MODULE 3

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[Link] -update/aquatic- [Link]
ecosystems
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 I-Introduction

A. Learning Objectives
At the end of the session, the students must have:

1. Delineated the importance of biotic and abiotic components in the ecosystem.

2. Explained how limiting factors and tolerance affects the stability of an ecosystem.
3. Described the characteristics of an ecological niche for a specific flora/fauna.
4. Identified the major types of ecosystem.
5. Described the features and characteristics of each type of ecosystem
6. Discussed the significance of each ecosystem in the attainment of equilibrium

B. Expected Outputs:

1. Journal of the different ecosystems found in the locality

2. Worksheet 5- Videoclip on the significance of ecosystems in the attainment of equilibrium.
3. Worksheet 6- Graphic Organizer

II- Serious Talk

A. Biotic and Abiotic Components

What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving
components of their environment, interacting as a system.
➢ All the living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) parts of an environment as well as the
interactions among them
➢ Ecosystems may be aquatic (water) or terrestrial (land).
➢ Interactions may include:
- producers (obtain energy by making their own food; plants -photosynthesis)
- consumers (obtain energy by consuming their food)
- decomposers ( get energy by breaking down dead organisms and the wastes of
living things); bacteria, fungi (mold, mushrooms,etc) , some worms, termites, some
beetles, etc.
Abiotic & Biotic Factors

➢ Abiotic Factors ➢ Biotic Factors

(nonliving) (living)
-water - shelter
-sunlight - soil -plants
-rocks - nutrients -trees
-oxygen/air, nitrogen -animals, insects,
-temperature/climate -bacteria, fungi
-space, salinity, pH
Why are biotic and abiotic components in an ecosystem important?
Both biotic and abiotic factors are related to each other in an ecosystem, and if one factor is
changed or removed, it can affect the entire ecosystem. Abiotic factors are especially important
because they directly affect how organisms survive.

B. Limiting Factors and the Law of Tolerance

Certain environmental laws govern the survival of organisms in relation to the nutrients that
they need.
The Law of the Minimum states that when there is enough of a certain nutrient in the
environment, the growth of teh organism that needs that nutrient will severely limited.
Studies also show that too much of any nutrient will likewise limit growth, giving rise to the
Law of Limiting Factors.
Two Broad Categories of Limiting Factors

Density – Dependent Factors Density-Independent Factors

Competition
- food ➢ Limiting factors that occur
- habitat/space regardless of how large the
- water population is and reduce the size
- sunlight
of all populations in the area;
- mating (Concerns relate to
genetic mutations, and the number of mostly abiotic
individuals competing for a mate.)
-weather changes
Spread of Disease: Overcrowding
increases the possibility of diseases -temperature changes
being spread in a population.
-human activities (pollution, urban sprawl,
Predation: Overcrowding interferes etc.)
with the natural predator/prey
relationship in an ecosystem. -natural disasters (volcanoes, fires, etc.)

Parasitism: Overcrowding increases

the possibility of parasites being spread.

It is observed that in the ecosystem, organisms vary in their responses to limiting factors and
the Law of Tolerance states that they have specific ranges of minimum and maximum limits of
tolerance that affect their survival, growth and reproduction and, therefore, their abundance and
distribution in nature. Sunlight and Temperature are two important physical factors that limit the
distribution and abundance of organisms.
➢ Sunlight, the ultimate energy source of the ecosystem, is vital to survival. However,
too much of it, particularly direct exposure to its ultraviolet rays, would kill the
protoplasm resulting in the death of organism.
➢ Temperature rhythms, just like light, moisture and tide rhythms control the daily and
seasonal patterns of activities of organisms and are mainly responsible for the zonation
and stratification of plants and animals on land and in water habitats. These determine
which species would thrive in a certain area and would limit survival particularly in
places where temperature extremes are found.
The limits of tolerance of a species in relation to a nutrient or an environmental requirement
may be described by a bell shaped curve.
Figure 1. The Law of Tolerance illustrated by a specific flowering plant in response to the amount of exposure to sunlight.

