet Earth as an ecosystem
2. describe the three main physical components of the biosphere
3. discuss the governing principles of an ecosystem
4. discuss the biogeochemical nutrients.

PLANET EARTH AS AN ECOSYSTEM

The Earth in Space

Our world is a planet traveling through space. It travels around a giant ball of fury hot
gasses called the Sun.

The sun is a star. It produces light and heat which reaches the Earth.

The Earth is the only known planet that has life on it because it has water and air making
it ideal for living things.

The Solar System

The Earth is a part of the Solar System, a group of nine planets that travel through
Space around the Sun.

These are: (from nearest the Sun)

 Mercury
 Venus
 Earth
 Mars
 Jupiter
 Saturn
 Uranus
 Neptune
 Pluto

The Earth’s path around the sun is called orbit. It travels around our planet. Its orbit takes 29
days, 12 hours, 44 minutes. This is the lunar month.
Origin/Birth of the Earth

The Solar System was formed about 4.5 billions years ago from a huge spinning cloud of
gas and dust. The sun was born at the center of the cloud. Farther out, particles began to collect
together as small limps, which grew larger and larger as they collided. Eventually, these
become the planets including the Earth. The Earth started as a mass of red, hot rock. Around a
billion years after it had formed, it was cool enough for oceans to form on the surface. These are
where the life forms developed.

How life Began

When the Earth was young, a mixture of different chemicals covered its surface. The
Sun’s radiation acted on the chemicals and they formed new materials called amino acids and
sugars. These kinked up and eventually created the cells. Cells are the smallest unit of life from
which all living things are made.

Inside the Earth

The Earth is made up of four layers. The thin outer layer is called the crust, followed by
the hot, partly molten rock, the mantle. Beneath the mantle, is the outer core which is a layer of
liquid metal. In the center of the Earth is a ball of very hot solid metal called the inner core.

The Earth’s Layer Crust

It varies in thickness from 248 miles 40

km) beneath the parts of the continents to only
3.1 miles (5 km) under parts of the ocean floor.
It is made up of lighter rock than the other
layers. The temperature of the rocks increases
by about 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees
Celsius) for every kilometer under the surface.
New crust is being made all the time cracks
between plates in the ocean floor. There are
two kinds of Earth’s crust –ocean crust
between the seas and the continental crust
beneath the land.

Mantle

It is about 1,800 miles (2,900 km.) thick. At the top is made up of solid rock. Deeper
down it is so hot that the rocks melts and becomes molten. The rock in the mantle layer is
composed mainly of iron and magnesium. There is a definite boundary between the crust and
the mantle.

Core

Outer Core

It is about 1,200 miles (2,000 km). It is a mixture of a very hot liquid iron and nickel.
 Inner Core

It is thought to be a solid ball of iron and nickel that measures about 1,500 miles (2,400
km.)

Rocks

Igneous Rocks

These are formed when hot molten material called magma bubbles up from beneath the
crust and hardens.

Examples of igneous rocks are pumice, obsidian and quartz.

Sedimentary Rocks

These are made from pieces of older rock which collect in layers usually beneath the
sea. As the layers pile up, the material is squeezed into rock-sand become sandstone, mud
become clay. Often sedimentary rocks form from layers of dead animals and plant on the
seabed.

Examples of sedimentary rocks are sandstone, limestone shale and dolomite.

Metamorphic Rocks

Rocks that have been changed and hardened by heat and pressure. Examples are slate,
marble, graphite, and Serpentinite.

Fossil Fuels

These are our main sources of heat and power that come from beneath the Earth’s
surface. Fossil fuels are the legacies of primary producers that lived hundreds of millions of
years ago.

Oil

It is made from the bodies of tiny sea creatures that lived millions of years ago. The
bodies gathered on the seabed and were gradually squeezed down under rocks that formed
above them. Eventually, they turned into oil.

Coal

It is made from trees that dried millions of years ago. Layers of the dead plants were
squeezed down until they turned into carbon.

Natural Gas

It is made from decomposed animals and plants usually found in the same place as oil.
Gemstones

Precious stones are mined from beneath the Earth’s Surface. The four most precious
gems found on the Earth are ruby, diamond, emerald, and sapphire. Gems form as crystals in
igneous rocks. They vary in color, shape and size. Because they are rare they have been prized
from centuries. The rarest diamonds are blue and pink. Ruby are the rarest gems of all.

The Biosphere

The biosphere is the layer around the planet, where all living things exist. It contains all
the various ecosystems and all the water, minerals, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and other
nutrients that living things need in order to survive. The biosphere has been designated as the
“Skin of Life” extending only a few kilometers above the sea level and only a few meters into
the soil.

It surrounds the earth like a cellular blanket regulating the temperature by allowing the
sun’s ray to enter and by allowing heat back into the space.

Everything in the biosphere is interrelated. The atmosphere helps purify water by

recycling it in the hydrological cycle and also provides carbon dioxide for plants photosynthesis
and oxygen for respiration in both plants and animals.

