City College of Angeles

Brgy.Pampang, Angeles City , Philippines

Module 2
Characteristics of Biosphere

Objectives:

At the end of this module, you ahould be able to:

1. Discuss the characteristics of biosphere and the levels of organization

comprising it;
2. Differentiate the biological levels of organization; 3. Enumerate the different
terrestrial and aquatic biomes; and
4. Discuss what are the different climate zone.

Introduction

Man together with the abiotic factors of the environment live and interact in a great network that
encircles all the God’s creations. The physical environment that supports all life forms is a
relatively thin film which is called the biosphere. The biosphere requires some amount of
energy, although it may be self-sufficient. All requirements for life continue to exist such as
water, oxygen and other substances which are made available continuously through the process
of recycling. This therefore provides an interconnection among the biotic and abiotic factors of
environment. The interconnectedness among the factors of the biosphere is part of God’s design.
He so willed that both factors rely on one another and may not be able to survive without the
other.

Ecology, The Biosphere and Ecosystems

The branch of biology that deals with the study of relationship between organisms and their
environment is called ecology.

The environment is made up of the external elements and conditions that affect the life and
development of an organism.

There are numerous forms of environment where organisms live to sustain life. Biotic
components of the biosphere live together in a biological area called a biotic community. This
community may be big or small like a pond, a bird nest, a forest, or even the ocean.

As interactions take place in an environment, the following biological levels of organization are
involved:

1. Biosphere – the area of the earth in which life is possible

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2. Ecosystem – any stable environment in which living and non-living things interact and in
which materials are used over and over again

3. Biotic community – all the living organisms in an ecosystems

Characteristics of Biosphere

1. Everything in it is living or recently living, meaning those that haven’t decomposed yet.

2. The existence of food webs or feeding relationships that connects organisms on the basis of
energy flow from one species to another.

3. Each region of the biosphere has distinctive energy flows trophic levels and nutrients.

BIOMES

A natural unit of living and non-living components that interact to form a stable system in
which the exchange of materials follow a circular path.

1. Habitat – place where an organism lives and able to survive and reproduce. Provides a
certain species or population with food, shelter, temperature, water and whatever it is that
they need to survive.

2. Niche – functional role and position of an organism in the ecosystem.

3. Succession – progressive change in plant and animal life of an area.

TERRESTRIAL BIOMES

Land biomes: tundra, desert, taiga, tropical rain forest, temperate forest, grassland.

1. Tundra – located nearest to the polar region. Summer are short and winter are long and dark.
Extensive treeless plain that extends across Northern Europe to Asia and Northern America.
Vegetation includes lichens, mosses, grasses and low-growing shrubs. Few animals adapted to
cool temperature live in tundra, polar bears, caribou, and musk ox; during summer, insects and
birds migrate the biome.

2. Deserts – located at about 30 degrees, in both Northern and Southern hemispheres. Support
organisms adapted to arid conditions. Extreme environment, where rainfall is less than 50 cm
per year. Plant are succulents, or shrubs with woody stems and small leaves. Animals require

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little water or are adapted in storing water such as kangaroo, rat, roadrunner, insects, lizards
and snakes.

3. Taiga (Boreal forest) – located just below the tundra extending in a broad belt across
northern Eurasia and North America. A coniferous forest that receives between 10 to 40
inches of rain per year. The trees present have usually thick protective leaves and bark, as well
as needle like leaves that can withstand snowfall. Common animals present include grizzly
bears, wolves, caribou, and moose.

4. Tropical rain forest – usually found in regions near the equator. The richest biomes in terms
of biodiversity. The climate is always warm with plenty of rainfall about 190 cm per year. Has
a complex structure with many levels of life, from simplest bryophytes and epiphytes to
woody vines and giant trees. Insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are well
represented. Characteristics of Philippine forests.

5. Temperate deciduous forest – located south of the taiga in eastern North America, eastern
Asia and much of Europe. With moderate climate and relative high rainfall. Deciduous, broad-
leaved trees are the dominant plants. Dominated by deciduous trees, oak, beech and maple.
Amphibians and reptiles are found, together with some other vertebrates as squirrels, rabbits,
foxes, deer, and bears.

6. Grassland (Savanna) – characterized by deep, rich soil perfect agriculture, an absence of

trees, and presence of large herds of grazing animals. Located in regions where a relatively
cool dry season is followed by a hot, rainy one. Dominated by grasses that can adapt to
changing temperature and can tolerate high degree of grazing, flooding, drought and
sometimes fire. Supports large group of grazers (zebras and wild beasts) and browsers
(giraffes), and predators (cheetahs and lions).

MARINE BIOMES

Water biomes: oceans (intertidal zones, open sea/pelagic zone, benthic zone/deep sea, abyssal
zone) coral reefs, estuaries.

Oceans

• Occupy 70% of the earth’s surface

• The largest and most diverse of the ecosystems.
• The marine algae supplies most of the Earth’s oxygen and absorbs much of the carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere.
• The great reservoir of living things and of nutrients.
• The study of marine habitats is called oceanography.
Divisions of the Oceans:

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A. Pelagic division includes the Open Sea – generally cold. Mammals such as dolphins and
whales can be found here as wells as many species of fishes.

1. Neritic province - shallow above the continental shelf, with more nutrients and organisms
because sunlight penetrates the waters up to the bottom.

