CHAPTER 9

NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN ACTIVITY

The Ecosystem
• It means living things and non-living things together (biotic and abiotic components)
• Populations are organisms of the same species living in an area. For examples, frogs
in a pond.
• Communities are populations of different species living together in an area and
interact with each other. For example, plants and animals living in the Arctic Tundra.
• A habitat is where a population of an organism lives, finds food and reproduces.
• A niche is an ideology, of how an organism lives or survive in the provided
environmental conditions.
• There are many niches in ecosystems around the world. Therefore, there are many
species.

The Major Abiotic Factors

1- Temperatures: living things need certain temperatures to survive. Some may live in
ecosystems where temperature is warm and some live in ecosystems where
temperatures are cold.
2- Humidity: it is how much water vapor is held in the air. Some living organisms such as
fungi cannot live in places with 0% humidity such as deserts.
3- Water: it is essential for photosynthesis and also needed for chemical reactions. Plants
obtain water from soil. Each plant is adapted to survive in soil with certain amount of
water.
4- Oxygen: it makes 20% of the gas in the air. The rest is mainly nitrogen. There is less
oxygen at high altitudes than sea level.
5- Salinity: this is important for aquatic animals. Marine species live in water than has 35
parts per thousand of salt (ppt). Water with salinity than lies between 1 and 35 ppt is
known as brackish water.
6- Light: it is essential for photosynthesis. Therefore, if not available, there will be no food.
7- pH: it measures how acid or alkaline water is (or any solution). pH of the sea is stable,
but the pH of fresh water can vary. For example, decomposing leaves can add humic
acid and reduce water pH. Some plants prefer acidic water, some cannot survive in it.
Ecosystem Processes
• The food chain shows the relationship between living organisms
in an ecosystem.
• Green plants make food through photosynthesis; therefore, they
are known as producers.
• Animals that feed on plants are known as herbivores.
• Animals that feed on herbivores are known as carnivores.
• Herbivores and carnivores are known consumers, but one
consumes plants and the other consumes animals.
• A consumer that feeds on plants is known as primary consumer.
• A consumer that feeds on animals is known as a secondary consumer.
• If an animal eats an animal that feeds on another animal, it is known as tertiary
consumer.
• If an animal feeds on dead bodies of plants and animals, such as fungi, it
is known as a decomposer.
• A Food web is a connection of multiple food chains. Food chain follows
a single path whereas food web follows multiple paths. From the food
chain, we get to know how organisms are connected with each other.
• any change in one part of the web will affect everything.
• If poor weather conditions make plants unable to grow well, the rest of
the animals will be affected because there is less food available.
• If humans kill snakes, there will be more frogs that will eat grasshoppers
causing their numbers to fall.
• In a lake ecosystem, there are microscopic plants that are eaten by tiny animals
which are then eaten by small fish which in turn are eaten by large fish. Those large
fish can be eaten by animals standing by the side of the lake. This is represented by
the pyramid of numbers.
• A pyramid of numbers is a graphical representation that shows the number of
organisms at each trophic level. It is an upright pyramid which shows that in an
ecosystem, the producers are always more in number than other trophic levels.
• The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food web.
• The pyramid shows the loss of energy at each feeding level.

Photosynthesis
• Plants get energy from sunlight through photosynthesis.
• Glucose is a sugar used by plants in respiration to release
energy. It can also be converted by plants to make other
needed substances such as starch, cellulose and proteins.
Some of them can be used by humans in medicines.
 • Plants get carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through the pores in their leaves
(stomata).
• Plants obtain water from the soil through roots.
• Chlorophyll, the green pigment in the leaves absorb sunlight.
• Sunlight is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
• Hydrogen is added to carbon dioxide to make glucose
• The extra oxygen which is not used in respiration is sent to the atmosphere. Respiration
is the process by which living organisms release energy from food in order to survive.