Plants provide food for animals as well as releasing oxygen as well as releasing oxygen
for them to breathe. The soil provides the nutrients and water for plants and when the palnt die
they release the nutrients back to the soil. Both plants and animals convert food into energy by
the process called respiration. The waste product of respiration is carbon dioxide, which is
absorbed by plants in photosynthesis.

LAYERS OF THE BIOSPHERE

1. LITHOSPHERE – includes the soil and sediments where the organism lives.
2. HYDROSPHERE – includes the liquid or frozen water on or near the surface of the
lithosphere
3. ATMOSPHERE – is a region of gases, particulate matter and water vapor.

ECOSYSTEM

Definition of Ecosystem

Ecologists study the activities and changes in the biosphere. They usually study one
area such as forest where animals and plants lives together. They study how all these living
things in a particular area, the biotic environment are related to each other and to the physical
environment of the earth, water, air and energy. A biological environment and its physical
environment form what ecologist call as an ecosystem.

Other definitions of ecosystem as given by other authors are:

 it is a community of organism functioning together and interacting with the physical

environment through (1) flow of energy, and (2) cycling of materials. Both of which have
consequences for community structure and the environment.
 the interaction of the community and non-living environment.

 a community and its physical and chemical environment.

GOVERNING PRINCIPLES IN AN ECOSYSTEM

Components and Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a self-regulating natural community of living organism (the biotic

components) with non-living (abiotic or physical environment) that surrounds them. Ecosystem
is a model devised by ecologist in order to simplify the complexity of the real world. But by
studying ecosystems we can sometimes gain a better idea on how for example, forest, lakes
and grasslands actually function as complex group of interrelated species.

A. Structural Components of an Ecosystem

1. Non-living structure (Abiotic)

a. Inorganic substance (nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus, sulfur, etc.)

Recycling of nutrients is vital for the ecosystem because the nutrients held from within
the soil are scarce commodities present in fixed quantities. Hence they are called finite
resources, because the biosphere includes the topmost 2 or 3m (6 to 10 ft) of the earth surface,
nutrients are not sufficient. Plants, root and soil microorganism cannot penetrate much beyond
this depth and thus the bulk of the nutrients held within the earth’s crust are inaccessible.

The bodies of plants and animals are consists of plants and animals are consist of
macroelements. These are the elements carbon hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur.
About 97% of human bodies are made up of these elements. The remaining elements are made
up of microelements which may include between 14 to 24 different elements depending on the
kind of organism.

When an organism dies, the chemical compounds locked in its body are gradually
released back into the soil and the ocean through the decomposers. Aside from the nitrogen
compounds, most of the compounds become involved in slow moving biogeochemical cycles. In
these cycles, the continuous supply of nutrients becomes possible.

The entire cycles of the movement of nutrients take many times of million of years to
complete. It has been noted that the chemical elements in our bodies may have previously
formed part of some anxiety organism such as dinosaur living at least 65 million years before
the present and may already by then have been recycled several times in the history of life cycle
earth.

NUTRIENT CYCLES

Biogeochemical Cycles

Solar energy fixed by photosynthesis is the driving force that forms the basis of
ecosystem productivity. But is only one requirement for productivity. But it is only one
requirement for the organisms in the ecosystem. The interaction involving the flow of materials
are as essential as the flow of materials are as essential as the flow of energy of ecosystem
continually produces new biological materials and decomposes old materials. If natural cycle did
not exist to recalculate the chemical elements in these materials, the entire ecosystems would
be at a stand still. This material flows form the biotic and back to the abiotic components again
of the earth’s ecosystem in a more or less cyclical manner know as the biogeochemical cycles.

Types of Biogeochemical Cycles

The biogeochemical cycles are classified into hydrologic, gaseous and sedimentary
cycles. The hydrologic or water cycle is the path by which the water moves from one physical
state to another and one place to another. The gaseous nutrient cycles are the carbon cycle,
which is the circulation of the carbon between the living organism and the environment, and the
nitrogen cycle is the circulation of oxygen between living organisms and the environment. The
sedimentary cycles involved the movement of minerals such as calcium and phosphorus from
land, to sediments, in the seas and then back to the land. The earth’s crust is the main
storehouse for mineral nutrients that flow through the sedimentary cycles.

The Water Cycle

Water is the most abundant of all compounds in the biosphere. The thickness of the
biosphere is very slight compared to the diameter of the earth and its surrounding atmosphere.
Life exists as a very thin skin along the surface of the earth. It is the most luxuriant in the
equatorial regions, in burning deserts, even in dark caves and ocean depth where no light
shines. Bit it never shines without water. The earth’s soil, glaciers, lakes and rivers, ocean and
atmosphere containing about 1.5 billion cubic meter of water, which represent about 100 billion
gallon for every person in the world. It is present as a solid, a liquid or a vapor and it is found in
loose chemical combination with many substances in the soil. Ninety seven percent of the
earth’s water is the ocean, about two percent of the glacier, a little one percent in the fresh
water and a fraction on one percent in the atmosphere.

