SCHOOL OF TEACHER EDUCATION AND LIBERAL ARTS

PEOPLE AND THE EARTH’S

ECOSYSTEM/ ENVIRONMENTAL
PECOSY 1/ SCIENCE
Prepared by: MARICAR B. LITILIT, PhD
GELECT 3/ MARIA THERESA B. MAÑALAC, MAEd
OLIVER EDWARD JOSE Z. GARCIA, RMT, MSMT
GELECT 4 ROUEL N. DE ASIS, HCS NCII, PTRP, LPT, MBA

Prepared by
A Self-regulated Learning Module
PECOSY 1/ GELECT 3/ GELECT 4
PEOPLE AND THE EARTH’S
ECOSYSTEM/
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

For the Use of University of Baguio

Compiled and Prepared by:

MARICAR B. LITILIT, PhD

MARIA THERESA B. MAÑALAC, MAEd
OLIVER EDWARD JOSE Z. GARCIA, RMT, MSMT
ROUEL N. DE ASIS, HCS NCII, PTRP, LPT, MBA

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 INTRODUCTION OF THE MODULE

Course Code GELECT 3/ PECOSY 1/ GELECT 4

Course Title People and the Earth’s Ecosystem/ ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Course Description

This course will examine the impact of human activities on the environment and the consequences
of environmental modification on human activity. Humans and natural, biological and physical systems,
from local to global scales, are interrelated. The better we understand our relationship with nature, the
better we will be able to anticipate the consequences of our actions and to make informed choices on which
human actions are most desirable for the long-term health of human societies and natural ecosystems.
Moreover, this course is designed to introduce nonbiology majors to the natural world and ecological
interactions, and to focus on the ways in which humans modify and interfere with the functioning of terrestrial
and aquatic ecosystems, the atmosphere, lithosphere, and so forth.
The course begins with an understanding of the environmental issues we face, how environmental
sustainability and human values play a critical role in addressing these issues, how the environmental
movement developed over time and was shaped by economics, and how environmental threats from many
sources create health hazards that must be evaluated. Next are the intricacies of ecological concepts in a
human-dominated world, including energy flow and the cycling of matter through ecosystems, and the
various ways that species interact and divide resources. Gaining familiarity with these concepts allows
students to better appreciate the variety of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems that are then introduced, and
to develop a richer understanding of the implications of human population change for the environment.
Then the world resources, as we use them today and as we assess their availability and impacts for the
future, are tackled. This includes issues such as the sources and effects of air pollution, climate and global
atmospheric change, freshwater resources, causes and effects of water pollution, the ocean and fisheries,
mineral and soil resources, land resources, agriculture and food resources, biological resources, solid and
hazardous waste, and nonrenewable and renewable energy resources. The topics are organized around
the premise that humans are inextricably linked to the world’s environmental dilemmas. Understanding how
different parts of Earth’s systems change, and how those changes affect other parts and systems, prepares
us to make better choices as we deal with environmental problems we encounter everyday in our lives.

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 STUDY SCHEDULE

WEEK TOPICS ASSESSMENT TASKS

1 INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY, Real World Scenario. Synthesis and

BIODIVERSITY Reflection Paper
ECOSYSTEM, CLIMATE, AND POPULATION
GROWTH

2 The Environmental Challenges We Face Written Quiz

3 Sustainability And Human Values Written Quiz

4 Environmental Protection Laws Synthesis and reflection Paper, Small

Group Discussion

Summaries and reflections, Written Quiz

Epidemiological Environment
5 Ecosystem Written quiz, Concept Maps, Diagrams,
Summary and Reflection Paper

6 FIRST GRADING EXAMINATION

7 EARTH’S MAJOR BIOMES Written quiz, Synthesis Paper, Diagrams

8 POPULATION ECOLOGY Real world scenario, Synthesis and

Reaction paper

9 AIR AND AIR POLLUTION Diagram, Graphic Organizer

Global Atmospheric Changes Synthesis and Reaction Paper
10
Freshwater Resources And Water Pollution Written quiz, Real World scenario,
11 The Ocean And The Fisheries Summaries and Reflections

12 MIDTERM EXAMINATION

13 Mineral And Soil Resources Written quiz, Real World scenario

14 Land Resources Written quiz, Real World scenario

15 Biodiversity And Conservation Written quiz, Journal Research Critiquing

16 Solid And Hazardous Wastes Written quiz

17 Nonrenewable Energy Resources Analysis Paper, Written quiz, Sustainability

Renewable Energy Resources Plan

18 FINAL EXAMINATION

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 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY, BIODIVERSITY, ECOSYSTEM, CLIMATE, AND POPULATION
GROWTH