C. Ecological Niche
A niche is the role or job of a species in a habitat. The word niche comes from the French
word nicher, which means “to nest.” An ecological niche describes how a species interacts with, and
lives in, its habitat. Ecological niches have specific characteristics, such as availability of nutrients,
temperature, terrain, sunlight and predators, which dictate how, and how well, a species survives and
reproduces. A species carves out a niche for itself in a habitat by being able to adapt and diverge from
other species.
According to the competitive exclusion principle, two species cannot occupy the same
ecological niche in a habitat if they are competing for the same resources. When species compete in a
niche, natural selection will first move to lessen the dependence of the species on the shared resources.
If one species is successful, it reduces the competition. If neither evolves to reduce competition, then
the species that can more efficiently exploit the resource will win out, and the other species will
eventually become extinct.
Examples of Ecological Niches

Kirtland’s Warbler

➢ Kirtland’s warbler is a rare bird that lives in small areas in

Michigan’s northern Lower and Upper Peninsulas. The niche of
Kirtland’s warbler is the jack pine forest, and the forest must have
very specific conditions. Jack pine forests with areas of over 80
[Link] acres are ideal for this species.
➢ Kirtland’s warbler nests on the ground beneath the branches
when the tree is about 5 feet tall, or around 5-8 years old. When the tree reaches about 16-20
feet tall, the lower branches start to die, and the bird will no longer nest beneath the tree
branches.
Dung Beetle
➢ Dung beetles eat dung, both as adults and as larvae. They
live on all continents except Antarctica. Dung is plentiful
throughout the world, and over time, the dung beetle has
learned to exploit it as a resource, and create its own niche.
➢ Dung beetles are known for the way in which they roll dung
into a ball before transporting it. These balls area buried in
 an underground burrow to either be stored as food or used as brooding balls. The female lays
eggs in the brooding ball and the larvae hatch inside.
➢ When they reach adult size, the beetles dig out of the ball and work their way to the soil surface.
The actions of dung beetles serve several important functions in their habitat. Digging burrows
and tunnels turns over and aerates the soil.
➢ The buried dung releases nutrients into the soil that benefits other organisms. In addition, the
beetle’s use of dung leaves less available for flies to breed on, thus controlling some of the fly
population.

D. Major Types of Ecosystem

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TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM
 1. TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM
➢ A community of organisms and their environment that occurs on the land masses of
continents and islands
➢ There are six primary terrestrial ecosystem that exist: tundra, taiga, temperate
deciduous forest, tropical rain forest, grassland and desert.

TUNDRA
➢ The word tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturia which
means treeless land.
➢ It has two types: arctic tundra- located within the Arctic Circle
and alpine tundra- is the area high in the mountains above trees.
➢ An ecosystem situated near the North Pole in the Arctic Circle;
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thus the coldest and driest of all terrestrial ecosystems.
➢ Winters are extremely cold with temperatures typically below -
o
34 C. The summer lasts only about two months and the temperatures are still very cold
ranging from 30 to 120 C.
➢ The largest animal that lives in the tundra ecosystem is the polar bear.

TAIGA
➢ The largest terrestrial ecosystem and extends across Europe,
North America and Asia.
➢ It is also known as coniferous forest or boreal forest.
➢ It has short, wet summers and long cold winters. It gets
plenty of snow during the winter and plenty of rainfall
during the summer.

TEMPERATE DESIDOUS FOREST

➢ It experiences all four seasons- winter, spring, summer and fall.
➢ It is located in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, Japan
and some parts of Russia
➢ Its soil is very fertile and rich with nutrients.
➢ Black bears and wolves are very common animals that live in
the temperate deciduous forest ecosystem.
➢ The leaves of deciduous trees change color in the fall because
the plant or tree stops producing chlorophyll which is what gives
them their green color.

