ECOSYSTEM

OVERVIEW
■ENVIRONMENT is a collection of
living and non living things.
■The living components of
environment are also called
ORGANISMS.
■The non-living components make up
the PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT of
these organisms
■ ORGANISMS that belong to the same species and
live in the same place form a POPULATION.
Example: the moss that grows on rocks makes up a
population.

■ Populations that live in the same place and

interact with each other form a COMMUNITY;
Example Goats grazing on grass, chickens feeding
on grains, and lizards preying on insects make up a
community.
■ Interactions between organisms and their
environment are also a familiar sight: Carabao’s
helping farmers till the soil, earthworms burrowing
the ground, and birds using twigs in building their
nests.
■ WHY DO ORGANISMS INTERACT WITH EACH
OTHER?
■ Organisms interact with each other and their
environment to meet their basic needs and
survive.
■Some interactions are beneficial
and some are harmful. There are
also interactions in which
populations of organisms are
neither benefitted nor harmed. All
these interactions take place in
the ECOSYSTEMS
In this module you are expected to:
■ Differentiate biotic from abiotic components of
an ecosystem;
■ Describe the different ecological relationships
found in an Ecosystem;
■ Predict the effect of changes in one population
on other populations in the ecosystem, and
■ Predict the effect of changes in abiotic factors
on the ecosystem
ACTIVITY
 LIVING THINGS IN AN ECOSYSTEM
■ INTERACT WITH
1.ABIOTIC FACTORS – NONLIVING COMPONENTS OF
AN ECOSYSTEM
2. BIOTIC FACTORS – LIVING COMPONENTS OF AN
ECOSYSTEM
BIOTIC FACTORS
■ INCLUDE:
1. COMMUNITY – IT IS MADE UP OF DIFFERENT POPULATIONS
- CONSISTS OF ALL THE ORGANISMS THAT LIVE IN AN
ECOSYSTEM AND COMPOSED OF DIFFERENT POPULATIONS.

2. POPULATIONS – SUCH AS PLANTS, ANIMALS, FUNGI, AND

OTHER ORGANISMS
-INCLUDES ALL THE ORGANISMS OF THE SAME SPECIES
LIVING IN AN AREA ON AN ECOSYSTEM
ABIOTIC FACTORS
■ SUCH AS:
1.SUNLIGHT
2.WATER
3.SOIL
4.TEMPERATURE
5.WIND
ECOSYSTEMS ARE FOUND IN HABITATS

■HABITATS MAY BE:

1.OCEAN
2.FOREST
3.DESERT
ECOSYSTEMS HAVE SYMBIOTIC AND
NON-SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS
ECOSYSTEM
■IS WHERE ORGANISMS INTERACT
WITH ONE ANOTHER AND WITH
THEIR ENVIRONMENT.
 WHAT ORGANISMS CAN YOU FIND
IN A POND?
■WATER PLANTS AND ALGAE INTERACT
WITH SUNLIGHT TO PRODUCE FOOD.
INSECTS INTERACT WITH ALGAE BY
EATING THEM. FROGS IN TURN EAT THE
INSECTS.
EXAMPLE. ROTTING LOG
■ MUSHROOMS BREAKDOWN THE WOOD INTO
NUTRIENTS THAT MOSSES NEED FOR GROWTH.
INSECTS FIND FOOD AND SHELTER IN THESE
MOSSES.
HABITAT
■IS A PLACE WHERE AN ORGANISMS
OR A POPULATION LIVES IN AN
ECOSYSTEM
NICHE
■SPECIAL ROLE OF EACH ORGANISMS
IN THE ECOSYSTEM
PLANTS AND ANIMALS LIVING
TOGETHER IN AN ENVIRONMENT
MAKE UP A NATURAL COMMUNITY,
WHICH NEEDS TO MAINTAIN A
CERTAIN KIND OF BALANCE.
HOWEVER, IF THERE ARE TOO MANY
ANIMALS, MOST THESE PLANTS WILL
BE EATEN. THE FOOD SUPPLY
EVENTUALLY RUNS SHORT AND
FEWER ANIMALS WILL SURVIVE.
ANIMALS DEPEND ON THEIR ENVIRONMENT
TO LIVE, WHILE MOST PLANTS RELY ON
ANIMALS TO PROPAGATE.

SOME INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ORGANISMS

ARE VERY SPECIFIC, ON EOF WHICH IS
CALLED SYMBIOSIS.
 SYMBIOSIS MEANS “LIVING TOGETHER”

■ MUTUALISM – A RELATIONSHIP IN WHICH TWO

ORGANISMS LIVE TOGETHER, DEPEND ON, AND BENEFIT
FROM EACH OTHER.
■ COMMENSALISM – A RELATIONSHIP IN WHICH ONE
ORGANISM BENEFITS WHILE THE OTHER IS NOT
AFFECTED.
■ PARASITISM – IS A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP THAT
BENEFITS ONE ORGANISM AND HARMS THE OTHER.
■ PREDATION – A PREDATOR HUNTS AND EATS ITS PREY.
INTERACTIONS AMONG ORGANISMS
■COMPETITION – OCCURS BETWEEN
DIFFERENT KINDS OF SPECIES WHEN
TWO OR MORE KINDS OF ORGANISMS
TRY TO OCCUPY THE SAME NICHE.
THE SPECIES THAT IS BETTER ADAPTED
WILL SUCCEED. THOSE WHO DO NOT MAY
DIE OUT.
 ACTIVITY!
1. INDICATE THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG
THE FOLLOWING ORGANISMS:
A.FLEA AND A DOG
B.MOSQUITO AND HUMAN
C.FISH AND CORAL REEF
D.MOSS AND A TREE
2. DESCRIBE ONE
RELATIONSHIP THAT EXISTS
AMONG LIVING THINGS. GIVE
AN EXAMPLE.
3. PREDICT WHAT COULD HAPPEN TO
THE SIZE OF THE PREY POPULATION IN
AN AREA WHERE THE PREDATOR
POPULATION DECREASES.
END OF PRESENTATION