I. Introduction
This module presents an introduction to the course on People and the Earth’s Ecosystems.

II. Objectives of the Lesson

On completion of the module, the learner should be able to:

1. identify the different personalities that contributed on the study on Ecology and the Ecosystem;
2. describe the components of Biodiversity;
3. internalize the effects of Biodiversity on the different species;
4. differentiate between Weather and Climate; and
5. illustrate the key features of a Population.

III. Lesson Proper

A. Ecology is the study of interrelationship of different organisms with each other and with their
environment. It is also concerned with the general principles that apply to both animals and
plants.

The word Ecology came from the word Oikos which means house,
habitat, or place of living and the word Logos means to study (Ernst
Haeckel, 1869)

Objectives of Ecology
1. It is important for humanity to understand its environment because we
have the ability to modify it through the use of technology and through
overexploitation of natural resources as a result of greed or sheer
pressure of numbers.
2. Therefore, Ecology is more than just the understanding of the interrelationships between
organisms and their environment; it also has social, political, economic, and technological
dimensions.
3. It also is a study of evolutionary development of organisms, the biological productivity, and
energy flow in the natural system.
4. To develop mathematical models to relate interaction of parameters and to predict the
effects.

B. Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth and the essential interdependence of all living things.
Scientists have identified more than 1.4 million species. Tens of millions still remain unknown.
The tremendous variety of life on Earth is made possible by complex interactions among all
living things, including microorganisms.

Three components of biodiversity

1. Diversity of genes - It is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of
a species. It is distinguished from genetic variability, which describes the tendency of genetic
characteristics to vary. In an ecosystem, diversity can refer to the number of different species
or ecological niches that are present.

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 2. Diversity of number of species – monkeys, dragonflies, and meadow beauties are all
different species.

3. Variety of ecosystems – lakes, ponds, and rivers are all freshwater ecosystems. Rocky
coast, sand dune, estuary, salt marsh, coral reef are all marine ecosystems

C. Ecosystem (Sir Arthur George Tansley, 1935) is the

system resulting from the interaction of all the living and
nonliving factors of the environment. An ecosystem
consists of the biological community that occurs in some
locale, and the physical and chemical factors that make up
its non-living or abiotic environment.

D. Climate is an area’s long-term pattern of weather.

E. Population is all the individuals of a species that live in an area. Demography is the statistical
study of populations, allows predictors to be made about how a population will change.

Three key features of population

1. Size – number of individuals in an area. This is determined by the growth rate, which is how
many individuals are born versus how many die
2. Density – measurement of populationper unit area or unit volume. Population density is the
number of individuals per unit of space.

How do you affect density?

a. Immigration is movement of individuals into a population

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 b. Emigration is movement of individuals out of a population
c. Density-dependent factors. Biotic factors in an environment that have an increasing
effect as population size increases
d. Density-independent factors. Abiotic factors in the environment that affect population
regardless of their density

3. Dispersion – the spatial pattern of individuals in a population relative to one another.

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 CHAPTER 2
THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES WE FACE

I. Introduction
This module presents the human impacts on the environment.

II. Objectives of the Lesson

On completion of the module, the learner should be able to:

1. distinguish among highly developed countries, moderately developed countries, and less
developed countries;
2. relate human population size to natural resources and resource consumption;
3. describe the three factors that are most important in determining human impact on the
environment;
4. define sustainability;
5. Identify human behaviors that threaten environmental sustainability;
6. Define environmental science; and
7. Outline the steps of the scientific method

III. Lesson Proper

A. The most significant factor impacting the health of the Earth’s environment is A LARGE AND
GROWING HUMAN POPULATION. In 2011, the human population as a whole passed 7 billion
individuals in a brief span of time. The more than 7 billion people consume vast quantities of
food and water, occupy or farm much of the most productive land, use a great deal of energy
and raw materials, and produce much waste.

The world population may stabilize toward the

end of the 21st century, given the family planning
efforts that are currently under way. The fertility
rate varies, from 1.7 in highly developed
countries to 4.5 in some of the less developed
countries. Despite most countries’ involvement
with family planning, population growth rates
don’t change overnight. The coming decades
may very well see many problems.

