GE-ES Environmental Science

(First Semester, AY 2020-2021)

Module 2: Understanding the Biosphere and Its Functional Unit – The Ecosystems

Course Outcome

Learners who can model the components of the natural world and their interactions.

Making Connections: Environmental Science is a group of sciences that attempt to

explain how life on the Earth is sustained, what leads to environmental problems, and how
these problems can be solved (Botkin & Keller, 2011).

Why is this study important? According to Botkin and Keller (2011), the following are the
reasons why studying Environmental Science is significant:

• We depend on our environment. People can live only in an environment with certain
kinds of characteristics and within certain ranges of availability of resources. Because
modern science and technology give us the power to affect the environment, we have
to understand how the environment works, so that we can live within its constraints.

• People have always been fascinated with nature, which is, in its broadest view, our
environment. As long as people have written, they have asked three questions about
ourselves and nature:

What is nature like when it is undisturbed by people?

What are the effects of people on nature?
What are the effects of nature on people?

Environmental science is our modern way of seeking answers to these questions.

• We enjoy our environment. To keep it enjoyable, we must understand it from a

scientific viewpoint.

• Our environment improves the quality of our lives. A healthy environment can help us
live longer and more fulfilling lives.

• It’s just fascinating.

Many sciences are important to environmental science. These include biology (especially
ecology, that part of biology that deals with the relationships among living things and their
environment), geology, hydrology, climatology, meteorology, oceanography, and soil science.

Your role is to understand how to think through environmental issues so that you can arrive at
your own decisions (Botkin & Keller, 2011).
In module 1, you learned about the four various components of the natural world which are
the lithosphere (Earth’s surface), hydrosphere (water), atmosphere (air), and biosphere
(regions of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere where living organisms exist). You
also learned about the biotic and the abiotic components of the environment.

Course
Course Overview
Overview

In this module, you will focus your attention to one of the components of the natural world –
the Biosphere concentrating on its functional unit – the ecosystem. You will see the
interactions between the components of the environment in different ecosystems. The study
of this module will take you around another 6 hours, however, you may do it at your own pace.
Kindly visit and read suggested sites and internet links.

Learning Outcomes

After completing the study of this module, you should be able to:
1. Review the levels of the organization of life from cell to organism;
2. Describe the levels of ecological organization from organism to biosphere;
3. Explain the major aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems; and
4. Make a model of an ecosystem.

Initial Activity
Initial Activity

In your basic education, you have learned about the levels of organization in living things. You
know that cells make up tissues, tissues make up organs, organs make up organ systems,
and organ systems make up an organism.

Figure 2.1. The levels of the organization of life (Ontrack Media, 2020)

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 Learning Check 2.1: Based from your prior knowledge, kindly give examples of cells,
tissues, organs, organ systems and organisms.

CELL TISSUE ORGAN ORGAN ORGANISM

SYSTEM
Example Cheek cell Epithelial Skin Integumentary Human
tissue System
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Learning Enrichment 2.1: To enrich your knowledge on the levels of the

organization of life, kindly watch these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzKKYYIlJ-c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRnK4ys8vm4&pbjreload=101

Learning Check 2.2: Based from what you have learned from watching the videos,
differentiate the various levels of the organization of life.
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Lesson Proper

Organism
Concept oftothe
Biosphere
Environment

You recalled from the initial activity that the levels of organization of life begins with cells.
Groups of similar cells form tissues, groups of different tissues make up organs, and groups
of organs form organ systems; cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems combine to form a
multicellular organism (Britannica, 2020). But it does not stop there. The levels of organization
of life continues from organism to biosphere.

An organism describes an individual. You are an organism. I am an organism. The mosquito

that flies by your window is an organism. An organism is a single, living thing and can be an
animal, a plant, or a microorganism. Organisms grow and respond to their environment.

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A population is the term we use to describe multiple individuals or organisms of a single
species that live within a particular geographic area. For example, there may be one
population of painted turtles in one province and another population of painted turtles 50 miles
away in another province.

