Ecosystem

Refers to all the biological communities and their interactions with their
abiotic environment of chemical matter consisting of chemical
elements and energy

The ultimate purpose of these interactions is the need by all organisms

to acquire energy from chemical matter to power all life processes
so that organisms will grow, survive, and breed → ultimately, for the
survival of the species!!!
Ecosystem: energy flow and recycling of chemical elements: food chain, food web

Food web
Ecosystem: energy flow and recycling of chemical elements

Chemosynthetic organisms in
hydrothermal vents in the
deep ocean
 Trophic structure of ecosystems

D← →D

E E

C C
O← →O
M M

P P
O← →O
S S

E← →E

R R

S← →S
 Energy flow and recycling of chemical elements in ecosystems follow
universal physical and chemical laws

First Law of Thermodynamics

Transformation of energy into other forms

Second Law of Thermodynamics

Decline of a system’s capacity for
work with increasing disorder or
entropy
 Ecosystem: primary production

Gross primary production (GPP) = amount of chemical energy

produced by photosynthetic plants

Net primary production (NPP) = difference between GPP and the

amount of chemical energy utilized for metabolism (growth,
reproduction) of photosynthetic plants
 Ecosystem: primary production

Different ecosystems have varying levels of primary production

Forests and the ocean contribute significantly to the Earth’s overall

primary productivity.
Most areas of the ocean basins have low primary production (i.e.,
oligotrophic) , but shallow areas of oceans have high primary
production (i.e., eutrophic).
Primary productivity in aquatic ecosystems
• primary production is confined at the
shallow lighted or photic zone and then
declines with increasing depth
• nutrient accumulation in deep aphotic
zone
Primary productivity in aquatic ecosystems: upwelling: anchovy fishery
 Ecosystem: secondary production
Conversion of chemical energy in plants into tissue or biomass production of consumers

→ heat
50% 30%

20%

Only 10-20% of total chemical energy intake is utilized for secondary

production (a.k.a. biomass production or growth)!!!
 Ecosystem: ecological efficiency: trophic pyramid

Ecological efficiency is the ratio of net productivity at one trophic

level and the net productivity of the trophic level below it

A multiplicative loss of energy along the food chain and food web
Ecosystem: ecological efficiency: pyramid of biomass and of number
Re-cycling of chemical elements (nutrients) of chemical
matter in ecosystems: biogeochemical cycle
Water Cycle
Nitrogen (N2) Cycle
Phosphorus Cycle
 Carbon Cycle

↓
Non-renewable fossil fuels (oil, natural gas)
 Agricultural food production for hungry Filipinos

Increasing human population requires increased food production

 Human impact on global biogeochemical cycles
To sustain human survival, we rely on biogeochemical cycles to re-cycle
nutrients from the food we eat and the waste we generate

Excess by-products of intense human activities accumulate on land, in

oceans, contributing to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
which warms the planet.
 Link Between Red Meat Diet and Climate Change

Land use
FW usage
GHG emissions

“….both the environment and the climate will benefit if people

adopt a lower-calorie diet low in meat consumption, especially
beef. Beef uses more land and freshwater and generates more
greenhouse gas emissions per unit of protein than any other
commonly consumed food.”
Cultural eutrophication versus Natural eutrophication
Cultural eutrophication: harmful algal blooms and fish kills

Boracay Island paradise?? Intensive fish farming

Biological magnification (= bioaccumulation)
 Biological magnification (= bioaccumulation)

'Shocking' levels of PCB chemicals in UK killer whale Lulu ----- BBC News, 02
May 2017 http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39738582

“Killer whale died with extreme levels of toxic pollutants” ---- The Guardian, 02
May 2017 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/02/uk-killer-whale-died-extreme-levels-toxic-pollutants
Biological magnification (= bioaccumulation)

Dead sperm whale in Indonesia found with 6

kg of plastic in stomach!!!
– Agence France Presse News, 21 November 2018
 Coastal resources in the Philippines
Coral reefs (3 million hectares)
• Only 5% in excellent
condition
• Annual fishery loss of
855,000 tons

Mangroves and seagrasses

(0.5 million hectares)
• Only 10% remaining of
old growth
• Annual fishery loss of
330,000 tons

Overall loss: Marine biodiversity

 How will YOU protect the
Earth’s resources?

“Think globally, act locally”