Interactions within ecosystems

Secondary two science

Chapter 12
Outline
1. Impact of our actions on the environment
2. Influence of the environment on the survival of organisms
a. Physical factors
b. Adaptations in organisms
3. How an environment affects the adaptive traits of organisms
living in it
a. Rainforest; mangrove swamp
4. Types of interactions affecting the stability of an ecosystem
a. predator-prey relationships
b. Mutualism
c. Parasitism
5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable ecosystem
6. How we can help to maintain a stable ecosystem
1. Impact of our actions on the environment
● Earth provides the environment which we live in → has
limited resources
○ Oceans will not be able to supply us with food if we keep
depleting their resources
● Living things are closely connected to one another and
their environment
● Our daily actions can impact our environment
1. Impact of our actions on the environment
i) …………………………………………………….
● Growing crops and livestock for food requires water, energy,
minerals (in soil) and other resources on Earth
● Wasting food is essentially wasting Earth’s limited resources
1. Impact of our actions on the environment
ii) Using more electricity
● Electrical energy in SG obtained by burning natural gas (limited
resource)
 1. Impact of our actions on the environment
iii) ………………………………………………….
● Less than 1% of Earth’s water is considered fresh water →
limited resource
● As consumption of water in the world increases,
fresh water becomes depleted more quickly
1. Impact of our actions on the environment
iv) Creating excessive waste

● E.g. waste disposed of in the oceans can poison or kill marine

organisms which consume it
Improper waste disposal and its effects on Humans in Indonesia
1. Impact of our actions on the environment
● …………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
● Effects of climate change (e.g. rising sea levels) have become
more obvious in recent years
● Taking actions to conserve the environment reduces those
effects
1. Impact of our actions on the environment
● ‘Conserving the environment’: using only the amount of
Earth’s resources that we need
○ Help Earth’s resources to last long for future needs
○ Reduce greenhouse gases emissions → reduce effects of
climate change
● E.g. reducing use of fossil fuels, reducing consumption,
introducing environmentally friendly practices, reforestation
2. Influence of the environment on the survival
of organisms
a) ……………………………………….
● Habitat: where an organism lives
● Environment: the surroundings or conditions in which a living thing lives
● Each habitat has a certain environment
● Different environments are distinguished by physical factors:
○ E.g. air, water, temperature, light, minerals, acidity/ alkalinity
○ Can be measured using instruments (e.g. data loggers,
probes)
Examples of different environments distinguished by their unique
physical factors:
Different animal habitats on Earth
2. Influence of the environment on the survival
of organisms
a) Physical factors
2. Influence of the environment on the survival
of organisms
a) Physical factors
● Only organisms suited to live in their specific environment
survive long enough to reproduce
2. Influence of the environment on the survival
of organisms
b) Adaptations in organisms

○ Structural or behavioural
○ Structural adaptations: physical characteristics of an
organism that help it to survive in its habitat
Examples of structural adaptations:
2. Influence of the environment on the survival
of organisms
b) Adaptations in organisms
● Adaptive traits: traits that enable organisms to survive and
grow well in their environment
○ Structural or behavioural
○ Structural adaptations: physical characteristics of an
organism that help it to survive in its habitat
○ Behavioural adaptations: different behaviours of an
organism that allows it to survive in its habitat
Examples of behavioural adaptations:
3. How an environment affects the adaptive
traits of organisms living in it
● The physical factors of an environment shape the
adaptive traits of living organisms that live in it
● Evolution
○ E.g. why do giraffes have long necks?; Peppered moths
A classic example: peppered moths
- Two varieties: white and black
- White peppered moths initially dominated
- Industrial revolution leading to air pollution and trees blackening
- Directional colour change in moth population
- Black peppered moths now dominated the moth population
3. How an environment affects the adaptive
traits of organisms living in it
a) Rainforest
● Air is warm and has high humidity
● Frequent and abundant rainfall
● High average temperatures, narrow daily temperature range
● Large amount of sunlight reaches the tree canopy but little reaches the
ground
● Plentiful minerals found near the surface of the soil
● Usually acidic soil
Examples of animals adapted to rainforest
● King cobra
Structural adaptations:
● Poisonous venom helps it to hunt
for prey
● Forked tongue gives it a keen
sense of smell which helps it to
find prey
● Inner ears detect vibrations in
order to hunt prey

Behavioural adaptations:
● Hunts during dawn or dusk when
there is little light, to avoid being
detected
● Lifts its body and makes hissing
sound to warn its enemies
● When provoked, highly
aggressive to protect itself
Examples of animals adapted to rainforest
● Stick insect
Structural adaptations:
● Colour and shape of its body
matches those of a leaf or a twig,
making it difficult to be spotted
by its predators