Poverty incidence among Filipinos in the first semester of 2015 was estimated at 26.3%.
Poverty is a condition in which people are unable to meet their basic needs for food, clothing,
shelter, education. Or health. A family of five needed at least Php 6,365 every month to meet
the basic food needs. Poverty is associated with a short life expectancy, illiteracy, and
inadequate access to health services, safe water, and balanced nutrition.

Consumption – the human use of material and energy.

Economic growth – the expansion in output of a nation’s goods and services.
 The world’s economy is growing at an enormous rate, yet this growth is unevenly distributed
across the nations of the world.

B. Gap Between Rich and Poor Countries

1. Highly developed countries – with complex industrialized bases, low rates of population
growth, and high per person incomes (18% of the world’s population): United States of
America, Canada, Most of Europe, and Japan
2. Moderately developed countries – fewer opportunities for income, education, and health
care: Turkey, South Africa, Thailand, and Mexico

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 3. Less developed countries – cheap, unskilled labor is abundant, but capital investment is
scarce: Haiti, Bangladesh, Rwanda, and Laos

The amount of resources essential to an individual’s survival is small, but rapid population
growth tends to overwhelm and deplete a country’s soils, forests, and other natural resources.
In highly developed nations, individual demands on natural resources are far greater than the
requirements for mere survival. Many people in more affluent nations deplete resources and
degrade the global environment through increased consumption of energy, material goods, and
agricultural products.

C. Types of Resources

1. Nonrenewable resources – natural resources that are present in limited supplies and are
depleted as they are used.
2. Renewable resources – resources that are replaced by natural processes and that can be
used forever, provided that they are not overexploited in the short term: trees, fishes, fertile
agricultural soil, and fresh water.

The effects of population growth on natural resources are particularly critical in developing
countries. The economic growth of developing countries is frequently tied to the exploitation of
their natural resources often for export to highly developed countries. Continued growth and
development in highly developed countries now relies significantly on the importation of these
resources from less developed countries.

A larger population consumes more resources and causes more environmental damage than
does a smaller population. However, not all people consume the same amounts of resources.
Variation in consumption is associated with economic status, geography, culture, and other
social and personal factors.

Highly developed countries account for the lion’s share of total resources consumed:
86% of aluminum used
76% of timber harvested
68% of energy produced
61% of meat eaten
42% of the fresh water consumed
These nations also generate 75% of the world’s pollution and waste.

D. Sustainability and the Environment

Sustainability – achieved when the environment can function indefinitely without going into a
decline from the stresses that human society imposes on natural system.

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E. Environmental Science

This deals with the study of our environment, either globally or locally, and its living and non-
living components.
1. Natural sciences – Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Physics, and Medicine
2. Social sciences – Economics, Political Science, Sociology, History, Philosophy, and Ethics
3. Other sciences – Mathematics, Statistics, Technology, Business and Management, Law,
Religion, Morality, and Aesthetics

Goals of Environmental Science

1. To develop a sustainable world – a world in which the supply of food, water, building
materials, clean air, and other resources can sustain human population to continue to exist
indefinitely with a high standard of living and health.
2. To study environmental problems and issues; priorities regarding acceptable environmental
preservation of natural species and habitats; freedom of nations to do as they please, within
their own potential boundaries and issues on the quality of life, fairness, and ethics.

In order to apply the principles of Environmental Science, Scientific Method should be used.
This is the way a scientist approaches a problem, by formulating a hypothesis (a statement of
an expectation) and then testing them to form theories (Integrated explanation of numerous
hypotheses, supported by a large body of observations and experiments).

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 CHAPTER 3
SUSTAINABILITY AND HUMAN VALUES

I. Introduction
This module presents the sustainability of our environment and the values that we need to take care
of it

II. Objectives of the Lesson

On completion of the module, the learner should be able to:

1. define sustainable development;
2. outline some of the complexities associated with the concept of sustainable consumption;
3. contract voluntary simplicity and technological progress;
4. define environmental ethics;
5. discuss distinguishing features of the Western and Deep Ecology overviews; and
6. define environmental justice.

III. Lesson Proper

Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to
achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration
of life. (Earth Charter, 1992)

A. Sustainable Development

It is the economic growth that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their needs.

Pollution and degradation of the environment are exacerbated as individuals in a population

consume large amounts of resources. People living in highly developed nations typically
consume disproportionately large shares of Earth’s resources and contribute disproportionately
to environmental degradation.