Water enters the atmosphere by the respiration of plants and animals and by
evaporation from vegetation, moist soil, oceans, rivers and lakes. It leaves the atmosphere by
condensation to rain or snow. It may fall as precipitation near the place where it evaporated or
thousands of miles away.

The crucial factor in the water cycle is the amount of water available for growing foods.
With minor expectations, all life on earth depends on photosynthesis of green plants. The
chlorophyll in these plants brings about the combination of water with carbon dioxide t air to
form plant tissues and liberate oxygen. However, only one small portion of the water passes
through the plant, which combines with the plant tissues. The rest serves as the carrier of the
nutrients from the soil to the roots, stems and leaves. Some is use for photosynthesis but most
of it evaporates into the atmosphere. (Figure 2.1).

The Hydrological Cycle

Water exists in three states: liquid, gaseous (water vapor or steam) and solid (snow and ice). It
can also pass from one state to another by freezing, melting, condensing and evaporating. New
water is not created on the Earth’s surface or on its atmosphere; nor is ‘old’ water lost. Rather,
there is a finite amount, and this circulates in what is known as the hydrological cycle. Water
moves around the cycle both by physically moving and by changing its state, as the diagrams
shows.
Today, 97% of the water in the hydrological cycle is contained in the world’s seas, oceans and
saline lakes. The remaining 3% is fresh water. About 75% of all fresh water is contained in
glaciers ad ice sheets, and just over 24% is groundwater (i.e. underground). The rivers, lakes,
soil and atmosphere therefore contain a very small amount (less than 0,5%) of the world’s fresh
water at any time.

During glacial periods of the Earth’s history, the amount of water contained in ice sheets and
glaciers has been greater, and the amount in oceans smaller.

Source: The Guinness Encyclopedia

The Carbon Cycle

The element carbon moves through the biosphere in the form of living plants and
animals of dissolved carbonates in lakes, rivers and oceans and of solid carbonates in
limestone and shells of animals. Huge amount of carbon are buried in the earth in the form of
coal, petroleum, and natural gas. The amount of carbon locked in these forms is more than 50
times the total bulk burning of coal, oil and gas from the depth of the earth has introduced large
amount of carbon dioxide into the biosphere and the increasing concentration

The Oxygen Cycle

The movement of the oxygen through the biosphere is intimately connected to the
biosphere is intimately connected to the circulation of the carbon dioxide and water. Organic
compounds predominate in the biomass. About three million of those compounds are known
and thousands of them contain oxygen. In fact about one fourth of the total numbers of atoms in
living matter are oxygen. (Figure 2.2)
 Oxygen also exists free in nature as oxygen atoms, O 1, oxygen molecules, O2, and
ozone molecules, O3. Ultraviolet light from the sun dissociates O2 molecules into oxygen atoms:

O2 (g) + ultraviolet light 20 (g)

Oxygen atoms then combine with oxygen molecules:

O (g) + O2 (g) O3 (g)

Figure 2.2

This illustrates the relationship of two biogeochemical cycles, carbon and oxygen. The atmosphere and
bodies of water serve as reservoirs of carbon dioxide and oxygen. Carbon dioxide is produced by animal
respiration, burning fuels, dissolving carbonates, and consumed by plants in photosynthesis. Oxygen is
produced in significant amounts only by green plants during photosynthesis. It is consumed by animals
during respiration and by the combustion of fuels. Oxygen is important for man to breathe while carbon
dioxide is essential for plant growth and production.

Source: Humprey, c and R. evnas. 1971.

The ozone collects in the atmosphere in a layer about 10 ml thick with its lower surface
about 15 ml above the earth. Ozone absorbs most of the ultraviolet light in sunlight but transmit
visible light. Were the ozone layer not present, life as we know it would be possible on the earth
because the ultraviolet light filtered out is lethal to living organisms. The average water
molecule, H2O endures for about 2 million years before it is split apart by photosynthesis and
then reunited (most likely in the hydrogen and oxygen from other water molecules) to form new
molecules. Within a period of 2,000 years, all the oxygen generated by photosynthesis passes
into the atmosphere and recycled. Carbon dioxide respired by plants and animals enter the
atmosphere and are fixed again by photosynthesis after an average atmospheric residence time
of 300 years.
The Nitrogen Cycle

The element nitrogen is a constituent of all proteins. Although the atmosphere contains
79% free gaseous nitrogen, N2 baths the biosphere, this uncombined form cannot be
metabolized by most organism. In order to grow, most organisms require nitrogen in some
suitable compound. Such nitrogen is often called fixed nitrogen. Nitrogen is fixed by a few
organisms that are able to combine atmospheric nitrogen into compounds into compounds in
their tissues. Small amount of nitrogen are fixed by lighting, cosmic rays and meteor trails which
ionize the gases of the atmosphere and provide the energy needed to form nitrogen oxide NO.

