I.

INTRODUCTION

A. Definition of Ecology

Ecology is the study of the relationships between organism and their

environment. Environment includes not only the physical but also the biological
conditions under which an organism lives while relationships involves interactions with
the physical world as well as the interrelationships with the number of the species and
individuals of the same species.

The German Zoologist Ernst Haeckel first used the word Ecology in 1866. He
called it “oikologie” and defined its scope as the study of the relationships of animals to
their environment.

The term Ecology was derived from the Greek word oikos meaning “house” or
place to live and logy which means “the study of”.

Several authors provide us with the definitions of Ecology;

 The study of organisms at home

 The study of relationships of organisms or groups of organisms to their
environment
 The science of the interrelationships between living organism to their
environment
 Environmental biology
 Totality of man and environment

B. Historical Perspective

The history of ecology could be traced to the Greek Scholars Theophrastus, a

friend and associate of Aristotle who brought about the interrelations between organism
and the environment.

F.E Clements gave ecology a hierarchical framework and introduced innumerable

terms and idea of environment indicators.

Frienenmann (1931) viewed fresh water biology as ecological. And introduced the
ideas of organic nutrient cycling and tropic fielding using the term producers and
consumers.

F.A Forel (1901) describes thermal stratification and introduced the term limnology and
the study of freshwater life.

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S.A Forbes (1887) an entomologist who wrote a classic of ecology entitled “The Lake of
Microcosm” which is concerned with the interrelationships of life in a lake through food
chains and the role of natural selection in the regulation of the numbers of predators
and prey.

Edgar Ranseair his landmark paper entitled “The Accumulations of Energy in Plants”
marked the beginning of the primary productivity and energy budgets.

K.A Linderman his paper entitled “The Tropic Dynamic aspects of Ecology” represent a
most significant advance in the development of modern ecology and marked the
beginning of ecosystem ecology.

Charles Lyell proposed that Earth changed through times

Charles Darwin known for his “Theory of Evolution” and “The Origin of Species”.

Gregor Mendel studied Genetics.

Sewell Wright (1931) advanced the theoretical basis of the role inheritance in
evolutions.

Carl Ludwig Willdenous (1765-1812) pointed out that similar climate supported similar
vegetation.

Frederick Heinrich Alexander Von Hundoldt (1769-1859) described vegetation in

terms of physiognomy, covulated vegetation types with environmental characteristics
and coined the word association.

Alphonse De Candolle (1806-1893) A French taxonomist who made a major

contribution to plant geography by using the sum of annual temperature as a basis for
describing vegetational distribution.

Anton Kerner (1831-1898) introduce the concept of vegetational change through time
or succession and pioneered the use of experimental transplant gardens to study the
behavior of plants form different topographical elevations.

Johannes Warming (1841-1924) advanced the idea of life form and the use of
dominant plants to describe vegetational association and noted the influence of fire and
time of vegetational change. “Plantesamfund” which tremendously influence the
development of ecology.

Andres Schimper (1856-1901) explained regional differences in vegetation and

stressed morphology over physiology.

Joseph Puezoski (1864-1941) developed the field of plant sociology.

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Josias Braun-Blaquet introduced new method of studying and quantifying plant
association.

Christian Raunkiaer developed a life-form classification of plants and quantitative

methods of sampling vegetation that could be treated statistically.

Tansley introduced both the term and concept ecosystem

J. Haldane (1932-1954) developed the field of genetics.

P.F Verhuist (1838) first gave the mathematical basis of the nature of population
growth under limiting conditions.

A. Lotka (1925) and V. Voltera (1926) their theoretical contributions to the study of
population growth, predation and competition provided the foundation of population
ecology.

Karl Mobius (1877) proposed the word bioconose, which means that life has something
in common.

R. Hesses defined animal ecology and economics of animal.

Charles Adams wrote the first text on animal ecology: “A Guide to the Study of Animal”
in 1913.

Victor Shelford stressed the relationships between plants and animals and
emphasized the idea of ecology as a science of community.

Konrad Lorenz and N. Timbergen developed the concepts of instinctive and

aggressive behavior (behavioral ecology).

Justic Liebig (1840) studied the role of limited supplies of nutrients in the growth and
development of plants (physiological ecology).

E.F Blackman (1905) studied the relationships among the light, carbon dioxide,
temperature and the rate of assimilation in plants.

L.J Henderson (1913) explore the biological significance for life of the properties of
matter in his classic book entitled “The Fitness of the Environment”.

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 C. Related Disciplines and Approaches

Ecology is a broad biological science and can be divided into many sub-
disciplines using various criteria. Ecologists use knowledge from many different fields of
study.

