CARAGA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

LEARNING MODULE

Learning Modules

in

NATS 202

People’s and Earth’s

Ecosystem

NATS 202 FOR CIT BSBA STUDENTS 1

JHON LLOYD Z. BANTIGUE
 CARAGA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
LEARNING MODULE

CHAPTER II : ECOSYSTEMS: What are they and how they work?

TOPICS : 2.1 What is Ecology?

2.2 What keeps us and other Organisms alive?
2.3 What are the Major Components of an Ecosystem?
2.4 What happens to energy in an ecosystem? Food Chain and Food Web
2.5 What happens to matter in an Ecosystem?

TIME FRAME : 8 hrs

At the end of this Chapter, you must have:

1. Defined Ecosystem.
2. Identified the characteristics of life.
3. Identifies and discussed the major components of the ecosystem.
4. Discussed the transformation of energy in the Ecosystem.
5. Explained the various nutrients cycles in the Ecosystem.

INTRODUCTION

Tropical Rain Forests are Disappearing

Tropical rain forests are found near the earth’s equator and contain an incredible
variety of life. These lush forests are warm year-round and have high humidity and heavy
rainfall almost daily. Although they cover only about 2% of the earth’s land surface, studies
indicate that they contain up to half of the world’s known terrestrial plant and animal species.
For these reasons, they make an excellent natural laboratory for the study of ecosystems—
communities of organisms interacting with one another and with the physical environment of
matter and energy in which they live.

So far, at least half of these forests have been destroyed or disturbed by humans
cutting down trees, growing crops, grazing cattle, and building settlements, and the
degradation of these centers of life (biodiversity) is increasing. Ecologists warn that without
strong conservation measures, most of these forests will probably be gone or severely
degraded within your lifetime.

Scientists project that disrupting these ecosystems will have three major harmful
effects. First, it will reduce the earth’s vital biodiversity by destroying or degrading the
habitats of many of their unique plant and animal species, thereby causing their premature
extinction. Second, it will help to accelerate climate change due to global warming by
eliminating large areas of trees faster than they can grow back, thereby reducing the trees’
overall uptake of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

Third, it will change regional weather patterns in ways that will prevent the return of
diverse tropical rain forests in cleared or degraded areas. Once this tipping point is reached,
tropical rain forest in such areas will become less diverse tropical grassland.

NATS 202 FOR CIT BSBA STUDENTS 2

JHON LLOYD Z. BANTIGUE
 CARAGA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
LEARNING MODULE

Key QUESTIONS and CONCEPTS

1. What is Ecology?
2. What keeps us and other organisms alive?
3. What are the major components of an ecosystem?
4. How can we slow human population growth?
5. What happens to energy in an ecosystem?
6. What happens to matter in an ecosystem?
7. How do scientists study ecosystems?

2.1 What is Ecology?

Objectives: As you go through this topic, you will be able to:

a. Define what Ecology is.

b. Identify the major parts of the cell.
c. Classify the eight levels of organization of matter in nature.

Pre – test:

1. What are the two classifications of cell?

2. What are the 8 levels of organization of matter in nature?

LEARNING CONTENT

Definition of Terms

Ecology - is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and
their physical environment; it seeks to understand the vital connections between
plants and animals and the world around them. Ecology also provides information
about the benefits of ecosystems and how we can use Earth’s resources in ways that
leave the environment healthy for future generations

Ecosystem - community and its physical and chemical environment. An ecosystem has a
living (biotic) and nonliving (a biotic) component.

Biotic factors - living organisms in an ecosystem.

Abiotic factors - all environmental conditions required to support life, e.g., rainfall, sunlight
moisture, soil temperature conditions required compounds from simple inorganic
substances with the aid of energy from the sun (Photosynthetic autotrophs) or from
inorganic substance themselves (chemosynthetic autotrophs).

Heterotrophy - organisms that ingest other organisms to obtain organic nutrients.

