STF1053

UNIT 5
Ecological Diversity
Dr. Mohamad Hasnul Bin Bolhassan

Faculty of Resource Science and Technology

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
LU1: Introduction to Biodiversity
LU2: The Complexity of Life
LU3: Species Diversity
LU4: Genetic Diversity
LU5: Ecological Diversity
LU6: The Values of Biodiversity
LU7: Current Threats to Biodiversity
LU8: Efforts to Sustain Biodiversity
LU9: The Malaysian National Policy on Biodiversity
 WHAT YOU WILL LEARN?
❑ Biome

❑ Ecosystem

❑ Community

❑ Habitat

❑ Niche

❑ Ecosystem Management
Biome
 What is a biome?
• Biomes are very large ecological areas on the
earth’s surface, with fauna and flora (animals and
plants) adapting to their environment.

• Biomes are often defined by abiotic factors such

as climate, relief, geology, soils and vegetation.

• A biome is NOT an ecosystem, although in a way

it can look like a massive ecosystem.
What is a biome?
• A large area with similar flora, fauna and microorganisms
– tropical rainforest, tundra, coniferous forest

• Refer to a large geographical region with plants and

animals that are able to live in that location with its
particular climate because they have adapted in different
ways to the amounts of water, heat and soil in that area.
E.g.:
– polar bears thrive in the Arctic
– cactus plants have a thick skin to help preserve water
in the hot desert
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What is a biome?
• Plants or animals in any of the biomes have
special adaptations that make it possible for
them to exist in that area.

• You may find many units of ecosystems within

one biome.

• There are five major categories of biomes on

earth. In these five, there are many sub-biomes,
under which are many more well defined
ecosystems.
What is a biome?
• A biome can be thought of many similar ecosystems
throughout the world and grouped together.

• E.g. in the forests:

– rotting tree stump ecosystem
– forest floor ecosystem
– canopy ecosystem, etc.

• They are all a part of one biome – the tropical rainforest

biome.
What is a biome?
What is a biome?
 The Desert Biome
• Deserts make up about 20% of total
land cover on earth and are
characterized by little (less than
50cm/yr) or no rainfall.

• Desert biomes come in four major

kinds
➢They are the Hot and Dry Deserts
➢Semi Arid Deserts
➢Coastal Deserts
➢Cold Deserts
Agricultural relevance
The Aquatic Biome
• This includes all water bodies on
the earth’s surface.

• Aquatic biomes are grouped into

two, Freshwater Biomes (lakes
and ponds, rivers and streams,
wetlands) and Marine Biomes
(oceans, coral reefs and estuaries).

• These biomes make up about 73%

of the total earth’s surface.
 The Forest Biome
• Forests make up about 30% of the
total land cover on earth, and are of
incredible value to life on earth.

• They are a store of carbon and play

a very important role in climate
control.

• There are three main biomes that

make up Forest Biomes.
– Tropical Rainforest
– Temperate
– Boreal Forests (also called the Taiga)
 The Grassland Biome
• As the name suggests, these
are massive areas dominated
by one or a few species of
grass, with a few sparsely
distributed trees.

• There are two main types of

grassland biomes:
– Savanna Grasslands
– Temperate Grasslands.
 The Tundra Biome
• This is known to be the coldest of all
the terrestrial (land) biomes, with the
least bio-diversity capacity.

• This biome has very little rain and

extremely freezing temperatures, and
covers about a fifth of the earth’s land
surface.

• There are two major tundra biomes:

➢The Artic Tundra and
➢The Alpine Tundra.
The Importance of Biome
 The importance of biome
• Biomes play a crucial role in sustaining life on earth.

• It also plays a very important role in climate formation.

• The terrestrial biomes provide foods, enrich the air

with oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide and other bad
gases from the air.

• They also help regulate climate and so on.

Ecosystem
 What is an ecosystem?
• An ecosystem is a community of living organisms
(plants, animals and microbes) in conjunction
with the non-living components of their
environment (things like air, water and mineral
soil), interacting as a system.

• These BIOTIC and ABIOTIC components are

regarded as linked together through nutrient
cycles and energy flows.
What is an ecosystem?

• The network of interactions among organisms,

and between organisms and their environment,
they can be of any size but usually encompass
specific, limited spaces.

• Dynamic entities composed of the BIOLOGICAL

community and the ABIOTIC environment.

• Determined by the of a number of interrelated

environmental state factors.
What is an ecosystem?

What is the difference between ecosystem and

biome?
• There is a slight difference between the two words
• An ecosystem is much smaller than a biome.
• Conversely, a biome can be thought of many similar
ecosystems throughout the world grouped
together.
• An ecosystem can be as large as the Sahara Desert,
or as small as a puddle or vernal/ temporary pool.
What is an ecosystem?
• Ecosystem - How the living things interact with each
other and interact with the non-living things in a
particular area is called an.
• Ecosystems are dynamic interactions between plants,
animals and microorganisms; and their environment
working together as a functional unit.
• Ecosystems will fail if they do not remain in balance.
• Food and territory are often balanced by natural
phenomena such as fire, disease and the number of
predators.

• Each organism has its own niche, or role to play.

What is an ecosystem?

Changes in any of these

factors for example:
• nutrient availability
• temperature
• light intensity
• grazing intensity
• species population density

will result in dynamic changes

to the nature of these
systems.
 Community
• Assemblage or associations of populations of two
or more different species occupying the same
geographical area and in a particular time.

• The term community has a variety of uses.

• In its simplest form it refers to groups of

organisms in a specific place or time.
Community

• =The living things in an ecosystem

• The community consists of all the plants and

animals that live and interact with each other in
that ecosystem.

• Communities are sometimes named for the kind

of place where they live, like pond communities
or PEAT SWAMP communities.
Community

• An interacting group of various species in a

common location.

• For example, a forest of trees and

undergrowth plants, inhabited by animals and
rooted in soil containing bacteria and fungi,
constitutes a biological community.
 Habitat
• An ecological or environmental area that is
inhabited by a particular species of animal,
plant, or other type of organism.

• It is the natural environment in which an

organism lives, or the physical environment
that surrounds a species population.
Habitat

A habitat is made up of physical factors such as:

✓soil
✓moisture
✓range of temperature
✓availability of light
✓biotic factors - the availability of food and the
presence of predators.
Habitat

• A habitat is not necessarily a geographic area—for

a parasitic organism it is the body of its host or a
cell within the host's body.

• The special place in a community in which a plant

or animal lives.

• The ecosystem can be considered the

neighbourhood where an animal lives and the
habitat would be its address in that
neighbourhood.
Habitat

• Within a community, there are many habitats.

• The habitat of an animal supplies it with

everything it needs to survive – food, water and
a home.

• Some animals are able to live in more than one

habitat, others are not. Some are very limited in
their habitats.
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 Niche
• Although animals share the same habitat, each
organism has its own niche, or ROLE, to play in a
habitat.

• The way each animal lives may be very different

from the way the other animals in that habitat
live.

• Sometimes what one animal does effects the

others, and sometimes it doesn’t.
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Ecosystem Management
 Ecosystem management
• A land management approach that considers
the biological needs of a large area of land.

• Management for the health of the whole

ecosystem by providing for the preservation
and restoration of plants, animals, streams,
forests, soil and wetlands.
Ecosystem management

• Human are also part of the ecosystem, and their values and
concerns are also considered.

• Ecosystem management is the:

– Skilful
– Integrated use of ecological knowledge at various scales to
produce desired resource values
– Products
– Services
– Conditions in ways that also sustain the diversity and
productivity of ecosystems
What Is Biodiversity? | Ecology & Environment
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