 Biology is the study of living things, plants and animals

o Botany is the study of plants

o Zoology is the study of animals
o Anatomy is the study of the structure of living things.
o Pathology is the study of diseases generally in animals
o Phytopathology is the study of diseases in plants.
o Taxonomy is the classification and naming of living things.

 Physical Sciences are concerned mainly with the nature of the universe.

o Astronomy is the study of heavenly bodies and their motion.

o Geology studies the shape and structure of the earth and how the
earth has changed during its history.
o Meteorology is the study of weather and the air atmosphere
o Climatology is the study of climate and climactic conditions.
o Physics is concerned with matter and energy.

 Social Sciences are concerned with the study of man and society.

o Anthropology seeks to learn how groups of people use various

resources to satisfy their wants and needs.
o Geography studies the use of physical earth and the living things it
supports
o Oceanography studies the use of physical earth and the living
things it supports.
o Political Science is the study of government.
o Sociology is the study which deals with relations of individuals to
the group and one group to another.

Many of these fields overlap complement and inform each other, and few of
these disciplines exist in isolation. For example, the population ecology of an organism
is a consequence of its behavioral ecology and intimately tied to its community ecology.
Methods from molecular ecology might inform the study of the population, and all kinds
of data are modelled and analyzed using quantitative ecology techniques.

When discussing the study of a single species, a distinction is usually made

between its biology and its ecology. For example, "polar bear biology" might include the

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study of the polar bear's physiology, morphology, pathology and ontogeny, whereas
"polar bear ecology" would include a study of its prey species, its population
and metapopulation status, distribution, dependence on environmental conditions, etc.
In that sense, there can be as many sub disciplines of ecology as there are species to
study.

With the study of ecology, people can learn everything there is to know about an
organism and its relationship or connection to its environment.

 Approaches to Ecology

We can approach the study of ecology from three points of view: descriptive,
functional or evolutionary. The descriptive point of view is mainly natural history
and proceeds by describing the vegetation groups of the world such as the temperate
deciduous forests, tropical rain forests, grasslands, and tundra, and by describing the
animals and plants and their interactions within each of these ecosystems. The
descriptive approach is the foundation of all of ecological science.

The functional point of view, on the other hand, is oriented more toward
dynamics and relationships and seeks to identify and analyze general problems
common to most or all of the different ecosystems. Functional studies deal with
populations and communities as they exist, and can be measured now. Functional
ecology studies proximate causes- the dynamic responses of populations and
communities to immediate factors of the environment. Evolutionary ecology studies
ultimate causes-the historical reasons why natural selection has favored the particular
adaptations we now see.

The evolutionary point of view considers organisms and the relationship

between organisms as historical products of evolution.

The environment of an organism contains all the selective forces that shape its
evolution, ecology and evolution are two viewpoints of the same reality. All three
approaches to ecology have their strengths but the important point is that we need all
three to produce good science (Krebs, 2001).

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 D. Thinking Critically about the Environment

Environmental Concerns and Issues

 Disrupting the Ecological Balance

Humans disrupt the ecological balance in various ways, notably through—

o Pollution
o Deforestation
o Interference with wildlife
o Overpopulation

 Pollution

Pollution is contamination of, or the addition of impurities to, the environment. In

a balanced ecosystem, decomposers are abundant and enough to bring about decay.
Humans interfere with the process of decomposition in three major ways:

o Water Pollution – Water Pollution resulting from human activity is now

threatening human life and affecting the flora and fauna of the aquatic
environment. The amount of waste materials introduced to the ocean yearly
from factories, power plants, and shipping industries is tremendous. Industrial
and chemical waste emptied into our rivers and streams, such as cyanide,
acids, alkalise, oils, and pesticides affect not only the inhabitants of the body
of water but also the ocean into which the water flows.

o Air Pollution – Air Pollution is the introduction into the atmosphere of

materials that have an adverse effect on the health and well-being of humans
or interfere with their normal activities. The greenhouse effect is
overburdening the air with increased carbon dioxide other ways by which
human pollute air are by using materials that fill the air with smoke.

o Soil Pollution – Soil problems lead to water problems, too. Floods and
drought are two extreme water problems resulting from the misuse of soil and
its plant cover. Four problems pertaining to the maintenance of soil are
Depletion of Soil Minerals, Loss of Organic Matter, Erosion, and Leaching.

 Deforestation

Forests are often misused by people. Immature trees are cut down ruthlessly;
fires raze the whole vicinity, destroying living organisms and standing timber, and
consuming the seeds and young trees. And fires as they destroy trees cause soil
erosion and floods in the lower areas.