Interaction Between Living Things (Biotic Interactions)

1- Competition:
living things compete for resources. Organisms that are weaker or less adapted to the
current conditions will not reproduce or survive.
2- Predation:
an animal that eats another is known as a predator such as tigers and lions.
3- Pollination:
in flowering plants, the male sex cells are found in the pollen grain
made in the anther. This pollen grain is either blown by wind or
carried by insects, bees, birds and mammals. The anther attracts
the animals with its bright colors and scent. The pollen grain lies
on the stigma of another flower and sends a tube that grows down
where the female gamete (egg) is there. The egg gets fertilized and
the embryo is formed to grow into a new plant.

Energy Flows and Nutrients Cycles

• As consumers eat plants, they get chemical energy from starch and simple sugars. They
also get materials such as nitrogen.
• This chemical energy is then converted into heat. This heat is lost in the environment.
• Other minerals are released when a living organism dies, as its body breaks down. These
minerals become available to other living organisms.

Energy Flow
• The plant needs energy for life.
• Plants store light energy as chemical energy in the sugars they make.
• A plant gets energy it needs from a process called respiration.
• The respiration equation is:

• Glucose and oxygen are used up during respiration.

• Carbon dioxide and water are waste products.
 • Energy is needed by plants for processes such as transporting
food and making proteins, the rest is lost in the environment as
heat.
• Extra energy not used by the plant will then be available to the
consumer.
• The same happens in the next trophic level.
• This means that after two layers, the amount of energy available to a consumer is 10%
of 10% of that available from the sun, which is only 1%.
• After three steps, it is only 0.1%.
• This is why food chains have no more than four or five links. The remaining energy is not
enough to support an extra trophic level.
• The quantity of energy is measured in kilojoules (kJ)

The Mineral Cycles

• A consumer obtains energy from the level below. It also obtains required minerals such
as carbon, oxygen, sulfur, phosphorous and nitrogen.

• In case of carbon, its reservoir is carbon

dioxide in the atmosphere. Its fixation
(turning carbon dioxide in atmosphere
into an organic compound) takes place by
photosynthesis.
• Carbon is found in living things in
carbohydrates, proteins, fats and other
chemicals.
• Carbon is removed from living things by respiration which return carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere.

ESTIMATING BIODIVERSITY IN ECOSYSTEMS

• Biodiversity includes all species within an ecosystem.
• Populations can be huge; therefore, scientists cannot count them all. In this case
sampling is required.
 • Sampling Sedentary (Inactive) Organisms: Quadrats and Transects
• Sampling can be done with a quadrat (a usually rectangular area used to study
sample organisms that do not move).
• The plants in a quadrat are counted.
• Sometimes counting plants is hard to do, therefore an estimate must be made.
• Plant numbers can be estimated using ACFOR scale.

• In the diagram, grass C is considered abundant, plants A and B would be common.

• Using a gridded quadrat as in diagram (b) would make it
quantifiable.
• The number of squares where each plant lies can be counted and
taken as a a percentage.
• Therefore, plant B would take 11%
• Plant A takes 14%.
• Plant C in this case makes 100-(11+14) = 75%
• Another way is to measure only the squares in which the plant
takes more than half of it.
• Therefore, in this case plant B makes 7%, plant A makes 9% and C makes 87%
• (PS their total will make more than 100% because of rounding)

Placing the Quadrat

• Scientists must consider where to place the quadrats to sample biodiversity.
• If scientists want to compare between two areas, the quadrats should be chosen
randomly. This is known as random sampling.
• If scientists want to see how species change along a gradient, the quadrat should be
placed along a line called transect and systematic sampling is used.
• If systematic sampling is used the quadrat is chosen along the transect line either at
regular or irregular intervals.
• If random sampling is used a grid is required, and the quadrats are chosen is either by
deciding a set of random number tables or by throwing a dice. According to the figure,
the chosen random lies after 4 meters along the X-axis and 2 meters along the Y-axis.
Sampling Mobile Organisms: Pitfall Traps and Pooters
• Trapping methods are required for moving organisms to
estimate biodiversity and population size.
• A common way used for small animals moving on the ground, is
the pitfall trap.
• This trap consists of a jar put in the soil. The top of it may or may
not be covered depending on whether there will be rainfall or no.
the trap is inspected and emptied regularly.
• Traps can be placed systematically or randomly.
• The limitations of pitfalls are that they are non-selective in the
species caught and do not prevent trapped animals from injuring
each other (e.g. predator & prey).