Subdivided into three zones:

a. supratidal (above the high tide mark)

b. intertidal ( between high and low tide) connects the ocean to land due to the rising and
falling of tides.

c. subtidal (below the low tide mark)

2. Oceanic province - the region of the open sea beyond the continental shelf, above the oceanic
basins.

Subdivided into four zones:

a. euphotic zone (depth up to 120 m, upper part of the ocean into which light can penetrate)
b. bathyal zone (depth up to 3,000 m, lower part of the ocean in complete darkness)
c. abyssal zone (depth up to 4,000 m, deepest and coldest part of the oceans highly
pressurized)
d. hadal zone (depth beyond 4,000 m)

B. Benthic division includes the depths of the sea – light hardly penetrates; water is very cold.

Subdivided into three zones:

1. continental shelf in the sublittoral shelf – the floor of the neritic province.
2. continental slope in the bathyal zone – a sudden drop of the ocean floor from the
continental shelf up to the abyssal plain.
3. abyssal plain in the abyssal zone – the ocean floor of the abyssal zone, interrupted by
many underwater mountain chains called oceanic ridges.

• Coral reefs - mostly found in warm shallow waters. Can be found as barriers along
continents such as Australia’s Great barrier reef, fringing islands, and atolls.
• Estuary - bodies of water flowing in one direction. Rivers and streams usually get their
start from lakes and springs and travel all the way to their mouths, usually to another
water channel such as the ocean.

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FRESH WATER BIOMES

Water biomes: running waters, standing waters.

1. Characterized by having a low salt concentration than the marine biome.

2. The most convenient and cheapest source of water for domestic and industrial needs.
3. The study of freshwater habitats is called limnology.

Types of fresh water biomes:

1. Lotic or running water – bodies of water flowing in one direction. Channel such as the
ocean, rivers and streams usually get their start from lakes and springs and travel all the way to
their mouths, usually to another water.
a. Rapid zone – shallow water where velocity of current is great enough to keep the bottom
clear of silt and other loose materials providing a firm substrate.

b. Pool zone – deeper water where velocity of current is reduced and silt and other loose
materials settle to the bottom providing a soft substrate.

2. Lentic or standing water – ponds and lakes may have limited diversity of species since
both bodies of water are isolated from other sources like rivers and oceans.

Lakes and ponds are divided into three zones:

a. littoral zone – topmost zone near the shore of a lake or pond; the warmest zone.
b. limnetic zone – near-surface open water; well lighted.
c. profundal zone – deep-water part of the lake; much colder and denser; little light penetrate
here.

What is CLIMATE?

• A pattern or cycle of weather conditions such as temperature, wind snowfall, precipitate,

humidity, and clouds of an area over time.

• The sun’s heat reaches the different parts of the earth at different times throughout the
year which results to variations in weather and climate.

The Different Climate Zones:

1. Tropical zone

• The region that extends from the equator to about 30 degrees north and south latitudes.

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• The tropical zone is characterized by a hot climate and strongly monsoonal weather
patterns.
• The zone includes hit desserts and tropical rain forest.
2. Temperate zone

• Extends from 30 degrees to about 60 degrees north and south latitudes.

• The temperature is cooler than in the tropical zone and changes with the season.
• During summer, the temperature changes from warm to hot; while during winter, the
temperature is from cool to cold.
• Precipitation falls as rain or drizzle during summers; and snow or freezing rain during
winters.
3. Polar zone

• Extends beyond 60 degrees north and south latitudes.

• Winters are long and extremely cold.
• While summers are short and cool.
• All precipitation is frozen.
• Ice and snow covers are extremely thick.
Factors that affect global and regional climate:

1. The distance of the nearest body of water. Those areas near an ocean or lake tend to have a
cooler summers and milder winters.

2. Land formations and mountain ranges. Mountains receive more rainfall than in lying areas
because the temperature here is lower than the temperature at sea level.

3. Altitude. The higher the altitude, the lower is the temperature.

Apply What You Have Learned

After finishing the lesson, you are now confident in answering the following questions. Be as
specific as you can be.

Activity 2. Film Critique

1. Watch the animated movie “Finding Nemo”.

2. Identify marine animals that live or survive in the intertidal, pelagic, benthic, and abyssal
zone. Explain in writing the adaptations that would help the organisms that they have
identified survive in each of those environments.

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a. intertidal

b. pelagic

c. benthic

d. abyssal zone

Self-Test 2

Multiple Choice: Write letter of your choice:

A. Tundra
B. Desert
C. Taiga
D. Tropical rain forest
E. Temperate forest
F. Grassland
G. None of the Choices

______1. Located nearest to the polar region. Summer are short and winter are long and dark.

______2. Animals require little water or are adapted in storing water such as kangaroo, rat,
roadrunner, insects, lizards and snakes.

______3. The trees present have usually thick protective leaves and bark, as well as needle like
leaves that can withstand snowfall.

______4. Has a complex structure with many levels of life, from simplest bryophytes and
epiphytes to woody vines and giant trees.

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______5. Amphibians and reptiles are found, together with some other vertebrates as squirrels,
rabbits, foxes, deer, and bears.

______6. Characterized by deep, rich soil perfect agriculture, an absence of trees, and presence of
large herds of grazing animals. Located in regions where a relatively cool dry season is
followed by a hot, rainy one.

______7. Treeless region next to the polar ice caps and high on some mountains. Its climate is
bitterly cold in winter, but it gets very little precipitation. Snow covers most of the
ground most of the year.

______8. Dominated by grasses that can adapt to changing temperature and can tolerate high
degree of grazing, flooding, drought and sometimes fire.

______9. Located south of the taiga in eastern North America, eastern Asia and much of Europe.
With moderate climate and relative high rainfall. Deciduous, broad-leaved trees are the
dominant plants.

______10. Usually found in regions near the equator. The richest biomes in terms of biodiversity
.

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