EcologyProf. Liwayway Memije-Cruz

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions  about the universerefers to a way of pursuing knowledgeto know

Environment the air, water, minerals, organisms, and all other external factors surrounding and affecting a given organism at any time.the social and cultural forces that shape the life of a person or a population.

Environmental ScienceEnvironmental science is the study of the environment and the interconnecting systems it contains, as well as the way people interact with their natural surroundings and use natural resources. Many environmental scientists, including those who have helped develop alternative energy systems, strive to find sustainable ways to use natural resources.

Environmental Educationis designed to increase public awareness and knowledge about environmental issues or problems. it provides the public with the necessary skills to make informed decisions and take responsible action. 

The Concept of Web of Life

The scientific study of the distribution and abundance of living organisms and how the distribution and abundance are affected by interactions between the organisms and their environment.

Ecology

Definitions of Ecology: the study of organisms at home

the study of the relationships of organisms or groups of organisms to their environment

the science of interrelationships between living organisms to their environment

totality of man to their environment

Classification of EcologyEcophysiology and Behavioral ecology examine adaptations of the individual to its environment. Autecology studies the dynamics of populations of a single species. Community ecology (or synecology) focuses on the interactions between species within an ecological community. Ecosystem ecology studies the flows of energy and matter through the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems. Landscape ecology examines processes and relationship across multiple ecosystems or very large geographic areas.

Planet Earth

The Biosphere

The part of the earth and its atmosphere in which living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life.

The living organisms and their environment composing the biosphere

“sphere of life,”

Photosynthesis

PhotosynthesisThe trapping of solar energy and its conversion to chemical

energy, which is used in manufacturing of food molecules from carbon dioxide and water.

Respiration – the metabolic assimilation of oxygen with production of carbon dioxide and water, release of energy and breaking down of organic substances

EcosystemThe total interrelationship of all matter-energy cycles of plants and animals within a community.

Structural Components of an Ecosystem (BIOTIC)

Trophic LevelThe steps involved in the flow of energy through an ecosystem are referred to as trophic levels.

Organic Compounds:

Carbohydrates are the most abundant and cheapest compounds of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Proteins are the very stuff of life. and maintenance of the living organisms. Lipid is any group of organic compounds including fats, oils and waxes.  Amino Acids are any of the groups of organic compounds of nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon and oxygen that combine in various ways to form proteins that make up the living matter.

Structural Components of an Ecosystem (ABIOTIC)

Organic Compounds (Carbohydrates,Proteins, Fats) Inorganic Compounds (Biogeochemical Cycles) - Water Cycle (Hydrological Cycle) - Carbon/Oxygen Cycle - Nitrogen Cycle - Phosphorus Cycle Climate Regime

Hydrologic Cycle

Reservoir or portion of earth that acts as storehouse for element.

Exchange pool or part of environment from which producers take nutrients.

Biotic community where elements move along food chains to and from the exchange pool.

Cycling processes for other elements involve:

Plants need good soil and water. In the course of circulating throughout Earth, water makes its way through organisms in the biosphere as well as reservoirs housed within the geosphere. It also circulates continuously between the hydrosphere and the atmosphere. This movement, known as the hydrologic cycle, is driven by the twin processes of evaporation and transpiration.

• Evaporation - the means whereby liquid water is converted into a gaseous state and transported to the atmosphere

•Transpiration - the process by which plants lose water through their stomata, small openings on the undersides of leaves.

The atmosphere is the only major reservoir of water on Earth that is not considered part of the hydrosphere.

Carbon and Oxygen Cycle

Phosphorous Cycle

• Weathering of rocks makes phosphate ions (PO 4= and

HPO4=) available to plants through uptake from the soil .

• Detergents, untreated human and animal wastes, and fert i l izers from cropland add excess phosphate to water often causing population explosions (algal blooms) in lakes.

Food ChainThe

passage of energy from one tropic level to the next as a result of one organism consuming another

Food Web: A network of interlinked food chains composed of primary producers and decomposers.

Diversity The number of species of animals and plants in a given community

A process of change in biological systems due to forces in the environment The widely accepted concept that populations of living things can change genetically over time and that this change can lead to a population that is very well adapted to its environment. – Theory of Evolution

Evolution

Ecological Succession- progressive changes in community structure through time

Ecological Successionorderly process of community development that involves changes in species structure and community process with time

Cybernetics Science of control Community Interactions

Interspecific Competitionplays an important role in the regulation of natural populations and in the structuring of ecological communities may involve direct aggressive interaction resulting in injury or death to competitors due to their morphological and behavioral adaptations for killing

Intraspecific Competition

interactions among organisms of the same species

Mutualism - a positive, obligatory relationship between two species

Commensalism

Parasitism

Predation

Terrestrial EcosystemBiome – composed of distinctive plant formations/geographical areas on the landmasses of the earth

A group of plants that dominates a terrestrial biome is called climax vegetation. The amount of rainfall, the temperature, the amount of sunlight, and the configuration of the land are important physical factors contributing to the climate of various regions in the biosphere. The climate will influence the type of vegetation and thus the kind of animals that can live in the area. Specific terrestrial biomes are: tundra, coniferous forest, deciduous forest, grassland, deserts, and rainforest.

Tundra

the large area that encircles the Arctic Ocean. the biome with a very cold, dry climate. The ground is permanently frozen to a depth of about one meter (3.3 feet) below the surface known as permafrost. During the continuous daylight or summer, the surface thaws resulting to the formation of many bogs, streams, and ponds.

Taiga• world's largest terrestrial biome and is characterized by coniferous forests. • it covers most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway and Russia as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States, northern Kazakhstan and Japan. • also known as having some small-leaved deciduous trees like birch, alder, willow and aspen; mostly in areas escaping the most extreme winter cold. • the southernmost part of the taiga also have trees like oak, maple and elm scattered among the conifers.

Coniferous Forest• composed mainly of spruce, pine, fir and other evergreens. • directly and indirectly provide nourishment and shelter to plants, animals and organisms in their environment.

Grasslands biomes often found in areas where yearly rainfall is between 25 and 75 centimeter (10 to 30 inches). This amount of rainfall is not enough to support the large trees, but it sufficient enough for most species of grasses considered natural pastures and have been for centuries used by huge herds of grazing animals. The spreading roots of grasses hold the soil.