• Animals can also be caught using nets and then transported to

laboratories for identification.
• A pooter is required to get the animals out of the net and put
them into the specimen container. This is a glass jar used for
collecting small insects etc.; it has two tubes, one (protected
by a gauze) which is sucked, the other up which the insect is
drawn.
• Larger animals such as rats are caught using other traps. While
very large animals such zebras and just counted from an airplane.

Which Sampling Method Should be Used?

• If scientists want to know how distribution changes over an
environmental gradient then systematic sampling will be used. Such
as knowing the effect of a road on vegetation on both sides.
 • If investigation requires comparison between areas, then random
sampling using a grid is used.

Advantages and Disadvantages of sampling methods

Method Advantages Disadvantages
Quadrats Quick Not always very accurate. For example, randomly spaced
Inexpensive quadrats that are too small might miss too many
individuals, resulting in under-representative estimates
of population size.
Researchers who are inconsistent when counting or omit
species that lie only partially within the boundaries may
also introduce errors.
Transects Quick The line passed through the transect can miss a lot of
Inexpensive vegetation

Pitfall traps Inexpensive Often kills organisms captured

Easy to set up and use May oversample or undersample

CAUSES AND IMPACTS OF HABITAT LOSS

Habitat loss is the reason why some species may become extinct.

Causes of Habitat Loss

1- Drainage of wetlands:
• It is hard to estimate the amount of wetland on Earth because they are scattered.
• Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil.
• Wetlands are considered habitats for fish
• Reasons for this are:
- Drainage for agriculture and mosquito control
- Dredging for flood protection
- Used for disposal of waste
- Discharge of pollutants
- Removal of groundwater
2- Agricultural practices:
• Loss of habitats mainly occurs due to agriculture. Clearing up forests in order to grow
food leads to a loss in animals such as birds.
• Intensive agriculture also means using more insecticides and fertilizers. Such chemicals
are soluble in water and can be carried to rivers.
 3- Deforestation

Impacts of Habitat Loss

Loss of biodiversity and genetic depletion
• Due to processes of selective breeding done over thousands of years there is a loss of
biodiversity in plants. With the changing climatic conditions, some of the ancient plants
might be needed now in order to resist the current conditions, however they almost
became extinct due to continuous selective breeding process. For example, wild plants
may not produce very good yield, yet, they are still very resistant to droughts and their
genes can mix with high yielding plants in the future hence make them resistant too.
• Some wild plants and animals can be a good source of medicines and resources which
have not yet been discovered by scientists. Therefore, habitat loss due to loss of
biodiversity means a lot of products will never be discovered. The loss of species
containing potentially useful genes is known as genetic depletion.

CAUSES AND IMPACTS OF DEFORESTATION

Causes of Deforestation
• The main cause of deforestation is the need for wood.
• Wood is also called timber. Planks and boards are known as lumber.
• Logging is done to get wood from the forests and turn it into timber.
• Timber is required by MEDCs (more economically developed countries) to produce
luxury furniture or even paper.
• Wood can also be a source of energy when burnt.
• Logging may not be very damaging because only some species of trees provide the
needed type of timber, therefore, certain trees are selected and not all of them are cut.
• Logging can sometimes be beneficial because it prevents overcrowding of trees, hence
reduce spread of diseases and fungi.
• However, logging makes only 10% of the damage. The real damage is cause when
agriculture and settlement follow.
• Deforestation can also take place to clear land for farming.
• Deforestation can be done to open roads for vehicles. This can be the most damaging,
because it opens doors to other activities to take place.
• If economic deposits are found rock and mineral extraction may occur

Impacts of Deforestation
1- Habitat Loss:
• Biodiversity will be lost. Trees can also be a carbon store and a home for many
rare species.
 2- Soil erosion and desertification:
• Forests reduce the negative effects of heavy rainfall and hence soil erosion might
take place. Tree roots also hold the soil together, and dead leaves and branches
form a layer that protects it.
3- Climate change:
• Changes in the levels of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide and methane). Such
greenhouse gases are rising leading to rising atmospheric temperatures (global
warming).
• Greenhouse gases are mainly rising due to the burning of fossil fuels. The
problem gets even worse with deforestation.
• Deforestation prevents the absorption of carbon dioxide by trees. The use of
machinery to cut trees also emits carbon dioxide.
4- Loss of biodiversity and genetic depletion:
• The majority of species live in forests. Cutting trees means their home is lost forever.

