ANIMALS, PLANTS AND ENVIRONMENT

Living and Non-Living Things

*Ecology- is the study of the interaction of organism to their physical and biological
environment
*Ecologist- a person that studies ecology.
*Ecosystem- a group of living things in an area that interact to each other, together
with their non-living environment.
-combination of living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) things.
Types of Ecosystem:
1. Terrestrial Ecosystem- land
2. Aquatic Ecosystem- water (fresh & marine)
Factors/Components of Ecosystem:
1. Biotic- living things; examples are plants and animals.
2. Abiotic- non-living things; examples are soil, water, rocks/stones, etc.
*Community- different organisms that live and interact with one another in a
particular place/area.
*Population- a total number of individuals living (species) in a given area.
*Habitat- a place where an organism lives. For example: the habitat of a fish is the
sea while the habitat of a snake is the forest.
*Niche/Ecological Niche- the role that is played by an organism in an ecosystem. For
example: For example: the niche of an earthworm is the food for birds, insects and
bait for fish. It serves as nutrients for the soil and transports minerals.
Relationships in an Ecosystem
Every organism in an ecosystem fights for its survival and because of this, there is
an interaction among living organisms.
1. Competition- a kind of interaction where two organisms use the same
resources that is short in supply so they compete with each other. The
resources could be food, shelter, water, mates, or space.
Examples:
*Plants are planted close to each other.
*Monkeys fight over banana.
*Dogs fight over a mate.
*Cats fight each other over a piece of fish.
*Vultures fight over dead meat.

2. Predation- this occurs when one animal captures, kills, and eats another
animal. This relationship exists between a predator (benefits) and prey
(harmed, killed, or eaten).
*Predator- is an animal that catches/hunts/captures other animals for food.
*Prey- refers to the animals that predators eat.
Examples:
*Cat run after mice.
*Lion runs after the deer
*Owl attacking a mouse
*Snake eating a rat
Symbiosis- occurs when two (2) kinds of organisms live together. There are three
kinds symbiotic relationships.
1. Commensalism- a relationship in which one organism benefits while the
other is not affected.
Examples:
*Orchids attached to a tree
*Barnacles stuck on a whale
*Birds build their nest on trees
2. Mutualism- both organism benefit in the relationship.
Examples:
*Anabaena living with azolla
*Flowering plants and bees
*Heron and carabao
*A man and dog
3. Parasitism- one species benefits but the other is harmed. This relationship
exists between a parasite (benefits) and host (harmed).
*Parasite- organism that live inside (endoparasite) and outside (ectoparasite)
the body of another organism and feed on it.
Two Types of Parasites are:
a. Endoparasites- are parasites live inside the body of an organism.
b. Ectoparasites- are parasites live outside the body of an organism.
*Host- an organism on which parasite feeds on.
Examples:
*Fleas on dogs
*Lice on the head of human beings and on bodies of birds and mammals
*Tapeworm in the intestine of human
*Ticks on dogs

Food Chain and Food Web

All living things need energy in order to live. They use energy to carry on all the
basic life functions for most living organisms; the immediate source of energy is the
food they eat. But this food can be traced all the way back to the green plants, which
is used the suns energy. Thus, all the energy used by plants and animals comes
directly from the sun.
All organisms in an ecosystem are interdependent. Organisms can be classified
into three main groups based on how they obtain energy: producers, consumers, and
decomposers.
*Producers- also known as autotrophs, manufacture their own food.
*Consumers- also known as heterotrophs cannot manufacture their own food. They
depend on green plants and other animals.
Classification of Consumers:
1. Herbivore- consumers that eat plants. Examples are grasshoppers, rabbit,
cow, horse, etc.
2. Carnivores- consumers that only eat meat of other animals. Examples are
tigers, hawks, sharks, etc.
3. Omnivores- consumers that eat both plants and meat of animals. Examples
are bears, human beings, raccoons, etc.
*Scavengers- animals that feed on dead animals. These kinds of consumers do
not hunt other animals by themselves. They just eat left overs of other animals.
They also help in breaking down dead organic matter. Examples are vultures and
some bottom dwellers in the ocean.
*Decomposers- also known as saprotrophs, when organisms die they are
decomposed or broken down into nitrogen and other elements by bacteria.
*Food Chain- shows/ illustrate how energy in the form of is passed on from one
organism to another.
- composed of producer, consumer (primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary
consumer, quaternary consumer..) and decomposer.
Examples:
Plant -------- Fly -------- Spider -------- Mouse
Corn -------- Chicken -------- Man
Grass -------- Grasshopper -------- Frog ------ Snake -------- Hawk
Carrot -------- Rabbit -------- Hawk
Banana -------- Monkey -------- Hawk

Plant, Grass, Corn, Carrot and Banana are the Producers. Fly, Chicken,
Grasshopper, Rabbit and Monkey are the Primary Consumers. Spider, Man, Frog
and Hawk are the Secondary Consumers. Mouse and Snake are the Tertiary
Consumers. Hawk is the Quaternary Consumer.
*Food Web- is a complex feeding system containing many overlapping food chains.
Example:

Cycles in the Ecosystem

The non-living materials in the ecosystem like water, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon
dioxide are very important in the maintenance of life.
Water, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide move through the ecosystem in
cycles called biogeochemical cycle.
*Biogeochemical- bio means life, geo means earth and chemical (gas). It is process
by which inorganic materials move from the atmosphere or soil into living organism
and back.
Biogeochemical Cycles include the water cycle, carbon dioxide-oxygen cycle and
nitrogen cycle.
*Water Cycle