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 Indiscriminate logging is another way by which humans mismanage our forest.
So many trees are cut down that reforestation cannot make up for the loss. Natural
factors may also bring down forests – pests, grazing, and gnawing animals, lighting that
may cause fire, and calamities like storms or strong winds.

 Human Interference with Wildlife

The term wildlife has several meanings, depending upon its use. It may refer to
all plants and animals that live in their natural habitats, unattended to by humans, or all
animals in their natural habitats, or only the animals with backbones, or, in the more
popular sense, birds and mammals.

Why do we want to protect our wildlife from extinction?

1. Wildlife is considered one of the country’s natural resources.

2. It has economic value; income may be derived from the many
forms of life.
3. It enhances the beauty of our surroundings.
4. It has genetic value; each species is unique and its genetic
character combination may never come about again once the
specie become extinct.
5. Wildlife plays a role in the food cycles in nature.

How do humans harm wildlife species? There are two ways (1) Directly – by
collecting or killing the species (2) Indirectly – by destroying or changing their natural
habitats, including the destruction of organisms on which they feed as well as the
introduction to predators, parasites, or competitors.

 Overpopulation

People have been disturbing the ecological balance due to the increase in the
rate of population growth during the present century. For instance, forest, swamps, and
other land areas have been converted into agricultural land to increase food supply. At
the same time, agricultural lands and similar areas are being transformed into
residential areas to provide people with additional homes, roads, and parking lots. In the
process, numerous plants and animals are destroyed.

As population increases, the same factors limiting the populations of other

organisms are in operation for humans. Thus, available space and food affect the
quality of human life.

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  Human Responsibility to Maintain Balance in Nature

 Conservative Measures

Our role in caring for the environment is clear. We are not merely biological
specie but also a social specie. By pour ingenuity and skill, we shape and reshape the
ecosystem at will. The kind of ecosystem we have therefore reflects the values,
attitudes, skills, and knowledge or ignorance behind our decisions.

Little by little, they are being driven to take the necessary precautions in
preventing and fighting the various types of pollution. Laws or measures are being
passed to insure proper sewage and industrial waste disposal.

Whether our forests, agricultural lands, and water supply will continue to meet
our demands, and whether our wildlife will flourish for more years will depend on what
we learned from ecology, and on our efforts to conserve natural resources.

Laws have been passed to ensure the following:

1. Prohibit the destruction and collection of wildlife.

2. Limit the catch, and declare a hunting season.
3. Set aside areas as natural parks and wildlife offices.
4. Regulate taking, possessing, selling, and exchanging of animal
species.
5. Regulate cutting of trees.
6. Ban deadly weapons.

 Water Conservation

Here are some measures to control floods and prevent drought during dry
season:

1. Control soil and restore topsoil.

2. Restore forest, especially in watersheds.
3. Restore sloughs and backwaters along the rivers.
4. Regulate cultivation of lowlands and flood plains of major rivers and
restore the forest of these areas.
5. Build dams and reservoirs to hold back floodwaters and store water
for dry periods.
6. Control the use of groundwater.
7. Maintain dikes and levees along major rivers.

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 Soil Conservation

Soil loss can be prevented in different ways:

1. Cover crops and row crops – cover crops like cassava, rice, wheat,
oats, rye, and camote grow close together and bind the soil with a
dense mat or roots. Row crops like corn, beans, tobacco, and
tomatoes are planted in rows in cultivated fields.
2. Natural and commercial fertilizers – these are used to restore soil
minerals.
3. Crop rotation – this practice calls for alteration in the planting of
crops between those that use nitrates and those that replace
nitrates. They are important in the rotation cycle because they
support nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their roots. Crop rotation restores
minerals in the soil.
4. Minimum cultivation – this is a procedure that may reduce leaching,
since the fertility of the soil is retained.
5. Contour farming – this is a practice by which a farmer follows a
contour around the slope of a hill rather than up and down, to check
erosion.
6. Strip cropping – this is the alteration of strips or row drops and
cover crops. This process completely covers the soil surface and
holds it securely.
7. Terracing – this practice is used to check the flow of water on steep
sloping land.
8. Gully contour – to control the increasing sizes of gullies formed,
plants are planted on the slopes of the gully. These plants,
especially trees and grasses, act as soil binders and prevent further
widening of the slopes.
9. Windbreakers and shelterbelts – usually in the form of trees, these
shelterbelts control wind erosion of the soil
10. Irrigation – this is a process done on agricultural land areas to
divert waters into a specific areas during dry periods.

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 II.THE EARTH AS A SYSTEM

A. The biological spectrum and the biosphere

Biological Spectrum

To be able to have a clearer understanding of ecology, it would be best for us to

consider it in terms of levels of organization or biological spectrum. Biological spectrum
is composed of different levels of organization: genes, cells, organism, population and
communities.

