The document discusses key topics relating to ecosystems and biodiversity. It notes that the richest biodiversity is found near the equator, especially in areas like Indonesia and equatorial South America, as well as coral reefs. Ecological succession is influenced by environmental changes and disruption can affect rural and urban communities. Biodiversity at genetic, species, and ecosystem levels is important for ecological health but facing threats from human activity like habitat destruction. The Philippines has high biodiversity but also high rates of loss. Conservation efforts aim to stem further biodiversity loss.

1. ECOSYSTEM
Prepared by:
Mr. Raymond R. Diana

2. Which of the world’s ecosystems contain the
richest variety of plant and animal life?
The richest variety of plant and animal
life—the richest biodiversity—is found
near the equator. Indonesia (Biggest
Archipelago) and equatorial South
America may support the highest
biodiversity on land. Coral reefs in the
shallow waters of tropical marine
environments are also among the richest
ecosystems.

5. Microecosystem
which
shows
ecological
succession
Hay Infusion of II- Berners (2011-2012)

8. Changes in
environmental
conditions through
time generally result
in the death of
organisms that are
not adapted to those conditions,
and they are replaced by organisms
that can tolerate those new conditions.

9. Ecological succession in a rural
area and/or an urban area
 disruption on ecological succession affects
the way of life of people in rural and urban
communities.
 Rural and urban planning affects ecological
succession.
 The degree of effects depends on
advocacy/support/promotion efforts in
sustaining the restoration of natural systems
and promotion of a healthy ecology.

10. Ecological Backlash
Everything on Earth is
somehow connected to
everything else. What one
does affects another,
directly or indirectly.

11. Why is biodiversity essential to the
health of the environment?
Ecosystems that lose biodiversity—the
range of organisms present—
become more fragile and susceptible
to collapse. This is because no
species lives independent of other
species. All species are
interdependent, connected in a web
of life that forms the foundation of
the ecosystem.

12. Video footage
about ecological
backlash

13. Assignment: Poster making,
collage, scrapbook, video
presentation, and
photodocumentation. Refer to
your laboratory manual.

14. The Concept of Biodiversity
 Biodiversity refers to the variety and degree of
differences among living things.
 It includes all microorganisms, plants and
animals – from genes and species to the
ecosystems that they live in and the valuable
functions they perform.
 It has three levels, namely, – genetic diversity,
species diversity and ecosystems diversity.
 Biodiversity has economic, ecological, social
and cultural values. Hence, there is a need to
conserve it.

15. Genetic Diversity
 No individual members of any population
(except identical twins, which develop from a
single egg) are exactly alike in their genetic
makeup.
 The greater a population’s genetic diversity, the
more likely it is to evolve specific traits that
enable it to adapt to new environmental
pressures, such as climate change or disease.
 In contrast, sucha pressures might drive a
population with a low degree of genetic
diversity to extinction.

17.  Several nations have enacted laws
protecting endangered wildlife. An
international treaty known as the
Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora (CITES) went into effect in
1975 to outlaw the trade of
endangered animals and animal
parts.
Reference:
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
reserved.

18. Species Diversity
 Butterflies and moths are native to almost every part
of the globe except Antarctica and the oceans.
 Different biomes, such as forests, grasslands, deserts,
and alpine highlands, each support distinctive arrays
of butterfly and
moth species.
 Like many groups
of animals,
lepidopterans
reach their greatest
diversity in the tropics.

19. The community has certain
attributes, among them
dominance and species
diversity.
Dominance results when one
or several species control the
environmental conditions that
influence associated species.

20.  Ina forest, for example, the dominant species
may be one or more species of trees, such as
oak or spruce; in a marine community the
dominant organisms frequently are animals
such as mussels or oysters.
 Dominance can influence diversity of species
in a community because diversity involves not
only the number of species in a community,
but also how numbers of individual species are
apportioned.

21. Ecosystems Diversity
 Humans benefit from these smooth-functioning
ecosystems in many ways. Healthy forests, streams,
and wetlands contribute to clean air and clean water
by trapping fast-moving air and water, enabling
impurities to settle out or be converted to harmless
compounds by plants or soil.
 The diversity of organisms, or biodiversity, in an
ecosystem provides essential foods, medicines, and
other materials. But as human populations increase
and their encroachment on natural habitats expands,
humans are having detrimental effects on the very
ecosystems on which they depend.

22.  Thesurvival of natural ecosystems
around the world is threatened by
many human activities:
a. bulldozing wetlands and clear-
cutting forests—the systematic
cutting of all trees in a specific
area—to make room for new
housing and agricultural land;
b. damming rivers to harness the
energy for electricity and water for
irrigation; and polluting the air, soil,
and water.

24. The Status of Biodiversity in
One’s Locality
The Philippines is one of the
richest countries in the world in
terms of biodiversity. The country
today plays host to several
habitats and ecosystems that
support a wide variety of
species.

25. The Threats and Pressures
Affecting Biodiversity
Despite the mega-diversity
status of the Philippines in terms
of biodiversity, it is also
considered a mega-diversity
hotspot because of the rapid
loss of biodiversity occurring in
the country today.

26. The single greatest threat to global
biodiversity is the human
destruction of natural habitats.
Since the invention of agriculture
about 10,000 years ago, the human
population has increased from
approximately 5 million to a full 6
billion people.

27.  The conversion of forests, grasslands, and
wetlands for agricultural purposes, coupled
with the multiplication and growth of urban
centers and the building of dams and canals,
highways, and railways, has physically altered
ecosystems to the point that extinction of
species has reached its current alarming
pace.

28. During that time, but especially
in the past several centuries,
humans have radically
transformed the face of planet
Earth.

29. Biodiversity Conservation
 Asthe scope and significance of
biodiversity loss become better
understood, positive steps to stem
the tide of the sixth extinction have
been proposed and, to some
extent, adopted. Several nations
have enacted laws protecting
endangered wildlife.

30. References:
 Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008
Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 Department of Education 2003