SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Surigao City, Main Campus

GS211 – ADVANCED FIELD ECOLOGY
Professor: DR. MAURICIO S. ADLAON
FIELDWORK NO. 5

Name: Ms. WENDIE B. ESCANER Date: February 10, 2018

Course: MAEd- Gen. Science Score:

DISTURBED ECOSYSTEM

INTRODUCTION

Ecosystem consists of biotic and abiotic

components that interact with each other to achieve
stability and balance. However, ecosystem does not
always remain in balance. Disturbances sometimes
alter the stability of the ecosystem. These
disturbances include weather, geologic forces and
biological changes. Disturbance brings about
mortality to organisms and changes in their spatial
patterning in the ecosystems they inhabit and plays a
significant role in shaping the structure of individual
populations and the character of whole ecosystems Disturbed Forest area
(Paine, 2012).
Effects of disturbance on biodiversity have been observed in a great variety of
ecosystems ranging from tundra communities (Jorgenson et al. 2010) to coral reefs (Graham et
al. 2009), a range of organisms extending from bacteria (Binh et al. 2007) to primates (Bicknell
& Peres 2010) and at multiple levels of organization including molecular pathways
(Spagnuolo et al. 2009) and ecosystem functioning (Hotes et al.
2010).
Some disturbances, however, are much more local in their
effects. Science.org encyclopedia stated that the primary
disturbance regime in old-growth forests is associated with the
death of individual, large trees caused by disease, insect attack, or
a lightning strike.
Elsevier B.V., 2018 identified different classes of
disturbance, it includes (a) change of state; (b) change of state
followed by change of transition function; (c) change of input; and
(d) change of input followed by change of state and transition
function.
Grass and mosses found Many species up to communities and ecosystems are not
in the disturbed area able to cope with such combined changes. In addition, it has
been shown that different ecological communities respond in
different ways and with different, positive or negative, consequences (Fetzer, 2015). Therefore,
understanding the complexity of the factors contributed to ecological disturbance is significant
for the purpose of conservation and management. This fieldwork helped to understand and
assess a disturbed ecosystem and the parameter of its stressors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A disturbed forest ecosystem in a rural area of Basilisa, Dinagat Islands was being
studied in a rainy days of February, 2018. The existing biotic components in the area were
studied. The parameters that indicate the range of disturbance were also measured.

RESULT

A forest ecosystem has been observed as

disturbed in the area. The back portion of the hill is
inhabited by huge tress, tall ferns, vines, and some
wild, tiny animals. Turning into the front portion of the
mountain, the part that lies on the area inhabited by
people and mining industry, it can be observed that
plants are few and tiny. Cogon grass partially covered
the naked soil. There was no presence of huge trees,
only those few, little shrubs and young mangiums
intentionally planted in the area. Huge stem of
decaying trees were observable within the area.
These dead organisms, especially decaying stem of
trees were inhabited by different fungi and lichens.
The table below shows the different organisms
observed in the field of activity.
Short talahib grass that grows
randomly in the area
Organisms found in the Disturbed Forest
Plants Animals Fungi and Lichens
1. Cogon grass 1. Random ants 1. Bracket Fungi
2. Young mangiums 2. Cup Fungi
3. Mosses 3. Split Gill Fungi
4. Short talahib grass 4. Black Morel Fungi
5. Witches’ butter fungi
6. Black Trumpet fungi
7. Black Coral Fungi
8. Blood Lichen
9. Bog beacon Fungi
10. Orange Mushroom
 The table above shows that fungi were numerous in the disturbed forest compared to
plants and animals. Few plants and animals found in the area and distributed randomly.

IDENTIFIED FUNGI FOUND IN THE DISTURBED FOREST

Orange Mushroom Bitter Polypore

Cup Fungi Black Coral

Orange Bracket Fungi Blood Lichen

Bog Beacon Fungi Black – eyed Parasol

Split Gill Fungi Black Bracket Fungi

Blushing Amaneta Black Trumpet

White Morel Black Morel

The table above shows the different identified fungus species in the disturbed forest
area. The fungi were found in decayed trees and moist soil. Others coexisted with mosses.
DISCUSSION

The physical attributes of the forest have shown that the half portion of it was disturbed.
Since the disturbance lies near the residence and mining area, it could be hypothesized that this
disturbance was caused by the development in the area. The primary contemporary drivers of
tropical forest destruction include direct effects of human activities such as habitat destruction
and fragmentation (land-use change), invasive species and over-exploitation, as well as indirect
effects of human activities such as climate change (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005).

The organisms present in the area indicate that the mountain had undergone ecological
disturbance and started its primary ecological succession. The result above shows that fungi
dominated among other organisms. Based from the ecological succession, the disturbed forest
is undergoing its late primary succession. The Science Encyclopedia stated that when actual
disturbance event is finished, a process known as succession begins, which may eventually
produce a similar ecosystem to the one that existed prior to the disturbance. Fungi inhabited the
area due to the abundance of decayed plants from the previous ecosystem. Fungi are one
group of the first colonizers of soil and have crucial roles in decomposing remnants of old
ecosystem and in forming fertile soil that will sustain the growth and development of a complex
vegetation community (Fierer et al., 2010; Bradley et al., 2014).

Disturbances may be generated by abiotic, or nonliving, forces such as weather and

wildfires, or they may occur as a result of biotic, or living, forces such as disease and invasions
of exotic species. Although disturbances tend to negatively affect populations of resident plants,
animals, and other organisms in a given ecosystem, they provide some fugitive species with
opportunities to move into and gain footholds in ecosystems whose biological communities once
excluded them. This process results in an increase in the biodiversity of the ecosystem (Paine,
2012).

REFERENCES

Jorgenson JC, Ver Hoef JM, Jorgenson MT, 2010 Long-term recovery patterns of arctic tundra
after winter seismic exploration.

Graham N. A. J., Wilson S. K., Pratchett M. S., Polunin N. V. C., Spalding M. D. 2009 Coral
mortality versus structural collapse as drivers of corallivorous butterflyfish decline. Biodivers.
Conserv.

Binh CT, Heuer H, Gomes NC, Kotzerke A, Fulle M, Wilke BM, Schloter M, Smalla K
FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2007 Short-term effects of amoxicillin on bacterial communities in
manured soil.

Bicknell J., Peres C. A. 2010 Vertebrate population responses to reduced-impact logging in a

neotropical forest. Forest Ecol.
Spagnuolo V, Terracciano S, Giordano S Chemosphere. 2009 Trace element content and
molecular biodiversity in the epiphytic moss Leptodon smithii: two independent tracers of human
disturbance.

Hotes S., Grootjans A. P., Takahashi H., Ekschmitt K., Poschlod P. 2010 Resilience and
alternative equilibria in a mire plant community after experimental disturbance by volcanic ash.

Fetzer, I., Johst, K., Schäwe, R., Banitz, T., Harms, H., Chatzinotas, A., (2015): The extent of
functional redundancy changes as species’ roles shift in different environments

Tian, 2017 Ecological Succession Pattern of Fungal Community in Soil along a Retreating
Glacier

<ahref="http://science.jrank.org/pages/2125/Disturbance-Ecological.html">Ecological
Disturbance</a>

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005 Ecosystems and human well-being: biodiversity

synthesis. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute

Paine, 2012 Ecological disturbance. Encyclopedia Britannica 2018