Biotic components

-are the living things that shape an ecosystem.

Genes - A gene of DNA which is made up of nucleotides and is the molecular unit of
heredity

Cells - The cell is the basic structural, functional, and biological unit of all known living
organisms.

Organism - In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system, such as an animal,

plant, fungus, protist, archaeon, or bacterium.

Populations - A population is the number of all the organisms of the same group or
species, which live in a particular geographical area, and have the capability of
interbreeding

Communities - A community is a small or large social unit (a group of people) who

have something in common, such as norms, religion, values, or identity.

Abiotic Components

-are non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living
organisms and the functioning of ecosystems.

Matter - is any substance that has mass and takes up space; this includes atoms and
anything made up of these, but not other energy phenomena or waves such as light or
sound.

Energy - is the property that must be transferred to an object in order to perform work
on – or to heat – the object, and can be converted in form, but not created or destroyed.

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The biosphere

-is all life on our planet? This includes all the things that are living as well as the
remains of those that have died but have not yet decomposed. The biosphere includes
life on land and in the oceans - multitudes of plants, animals, fungi, protists, and
bacteria.

Plants are mainly multicellular, predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the

kingdom Plantae.

The term is today generally limited to the green plants, which form an unranked clade
Viridiplantae (Latin for "green plants").

Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia (also called
Metazoa). The animal kingdom emerged as a clade within Apoikozoa as the sister
group to the choanoflagellates.

A fungus is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes

microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms.
These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from the other
eukaryotic life kingdoms of plants and animals.

A protist is any eukaryotic organism that is not an animal, plant or fungus. The protists
do not form a natural group, or clade, but are often grouped together for convenience,
like algae or invertebrates

Bacteria a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically, a few micrometer’s in

length, bacteria have several shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals. Bacteria
were among the first life forms to appear on Earth, and are present in most of its
habitats.

B. Planet Earth and its composition: lithosphere, hydrosphere, and

atmosphere

SOLAR SYSTEM (PLANETS)

 Mercury

The closest planet to the sun, Mercury is only a bit larger than Earth's moon. Its
day side is scorched by the sun and can reach 840 degrees Fahrenheit (450 Celsius),
but on the night side, temperatures drop to hundreds of degrees below freezing.
Mercury has virtually no atmosphere to absorb meteor impacts, so its surface is
pockmarked with craters, just like the moon. Over its four-year mission, NASA's

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MESSENGER spacecraft has revealed views of the planet that have challenged
astronomers' expectations.

 Venus

The second planet from the sun, Venus is terribly hot, even hotter than Mercury.
The atmosphere is toxic. The pressure at the surface would crush and kill you.
Scientists describe Venus’ situation as a runaway greenhouse effect. Its size and
structure are similar to Earth, Venus' thick, and toxic atmosphere traps heat in a
runaway "greenhouse effect." Oddly, Venus spins slowly in the opposite direction of
most planets.

 Earth

The third planet from the sun, Earth is a water world, with two-thirds of the planet
covered by ocean. It’s the only world known to harbor life. Earth’s atmosphere is rich in
life-sustaining nitrogen and oxygen. Earth's surface rotates about its axis at 1,532 feet
per second (467 meters per second) — slightly more than 1,000 mph (1,600 kph) — at
the equator. The planet zips around the sun at more than 18 miles per second (29 km
per second).

 Mars

The fourth planet from the sun, is a cold, dusty place. The dust, an iron oxide,
gives the planet its reddish cast. Mars shares similarities with Earth: It is rocky, has
mountains and valleys, and storm systems ranging from localized tornado-like dust
devils to planet-engulfing dust storms. It snows on Mars. And Mars harbors water ice.
Scientists think it was once wet and warm, though today it’s cold and desert-like.

 Jupiter

The fifth planet from the sun, Jupiter is huge and is the most massive planet in
our solar system. It’s a mostly gaseous world, mostly hydrogen and helium. Its swirling
clouds are colorful due to different types of trace gases. A big feature is the Great Red
Spot, a giant storm which has raged for hundreds of years. Jupiter has a strong
magnetic field, and with dozens of moons, it looks a bit like a miniature solar system.

 Saturn

The sixth planet from the sun is known most for its rings. When Galileo
Galilei first studied Saturn in the early 1600s, he thought it was an object with three
parts. Not knowing he was seeing a planet with rings, the stumped astronomer entered
a small drawing — a symbol with one large circle and two smaller ones — in his

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notebook, as a noun in a sentence describing his discovery. More than 40 years
later, Christian Huygens proposed that they were rings.