N2 + O2 + Energy 2NO

No react with O2 thus:

2NO + O2 2NO2

This reacts with water vapor in the atmosphere and falls to the earth in the rain.

3NO2 + H2O NO

One of the nature’s important agents for the fixation of nitrogen is the group of plants
called the legumes, which include peas, beans, clover and soybeans. The roots of legumes
serve as the hosts for the microorganisms in the soil, which can fix nitrogen in their tissues. This
fixed nitrogen then finds its way to the soil and available for the growth of other plants.

When animals consume plants, its protein is used to build animal tissues. When the
plant animal dies, bacteria decompose protein into amino acid and other organisms metabolize
amino acid to carbon dioxide, water and ammonia to nitrate, NO3. The identifying bacteria use
the nitrate in the metabolic processes and release nitrogen as the gaseous element, thus
completing the cycle.

 AMMONIFICATION – decomposition of nitrogenous wastes and remains of organ by certain

bacteria and fungi.

 NITRIFICATION – process which certain soil bacteria strip or ammonium of electrons and
nitrate (NO2) is released as a reaction product, then other soil bacteria use nitrate for energy
metabolism, yields nitrate (NO3).

 NITROGEN FIXATION – is a reaction wherein nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert nitrogen (N2)

from the air through reduction reactions to ammonia (NH3) or ammonium.
THE SEDIMENTARY CYCLE

The Cycling of Sulfur and Phosphorus

Although the constituents of the biomass are oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen
eleven other elements are present in more than trace amounts. They are calcium, potassium,
silicon, magnesium, sulfur, aluminum, phosphorus, chlorine, iron, manganese and sodium. Of
these, sulfur and phosphorus are crucial in tissue building. The element carbon, nitrogen,
hydrogen, sulfur and phosphorus are after called “the essential 6” because of their
overwhelming preponderance in the chemical reactions fundamental to vital processes.
Because sulfur readily forms the gaseous compounds hydrogen sulfide, H2S and sulfur oxide,
SO2 it can be cycled to the biosphere by volatilization from the land or sea and transportation
through the atmosphere. Considerable amount of hydrogen sulfide are generated by
microorganisms living in the mud at the bottom of the swamps, marshes and eutrophic lakes.
When these gases were released into the atmosphere, it is oxidized to sulfur dioxide. Which is
brought to earth dissolved in rain.

2H2S(g) + 302(g) 2H2O(g) + 2SO2(g)

SO2(g) + H2O(g) 2H2SO3(g)

With regards to phosphorus, it forms no gaseous compounds in natural processes, once

it enters the hydrosphere as a compound it is no longer available for use in the terrestrial portion
of the biosphere. For these reason, there is a considerable concern among scientists that we
may be depleting our terrestrial sources of phosphorus so rapidly that there will be a shortage of
elements for agricultural fertilizer in the future (Fig. 2.4).

geologic uplift
(million of years)

phosphate in rocks, to
soils

erosion

phosphate in plants dissolved inorganic

phosphate (in soil, rivers,
etc.)
phosphate in
animals
runoff to oceans
decomposition bone, teeth,
wastes
shallow
deep ocean
sediments
sediments

Figure 2.4 Simplified picture of the phosphorus cycle

IMPORTANCE OF BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE

The biological balance in the environment is maintained through several chemical

processes that recycle the elements involved in the reactions vital to life through the
atmosphere, hydrosphere, and the lithosphere. These cyclic processes involve the nutrient
cycle or the biogeochemical cycles.

The biogeochemical cycles are the natural cycles that facilitate the self-regulating
process of an ecosystem. They provide fresh air and transform dead organic matter in the form
that can be taken back the metabolic system of plants. They help retain necessary nutrients in
usable form for the living components of the ecosystem.

HUMAN ACTIVITIES THAT AFFECT THE BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE

The most important point in the environment crisis that we are now experiencing lies on
the imbalance between man’s activities and the nature processes. Suddenly we come to realize
that the riches of the earth are not inexhaustible. That there will come a time, that man will fight
for food and space because of over population, that we cannot fight nature and win in the long
run, that we must learn to cooperate with her and live in balance with the other creatures that
share our earthly home.

ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Carbohydrates are compounds of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Of all the food
consumed by man, carbohydrates are by far the most abundant and cheapest. They are eaten
by many animals and contribute to the production of fats of protein like meat, milk and eggs. All
energy utilized by living matter comes from carbohydrates. Photosynthesis produces
carbohydrates in green plants by combining dissolved atmospheric CO2 and H2O and
simultaneously O2.

6 CO2 (aq) + H2O (1) + light energy C6 H12 O6 + 6 O2

Proteins are the very stuff of life. All living things contains many protein in many forms utilized
in many ways. Protein also requires as enzymes (biological catalysts) for chemical reaction
essential to the growth and maintenance of the living organisms.

Lipid is any group of organic compounds including the fats, oils and waxes. Cholesterol is a
compound found in varying amounts in almost all living organism.

Amino Acids is anyone of a group of complete organic compounds of nitrogen, hydrogen,

carbon and oxygen that combine in various ways to form the proteins that makes up the living
matter.