A community is the term used to describe two or more populations of different species that
occupy the same space at the same time. For example, you could talk about the community
in your backyard that is made up of numerous animals such as your chickens, pigs, cows,
goats, your dogs and cats, insects and so forth.

An ecosystem is the term used to describe both the biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving)
factors in a system which you have learned in Module 1. The image below (Figure 2.2) is an
example of ecosystem where there are existing interactions between the living and the
nonliving components.

Figure 2.2. An ecosystem (Socratic Q&A, 2020)

What are the biotic components?

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What are the abiotic components?
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A biome is the term used to describe organisms that occupy a certain area. Biomes are
determined by the primary vegetation type, the climate of the area, and the geographic
location. The plants and animals in a biome share common traits that are specific to the
individual biome those plants and animals inhabit.

A biosphere is the term used to describe the combination of every ecosystem on the planet.
Our biosphere is Earth. The biosphere includes all living beings and their relationships. It is a
term that describes all life on earth and the abiotic factors that life interacts with.

Learning Check 2.3: Describe each level of ecological organization by defining it,
and by giving examples. Fill out the table below.

Level of Ecological Definition Example (s)

Organization

Organism

Population

Community

Ecosystem

Biomes

Biosphere

Learning Enrichment 2.2: To know more about the levels of ecological organization,
please watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-80Z5d6wkDQ&pbjreload=101

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 Learning Check 2.4: Given what you have watched in this video, further describe
each level by giving at least three characteristics. Fill out the table below.

Level Characteristics
Population

Community

Ecosystem

Biomes

Biosphere

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 Ecosystem and Food Chains

We tend to associate life with individual organisms, for the obvious reason that it is individuals
that are alive. But sustaining life on Earth requires more than individuals or even single
population or species. Life is sustained by the interactions of many organisms functioning
together, interacting through their physical and chemical environments. We call this an
ecosystem. The term “ecosystem” was first coined by A.G. Tansley, an English botanist, in
1935.

Organisms in an ecosystem interact with one another. One way that individuals in a community
interact is by feeding on one another. Energy, chemical elements, and some compounds are
transferred from creature to creature along food chains, the linkage of who feeds on whom.
The more complex linkages are called food webs. Ecologists group the organisms in a food
web into trophic levels. A trophic level (from the Greek word trephein, meaning to nourish,
thus the “nourishing level”) consists of all organisms in a food web that are the same number
of feeding levels away from the original energy source. The original source of energy in most
ecosystems is the sun. In other cases, it is the energy in certain inorganic compounds.

Green plants, algae, and certain bacteria produce sugars through the process of
photosynthesis, using only energy from the sun and carbon dioxide (CO 2) from the air. They
are called autotrophs, from the words auto (self) and trephein (to nourish), thus “self-
nourishing,” and are grouped into the first trophic level. All other organisms are called
heterotrophs. Of these, herbivores— organisms that feed on plants, algae, or photosynthetic
bacteria—are members of the second trophic level. Carnivores, or meat-eaters, that feed
directly on herbivores make up the third trophic level. Carnivores that feed on third- level
carnivores are in the fourth trophic level, and so on. Those that feed on both plant and animals
are the omnivores. Herbivore, carnivores and omnivores are all consumers. Decomposers,
those that feed on dead organic material, are classified in the highest trophic level in an
ecosystem. The following image is an example of a simple food web.

Figure 2.3. Food web of a Yellowstone National Park hot spring. Ecosystems: Concepts and
Fundamentals (Botkin & Keller, 2011).
 Learning Check 2.5: Considering Figure 2.4, determine the organisms and the types
of organisms (producer, consumer, decomposer) in each tropic level. Write your answers on
the table.

Figure 2.4. A typical temperate forest food web (Botkin & Keller, 2011).

