SPECIALIZATION III

HEIDI JOCHEBED G. ESTUYE

BSAR 5A
 TOPICS
1. DEFINITION OF ECOLOGY, ECOSYSTEM AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
2. STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF ECOSYSTEM

2
 3 ECOLOGY

 It addresses the full scale of life, from tiny bacteria to processes that span the
entire planet.
 It is the branch of biology which studies the interactions among organisms and
their environment.
 It is not synonymous with environmentalism, natural history, or environmental
science. It overlaps with the closely related sciences of evolutionary biology,
genetics, and ethology. An important focus for ecologists is to improve the
understanding of how biodiversity affects ecological function
 4 ECOLOGY

Ecologists seek to explain:

1. Life processes, interactions, and adaptations
2. The movement of materials and energy
through living communities
3. The successional development of ecosystems
4. The abundance and distribution of organisms
and biodiversity in the context of the
environment.
ECOSYSTEM

– An ecosystem is a community made up of living

organisms and nonliving components such as
air, water, and mineral soil.
– Ecosystems can be studied in two different ways.
They can be thought of as interdependent
collections of plants and animals, or as
structured systems and communities governed
by general rules.
– Ecosystems can be of any size but each
ecosystem has a specific, limited space. Some
scientists view the entire planet as one
ecosystem.
5
ECOSYSTEM

An ecosystem is comprised of all the non-living

elements and living species in a specific local
environment. Components of most ecosystems
include water, air, sunlight, soil, plants,
microorganisms, insects and animals.
Sizes of ecosystems: vary; they could entail a small
puddle or an enormous swath of desert. Likewise,
natural ecosystems can look quite different from
one another.

6
STRUCTURE OF ECOSYSTEM
By Architecture or Structure of an Ecosystem, we mean

– the composition of biological community including species, numbers, biomass,

life history and distribution in space, etc.
– the quantity and distribution of non living materials like nutrients, water etc.
– the conditions of existence such as temperature, light etc.

7
Structure of ecosystem
FUNCTION OF ECOSYSTEM

– In the ecosystem, biotic components and other materials like N, C, H2O circulated
within and outside of the system.
– The energy transferred from one tropic level to the other in the form of a chain called
as food chain
– Some factors which are responsible for high productivity, for example high temperature
and rainfall accelerating weathering and decomposing of dead organic matter.
– Effects of local and regional shifts of energy, materials and populations on ecosystems
and economic of rational use of ecosystem
– Production, consumption and decomposition are important functions of ecosystem.

9
FUNCTION OF ECOSYSTEM

10
FUNCTION OF ECOSYSTEM

The function of an ecosystem is a broad, vast and often confused topic.

It can be best studied by understanding the history of ecological studies. It can
be studied under the three heads.

1.Trophic Level Interaction

2.Ecological Succession
3.Biogeochemistry

11
 12 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
– Environmental science is the study of the effects of natural and
unnatural processes, and of interactions of the physical components
of the planet on the environment.
• Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates:
• physical,
• biological
• information sciences (including ecology, biology, physics, chemistry, plant
science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology
and physical geography (geodesy), and atmospheric science) to the study of
the environment, and the solution of environmental problems.
 13 Environmental Science
– Environmental scientists work on subjects like:
• the understanding of earth processes,
• evaluating alternative energy systems, pollution control and mitigation,
natural resource management, and the effects of global climate change.
– Environmental issues almost always include an interaction of physical, chemical,
and biological processes.
– Environmental scientists bring a systems approach to the analysis of
environmental problems. Key elements of an effective environmental scientist
include the ability to relate space, and time relationships as well as quantitative
analysis.
THANK YOU