THE NEED FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF FORESTS

Biodiverse forests are considered important attraction for tourists. Therefore, more ecotourism
is achieved.

1- Carbon Sinks and Carbon Stores

• If a forest is growing and trees are young, it takes
more carbon dioxide to photosynthesize, therefore
it is a carbon sink.
• A forest with fully grown trees, it takes in and gives
out the same amount of carbon dioxide. It becomes
a carbon store.

2- Forests and the Water Cycle

• Forests add water vapor to the atmosphere through the process of transpiration.
• This forms clouds which eventually release water as precipitation.
• When trees are cut, this process is reduced hence can lead to droughts.
3- Prevention of Soil Erosion
a- It prevents heavy rainfall from falling heavily on the ground
and causing soil erosion
b- Debris such as tree leaves slow run off and reduces soil erosion
c- Roots of trees hold the soil
d- Forests reduce erosion by slowing down and absorbing energy
from storms
 4- Ecotourism
• Tourists may visit an area to see natural beauty, so economically forests can
generate reasonable income for countries and must hence be managed in a
sustainable way.

STRATEGIES FOR CONSERVING THE BIODIVERSITY AND GENETIC RESOURCES OF NATURAL

ECOSYSTEMS
1- Sustainable harvesting of wild plants and animal species, sustainable forestry and
agroforestry:
• Sustainability means meeting current needs without affecting future needs as
well.
• Wild plants are considered a good source of medicines.
• There are attempts to control harvesting wild medicinal plants.
• Selective logging can be used to achieve sustainability. It means removing only the
mature trees of the needed species. Other growing trees are left, to allow the
forest to repair itself.
• Another technique is agroforestry. Crops here are grown around trees. The trees
enrich the soil when their leaves fall. They also provide food for animals and
firewood for humans. Trees roots hold the soil and provide nitrogen needed by
other crops. Farmers can get milk and food from farms and the animals can fertilize
soil with manure.
2- National parks, wildlife and ecological reserves and corridors:
• Governments can interfere by making certain areas protected regions by laws.
• Laws are used to limit or ban any activities such as hunting, logging, or even
collection of wild flowers in protected areas. However, it might be hard to
implement this law as it requires regular inspection, fines and sometimes
imprisonment.
• Protected areas may require an entry fee which is then used for conservation
work.
• A guidebook is given to tourists when they buy tickets to tell them what they can
and cannot do in the park.
• Organisms depend on their specific habitat for survival. When large amounts of
habitat are lost, this reduces populations and important resources that are
available, threatening the survival of the species that live there.
• Sometimes habitats are not lost completely, but instead become fragmented.
Fragmented habitats were once located in one place, but are now broken into
several smaller pieces and are no longer connected. Fragmentation can cause
problems because it can separate individuals within a population, as well as
separate them from important resources. Habitat fragmentation is usually
caused by human activities and structures, such as roads, logging, and other
 development. A wildlife corridor is a way of connecting
these fragmented habitats. The corridor allows
movement between isolated patches of habitat without
other disturbances. This corridor can be in the form of
trees between isolated areas to find a solution to this
problem.
3- Extractive reserves:
Such reserves try to balance between destroying the forest for short term benefit and
stopping economic activity. It is a type of sustainable use protected
4- World biosphere reserves:
• Again, it includes balancing between
conservation while meeting people’s
needs.
• Ecosystems that need protection are
located in the core area. Human
activities in this area is restricted to
monitoring and some research.
• The buffer zone is an area where
more research is allowed as well as
education and tourism. It may contain laboratories and recreational facilities.
• Biosphere reserves are recognized internationally by the UNESCO (United
Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) therefore can easily
attract funding and the support of experts.
5- Seed banks, zoos and captive breeding
A- Seed banks:
• If it’s not possible to protect an area where plants live, their
seeds can be kept in seed banks.
• It is easier to store leaves because they do not require as much
space as plants.
• Collecting seeds from plants will not damage the population.
• Seeds do not need as much care as that needed by plants.
• Storage of seeds undergoes certain steps:
i- Seeds are collected
ii- Seeds are x-rayed and checked for their health
iii- Seeds are dried to remove water
iv- Seeds are stored at a low temperature
v- Some seeds are planted to make sure they can still germinate
 B- Zoos and captive breeding:
There are three main roles of zoos:
a- Educate people about the illegal trade in animals and
the need to maintain biodiversity
b- Scientific research can be done to control diseases,
animal behavior and to improve breeding
6- Captive breeding can be done to increase species and reduce
the risk of extinction. They try to achieve genetic diversity and
avoid interbreeding. For example, organisms are not allowed to
breed repeatedly.
7- Sustainable tourism and ecotourism
• Tourism is an important source of income. However, it can cause
damage to the environment such as pollution.
• Ecotourism is a form of sustainable tourism in which it takes place
in a way that benefit local people, and at the same time protect
the environment. As an eco-tourist, you decide to travel in a way
that shows respect to nature and does not contribute to its
damage.
CHAPTER 9
NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN ACTIVITY
IMPORTANT TERMS

