BI O D I V E R S I T Y
• Biodiversity boosts ecosystem
productivity where each species,
no matter how small, all have an
important role to play.
Advantages of having high biodiversity:
• Ecological life support— biodiversity provides
functioning ecosystems that supply oxygen, clean air
and water, pollination of plants, pest control,
wastewater treatment and many ecosystem services.
• Recreation—many recreational pursuits rely on our
unique biodiversity, such as birdwatching, hiking,
camping, and fishing.
• Healthy ecosystems and rich biodiversity:
Increase ecosystem productivity; each species in
an ecosystem has a specific niche—a role to play.
Support a larger number of plant species and,
therefore, a greater variety of crops. Protect
freshwater resources.
TRANSFORMATION
OF ENERGY
Food Chain and Food Web
Almost all organisms ultimately get
their energy from the sun. Each organism
has a specific (niche) job within the
ecosystem.
A. Producer- an organism that uses sunlight to
create food through Photosynthesis.
Examples: green plants and algae
B. Consumers- organisms that cannot make their
food. They get their energy by eating other
organisms.
Types of Consumers:
1. Herbivores- plant eaters
Examples: rabbits, cows, carabaos
2. Carnivores- meat eaters
- feed on animals
Examples: eagle, lion, tiger
• Predators-hunts and kills other animals (prey)
Example: hawk
• Scavengers-feed on dead animals
Examples: vulture, crow
3. Omnivores- eat both
on plants and animals
Examples: bears,
coyotes and humans
C. Decomposer- feed on
animal wastes and bodies
and dead organisms-
recycle nutrients
Examples: fungi,
bacteria
TROPHIC LEVEL
• The first and lowest level contains the producers,
green plants.
• The plants or their products are consumed by the
second-level organisms—the herbivores, or plant
eaters.
• At the third level, primary carnivores, or meat eaters,
eat the herbivores; and at the fourth level, secondary
carnivores eat the primary carnivores.
• The trophic level of an organism is the position it
occupies in a food web.
• A food chain is a succession of organisms that
eat other organisms and may, in turn, be eaten
themselves.
• The trophic level of an organism is the number of
steps it is from the start of the chain.
ENERGY PYRAMID
• An energy pyramid is a diagram that shows the flow
and quantification of energy transfer in an ecosystem.
• Energy pyramids are based on the trophic levels of a
food web in an ecosystem.
• The main trophic levels are Producers: organisms that
make their food.
ENERGY PYRAMID
• The primary producers use energy from the sun to
produce their food in the form of glucose, and then
primary producers are eaten by primary consumers
who are in turn eaten by secondary consumers, and so
on, so that energy flows from one trophic level,
or level of the food chain, to the next.
• Microorganisms help return
minerals and nutrients back to
the environment so that
the materials can then be
used by other organisms.
• As the bacteria and fungi
decompose dead matter, they
also respire and so release
carbon dioxide to the
environment, contributing to
the carbon cycle.
MODULE 6: CYCLING MATERIALS
• Biogeochemical cycle, any of the natural
pathways by which essential elements of living
matter are circulated.
• The term biogeochemical is a contraction that
refers to the consideration of the biological,
geological, and chemical aspects of each cycle.
Some of the major biogeochemical cycles are as follows:
(1) Nitrogen Cycle- is a repeating cycle of processes during
which nitrogen moves through both living and non-living things:
the atmosphere, soil, water, plants, animals and bacteria. In
order to move through the different parts of
the cycle, nitrogen must change forms.
(2) Carbon-Cycle-describes the process in
which carbon atoms continually travel from the
atmosphere to the Earth and then back into the
atmosphere.
(3) Water Cycle or Hydrologic Cycle - shows the
continuous movement of water within the Earth and
atmosphere.
(4) Oxygen Cycle- the cycle whereby
atmospheric oxygen is converted to carbon dioxide in
animal respiration and regenerated by green plants in
photosynthesis.
The Nitrogen Cycle
The Carbon Cycle
