Chapter 2:

ECOSYSTEM
Objectives:
1. discuss the different concepts about ecosystem;

2. explain the interactions of the various components that ecosystem

have;

3. illustrate the flow of energy in the ecosystem; and

4. state the significance of ecological succession.

 TOPICS
1 2
Concept of Components and
an Ecosystem Structure of an
Ecosystem
3 4
Energy Flow Ecological
Through Ecosystem Succession
 1
Concept of an
Ecosystem

Anoc
 Ecosystem is…
• a system consisting of biotic and abiotic components
that function together as a unit.
• an ecological community consisting of different
populations of organisms that live together in a
particular habitat

Anoc
 Ecosystem is…
• a geographic area where organisms, weather, and
landscape, work together to form a “bubble of life”
• the fundamental unit of nature
• the community plus the environment

Anoc
 Ecosystem
Ancient Greek:

• “οἶκος” (“oîkos”) meaning house

• “σύστημα” (“sústēma”) meaning organized body

✓ The term was coined in the early 1930s by the botanist, Roy Clapham

✓ Arthur Tansley, a British Ecologist, first introduced the concept in his

paper entitled “The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts”

Anoc
 Types of Ecosystem

Terrestrial Freshwater
1 Ecosystem 2 Ecosystem

Marine Artificial
3 Ecosystem 4 Ecosystem

Anoc
 1 Terrestrial Ecosystem
Ecosystem that occurs on land.

1. Forest ecosystem— consists of various plants, particularly trees and also animals
that are teeming in a forest. They help maintain the earth’s temperature. They are
also a major carbon sink.

2. Grassland ecosystem— typically found in tropical or temperate regions. They are

dominated by grasses. As such, the animals commonly found in this type of ecosystem
are grazing animals, such as cattle, goats, and deer.

Anoc
 1 Terrestrial Ecosystem
Ecosystem that occurs on land.

3. Tundra ecosystem— characterized as being treeless and snow-covered. The ice

that covers the land is important in regulating the earth’s temperature. It also serves
as a water reservoir.

4. Desert ecosystem— occurs in desert habitats. Deserts are typically arid and windy,
contains sand dunes, others, mostly rock. Organisms in the desert possess adaptations
that make them suited to their environment. Plants that are commonly found in the desert
are CAM plants, such as cacti. Desert animals include insects, reptiles, and birds.

Anoc
 2 Freshwater Ecosystem
Aquatic ecosystems that do not contain saltwater

1. Lentic ecosystem— ecosystems in still waters.

Examples: ponds, puddles, and lakes that forms zonation

• Zonation— when ecosystem becomes very well established that different zones are
formed

Anoc
 2 Freshwater Ecosystem
Aquatic ecosystems that do not contain saltwater

3 Types of Zones

* Littoral zone— part that is near the shore. Here, light can penetrate up to the bottom.

* Limnetic zone— zone in which light does not completely penetrate through.
✓ Photic zone— the part of the limnetic zone that is penetrated by light
✓ Benthic zone— the zone in which light cannot penetrate through

* Profundal zone— located below the range of effective light penetration

Anoc
 2 Freshwater Ecosystem
Aquatic ecosystems that do not contain saltwater

Anoc
 2 Freshwater Ecosystem
Aquatic ecosystems that do not contain saltwater

2. Lotic ecosystem— an aquatic ecosystem characterized by a freshwater

habitat that is freely flowing

Examples: rivers and streams

Anoc
 3 Marine Ecosystem
Aquatic ecosystem that contains saltwater and regarded as
the most abundant type of ecosystem in the world

Examples: seas and oceans

Anoc
 4 Artificial Ecosystem
A man-made system, which can be further classified as
terrestrial, freshwater, or marine

Example: terrarium

Anoc
 Examples of Ecosystems

1. Deciduous Forest Ecosystem

2. Savannah Ecosystem
3. Coral Reef Ecosystem
4. Hot spring Ecosystem
5. Micro-ecosystem

Anoc
 Examples of Ecosystems

Deciduous forest— dominated

by trees that shed leaves
seasonally and then regrow
their leaves at the start of the
new growing season

Anoc
 Examples of Ecosystems

Savannah— are a mix of

woodland and grassland
ecosystems

Anoc
 Examples of Ecosystems

Coral reef— an ecosystem

created by reef-building
corals

Anoc
 Examples of Ecosystems

Hot spring— a spring with

water temperatures that are
higher relative to its
surroundings

Anoc
 Examples of Ecosystems

Micro-ecosystems— are
ecosystems confined to small or
tiny spaces and yet defined by
specific environmental factors

Anoc
 2
Components
and Structures
of an Ecosystem

Apostol
 Components of an Ecosystem

Biotic Abiotic
• Producers • Air
• Consumers (herbivores, • Soil
carnivores, omnivores) •Sunlight
• Decomposers • Water

Apostol
 Components of an Ecosystem
Biotic
• a component that includes all the living things

• 2 major types of living things

1. Eukaryotes— characterized by having membrane-bound organelles
(such as a nucleus) inside their cells. Examples are plants, animals, fungi,
and protists.
2. Prokaryotes— are those lacking membrane-bound organelles.
Examples are bacteria and archaea

Apostol
 Components of an Ecosystem
Biotic
• Producers— they are capable of producing their own food through
photosynthesis. Examples are plants.