TROPICAL RAIN FOREST

➢ An ecosystem that covers 7% of the Earth’s surface.
➢ Tropical rainforests are one of the oldest ecosystems on
Earth.
➢ It is responsible for the majority of the oxygen
production in the air that we breathe.
➢ Majority of the tropical rain forests lies in South
America in Brazil.
➢ Amazon Rain forest

GRASSLAND
➢ Grasslands are also known as prairies and savannas.
➢ Situated between a forest and a desert. It surrounds
every desert in Asia.
➢ It covers twenty-five percent of the Earth. Source:[Link]
➢ Tropical and temperate are the two kinds of grasslands.
 ➢ Tropical grasslands experience warm weather all year long while temperate grasslands are
warm part of the year and very cold during other part.
➢ Grasslands are perfect for cropping and pasturing because its soil runs deep and extremely
fertile.
➢ Tropical grasslands are located in the Southern Hemisphere and otherwise known as savanna
while temperate grasslands are located in the Northern hemisphere (ex. United States) and
otherwise known as prairies

DESERT
➢ Deserts cover about 20% of the Earth.
➢ The Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the desert ecosystem
which covers over 300 million square miles.
➢ This ecosystem can be found on every continent except Europe.
➢ Many desert animals tend to be nocturnal, sleeping during the
Source:[Link]
day and coming out at night when the temperatures are more
tolerable.
➢ Because body fat retains heat, most desert animals have an adaptation that allows them to store
all their body fat in one area of their body. The camel stores all its body fat in its hump.
➢ The plants that are able to grow in the desert store water in their stem. They normally grow
spaced out so that their roots can extend and find water.
2. AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM
➢ An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem located in a body of water.
➢ It has two major types: Marine ecosystem and freshwater ecosystem.
MARINE ECOSYSTEM
➢ The largest ecosystem with coverage of nearly 71% of the
Earth’s surface and containing 97% of the planet’s water.
➢ The water has salts and minerals dissolved in high amounts.
➢ There are two common and major types of marine
ecosystems: ocean and coral reef ecosystems.
OCEANS
➢ There are five ocean ecosystems- Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Source:[Link]
Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean.
➢ At 36,200 feet deep, the Marian Trench is the deepest part of the ocean ecosystem.
➢ The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean ecosystem, the home
to the largest known mammal of the world, the blue whale.
CORAL REEF
➢ It is located in a shallow, clear potion of the ocean in mostly
tropical areas. These areas include the coasts of East Africa,
South India, Australia, Florida, the Caribbean and Brazil.
➢ The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef ecosystem
and is located in Australia.
➢ The Great Barrier Reef covers more than 1,200 miles and
Source:[Link]
contains 400 species of corals.
FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM
➢ Covers only 0.8% of the earths’s surface and contain 0.009% of its total water.
➢ There are two basic types of freshwater ecosystems:
lentic and lotic

LENTIC ECOSYSTEM
➢ This is otherwise known as standing waters. It includes
lakes, ponds, swamps, marches and vernal pools.
Source:[Link]
 LOTIC ECOSYSTEM
➢ Lotic ecosystems are also called flowing waters.
➢ It includes rivers, streams, creeks, brooks and springs.

Source:[Link]

IMPORTANCE OF ECOSYSTEM IN THE ATTAINMENT OF EQUILIBRIUM

All living things must remain in balance, or equilibrium, also known as homeostasis. Our
bodies maintain a balance of many things such as temperature. If we are too hot, we sweat and if we
are too cold, we shiver. Our temperature must remain in equilibrium.
Ecosystems must have just the right number of non-living things like sunlight and water. But
they also need to have the correct balance of different species to stay in equilibrium. Too many or too
few of a species can cause a population crash, where species in an ecosystem die off. Population
crashes are devastating for ecosystems.

III- Check Your Understanding

1. Journal of Ecosystems.
Make your own journal of the different ecosystems found in your locality by taking pictures of
it. Among the ecosystems found in your locality, choose one ecosystem you love. Write a descriptive
paragraph about it. Include the following details:
Name of the ecosystem
Type of ecosystem: Characteristics
Animals and plants found there
Use your creativity in making your journal.

2. Worksheet 5- Videoclip/Reading Material about the Importance of Ecosystems in the

Attainment of equilibrium.
✓ Download the article from the google classroom (Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem)
✓ Read and annotate
✓ In paragraph form highlight main ideas
✓ Write a one paragraph summary to answer the guide questions.
✓ You will be graded using a Rubric

3. Worksheet 6- Making a Graphic Organizer

In an A4 size bond paper. Make a graphic organizer of the different types of ecosystems
discussed. You will be graded using a Rubric