 Uranus

The seventh planet from the sun, Uranus is an oddball. It’s the only giant planet
whose equator is nearly at right angles to its orbit — it basically orbits on its side.
Astronomers think the planet collided with some other planet-size object long ago,
causing the tilt. The tilt causes extreme seasons that last 20-plus years, and the sun
beats down on one pole or the other for 84 Earth-years. Uranus is about the same size
as Neptune

 Neptune

The eighth planet from the sun, Neptune is known for strong winds — sometimes
faster than the speed of sound. Neptune is far out and cold. The planet is more than 30
times as far from the sun as Earth. It has a rocky core. Neptune was the first planet to
be predicted to exist by using math, before it was detected. Irregularities in the orbit of
Uranus led French astronomer Alexis Bouvard to suggest some other might be exerting
a gravitational tug

 Pluto (Dwarf Planet)

Once the ninth planet from the sun, Pluto is unlike other planets in many
respects. It is smaller than Earth's moon. Its orbit carries it inside the orbit of Neptune
and then way out beyond that orbit. From 1979 until early 1999, Pluto had actually been
the eighth planet from the sun. Then, on Feb. 11, 1999, it crossed Neptune's path and
once again became the solar system's most distant planet — until it was demoted to
dwarf planet status. Pluto will stay beyond Neptune for 228 years.

Planet Nine

Planet Nine orbits the sun at a distance that is 20 times farther out than the orbit
of Neptune. (The orbit of Neptune is 2.7 billion miles from the sun at its closest
point.) The strange world's orbit is about 600 times farther from the sun than the Earth's
orbit is from the star.

Scientists have not actually seen Planet Nine directly. Its existence was inferred
by its gravitational effects on other objects in the Kuiper Belt, a region at the fringe of
the solar system that is home to icy objects left over from the birth of the sun and
planets.

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PLANET EARTH

o Earth is the only one known to support life. Earth’s is just right for water to be
present in the atmosphere , oceans , soil and icecaps

FACTS ABOUT EARTH

o The Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing.

o The Earth was once believed to be the center of the universe.
Earth has a powerful magnetic field.
o There is only one natural satellite of the planet Earth.
Earth is the only planet not named after a god.
o The Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System.
The Age of Earth

Our planet is more than 4.543 billion years old.

Physical characteristics of Earth

Physical characteristics include shape, size and composition.

Spherical in shape

Just as the Sun and Moon appear as spheres, so too is the Earth spherical in
shape. To people on Earth, the planet appears to be generally flat (not counting for hills
and valleys), but in reality the surface of the Earth has a slight curve

Size

The diameter of the Earth at the equator is 12,756 km (7,926 miles), and its
circumference or distance around the Earth at the equator is 40,075 km (24,901 miles).

Composition

The composition of the Earth consists of the solid and liquid portion and the
atmosphere or gaseous portion.

Solid and liquid

The percentage composition of the Earth's solid and liquid materials (by mass) is:

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 Element Percentage

Iron 34.6%
Oxygen 29.5%
Silicon 15.2%
Magnesium 12.7%
Nickel 2.4%
Sulfur 1.9%
Titanium 0.05%

Force fields

The Earth has two major force fields: gravity and magnetism.

1. Gravity is the force at a distance that attracts objects of mass toward each
other
2. Magnetic field The Earth is like a giant magnet with a magnetic pole near the
North Pole and the opposite near the South Pole.

Atmosphere of the Earth

The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, commonly known as air that
surrounds the planet Earth and is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere of Earth
protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface
through heat retention (greenhouse effect), and reducing temperature extremes
between day and night (the diurnal temperature variation).

By volume, dry air contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon,
0.04% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases. Air also contains a variable
amount of water vapor, on average around 1% at sea level, and 0.4% over the entire
atmosphere. Air content and atmospheric pressure vary at different layers, and air
suitable for use in photosynthesis by terrestrial plants and breathing of terrestrial
animals is found only in Earth's troposphere and in artificial atmospheres.

The atmosphere has a mass of about 5.15×10 18 kg, three quarters of which is
within about 11 km (6.8 mi; 36,000 ft) of the surface. The atmosphere becomes thinner
and thinner with increasing altitude, with no definite boundary between the atmosphere

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and outer space. The Kármán line, at 100 km (62 mi), or 1.57% of Earth's radius, is
often used as the border between the atmosphere and outer space. Atmospheric effects
become noticeable during atmospheric reentry of spacecraft at an altitude of around
120 km (75 mi). Several layers can be distinguished in the atmosphere, based on
characteristics such as temperature and composition. The study of Earth's atmosphere
and its processes is called atmospheric science (aerology). Early pioneers in the field
include Léon Teisserenc de Bort and Richard Assmann.