CLIMATE REGIME

Climate refers to the prevailing weather condition, including temperature, humidity, wind
velocity and direction, degrees of cloud cover and rainfall.

Climate is an outcome of many interacting factors:

1. Variations of the amount of incoming solar radiation.

2. The earth’s daily rotation and its annual path around the sun.

3. Elevation of land mass.

Mediating Effects of the Atmosphere

The atmosphere has very great effects on the amount and kind of solar radiation
reaching the surface of the earth. The oxygen and ozone (O3) at the outermost layer of the
atmosphere absorb nearly of the ultraviolet wavelengths which are dangerous to most of life.
(Figure 2.5) Of the wavelengths that penetrates the atmosphere, only 32% is reflected beck into
the space by means of clouds and particulate matter. 18% is absorbed by the clouds, dust and
water vapor. Thus, half of the radiation penetration and the atmosphere are lost through
reflection and absorption even before it reaches the surface of the earth.

Figure 2.5 Earth’s atmosphere. Most of the global air circulation takes place in the troposphere.
Circulation patterns are mostly horizontal relative to the earth’s surface, and once particulate matter
reaches the stratosphere it tends to stay there for a long time. The ozone (O 3) in the stratosphere absorbs
most of the ultraviolet radiation, from the sun.

Wavelengths of the light are absorbed by water and carbon dioxide in the upper
atmosphere and reradiate towards the earth. This house which allows the penetration of
sunlight rays but holds the heat radiated from plants and the soil on the inside. Thus, the heat
indirectly derived from the sun, warms the atmosphere through a green house effect.

Seasonal Variation on Climate

Seasonal variation in climate is brought about by the annual variation in the amount of
the incoming radiation. (Figure 2.6.) The circle of illumination that divides the earth into days
and rights is always perpendicular to the position of the sun. The earth is tilted in relation to its
annual path around the sun.

Figure 2.6

The diagram shows the order of the season in the northern hemisphere, in the southern hemisphere the
seasons are reverse. The 23.50 tilt of the Earth’s axis means that in summer not only is there more
daylight, but the Sun’s rays reach the Earth’s surface more directly through the atmosphere and so lose
less of their warmth. In winter, not only is there less daylight, but the Suns. Rays strike the Earth more
obliquely, so having to pass through more of the atmosphere and loosing more of their warmth. Beyond
the Arctic and Antarctic Circles (66032’ N and S), the Sun does not set in summer or rise in winter; the
periods over which this occurs each season increases as one approaches the Poles. Conversely, the
nearer one approaches the Equator, the less the seasonal variation.

Source: The Guinness Encyclopedia

Air Currents

In global terms, the heating effect of solar

radiation is not uniform. Light rays strike
more directly on the equator than on the
Polar Regions. Hence it is hotter in the
equator than in poles. The warm
equatorial air rises and spread northward
and southward. In the arctic regions, the
air-cools, sinks downward, then flows
back towards the equator. (Figure 2.7) the
prevailing air currents help dictate the
distribution of the different types of
ecosystems.
Figure 2.7 Formation of worldwide prevailing air contents. (a) During certain times of year, sunlight rays
are almost perpendicular (hence more concentrated) at the equator than at the poles, where their angle of
incidence spreads them out over a larger surface area. The unequal heating of polar and equatorial air
causes air to circulate from the equator, toward the poles, then back to the equator.

(b) Because of a force created by the earth’s rotation on its axis, this immense pattern of air circulation
becomes divided into belts of prevailing east and west winds. Unequal heat retention by oceans and land
masses contributes to the formation of these belts, which dictate global patters of rainfall. In turn, amount
of rainfall helps dictate the distribution of major types of ecosystems throughout the world.

Ocean Currents

The rotation of the earth’s prevailing air current and variation in water temperature give
rise to ocean current and surfaces drifts that tends to move parallel to the equator. However,
landmasses intervene and change the movement of the water in the world’s great oceans – the
Atlantic, the Pacific and Indian oceans. Two circular water movements called gyres control
these oceans. Currents in the gyre move clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere while current in
the move counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. The two gyres are separated by an
equatorial counter current, which carries water away from the Western boundaries of the ocean
basins. (Fig. 2.8)

Figure 2.8 Surface drifts and ocean currents in January. The solid arrows indicate warm water
movements; dashed arrows indicate cold water movements. (Source: Biology by Starr)

Regional Climates

Climate is also influenced by the presence or absence of bodies of water, mountains,

valleys and vegetation cover.

LIVING COMPONENT (BIOTIC)

Producer is an autotrophic organism able to produce or build its own complex organic
molecule from simple inorganic substance in the environment.
 Photosynthetic autotroph is an organism able to build all of the organic molecules it
requires using carbon dioxide as the carbon source and sunlight as the energy source.

Example: bacteria and plants

Chemosynthetic autotroph is one of the few kinds of bacteria able to build all the organic
molecules it requires carbon dioxide as the carbon source and certain inorganic substances
(sulfur) as the energy source.