Tropic Level Organism(s) Type(s) of Organism

st
1 Tropic Level

2nd Tropic Level

3rd Tropic Level

4th Tropic Level

Learning Enrichment 2.3: To enrich your knowledge about the ecosystem and food
chain, kindly watch these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8q_iRRabT4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j78g5iRnYBM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC8TwL49RFA

As you can see from the last video, ecological pyramid is the graphical representation of the
number, energy, and biomass of the successive trophic levels of an ecosystem. Charles Elton
was the first ecologist to describe the ecological pyramid and its principals in 1927.

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The biomass, number, and energy of organisms ranging from the producer level to the
consumer level are represented in the form of a pyramid; hence, it is known as the ecological
pyramid.

The base of the ecological pyramid comprises the producers, followed by primary and
secondary consumers. The tertiary consumers hold the apex. In some food chains, the
quaternary consumers are at the very apex of the food chain.

The producers generally outnumber the primary consumers and similarly, the primary
consumers outnumber the secondary consumers. And lastly, apex predators also follow the
same trend as the other consumers; wherein, their numbers are considerably lower than the
secondary consumers.

For example, grasshoppers feed on crops such as cotton and wheat, which are plentiful.
These grasshoppers are then preyed upon by common mice, which are comparatively less in
number. The mice are preyed upon by snakes such as cobras. Snakes are ultimately preyed
on by apex predators such as the brown snake eagle.

Types of Ecosystem

The ecosystem is the functional unit of biosphere where the living organisms interact with each
other and the surrounding environment. In other words, an ecosystem is a chain of interaction
between organisms and their environment.

An ecosystem can be as small as an oasis in a desert, or as big as an ocean, spanning

thousands of miles. There are two types of ecosystem: terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem.

Terrestrial ecosystems are exclusively land-based ecosystems. There are different types
of terrestrial ecosystems distributed around various geological zones. They are as follows:

1. Forest Ecosystems
2. Grassland Ecosystems
3. Tundra Ecosystems
4. Desert Ecosystem

A forest ecosystem consists of several plants, animals and microorganisms that live in
coordination with the abiotic factors of the environment. Forests help in maintaining the
temperature of the earth and are the major carbon sink. The classification is as per the
respective climate – boreal, temperate or tropical. Forest ecosystems in temperate zones may
have a flora of coniferous type, deciduous type or a combination of both the types. Rainforest
ecosystems in the tropics have the most diverse plant and animal ecosystem than any other
region on the earth. Here, trees grow tall and foliage is dense and lush with a warm and humid
environment, with species right from the root level up till the canopy. The Boreal forests are
featured in the far north, with a rich population of the coniferous trees, known as the taiga.

In a grassland ecosystem, the vegetation is dominated by grasses and herbs. Temperate

grasslands, savanna grasslands are some of the examples of grassland ecosystems. These
are found in savannas, steppes, and prairies, in the temperate and tropical regions. They can

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exist in colder regions as well (Siberian Steppe) and share a common characteristic: semi-
aridity. Flowers may be scattered along with the grass but trees are almost non-existent.
Grasslands are ideal for animal-grazing.

Tundra ecosystems are devoid of trees and are found in cold climates or where rainfall is
scarce. These are covered with snow for most of the year. The ecosystem in the Arctic or
mountain tops is tundra type. Tundra denotes polar regions at lower altitudes. It is
characterized by harsh environmental conditions similar to deserts and is usually windswept,
snow-covered and treeless. The soil is frozen throughout the year and during the brief
summers, snow melts to produce shallow ponds, thus giving rise to small flowers and lichens.

Deserts are found throughout the world. These are regions with very little rainfall. The days
are hot and the nights are cold. The most defining feature of this ecosystem is the amount of
precipitation it receives, which is the least as compared to any ecosystem. This ecosystem can
exist from the Arctic to the tropics, not all deserts are hot, some are often windy. Some contain
rocks while some have sand dunes. Flora is very rare but highly adaptive animal species and
insects are found here.

Aquatic ecosystems are ecosystems present in a body of water. These can be further
divided into two types, namely: freshwater and marine ecosystem.