 Composition

The three major constituents of air, and therefore of Earth's atmosphere,

are nitrogen, oxygen, and argon. Water vapor accounts for roughly 0.25% of the
atmosphere by mass. The concentration of water vapor (a greenhouse gas) varies
significantly from around 10 ppm by volume in the coldest portions of the atmosphere to
as much as 5% by volume in hot, humid air masses, and concentrations of other
atmospheric gases are typically quoted in terms of dry air (without water vapor). The
remaining gases are often referred to as trace gases, among which are the greenhouse
gases, principally carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Filtered air
includes trace amounts of many other chemical compounds. Many substances of
natural origin may be present in locally and seasonally variable small amounts
as aerosols in an unfiltered air sample, including dust of mineral and organic
composition, pollen and spores, sea spray, and volcanic ash. Various industrial
pollutants also may be present as gases or aerosols, such as chlorine (elemental or in
compounds), fluorine compounds and elemental mercury vapor. Sulfur compounds
such as hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide (SO2) may be derived from natural sources
or from industrial air pollution.

 Structure of the atmosphere

o Principal layers

In general, air pressure and density decrease with altitude in the atmosphere.
However, temperature has a more complicated profile with altitude, and may remain
relatively constant or even increase with altitude in some regions (see
the temperature section, below). Because the general pattern of the
temperature/altitude profile is constant and measurable by means of
instrumented balloon soundings, the temperature behavior provides a useful metric to
distinguish atmospheric layers. In this way, Earth's atmosphere can be divided (called
atmospheric stratification) into five main layers. Excluding the exosphere, the
atmosphere has four primary layers, which are the troposphere, stratosphere,
mesosphere, and thermosphere. From highest to lowest, the five main layers are:

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  Exosphere: 700 to 10,000 km (440 to 6,200 miles)
 Thermosphere: 80 to 700 km (50 to 440 miles)
 Mesosphere: 50 to 80 km (31 to 50 miles)
 Stratosphere: 12 to 50 km (7 to 31 miles)
 Troposphere: 0 to 12 km (0 to 7 miles)

 Exosphere

The exosphere is the outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere (i.e. the upper limit
of the atmosphere). It extends from the exobase, which is located at the top of the
thermosphere at an altitude of about 700 km above sea level, to about 10,000 km
(6,200 mi; 33,000,000 ft.) where it merges into the solar wind.

This layer is mainly composed of extremely low densities of hydrogen, helium

and several heavier molecules including nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide closer to
the exobase. The atoms and molecules are so far apart that they can travel hundreds of
kilometers without colliding with one another. Thus, the exosphere no longer behaves
like a gas, and the particles constantly escape into space. These free-moving particles
follow ballistic trajectories and may migrate in and out of the magnetosphere or the solar
wind.

The exosphere is located too far above Earth for any meteorological phenomena
to be possible. However, the aurora borealis and aurora australis sometimes occur in
the lower part of the exosphere, where they overlap into the thermosphere. The
exosphere contains most of the satellites orbiting Earth.

 Thermosphere

The thermosphere is the second-highest layer of Earth's atmosphere. It extends

from the mesopause (which separates it from the mesosphere) at an altitude of about
80 km (50 mi; 260,000 ft.) up to the thermo pause at an altitude range of 500–1000 km
(310–620 mi; 1,600,000–3,300,000 ft.). The height of the thermo pause varies
considerably due to changes in solar activity. Because the thermo pause lies at the
lower boundary of the exosphere, it is also referred to as the exobase. The lower part of
the thermosphere, from 80 to 550 kilometers (50 to 342 mi) above Earth's surface,
contains the ionosphere.

The temperature of the thermosphere gradually increases with height. Unlike the
stratosphere beneath it, wherein a temperature inversion is due to the absorption of
radiation by ozone, the inversion in the thermosphere occurs due to the extremely low
density of its molecules. The temperature of this layer can rise as high as 1500 °C
(2700 °F), though the gas molecules are so far apart that its temperature in the usual
sense is not very meaningful. The air is so rarefied that an individual molecule

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(of oxygen, for example) travels an average of 1 kilometer (0.62 mi; 3300 ft.) between
collisions with other molecules. Although the thermosphere has a high proportion of
molecules with high energy, it would not feel hot to a human in direct contact, because
its density is too low to conduct a significant amount of energy to or from the skin.

This layer is completely cloudless and free of water vapor. However, non-hydro
meteorological phenomena such as the aurora borealis and aurora australis are
occasionally seen in the thermosphere. The International Space Station orbits in this
layer, between 350 and 420 km (220 and 260 mi).