Example: sulfur bacteria

Consumer is any organism that is not self-feeding and that ingest other living organs in
whole or in part to obtain organic nutrients.

Herbivores – is a plant-eating animal.

Carnivore – is an animal that eats other animal.

Omnivores – is an organism able to obtain energy from more than one source rather than
being limited to one trophic level.

Decomposers are almost heterotrophic bacteria and fungi that obtain organic nutrients
be breaking down the main or products of other organisms.

Detrivore is an earthworm, crab, nematode or other hetrotroph that feeds on partial

decomposition of plants and plants and animals tissues

THE FUNCTIONAL COMPONENTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM

Food Chain

The series of stages that energy goes through in the form of food is called a food chain. It can
also be defined as the general sequence of who eats whom. (Figure 2.9) However, if we
analyze in term of trophic level it would be better to consider the term food web. The food web is
defined as a network of many interlinked food chains composed of primary producers,
consumers, and decomposers. (Figure 2.10)

Food Chain, Food Web and Trophic Level

Food Chain-linear sequence of who eats whom in an ecosystem (Fig. 2.9)

FOREST FOOD WEB

Food Web – network of many interlinked food chains, encompassing primary producers,
consumers, decomposers and detrivores. (Figure 2.10)

TYPES OF FOOD CHAINS: Two major pathways of energy flow through ecosystem:

 GRAZING FOOD CHAIN is one which goes from green plants to grazing herbivores and
finally to carnivores.

 DETRITUS FOOD CHAIN is one which goes from dead organic matter to microorganisms
and then to detritus feeding organisms.

Ecological Pyramids

Nutritional relationships in an ecosystem are often shown as pyramids. These models

place the producers at the base and the carnivores at the tip.

Energy Flow

Definition of Energy:

 a capacity for interaction between particles.

 a capacity to make things happen.

 a capacity to do work.

The driving force behind all life in the biosphere is energy. 99.99% of all the radiant
energy required for life on earth is provided by the sun and the remaining 0.01% comes from the
heat within the planet, thus the sun is the ultimate source of all energy. Since the sun’s energy
exists for at least 4,600 million years and will continue into the future, it is describe as an infinite
resource. The energy of the sun arrives at the outer edge of the atmosphere at very high-energy
short wave radiant. As the radiation, travel through the atmosphere about half of its energy it
absorbed scattered and reflected by water vapor. The ozone layer in the outer edge of the
atmosphere plays a crucial role in trapping the biological harmful ultraviolet radiation given off
by the sun. Currently man is threatening the said layer within ozone depleting substances like
chlorofluorocarbon. 95.25% of energy that reaches the surface of the earth is absorbed by the
oceans, leaving almost 5% available to green plants for photosynthesis.

Bioenergetics

Energy in a population provides the most reliable basis for evaluating observed
fluctuation in density and determining the role of a population within its community.

Of all the solar radiation reaching the earth only about one or two percent are stored in
organic matter. Then the plant respiration reduces the energy available for all other members of
the ecosystem. This tiny fraction becomes available as living tissues of the producers and as
detritus. All organisms of the ecosystem lose energy to the surrounding as low grade heat
during metabolic activity, thus there is one-way of energy out of the ecosystem.

The fraction of energy that flows through grazing or detrital webs varies from one
ecosystem to the next. For example when a cattle feed on heavily on plants in a pasture half on
or more of the stored energy may flow through the grazing food web. In marshes, consumption
of all but about ten percent of the stored energy is delayed until the plants die and become
available for detrital food webs. To sum it up (1) Energy flows into ecosystem from outside
source as the sun. (2) Energy flows through the ecosystem based on the consumption of living
tissues of photosynthesizes growing food webs and the use of organic waste products (detrital
food webs) and remains as a result of metabolic activities of each organism. The energy lost
primarily as low great heat.

Energy Sources

Ecology is concerned with the source energizing ecological system and its
transformation of this energy in living organisms. It is appropriate to think in terms of “energy
flow” and not “cycle” as in minerals and nutrients. Energy moves in various directions, but it
does not spontaneously return to its original state hence it does not really cycle.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Energy Sources

FUEL RESOURCE

SOURCES

Petroleum

Essentially a complex mixture of hydrocarbons with small amount of atmospheric

substances; recovered from onshore and from tar offshore fields, tar sand and oil shale; also
found in deep sea.

Abundant and accessible. Deposits are widespread in sedimentary areas. Highly

versatile high-grade fuel is obtained by refining and processing; petroleum and its by product
are used for transportation, heating, lighting, cooling, lubricating, medical products, animal,
protein, fertilizer, etc.
 Non-renewable, requires considerable capital investment. Cause pollution through cost
production sand and oil shale is higher than from conventional sources.

Natural Gas

A combustible gaseous mixture that in gas fields (“non-associated gas”) contain largely
methane and in wet state with petroleum (“associated gas”) contains other hydrocarbons.
Founds in natural gases field; in coalmines, in geopressure zones, obtained and as a by-product
of coke making.

