2. ECOLOGY
• is the science which tries to understand how and why these kinds of interaction
happen.
• the study of the relationships and interactions of living things with one another and
with their external environment
• Comes from the Greek word “oikos” means house, and “logos” means to study
• Scientists who study these interactions are called “ecologists”
3. LAYERS OF ECOLOGICAL
ORGANIZATION
• Biosphere – is the part of the
earth that supports life,
which includes the top
portion of the earth’s crust
(lithosphere), all the bodies of
water on the earth’s surface
(hydrosphere), and the surrounding
air (atmosphere).
4.
5. • Ecosystem
is composed of all living and
non-living things interacting
with one another and with
their environment.
Ecosystem may be large,
such as ocean, wetland or
forest. They may be small
like a pond, a single tree or
a rotting log
6. • Community
consists of different species of organisms
that interact with each other in a given area.
A species is a group of organisms that share
general physical characteristics and are able to
interbreed and produce offspring
An example of community is the rainforest,
which may include frogs, monkeys, insects, and
birds, all interacting with one another
These organisms may share or depend on each
each other for food, shelter or other needs
Community is made up of all the populations
in a given habitat
The variety of life forms is collectively known
as biological diversity or biodiversity
7. • Population
Group of organisms of
the same species that
live in a defined area
Community may have
different populations.
Example in a pond
community, there may
be a population of small
fishes; of grasses
growing; water insects
8. • Habitat
The actual place or type of environment
in which an organism or a population
lives
Example, habitat of milkfish is a fishpen
as Is the pond for a frog
Habitat may include food, shelter and
other resources the organisms need to
survive
The role an organisms performs in its
habitat is called “niche”. Example a frog
lives in a pond habitat. Its niche is to
feed on insects that live around the
pond
9.
10.
11.
12. ECOSYSTEM AND ITS COMPONENTS
• The term ecosystem was coined
by the British plant ecologist Sir
Arthur George Tansley to show
that a habitat is a system in which
its biotic (living) and abiotic (non-
living) components constantly
interact.
13. BIOTIC COMPONENT OF ECOSYSTEM
1. Producers or Autotrophs – those that can produce their own food, such as
plants
2. Consumers or Heterotrophs – those that consume or eat other organisms,
such as animals
Decomposers – a special type of consumers that feed on dead plants and animals, such as
bacteria and fungi
Scavengers – are consumers that wait for their prey to die before they feed on them, such
as vulture
Three types of consumers:
Herbivore – eat plants only
Carnivore – feed on the meat of other animals
Omnivore – eat both plants and animals
15. ABIOTIC COMPONENTS OF
ECOSYSTEM
• Are the non living chemical and physical factors
that help sustain life in the ecosystem.
• These includes rain, which supplies water or
moisture; dead organic matter in the soil that
provides the nutrients; the sun that gives energy to
start photosynthesis and vit. D production; air that
contains oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and
other gases; wind that transports other biotic and
abiotic components
16. ENERGY FLOW IN THE CIRCLE OFLIFE
PRODUCERS
chloroplast – cells of green leaves that act like collectors of solar energy
chlorophyll- green pigment in the chloroplast that enables plant to
absorb solar energy which then acts on the water and
carbon dioxide in plants. The chlorophyll is responsible for the process called
“photosynthesis”
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert
light energy, normally from the Sun, into chemical energy that can be later
released to fuel the organisms' activities. This chemical energy is stored in
carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars, which are synthesized from carbon
dioxide and water
19. • FOOD CHAIN – traces the sequence of how organisms obtain
their energy
20. •FOOD WEB – feeding
relationship of organisms in
an ecosystem. It shows a
variety of food chains are
interrelated with one another
•Charles Elton – introduced
the concept of food web,
which he called food cycle
21.
22. INTERACTIONS IN AN ECOSYSTEM
•COMPETITION
An interaction between and among organisms where
each competes with one another to obtain the same
resource
23. •PREDATION
Is an interaction
among consumers wherein
one consumer serves as the
food of another
PREDATOR – organism
that kills and eats the victim
PREY - organism that is
eaten
24. •SYMBIOSIS – refers to the living together of two or
more organisms
1. Mutualism – is a two way relationship wherein
both organisms benefit from each other
2. Parasitism – an antagonistic relationship wherein
one organism benefits (parasite) and the other is
injured (host)
3. Commensalism – is one sided relationship wherein
one organism benefits while the other organism
neither benefited nor injured
25. pollination Lichen symbiosis
wherein alga produces
food while fungus
provides nutrients for
alga
Zebra and oxpecker
wherein the bird eats
the parasites on
zebra’s back
MUTUALISM
27. Orchids - Some
orchids grow on
trees and that does
not harm the tree
Pilot fish - Pilot fish live around
sharks, sea turtles and rays and
eat the parasites that live on
them as well as leftover food
they do not eat. Young pilot fish
gather around jellyfish and
seaweeds.
Flatworms - A flatworm
attaches to a horseshoe
crab and it will eat the
crab’s food. This does
not harm the crab
COMMENSALISM