 Mesosphere

The mesosphere is the third highest layer of Earth's atmosphere, occupying the
region above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere. It extends from the
stratopause at an altitude of about 50 km (31 mi; 160,000 ft.) to the mesopause at 80–
85 km (50–53 mi; 260,000–280,000 ft) above sea level.

Temperatures drop with increasing altitude to the mesopause that marks the top
of this middle layer of the atmosphere. It is the coldest place on Earth and has an
average temperature around −85 °C (−120 °F; 190 K).

Just below the mesopause, the air is so cold that even the very scarce water
vapor at this altitude can be sublimated into polar-mesospheric noctilucent clouds.
These are the highest clouds in the atmosphere and may be visible to the naked eye if
sunlight reflects off them about an hour or two after sunset or a similar length of time
before sunrise. They are most readily visible when the Sun is around 4 to 16 degrees
below the horizon. A type of lightning referred to as either spritesor ELVES occasionally
forms far above tropospheric thunderclouds. The mesosphere is also the layer where
most meteors burn up upon atmospheric entrance. It is too high above Earth to be
accessible to jet-powered aircraft and balloons, and too low to permit orbital spacecraft.
The mesosphere is mainly accessed by sounding rockets and rocket-powered aircraft.

 Stratosphere

The stratosphere is the second-lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere. It lies above

the troposphere and is separated from it by the tropopause. This layer extends from the
top of the troposphere at roughly 12 km (7.5 mi; 39,000 ft) above Earth's surface to
the stratopause at an altitude of about 50 to 55 km (31 to 34 mi; 164,000 to 180,000 ft).

The atmospheric pressure at the top of the stratosphere is roughly 1/1000 the
pressure at sea level. It contains the ozone layer, which is the part of Earth's
atmosphere that contains relatively high concentrations of that gas. The stratosphere
defines a layer in which temperatures rise with increasing altitude. This rise in

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temperature is caused by the absorption of ultraviolet radiation (UV) radiation from the
Sun by the ozone layer, which restricts turbulence and mixing. Although the
temperature may be −60 °C (−76 °F; 210 K) at the tropopause, the top of the
stratosphere is much warmer, and may be near 0 °C.

The stratospheric temperature profile creates very stable atmospheric conditions,

so the stratosphere lacks the weather-producing air turbulence that is so prevalent in
the troposphere. Consequently, the stratosphere is almost completely free of clouds and
other forms of weather. However, polar stratospheric or nacreous clouds are
occasionally seen in the lower part of this layer of the atmosphere where the air is
coldest. The stratosphere is the highest layer that can be accessed by jet-powered
aircraft.

 Troposphere

The troposphere is the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere. It extends from

Earth's surface to an average height of about 12 km, although this altitude actually
varies from about 9 km (30,000 ft) at the poles to 17 km (56,000 ft) at the equator, with
some variation due to weather. The troposphere is bounded above by the tropopause, a
boundary marked in most places by a temperature inversion (i.e. a layer of relatively
warm air above a colder one), and in others by a zone which is isothermal with height.

Although variations do occur, the temperature usually declines with increasing

altitude in the troposphere because the troposphere is mostly heated through energy
transfer from the surface. Thus, the lowest part of the troposphere (i.e. Earth's surface)
is typically the warmest section of the troposphere. This promotes vertical mixing (hence
the origin of its name in the Greek word τρόπος, tropos, meaning "turn"). The
troposphere contains roughly 80% of the mass of Earth's atmosphere. The troposphere
is denser than all its overlying atmospheric layers because a larger atmospheric weight
sits on top of the troposphere and causes it to be most severely compressed. Fifty
percent of the total mass of the atmosphere is located in the lower 5.6 km (18,000 ft) of
the troposphere.

Nearly all atmospheric water vapor or moisture is found in the troposphere, so it

is the layer where most of Earth's weather takes place. It has basically all the weather-
associated cloud genus types generated by active wind circulation, although very tall
cumulonimbus thunder clouds can penetrate the tropopause from below and rise into
the lower part of the stratosphere. Most conventional aviation activity takes place in the
troposphere, and it is the only layer that can be accessed by propeller-driven aircraft.

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Other layers

 The ozone layer is contained within the stratosphere. In this layer ozone
concentrations are about 2 to 8 parts per million, which is much higher than in the
lower atmosphere but still very small compared to the main components of the
atmosphere. It is mainly located in the lower portion of the stratosphere from about
15–35 km (9.3–21.7 mi; 49,000–115,000 ft), though the thickness varies seasonally
and geographically. About 90% of the ozone in Earth's atmosphere is contained in
the stratosphere.