Relatively cheap and abundant, clean and virtually sulfur-free. Versatile; use as few
materials for petrochemicals.

Non-renewable. Deep mining can be dangerous and hazardous to health. Surface

stripping damages the land and creates problem of soil erosion and unproductive land unless
remedial work is undertaken which may be expensive.

Peat

Compressed and carbonized elements such as uranium and thorium results in the
release of enormous quantities of energy. Plutonium is produced in nuclear reactors. Uranium is
found in rocks and seawater; also as by product of minerals, such as gold, phosphate, oil shale.

Moderate widespread in many parts of the world. Can be used locally for domestic
purposes and for electricity generation. Low cost if no transport involved.

Can be more costly than coal to produce on a commercial basis. Non-renewable.

Water Product

Agricultural and municipal waste provides steam when burned; animal waste can be
dried and used directly as a fuel and converted to methane by fermentation and to oil or gas by
methods of decomposition.

Easily obtained and renewable. Can be processed to produce cattle feed. Solves
problems of waste could be costly. Technical problems are still to be solved. Can only be a
complement of energy.

Wood

A traditional source.

Provides heat for domestic purposes. Methanol can be produced from wood, renewable.
Less polluting than other fuels.

Provides less heat per unit of weight than other fuels such as coil and oil. Inefficient
conversion causes smoke pollution. Other industrial uses, such as construction and paper
production may yield a higher return than its use for energy. Forests are far from industrial
centers.
 NON FUEL RESOURCES

Hydropower

Water power used to supply energy.

Clean method of electricity production. Can be cheap of cost.

May involved high initial construction cost. Growing shortage of natural sites. Damming the
water may cause changes in the environment, backwater sedimentation are rapid silting. (Fig.
2.12)

HYDROELECTRIC POWER

In a typical power plant, a river is damned to create a reservoir that can provide a steady and controllable
supply of running water. Water from the reservoir is channeled downstream to the power plant, where it
causes a turbine to rotate, which in turn drives an electric generator. The electricity generated is then
stepped up by transformers at a substation to the high voltages suitable for transmission.

In areas where there are considerable fluctuations in electricity demand, pumped-storage plants may be
installed. The surplus power available at off-peak periods is used to pump water to a separate reservoir.
At peak times, the stored water is released to generate electrical power.

Source: Guinness Encyclopedia

Geothermal

Energy supplied from the heat of the earth’s interior hot spring, hot rocks.

Abundant. Can generate electricity and provides heat for domestic, agricultural and
industrial purposes. Can be used to desalinate water. Can generate electricity economically in
relatively small power units. Can provide base load of 8,000 hours per year, not subject to
seasonal variations.

Found principally in areas of tectonic activity. Environmental pollution possible; release

of sulfur components; highly mineralized hot water containing materials may have to be
reinjected into the field; thermal pollution may be created when used to generate electricity. Hot
water and steam must be used from geopressure zones and hot rocks not yet developed.
Tidal

Generated from the flow of tides.

Non polluting and renewable

Possible only in areas where different tied level is high enough to generate electricity.
Output is complicated and costly. (Fig. 2.13).

TIDAL POWER

The tidal power station at La Rance in Britanny, France, opened in 1966, consists of a barrage blocking
the 750 m (2460 ft) wide estuary of the River Rance. The tidal waters are channeled through 24 t unnels
in the barrage (seven in cross-section below). Each tunnel houses a reversible turbine generator that can
operate efficiently both on the flood tide (when the water flow is from sea to basin) and on the ebb tide
(from basin to sea). At high tide, the sluices are closed, trapping the water in the tidal basin. The water
can then be released to turn the turbines when the tide is low but when demand for power is high. Each of
the 24 turbines can generate up to 10 MW – the total output of the plant being sufficient to satisfy the
needs of around a million consumers.

Source: Guinness Encyclopedia

Wind

Power from force of wind.

Traditionally used in many rural areas. Non polluting. Small wind generators can supply,
electric energy in isolated regions.

Variation in energy output according to duration and force of wind. Storage of electricity
when wind velocity changes is expensive. For large scale production suitable sites with
adequate wind power are hard to find. Can only be complementary to other sources of energy.
(Fig. 2.14)
 Fig. 2.4 WINDMILL

Source: Guinness Encyclopedia

Solar Energy

Sunlight affects rains, wind and ocean currents; provides energy for plant and animal life
through photosynthesis. (Fig. 2.15)

Figure 2.15 For every 1000 units solar energy that reaches the biosphere, only half (500 units)
reaches the earth’s surface. Of these, 400 units are used immediately as heat. Of the remaining
100 units 95 are used for plant respiration, leaving only 5 units to be incorporated into food.

POSSIBLE FUTURE RESOURCES

Solar Energy from outer space

 Sunlight is inexhaustible. Needs no storage system.

System is likely to be extremely costly. Could produce thermal pollution if used on a

large scale. Legal status of use of energy will have to settled.