Behavioural adaptations:
● Stays very still and moves slowly
to avoid detection by predators
such as birds
Examples of animals adapted to rainforest
● Banded leaf monkey
Structural adaptations:
● Long and strong arms allow it to
swing from tree to tree

Behavioural adaptations:
● Stays in groups:
○ protection from predators
○ fight off other groups
competing for food in its
territory
Examples of animals adapted to rainforest
● Pangolin
Structural adaptations:
● Covered in scales for protection
● Long, sticky tongue for catching
ants and termites
● Strong front legs and claws for
digging

Behavioural adaptations:
● Curls into a ball to protect itself
against predators
● Active mostly at night to avoid
predators in the day
Examples of plants adapted to rainforest
● Velvet tamarind tree
Structural adaptations:
● Buttress roots, or large wide
roots, provide support and help
to take in minerals

● Grows very tall to allow its leaves

to trap more sunlight
3. How an environment affects the adaptive
traits of organisms living in it
b) Mangrove swamp
● Coastal habitat
● Immersed in seawater at high tide, becomes dry at low tide
● Exposed to freshwater when it rains
● Exposed to a lot of sunlight
● Seawater:
○ carries many minerals to the habitat
○ slightly alkaline
Examples of animals adapted to mangrove
● Pistol shrimp
Structural adaptations:
● Enlarged claws enables it to
shoot a jet of water and create a
bubble to catch prey
○ When bubble bursts, the high
pressure and temperature
generated can catch its prey
off guard

Behavioural adaptations:
● Lives in burrows to protect itself
against predators
Examples of animals adapted to mangrove
● Kacang putih moth
Structural adaptations:
● Its brown colour matches that of
trees, making it difficult to be
spotted by its predators

Behavioural adaptations:
● Its larvae roll up the edge of
leaves like kacang putih paper to
protect themselves against
predators
Examples of animals adapted to mangrove
● Mangrove snail
Structural adaptations:
● Thick shell provides protection
● Colour of shell matches that of its
environment, making it difficult
to be spotted by its predators
● Produces and releases mucus
○ Enables it to cling tightly to trees
○ Avoid being washed away during
high tide

Behavioural adaptations:
● Active when submerged in
seawater to hide from predators
● Hides in cracks or under rocks to
keep itself cool
● Climbs trees to avoid its
predators
Examples of animals adapted to mangrove
● Mudskipper
Structural adaptations:
● Large gill chambers store water
to keep its gills damp
● Absorb oxygen through its skin
on land, through gills in water
● Eyes on top of its head help it to
scan for predators and prey

Behavioural adaptations:
● Feeds on food found on the mud
surface at low tide
● Digs burrows
○ protection
○ keep itself cool
Examples of plants adapted to mangrove
● Mangrove tree
● Many strong roots help to anchor
it in the mud

● Breathing roots help it to obtain

oxygen

● Ability to remove salt taken in

from seawater allows it to survive
in the salty environment
2. Influence of the environment on the survival
of organisms
b) Adaptations in organisms
● When environmental conditions in habitats change, organisms
that are unable to survive under the new conditions will die
● Those that survive will go on to reproduce
● Their offsprings will have similar adaptive traits as them and
thus will be able to survive under the new environmental
conditions
E.g. Johora singaporensis
● Freshwater crab found in the central region of Singapore
● One of the rarest and endangered species in the world
● Lives in clean, fast-flowing streams rich in oxygen but such streams are
decreasing → affect the crab population
● NParks, NUS and WRS prompted to breed this crab in captivity amongst
other conservation efforts
What is an ecosystem?
Ecosystem: made up of the interactions between a community and its
physical environment
Types of interrelationships in an ecosystem

(i) ………………………………………………………..
● Predators hunt and kill their prey for food
predator predator

prey prey
Types of interrelationships in an ecosystem
(i) Predator-prey relationship

● Predators have adaptations that allow them to hunt

successfully
○ Physical: sharp teeth, strong claws
○ Physiological: High speed, sharp senses
○ Different hunting strategies (e.g. mimicry)
 Types of interrelationships in an ecosystem
(i) Predator-prey relationship

● Likewise, prey have adaptations to avoid being caught

by their predators
○ Physical: small size, defensive parts like horns, effective
camouflage
○ Behavioural: high speed, mimic unpleasant objects to fool
predators
Types of interrelationships in an ecosystem

(ii) …………………………………………..
● The relationship in which two or more organisms
support or benefit one another
● E.g. one organism provides another with protection in
exchange for food
Types of interrelationships in an ecosystem

(iii) ……………………………………………………….
● Parasite: an organism that causes harm to another
organism (host) without killing it
● The parasite benefits by obtaining its food or
nutrients from the body of it host
● Host can be a plant or an animal
Types of interrelationships in an ecosystem