 The ionosphere is a region of the atmosphere that is ionized by solar radiation. It

is responsible for auroras. During daytime hours, it stretches from 50 to 1,000 km
(31 to 621 mi; 160,000 to 3,280,000 ft) and includes the mesosphere, thermosphere,
and parts of the exosphere. However, ionization in the mesosphere largely ceases
during the night, so auroras are normally seen only in the thermosphere and lower
exosphere. The ionosphere forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere. It has
practical importance because it influences, for example, radio propagation on Earth.

 The planetary boundary layer is the part of the troposphere that is closest to
Earth's surface and is directly affected by it, mainly through turbulent diffusion.
During the day the planetary boundary layer usually is well-mixed, whereas at night
it becomes stably stratified with weak or intermittent mixing. The depth of the
planetary boundary layer ranges from as little as about 100 metres (330 ft) on clear,
calm nights to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) or more during the afternoon in dry regions.

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 III.THE ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES

A. Components of ecosystem

Ecosystems consist of life forms existing in a symbolic relationship with their

environment. Life forms in ecosystems compete with one another to become the most
successful at reproducing and surviving in a given niche, or environment. Two main
components exist in an ecosystem: abiotic and biotic. The abiotic components of any
ecosystem are the properties of the environment: the biotic components are the life
forms that occupy a given ecosystem.

1. Abiotic components

Abiotic components of an ecosystem consist of the non-organic aspects of the

environment that determine what life forms can thrive. Examples of abiotic components
are temperature, average humidity, topography and natural disturbances. Temperature
varies by latitude: locations near the equator are warmer than are locations near the
poles or the temperate zones. Humidity influences the amount of water and moisture in
the air and soil, which, in turn, affect rainfall. Topography is the layout of the land in
terms of elevation. Natural disturbance include tsunamis, lightning storms, hurricanes
and forest fires.

2. Biotic components

When we consider the biotic components, the organisms are divided into two
categories, the autotrophs and the heterotrophs. The autotrophs can produce their own
food. They can are the green plants with chlorophyll and certain types of bacteria-
chemosynthetic and photosynthetic. Since these organisms produce food for all other
organisms, they are also known as ‘Producer’. The heterotrophs depend directly or
indirectly on the autotrophs for their food. This type of organisms is further divided into
two groups, such as, Phagotrophs and Osmotrophs.

The phagotrophs take food from outside and digest it inside their bodies. They
are called consumers. All animals—herbivores (plant eating), carnivores (animal eating)
or omnivores (eating all kinds of food) fall in this group. The osmotrophs are those
organisms who secrete digestive enzymes to break down the food into simpler
substances and then absorb the digested food.

This group embraces the parasitic and saprophytic bacteria as well as the fungi.
They may also be called Decomposers because their role has been well documented in
the decomposition of the dead organic matter. But the most interesting point is that all of
these parasites are not decomposers, rather some of them are consumers (insects and
such small animals) who help in the decomposition by breaking down the dead organic

21
matter into small bits. However, the heterotrophs can also be divided into two broad
groups as the biophages (feeding on living organisms) and the saprophagous (feeding
on dead organisms).

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References:

Krebs, Charles J., (2001) "Ecology: the experimental analysis of distribution and
abundance". San Francisco, CA. Retrieved June 21, 2017

The Different Disciplines for Ecology. In Act for Libraries. Retrieved June 21, 2017 from
http://www.actforlibraries.org/the-different-disciplines-of-ecology/

Ecology. In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 21, 2017 from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology

You and the Natural World: Biology 3rd edition (2010) / Carmelita M. Capco and Gilbert
C. Yang; Phoenix Publishing House, Quezon City.

Cruz, Liwayway M., (1996). “Ecology”. Retrieved June 27, 2017

Krebs, Charles J., (2001) "Ecology: the experimental analysis of distribution and
abundance". San Francisco, CA. Retrieved June 21, 2017

The Different Disciplines for Ecology. In Act for Libraries. Retrieved June 21, 2017 from
http://www.actforlibraries.org/the-different-disciplines-of-ecology/

Ecology. In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 21, 2017 from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology

Smathers, M. O. (2017). The 2 Main Components of an Ecosystem. Retrieved June 26,

2017 from http://sciencing.com/2-main-components-ecosystem-2576.html

Sarkar, J.(n.d.). Components of Ecosystem: Biotic Components and Abiotic

Components: with info-graphics. Retrieved June 26, 2017 from
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/environment-essay/components-of-
ecosystem-biotic-components-and-abiotic-components-with-info-graphics/41923/

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