The document discusses the key principles that govern ecosystems:
1) Adaptation and behavior allow organisms to respond to environmental changes through processes like migration and hibernation.
2) Ecosystems are organized into levels from the individual organism to the biosphere.
3) Biodiversity, including species, genetic, and ecological diversity, contributes to ecosystem health.
4) Energy flows through ecosystems via food chains and webs from producers to various consumer levels.
The document discusses the key principles that govern ecosystems:
1) Adaptation and behavior allow organisms to respond to environmental changes through processes like migration and hibernation.
2) Ecosystems are organized into levels from the individual organism to the biosphere.
3) Biodiversity, including species, genetic, and ecological diversity, contributes to ecosystem health.
4) Energy flows through ecosystems via food chains and webs from producers to various consumer levels.
The document discusses the key principles that govern ecosystems:
1) Adaptation and behavior allow organisms to respond to environmental changes through processes like migration and hibernation.
2) Ecosystems are organized into levels from the individual organism to the biosphere.
3) Biodiversity, including species, genetic, and ecological diversity, contributes to ecosystem health.
4) Energy flows through ecosystems via food chains and webs from producers to various consumer levels.
GROUP 5 PRESENTATION. Grade 11- Freedom The Principles of the Ecosystem.
What are the different principles that govern an ecosystem?
The biotic factors in an ecosystem refer to the living organisms such as bacteria, plants, and animals. The abiotic factors refer to the non-living things such as soil, climate conditions, and terrain. The fundamental principles of the ecosystem include adaptation and behavior, organizational levels, biodiversity, and energy flow. The Principles of the Ecosystem. The Principles of the Ecosystem. Adaptation and Behavior The environment is constantly changing. Because of its changes, organisms constantly undergo adaptation — the process of change to accommodate environmental conditions over a short period of time. Organisms are capable of adapting due to their behavior. Behavior is an organism’s response to biotic and abiotic stimuli. Abiotic factors in the environment which include climatic conditions can influence an organism’s adaptation and behavior. For instance, certain animals undergo hibernation during the winter season. Biotic factors such as availability of prey, or predator-prey relationships can dictate how organisms interact with each other. For example, when there is limited prey for predators, mass migratory patterns may occur to ensure their survival. The Principles of the Ecosystem Example Birds and monarch butterflies are capable of migration due to their behavior. They can detect changes in the environment, allowing them to prepare for migration. On the other hand, their predators will have to adapt to the lack of available food resources. Organizational Levels The ecosystem is arranged in various levels. The levels of organization are organized from smallest to largest. The first level of organization pertains to an organism, which refers to the individual species. The second level is the population which refers to a group of organisms of the same species in the same area. For instance, a population of green sea turtles in Palawan is different from a population of green sea turtles in Zambales. However, they can be under one population if they are grouped as a population of green sea turtles in the Philippines. The Principles of the Ecosystem The third level of organization is the community which involves more than one species or more than one population. For instance, a live coral houses a community of multiple aquatic organisms. It is important to note that both population and community levels only refer to biotic factors. The fourth level of organization is the ecosystem which involves several communities combined with abiotic factors. For example, an area in Zambales hosts different community of populations interacting with several factors in the environment. The last and final level is the biosphere which encompasses all ecosystems. The biosphere is essentially the surface of the Earth. The Principles of the Ecosystem Biodiversity Biodiversity refers to the variability of organisms in an ecosystem. It has three types—species diversity, genetic diversity, and ecological diversity. Species diversity refers to the abundance and number of different species in the same area. For example, there is an abundance of different bird species in a forest. Genetic diversity refers to the variation in the genes within a particular species or within a population. A very good example is the variability of eye color in humans. Ecological diversity refers to the diversity in an ecosystem, habitat, and natural community. It shows how different species interact with each other and with their environment. It is the largest type of biodiversity. For instance, the Amazon rainforest differs from the Congo rainforest based on the different species found in both ecosystems as well as abiotic factors such as the amount of rainfall. They are both rainforests but have a lot of differences which make each of them unique. The illustration below represents the global species diversity of organisms. The Principles of the Ecosystem Energy Flow For an organism to survive, it must be able to acquire energy from either the environment or another organism. The food chain shows the feeding relationships of organisms and depicts the energy flow in an ecosystem. It starts in the organisms that are able to produce chemical energy derived from the light energy of sun. They are called producers which are also known as autotrophs. The organisms that feed on the producers are called the consumers, also known as heterotrophs. The consumers get their energy from the producers that they consume. The Principles of the Ecosystem Consumers are further divided into herbivores that only eat plants, carnivores that only eat other animals, omnivores that can consume both plants and animals, and decomposers that feed on dead organic matter and bring the energy back into the food web. The food web is the sum of food chains and shows multiple pathways of energy flow in an ecosystem. Just like in the food chain, the energy enters through the producers or autotrophs. It is important to note that all parts of the food chain, except for the sun, from the producers up to all types of consumers, release energy as they go about their daily activities. The Principals of the Ecosystem Key Points An ecosystem is the interaction of biotic factors with their abiotic environment. An organism’s behavior will determine how it can undergo adaptation. Biotic factors can be classified into producers (autotrophs) or consumers (heterotrophs). These organisms can be mapped into an energy pyramid which can show the transition of nutrients and energy as they go up. Energy flow within an ecosystem is represented by food webs. Understanding how energy flows in an ecosystem is crucial to investigating the quality of an ecosystem.