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 Lifestyle - Include all goods and services bought for food, clothing, housing, travel, recreation,
and entertainment. In evaluating consumption, all aspects of the product, use, and disposal of
these goods and services are taken into account, including environmental costs.

B. Sustainable Consumption

It is the use of goods and services that satisfy basic human needs and improve the quality of life
but also minimize resource use. At the global level, sustainable consumption requires the
eradication of poverty.

Developing countries should not be expected to avoid

or reduce environmental damage when to do so
hindered socially equitable economic development.
This in turn requires that poor people increase their
consumption of certain essential resources.

Widespread adoption of sustainable consumption will

not be easy. It will require major changes in the
consumption patterns and lifestyles of most people in
highly developed countries.

Voluntary simplicity – individual happiness and

quality of life are not necessarily linked to the
accumulation of material goods

While some individuals choose sustainable

consumption and voluntary simplicity, many people
do not. Many equate these ideas with unnecessary
sacrifice, and object to the idea of compulsory
reductions in consumption.

Continued technological progress

represents a promising opportunity for
maintaining high standards of living
while using fewer resources.

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C. Ethics

It is a branch of philosophy that is derived through the logical

application of human values. Environmental ethics is a field of
applied ethics that considers the moral basis of environmental
responsibility.

These values are the principles that an individual or a society

considers important or worthwhile.

Environmental ethicists consider such issues as what role we should play in determining the
fate of Earth’s resources. How we might develop an environmental ethic that is acceptable in
the short term for us as individuals and also in the long term for our species and the planet.
Considers also the rights of future generations.

D. Environmental Worldviews
1. Western worldview (expansionist worldview) - based on human superiority over nature,
the unrestricted use of natural resources, and economic growth to manage an expanding
industrial base. Humans have a primary obligation to humans and are therefore responsible
for managing natural resources to benefit
human society.
 Anthropocentric – emphasizes on the
importance of humans as the overriding
concern in the grand scheme of things.
Earth could not support its more than 7
billion humans if each consumed high
level of goods and services sanctioned
by the Western worldview.
 Frontier attitude – desire to conquer
and exploit nature as quickly as possible.
2. Deep ecology overview - based on harmony with nature, a spiritual respect for life, and the
belief that humans and all other species have an equal worth.
 Biocentric – views humans as one species among others. The world could support only a
fraction of the existing human population.
 Both human and nonhuman life have intrinsic value.
 Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the flourishing of human and nonhuman
life on Earth.
 Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs.

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  Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is
rapidly worsening.
 The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease in the
human population.
 Improving human well-being requires economic, technological, and ideological changes.
 The ideological change is mainly that high quality of life need not be synonymous with
high levels of consumption.
 Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation to participate in the
attempt to implement the necessary changes.

E. Environmental Justice

This is the right of every citizen to adequate protection from environmental hazards.
 Eco-justice encompasses environmental inequalities faced by low-income minority
communities.

In the Philippine setting, any organization which advocates Environmental Justice?

Because people in low-income communities frequently lack access to sufficient health care,
they may not be treated adequately for exposure to environmental contaminants.

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 Low-income communities may not receive equal benefits from federal cleanup programs.
The poor tend to bear greater environmental burdens than the wealthy.
F. Overall Plan for Sustainable Living

1. Eliminate poverty and stabilize the human population

2. Protect and restore Earth’s resources
3. Provide adequate food for all people
4. Mitigate climate change
5. Design sustainable cities

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 CHAPTER 4
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION LAWS

I. Introduction
This module presents the different Philippine Laws that protect the environment.

II. Objectives of the Lesson

On completion of the module, the learner should be able to:

1. define conservation and preservation; and
2. briefly outline the environmental protection laws of the Philippines.

III. Lesson Proper

A. Conservation and Preservation

Conservation is the sensible and careful management of natural resources while preservation
involves setting aside undisturbed areas, maintaining them in a pristine state, and protecting
them from human activities that might alter their “natural” state.

Plowing and plating fields in curves that conform to the natural contours of the land conserves
soil by reducing erosion.