The freshwater ecosystem is an aquatic ecosystem that includes lakes, ponds, rivers,
streams and wetlands. These have no salt content in contrast with the marine ecosystem.
They embody planktons, algae, insects, amphibians and underwater plants.

The marine ecosystem includes seas and oceans. These have a more substantial salt
content and greater biodiversity in comparison to the freshwater ecosystem. It contains
saltwater and inhabits a variety of species. They are the most abundant ecosystems on the planet.
Marine enclose not only the oceanic bed but also the tidal zones, salt marshes, estuaries, saltwater
swamps, coral reef, mangroves etc.

Learning Enrichment 2.4: To enrich your knowledge on types of ecosystem, watch

these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6YrPt1ygX8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fMemcd-VXw

Leave a message here to your teacher if you have questions:

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Assessment
Assessment:

Make a model of an ecosystem that can be found in your immediate surroundings. Discuss
your model (Mark: 30).

Rubric
Mark
Criteria
10 6 3 1
Integration of The model The model The model The model does
knowledge demonstrates demonstrates demonstrates not demonstrate
that the student that the student, that the student, that the student
fully understands for the most part, to a certain understands the
the scientific understands the extent, scientific
concepts being scientific understands the concepts being
utilized. These concepts being Scientific utilized.
concepts are utilized. concepts being
integrated and These concepts, utilized.
contextualized to a certain
into the student’s extent, are
own insights. integrated and
contextualized
into the student’s
own insights.
Clarity of content In-depth In-depth The student has Cursory or hasty
discussion and discussion and omitted important discussion in all
elaboration in elaboration in components of components of
all components of most components an ecosystem. an ecosystem.
an ecosystem. of an ecosystem.

Clear and Simple and very Simple but not Complex and Impossible to tell
attractive easy to easy to tell what difficult to tell what component
illustration understand what component is what component is being
component is being illustrated. is being illustrated.
being illustrated. illustrated.

Suggested Reading(s):

Botkin, D. & Keller, E. (2011).Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet, 8th edition,
pp. 80-103
http://56340783152403882152402057.preview.editmysite.com/uploads/5/6/3/4/5634
0783/botkin_environmental_science_earth_as_living_planet_8th.pdf
Skinner, B. J., & Murck, B. W. (2011). The Blue Planet: An Introduction to Earth System
Science, 3rd Edition, pp. 474-479

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REFERENCES

Books and Other Published Materials:

Botkin, D. B., & Keller, E. A. (2011). ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: Earth as a Living Planet,
Eighth Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., USA.
https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq1995.00472425002400050040x
Cunningham, W., & Cunningham, M. A. (2017). Principles of ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE:
Inquiry & Application, Eighth Edition. McGraw-Hill Education, New York, USA.
Mutiti, S., Mutiti, C., Manoylov, K., Vandevoort, A., & Bennett, D. (2018). Introduction to
Environmental Science, 3rd Edition. Open Textbook, Georgia College and State
University, USA.
Skinner, B. J., & Murck, B. W. (2011). The Blue Planet: An Introduction to Earth System
Science, 3rd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., USA

Internet Links:

Socratic Q&A Environmental Science. (2016). What is the difference between organism,
population, community, ecosystem, biome and biosphere.
https://socratic.org/questions/what-is-the-difference-between-organism-population-
community-ecosystem-and-biosp#275374
Encyclopædia Britannica. (2020). Levels of organization.
https://kids.britannica.com/students/assembly/view/217841
Byjus The Learning App. (2020). Ecosystem
https://byjus.com/biology/ecosystem/#what-is-an-ecosystem
Byjus The Learning App. (2020). How Many Types Of Ecosystem Are There?
https://byjus.com/questions/how-many-types-of-ecosystem-are-there/

ANSWER KEY

(NOTE: Model answers in Module 2 shall be provided after you have completed and submitted all the
requirements under this module. It will be sent through your individual email.)

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