Nuclear Fusion

The union of atomic nuclei of light chemical, resulting in the release of enormous
quantity of energy.

Virtually inexhaustible. Likely to be safe. Pollution frees, no release of carbon dioxide

breed its own fuel and burn it immediately.

Fusion reactors are not yet scientifically feasible.

Sea-Thermal

Difference in temperature between warm water at surface and water 900 m or more
beneath the ocean surface can produce electricity by means of a heat engine operating cross
the temperature differential.

Renewable. Non-polluting. Sea-thermal system could absorb thermal pollution on

coastline.

Energy produced is expensive. An early attempt to construct a lot power station was not
successful.

Waves

Rolling mooting created energy for potential use.

Non polluting. Safe

Intermitted except where constant waves prevail. Pilot plants are being contracted.

Ocean Currents

Speed motion of current used to generate energy.

Non polluting. Safe

Not concentrated. System for electricity generation is similar to those developed for tidal
power is needed. Not practicable for large scale supplying of energy.

Algae

Methane is produced when algae are digested by bacteria.

Easy to grow and harvest on land, in fresh water ponds and in ocean areas. Methane
could be used to feed duel cells and produce electricity.

Present help yield from the sea is not large in relation to world requirement.
LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS

Thermodynamics is the study in the change of energy that accompanies any kinds of
transportation of matter. Phenomena as diverse as the burning of fuels and the growth and the
reaction of the complex mechanism of a living cell involve the absorption, emission,
redistribution and transportation of energy which maybe present as heat, light, electricity and
mechanical energy of motion or the chemical energy within all substances. Several laws of
nature have emerged substances. Several laws of nature have emerged from studies of
thermodynamics. The first law of thermodynamics states that during the process, energy is
conserved, energy neither is created nor destroy. The second law states that during any
process, any system tends to become less ordered (less organized, more chaotic, more mixed
up). The second deals with universe as a whole. Disorder in the universe as a whole has
increased with time. When studies a living system and its living surroundings, one finds is
always greater than in disordered of surroundings is always greater than the decrease in order
in the living portion.

DIVERSITY

Diversity is the number of species of animals and plant in a govern community. It has
something to do with the stability or the ecosystem, thus, the higher the diversity in the food
chain the greater is the community stability. Stability enables the community to withstand ths
stresses or perturbations by man and nature. Diversity not only means adoptions to some
combination of temperature, chemical, balance, available water, light, dark and living space.
Diversity also means adoption to resource and different forms of behavior, coloration and
patterns that helps assure reproductive success.

EVOLUTION

Evolution is the nature process of change is response to the physical changes of an

aging planet. Evolution became remained unknown to man for thousands of years simply
because the process of change unfold slowly. Geological and climatic changes shaped the long-
term evolution of the ecosystem. Likewise, it was molded by process resulting form the activities
of the living components of communities occur when new species evolve and old species
become extinct and surviving species change the abundance or genetic composition. Organism
less suited to a particular environment tends to be eliminated and the evolutionary change can
be visualized as a population’s last to cope with the effects of the process of evolution, the
organisms are able to survive and reproduce and are likewise capable of survival.

ECOSYSTEM DEVELOPMENT OR ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION

Ecological succession is an orderly process of community development that involves

changes in species structure and community process with time. It is reasonably directional and
therefore predictable. It is characterized by the replacement of the opportunistic species by late
stage equilibrium species, a progressive change in species structure, growth form and tolerance
to shading: an increase in biomass and organic accumulation, together nutrient cycle and
gradual balance between community production and community respiration.

Ecological succession may start with any or several groups of organism capable of growing on
an open site successfully and arriving there at either seeds, spores or residuals propagules.
They preempt space and continue to exclude or inhabit the growth of others until the former
colonist die or damaged, releasing resources and allowing new and longer live species to enter
until such time community become stabilized and called climax community. (Figure 2.16)

Figure 2.16 Ecological Succession of Philippine Forest.

Source: Secondary Succession in Tropical Ecosystem UNESCO UNEP FAO, 1978

PRIMARY PRODUCTION IN THE BIOSPHERE

Primary production means the amount of material trapped by autotrophs in the process of
photosynthesis and productivity is the amount of material stored by autotrophs per unit of time.

It is useful to measure the net primary productivity (NPP) of a variety of different

ecosystem in order to compare their efficiency. The NPP is the total amount of material
assimilated by autotrophs minus the material close in respiration.

Measurements of NPP are not easy and the number of different and complex techniques
has been devised. Inspite of many variations, research have known that forest, swamps and
estuaries are the most productive ecosystem within the biosphere and that a strong productivity
gradient exists from the agricultural systems are for the most part, unproductive in terms of
primary production.

Cybernetics

Ecosystems are capable of self-maintenance and self-regulation as to do their component

population and organisms. Cybernetics is the science of controls. It has important applications
in ecology since man increasing tends to disrupt natural controls or attempts to substitute
mechanism for natural ones.