B. Environmental Protection Laws

1. Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines

 Article II: Declaration of Principles and State Policies
Sec. 15. The State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and
instilling health consciousness among them.
Sec. 16. The State shall protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and
healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.
 Article XII. National Economy and Patrimony
Sec. 4. The Congress shall, as soon as possible, determine by law the specific limits of
forest lands and national parks, marking clearly their boundaries on the ground.
Thereafter, such forest lands and national parks shall be considered and may not be
increased nor diminished, except by law.
2. PD 1151 (1979) – Philippine Environmental Policy
3. PD 1152 (Philippine Environmental Code)
 Air Quality Management
 Water Quality Management
 Land Use Management

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  Natural Resources Management and Conservation
4. PD 1121 – Creating the National Environmental Protection Council
5. PD 1067 (1976) – Philippine Water Code
6. RA 8749 – The Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999
7. RA 9275 – The Philippine Clear Water Act of 2004
8. RA 6969 – Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of 1990
9. RA 9003 – Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000

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 CHAPTER 5 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT

I. Introduction
This module presents the different diseases that affect man in relation to his environment.

II. Objectives of the Lesson

On completion of the module, the learner should be able to:

1. define toxicology and epidemiology;
2. distinguish among the classes of diseases; and
3. distinguish among categories of diseases.

III. Lesson Proper

A. Determinants of Medical Ecology

Toxicology is the study of toxicants, chemicals with adverse effects on health. Epidemiology
is the study of the effects of chemical, biological, and physical agents on the health of human
populations.

Epidemiology is apparent during the height of the COVID-19 epidemic wherein scientists,
biologists, medical technologists, doctors among others tried to determine the population which
was the most vulnerable in contacting the coronavirus. They also tried to determine the
prevalence of the disease and the effects of the virus to the human body. However, as of
present time no vaccine has been developed yet.

* Vulnerable to manipulation by medical man. All the others are vulnerable to manipulation by
man or society. A vector is something which can transmit the virus (e.g. mosquito).

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B. Classes of Diseases

C. Categories of Diseases

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D. Some Human Diseases Transmitted by Polluted Waters

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 CHAPTER 6 ECOSYSTEM

I. Introduction

Ecosystem is an array of organisms and their physical environment, all interacting through a flow of energy and
cycling of materials. Everything that affects an organism during its lifetime is collectively known as its environment.
The space that the organism inhabits or where it lives is its habitat. Within its defined habitat, the organism fulfills an
obligatory role or niche contributory to the total ecosystem function. Those nonliving things that influence an organism
are the abiotic factors. This includes energy, matter, space and ecological processes such as climate. The biotic
factors include all forms of life with which the organism interacts.

II. Objectives of the Lesson

At the end of the module, the learner should be able to:

1. Define ecology, environment, habitat and niche.
2. Enumerate biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.
3. Illustrate the flow of energy in a food web.
4. Recognize the different process that occur in the biogeochemical cycles.
5. Distinguish among producers, consumers, and decomposers.
6. Distinguish among mutualism, commensalism, predation and parasitism.

III. Lesson Proper

A. Transfer of matter and energy occur between organisms or between organisms and the physical environment
represented by a trophic structure. Energy flow between organisms occurs in food chains, in which energy from
food passes from one organism to the next in a sequence. Each level, or “link,” in a food chain is a trophic level.
(The Greek tropho means “nourishment”). Food web, on the other hand, is a complex of interconnected food chains
in an ecosystem. All food chains and webs start with the sun, the ultimate source of energy here on Earth.
Organisms can be classified based on their general nutritional habits. Producers, also called autotrophs (self-
feeders), are organisms that can manufacture their own organic compounds that they use as sources of energy
and nutrients. Most producers are green pants that make organic nutrients by transforming energy from the sun
into chemical energy through photosynthesis (photosynthetic organisms). Chemosynthetic organisms, mostly
bacteria, can extract inorganic compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide, from their environment and convert them to
organic nutrients in the absence of sunlight through the process called chemosynthesis.

Organisms that get the nutrients and energy they require by feeding either directly or indirectly on producers are
called consumers or heterotrophs (“other-feeders”). Depending on their food sources, consumers fall into four major
classes:

 Primary consumers are herbivores (plant-eaters) which feed directly and only on all or part of living plants
 Secondary consumers are primary carnivores (meat-eaters), which feed only on plant-eating animals
 Tertiary and higher-level consumers include large carnivores or omnivores (plant- and meat-eaters) that feed
on primary and secondary consumers and/or producers.