● When all the interrelationships between organisms in

a community are maintained, a stable ecosystem
results
Types of interrelationships in an ecosystem
● Changes in environmental conditions or the removal of an
organism can disrupt the stability of an ecosystem
● Some organisms may decrease in number of even become
extinct
○ E.g. illegal killing of wolves in Yellowstone National Park in America
5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem
i) Energy from food in plants
● ………………………………………………………………………………….
● They make food using carbon dioxide and water in the
presence of light during photosynthesis
5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem
i) Energy from food in plants
● The food produced can be used to provide energy needed
for life processes in the plants, via cellular respiration
 5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem
ii) Flow of energy and nutrients in food chains and food webs

● Animals obtain energy when they feed on plants or/and

other animals → Consumers
● Chemical potential energy in food is used by a consumer
during respiration
5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem

ii) Flow of energy and nutrients in food chains and food webs
● Food chain

- The feeding relationship between organisms is represented by the

arrows in a food chain
- During feeding, energy and nutrients are transferred from one
organism to another
5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem
ii) Flow of energy and nutrients in food chains and food webs
● Food webs
○ show how one or more food chains are interconnected
○ Give an overall picture of all the organisms that are
involved in the transfer of energy and nutrients in an
ecosystem
Producers are always
the start of every food
chain as they are the
only organisms that can
make their own food
5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem
ii) Flow of energy and nutrients in food chains and food webs
● The flow of energy and that of nutrients occur together
● Photosynthesis and respiration involved
5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem
ii) Flow of energy and nutrients in food chains and food webs
Flow of energy - producers
● Producers absorb light energy from the sun, which is used to
produce food through photosynthesis
● The food produced stores chemical energy
● Producers respire to release energy required for their life
processes, such as transport of substances
5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem
ii) Flow of energy and nutrients in food chains and food webs
Flow of energy - consumers
● Consumers obtain energy by feeding on plants or animals, or both
● They respire to release energy stored in food
● Consumers also release energy stored in undigested food, which is
passed out as faeces
5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem
ii) Flow of energy and nutrients in food chains and food webs
Flow of energy - decomposers
● Decomposers feed on the remains of dead organisms
and faeces
● They release energy through respiration
5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem
ii) Flow of energy and nutrients in food chains and food webs
● At each stage, 90% of energy is released into the environment as
heat energy
● The last organism in a food chain receives the least amount of
energy from the sun
 5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem
ii) Flow of energy and nutrients in food chains and food webs
● Energy is released in the form of heat into the surroundings by each
organism in the food chain or food web in an ecosystem
● This energy cannot be reused by the producers for photosynthesis
● Thus, the flow of energy in a food chain or a food web is one-
directional, or non-cyclical
5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem
ii) Flow of energy and nutrients in food chains and food webs
Flow of nutrients
● When producers are eaten by consumers, nutrients in them
are transferred to the consumers
● When the consumers are eaten by their predators, the
nutrients in them are passed on to their predators
● Decomposers break down the faeces of organisms and the
remains of dead organisms
○ Nutrients returned to the environment
● Thus, the flow of nutrients in an ecosystem is cyclical
5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem
ii) Flow of energy and nutrients in food chains and food webs
Decomposers
● Breaks down dead animals and plants (dead organic matter), and
other waste products (e.g. faeces)
● Examples of decomposers: bacteria, fungi, termites, earthworms
5. Processes involved in maintaining a stable
ecosystem
ii) Flow of energy and nutrients in food chains and food webs
Decomposers
● Energy is transferred
● Nutrients within dead organisms returned to the environment
● Thus, flow of nutrients is cyclical
● Without decomposers, nutrients found in organisms and their
waste will not be returned to the environment
6. How can we help to maintain a stable
ecosystem?
● By conserving the environment and the organisms living in it
● This is not easy to achieve because human activities and
technology used in daily life may unintentionally cause harm to
the environment

● These human activities can contribute to a higher rate of

climate change, resulting in increasing temperatures, rising sea
levels and changes in ecosystems
6. How can we help to maintain a stable
ecosystem?
● To decrease the rate of climate change:
○ Be more conscious and serious about practising sustainable
lifestyles
○ Make daily choices that will help reduce the effects of
climate change
● Slow down environmental changes
● Allow organisms and ecosystems sufficient time to
adapt to any changes in their environments
6. How can we help to maintain a stable
ecosystem?
● Living sustainably is not an impossible dream
● In a number of rural or indigenous communities
around the world:
○ people do not take more than what they need from their
environment
○ Respectful and appreciative of what nature has provided
○ Ensure natural resources are not overused
6. How can we help to maintain a stable
ecosystem?
● In Singapore, there are initiatives that encourage us to
reuse and recycle products or materials
● Doing so reduces waste, pollution and energy
consumption, thus lessening our negative impact on
the environment
● E.g. Composting of food waste to be used as fertilizers