Ecosystem All the living things (biotic components) together with all the non-living
things (abiotic components) in an area
Biotic Living components of the environment that may affect other living things
Abiotic Non-living components of the environment that may affect living things
Population All the organism of one species living in a defined area
Community A group of populations of different species that live together in an area
and interact with each other
Habitat The place within an ecosystem where organism lives
Niche The role of a species within the ecosystem
Brackish water Water that is salty but not as salty as seawater
Food chain A diagram showing the relationship between a single producer and
primary, secondary and tertiary consumers
Photosynthesis The process by which plants make glucose in the form of carbohydrate
from carbon dioxide and water using energy from sunlight
Herbivore Another name for primary consumer
Carnivore Another name for secondary and tertiary consumes
Primary consumers Organisms within an ecosystem that derive their food from producers
Secondary consumers Organism within an ecosystem that derive their food from primary
consumers
Tertiary consumers Organisms within an ecosystem that derive their food from secondary
consumers
Decomposers Organisms within an ecosystem that derive their food from the bodies of
dead organisms
Food web A diagram showing the relationship between all (or most) of the
producers, primary. Secondary and tertiary consumers in an ecosystem
Pyramid of numbers A diagram that represents the number of organisms at each feeding
(trophic) level in an ecosystem by a horizontal bar whose length is
proportional to the numbers at that level
Trophic level A feeding level within a food chain or web
Chlorophyll The green pigment in plants that traps light energy
Respiration The process by which living things release energy from food to carry out
the processes of life, such as movement
Pollen grain The structure in plants that contains the male sex cell, it is carried to the
female organ by pollination
Quadrat A frame of known area used to sample organisms that do not move, such
as plants
Random sampling A sampling method in which the sampling device is placed using random
number tables or the roll of dice
Transect A sampling method in which sampling devices are laid out along a line
already placed across an area
Systematic sampling A sampling method in which the sampling device is placed along a line or
some other pre-determined pattern, the most common pattern being the
line of a transect
Pooter A device for retrieving small animals from devices such as nets and pitfall
traps
Extinction Process by which a species stops to exist on Earth
Climax community The stable community characteristic of an area that persists as long as the
climate does not change
Greenhouse gas A gas that stops energy in the form of heat from being lost from the
atmosphere
Ecotourism Tourism in which the participants travel to see the natural world, in a
sustainable way
Carbon sink A vegetated area where the intake of carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere in the photosynthesis exceeds its output from respiration, so
the net flow of carbon is from the atmosphere into plants
Carbon store A mature vegetated area where the intake of carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere by photosynthesis equals its output from respiration, so the
mature plants store carbon
Conservation The protection and management of natural areas