Decomposers - heterotrophic bacteria and fungi that obtain organic nutrients by breaking
down the remains of products of organisms. The activities of decomposers allow
simple compounds to be recycled back to the autotrophs.

NATS 202 FOR CIT BSBA STUDENTS 3

JHON LLOYD Z. BANTIGUE
 CARAGA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
LEARNING MODULE

Food chain - linear sequence of who eats whom in an ecosystem.

Food web - networks of many interlocked food chains, encompassing producers,

consumers, decomposers, and detritivores.

Biogeochemical cycle - the cycling of materials through living system and back to the
earth.

Nitrification - a process by which certain soil bacteria strip ammonia or ammonium of

electrons, and nitrite (NO2) is released as a reaction product, then other soil bacteria
use nitrite for energy metabolism, yielding nitrate (NO3-).

Ammonification - decomposition of nitrogenous wastes and remains of organisms by

certain bacteria and fungi.

Denitrification - reduction of nitrate or nitrite to gaseous nitrogen (N2) and a small amount
of nitrous oxide (NO2) by soil bacteria.

Eutrophication - a process by which a body of water becomes over- enriched with nutrients,
and as a result produces an over- abundance of plants.

Biomass - the total dry mass of all living organisms at a given tropic level of an ecosystem.

Community - the population of all species that occupy a habitat.

Tropic level - all organisms that are the same number of energy transfer away from the
original source of (e.g., sun light) that enters an ecosystem.

Nitrogen fixation - among some bacteria, assimilation of gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the
air; though reduction reactions, electrons become attached to the nitrogen, there by
forming ammonia (NH3) or ammonium (NH4+).

Ecology

Cells are the basic units of life. All organisms (living things) are composed of cells:
the smallest and most fundamental structural and functional units of life. They are minute
compartments covered with a thin membrane and within which the processes of life occur.
The idea that all living things are composed of cells is called the cell theory and it is the most
widely accepted scientific theory in biology. Organisms may consist of a single cell (bacteria,
for instance) or huge numbers of cells, as is the case for most plants and animals.

On the basis of their cell structure, organisms can be classified as either eukaryotic
or prokaryotic. A eukaryotic cell is surrounded by a membrane and has a distinct nucleus (a
membrane-bounded structure containing genetic material in the form of DNA) and several
other internal parts called organelles, which are also surrounded by membranes. Most
organisms consist of eukaryotic cells. A prokaryotic cell is also surrounded by a membrane,
but it has no distinct nucleus and no other internal parts surrounded by membranes. All
bacteria consist of a single prokaryotic cell.

NATS 202 FOR CIT BSBA STUDENTS 4

JHON LLOYD Z. BANTIGUE
 CARAGA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
LEARNING MODULE

a. Eukaryotic Cell b. Prokaryotic Cell

Protein structure DNA

(no nucleus)
Nucleus
(DNA)

Energy Protein structure and

conservation energy conversion
Cell membrane occur without
Cell membrane specialized internal
structures

Species make up the encyclopedia of life For a group of sexually reproducing

organisms, a species is a set of individuals that can mate and produce fertile offspring. Every
organism is a member of a certain species with certain traits. Scientists have developed a
distinctive system for classifying and naming each species. We do not know how many
species are on the earth. Estimates range from 4 million to 100 million. The best guess is
that there are 10–14 million species. So far biologists have identified about 1.8 million
species. These and millions of species still to be classified are the entries in the
encyclopedia of life found on the earth. Up to half of the world’s plant and animal species live
in tropical rain forests that are being cleared rapidly (Core Case Study). Insects make up
most of the world’s known species. In 2007, scientists began a $100 million, 10-year project
to list and describe all 1.8 million known species in a free Internet encyclopedia
(www.eol.org).