• Consumers— they feed on the producers. Examples are animals.

1. Herbivores— consumers that feed on plants.
2. Carnivores— consumers that feed on other meat
3. Omnivores— feed on both plant and meat.

Apostol
 Components of an Ecosystem
Abiotic
• component that includes all the non-living things

Apostol
 Components as Ecological Factors
Biotic Factors
— the biotic components whose biological activity creates an impact in
the ecosystem.

Example: The extent of predation in an ecosystem

• If there is an increase in the number of predators, predation activity
would likely increase but lessens the population density of their prey.
• If their prey is a key species, then the decline of these key species could
also lead to the decline of the organisms relying upon them.

Apostol
 Components as Ecological Factors
Abiotic Factors
— include the non-living things and the physical aspects of an ecosystem,
such as climate, temperature, and pH.

Example: Regulation of the size or the density of a species population

• Acid rain, which is unusually acidic precipitation and has high levels of
hydrogen ions, can produce detrimental effects to the soil (e.g. leaching)
as well as to the plants and aquatic animals that are sensitive to low pH.

Apostol
 3
Energy Flow through
Ecosystem

Badua
 In an ecosystem, energy flows while
materials are cycled

Badua
 While some energy is stored in ATP others are released as heat.
The heat, dissipated into the environment is lost in the system and
cannot be recycled. This means the planet is an open system
when it comes to energy.

Badua
 • Production— the rate of generation of biomass in an ecosystem

1. Primary Production— the productivity of the autotrophs, such

as plants

2. Secondary Production— the productivity of the heterotrophs,

such as animals.

Badua
 Primary Production
Energy from the sun is captured by the chloroplasts inside the
cells of photoautotrophs. Inside the chloroplast, the light energy
drives the conversion of inorganic substrates into energy
reserves, like sugar molecules.

• Photosynthesis is a biological process through which plants manufacture their

own food with the aid of light from the sun and from inorganic sources (e.g. carbon
dioxide and water).

Badua
 Secondary Production
By feeding on the plants, the energy flows from the producer to
the consumer. Then, it flows from one consumer to the next. In
the presence of oxygen, glucose is processed to synthesize
chemical energy via cellular respiration. Energy stored in food
molecules is released through a series of oxidation reactions. As
the food molecule is fully oxidized, the final byproduct is carbon
dioxide, which is released through exhalation in breathing
animals.

Badua
 Nutrient Cycling
Decomposers are the last group of organisms through which
energy flows through. They consume the droppings and
carcasses of all living things and releasing these elements for
nutrient cycling, or for use by other living organisms.
• Decomposition is the ecological process in which decomposers break down organic
matters which are neither lost nor destroyed.

Badua
 Food webs and food chains shows how the energy flows through ecosystem.

Badua
4
Ecological
Succession
Ecological Succession is…
• the progressive replacement of one dominant type of species or
community
• the process by which natural communities replace (or “succeed”)
one another over time
• the steady and gradual change in a species of a given area with
respect to the changing environment
• a predictable change and is an inevitable process of nature as all
the biotic components have to keep up with the changes in our
environment
Primary Succession is a succession in which the new land is
colonized for the first time
 Secondary Succession is a succession in an area that was previously
occupied by a community but was disturbed and replaced by recolonization
• Pioneer Species— are hardy species that are
the first to colonize barren environments or
previously biodiverse steady-state ecosystems

• Intermediate Species— species that emerge

due to changes in the environment brought on
by the growth of grasses and forbs

• Climax community— is the “endpoint” or

“equilibrium” of succession within the context of
a particular climate and geography.
 Importance of Ecological
Succession
Ecological succession is important for the growth and
development of an ecosystem. It initiates the colonization of
new areas and the recolonization of the areas that had been
destroyed due to certain biotic and climatic factors. Thus, the
organisms can adapt to the changes and learn to survive in a
changing environment.
 Do you have
any questions?
 Group 1

Aldrin Roxane Kyla Jane Genelyn

Anoc Apostol Badua Bontia
 Online Sources
🔎
1. https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/ecosystem
2. https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/what-is-ecological-
succession#:~:text=Ecological%20succession%20is%20the%20process,a%20fund
amental%20concept%20in%20ecology.
3. https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Botany/Botany_(Ha_Morrow_and_Algier
s)/Unit_4%3A_Ecology_and_Conservation/20%3A_Communities_and_Ecosyste
ms/20.05%3A_Succession
4. https://byjus.com/biology/ecological-
succession/#:~:text=Ecological%20succession%20is%20important%20for,certain
%20biotic%20and%20climatic%20factors.
Thank you for
listening!