Heterotrophs that feed on detritus, or dead organic plant and animal matter, are known as detritivores. There are
two major classes of detritivores: detritus feeders and decomposers. Detritus feeders ingest fragments of dead
organisms and their cast-off parts and organic wastes. Examples are crabs, earthworms and clams. Decomposers,
on the other hand, absorb and endocytose the soluble nutrients at the cellular level. This saprophytic mode of
nutrition is carried out by bacteria and fungi.

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 Figure 6.1. Food Web

B. Biogeochemical Cycles are cyclic paths of elements and inorganic compounds that sustain life, referred to as
nutrients, from the atmosphere to the lithosphere (soil) or hydrosphere (water) into living things and then back into
these environments.

The hydrologic cycle, or water cycle (Fig. 6.2), collects, purifies and distributes the Earth’s fixed water supply. The
main processes in this water recycling and purifying cycle are: evaporation or the conversion of water to water
vapor; condensation or the conversion of water vapor to droplets of liquid water; transpiration, or the process in
which water, after being absorbed by the root system of plants and passing through their living structure, evaporates
into the atmosphere as water vapor; precipitation, such as dew, rain, sleet, hail, snow; and runoff, which is the
draining of water back to the sea to begin the cycle again.

Figure 6.2. The Hydrologic Cycle

The Carbon Cycle includes the processes and pathways involved in capturing inorganic carbon-containing
molecules, converting them into organic molecules that are used by organisms, and the ultimate release of inorganic
carbon molecule back to the abiotic environment. During photosynthesis, green plants absorb carbon dioxide from
the air and combine it with hydrogen from water absorbed from the soil. Complex organic molecules such as sugar
or carbohydrates are formed and oxygen molecules are released into the atmosphere. Consumers use these
organic molecules as food. Animal cells burn sugars in the process known as respiration, releasing carbon dioxide

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back to the atmosphere. Decomposers, on the other hand, use the organic molecules contained in animal waste
products and dead organisms as food. The decay process releases carbon dioxide and water back to the
environment. Buried plant and animal materials become fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) by geologic forces.
When we burn fossil fuels, the carbon reenters the active carbon cycle.

Figure 6.3. The Carbon Cycle

Phosphorus Cycle can be short term or long-term. Short term cycling of phosphorus starts when plants get
phosphorus from the soil. Consumers obtain phosphorus by eating the plants. Decomposition of dead organic
matter from producers and consumers bring back phosphorus to the soil for recycling. Long term cycle involves
leaching of phosphates into bodies of water settling into sediments, and later on incorporated into rocks as insoluble
compounds. Geologic processes elevate these deposits and expose them to erosion making them available to
organisms. Phosphorus can be released by weathering and taken up by plant roots.

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 Figure 6.4. The Phosphorus Cycle

Nitrogen Cycle involves the cycling of nitrogen atoms between the abiotic and biotic components and among the
organisms in an ecosystem. The nitrogen gas present in the atmosphere (constitutes about 79%) is not absorbable
by most organisms. The cycle is heavily dependent on microorganisms that can convert atmospheric nitrogen into
absorbable forms.
 Ammonifying bacteria convert nitrogen-containing wastes and bodies of dead plants and animals into
ammonia (NH3) and ammonia salts.
 Nitrogen-fixing bacteria (e.g. Rhizobium) convert atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammonia.
 Nitrifying bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate.
 Denitrifying bacteria convert nitrate to nitrogen gas, thus removing bioavailable nitrogen and returning it
to the atmosphere.
 Anammox bacteria oxidize ammonia by using nitrite as the electron acceptor to produce gaseous nitrogen.

Figure 6.5. Nitrogen Cycle

C. Interactions Among Organisms. Individuals and populations in an ecosystem interact with each other in
different ways. These interactions describe how organisms respond to and alter their environment.

 In a neutral interaction, two populations interact, but neither would have any effect on the evolutionary
fitness of the other.
 Mutualism is a form of symbiosis in which both organisms benefit from living together.
 Commensalism is a relationship between two species whereby one (the commensal) benefits from the
association, whereas the other neither benefits nor suffers.
 Competition involves the interaction between two or more organisms (for example, species), that uses a
common resource, which is in short supply.
 Amensalism is an association between organisms of two different species in which one is inhibited or
destroyed and the other is unaffected.
 Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism,
its prey.
 Parasitism is a symbiotic relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or in
another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life.

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 Parasitodism is a form of parasitism wherein an organism (called parasitoid) lives on or inside the host at
one phase in its life cycle, and usually ends up in the death of the host.

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