Ecologists Study Connections in Nature

Ecology (from the Greek words oikos, meaning “house” or “place to live,” and logos,
meaning “study of”) is the study of how organisms interact with their living (biotic)
environment of other organisms and with their nonliving (abiotic) environment of soil, water,
other forms of matter, and energy mostly from the sun. In effect, it is a study of connections
in nature.

To enhance their understanding of nature, scientists classify matter into levels of

organization from atoms to the biosphere. Ecologists focus on organisms, populations,
communities, ecosystems, and the biosphere.

A population is a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same place
at the same time. Examples include a school of glassfish in the Red Sea, the field mice living
in a cornfield, monarch butterflies clustered in a tree, and people in a country.
NATS 202 FOR CIT BSBA STUDENTS 5
JHON LLOYD Z. BANTIGUE
 CARAGA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
LEARNING MODULE

In most natural populations, individuals vary slightly in their genetic makeup, which is
why they do not all look or act alike. This variation in a population is called genetic diversity.

The place where a population or an individual organism normally lives is its habitat. It
may be as large as an ocean or as small as the intestine of a termite. An organism’s habitat
can be thought of as its natural “address.” Each habitat, such as a tropical rain forest, a
desert, or a pond, has certain resources, such as water, and environmental conditions, such
as temperature and light, that its organisms need in order to survive.

A community, or biological community, consists of all the populations of different

species that live in a particular place. For example, a catfish species in a pond usually
shares the pond with other fish species, and with plants, insects, ducks, and many other
species that make up the community. Many of the organisms in a community interact with
one another in feeding and other relationships.

An ecosystem is a community of different species interacting with one another and

with their nonliving environment of soil, water, other forms of matter, and energy, mostly from
the sun. Ecosystems can range in size from a puddle of water to an ocean, or from a patch
of woods to a forest. Ecosystems can be natural or artificial (human created). Examples of
artificial ecosystems are crop fields, tree farms, and reservoirs.

Ecosystems do not have clear boundaries and are not isolated from one another.
Matter and energy move from one ecosystem to another. For example, soil can wash from a
grassland or crop field into a nearby river or lake. Water flows from forests into nearby rivers
and crop fields.

Birds and various other species migrate from one ecosystem to another. And winds
can blow pollen from a forest into a grassland.

The biosphere consists of the parts of the earth’s air, water, and soil where life is
found. In effect, it is the global ecosystem in which all organisms exist and can interact with
one another.

The Eight Levels of Organization of Matter in Nature

Atom - smallest unit of a chemical element that exhibits its chemical properties

Molecule - chemical combination of two or more atoms of the same or different elements

Cell - the fundamental structural and functional unit of life

Organism – an individual living being

Population – a group of individuals of the same species living in a particular place

Community – populations of different species living in a particular place, and potentially

interacting with each other

Ecosystem – a community of different species interacting with one another and with their
non-living environment of matter and energy

NATS 202 FOR CIT BSBA STUDENTS 6

JHON LLOYD Z. BANTIGUE
 CARAGA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
LEARNING MODULE

Biosphere – parts of the Earth’s air, water, and soil where life is found

Self – Check

Write TRUE if the statement is corrected and FALSE if the statement is incorrect.

____1. The activities of decomposers allow simple compounds to be recycled back to the
autotrophs.
_____2. Ecosystem is the population of all species that occupy a habitat.
_____3. Eutrophication is a process by which a body of water becomes deficient with nutrients.
_____4. DNA in prokaryotic cells is found in its nucleus.
_____5. Variation in a population is called genetic diversity.
_____6. Ecosystems do not have clear boundaries and are not isolated from one
another.
_____7. Atoms are the basic unit of life.
_____8. Cells arise only by division of previously existing cell.
_____9. The biosphere consists of the parts of the earth’s air, water, soil, and fire
where life is found.
_____10. Variation in a population is called genetic diversity.

NATS 202 FOR CIT BSBA STUDENTS 7

JHON LLOYD Z. BANTIGUE