PEOPLE AND EARTH’S ECOSYSTEM
TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE
LEC 4.2 | SEM 1 | AY 2022 – 2023
ECOSYSTEMS (PART 2)
FORESTS
• The first forests were dominated by giant
horsetails, clubmosses, and ferns that stood up
to 40 ft tall.
• Paleozoic Era
o Gymnosperms (seed-bearing
vascular plants) appeared
• Triassic Period
o Gymnosperms dominated the
Earth’s forests.
• Cretacious Period
o Angiosperms (flowering plants)
appeared
• Gymnosperms and angiosperms evolved
together with birds, mammals, insects until they
dominated majority of the Earth’s landscape.
• Today, approximately 1/3 of the earth’s land area
is occupied by forests.
• Account for over 2/3 of the leaf area of land
plants
• Contain about 70% of carbon present in living
things
3 MAJOR TYPES OF FORESTS
• Classified by seasonality.
• Resulted from various precipitation and
temperature levels
1. TROPICAL RAINFORESTS
• Largest living biomass and have the highest rates
of terrestrial biodiversity
• Found near the equator where hot, moisture-
laden air rises and dumps its moisture
• Have year-round, uniformly warm temperatures,
high humidity, and almost daily heavy rainfall
• Dominated by broadleaf evergreen plants which
keep most of their leaves year-round
• Tops of trees form a dense canopy that blocks
most light from reaching the forest floor
• Some trees are drapes with vines called lianas
that reach for the treetops to gain access to
sunlight
• Tropical rainforests have a very high net primary
productivity because they are highly diverse.
• Rain forest species occupy a variety of
specialized niches in distinct layers, which
contribute to their highly species diversity
• Decomposition is rapid in tropical rainforests
because of the warm, moist conditions and the
hordes of decomposers.
• About 90% of the nutrients released by this rapid
decomposition are quickly taken up and stored by
trees, vines and other plants.
• Because of the almost daily rainfall, remaining
nutrients are leached from the topsoil.
Conservation Concern
• Atleast half of all tropical rain forests have been
destroyed by human activities
• This pace of destruction and degradation is
increasing
• According to ecologists, w/out strong, protective
measures, most, if not all the forests along with
their rich biodiversity could be gone by the end of
this century
2. TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FOREST
• Typically has warm summers, cold winters and
abundant precipitation (rain in the summer, snow
in the winter)
• Dominated by a few species of broadleaf
deciduous trees
• By deciduous, we mean trees that drop their
leaves in the fall
• Deciduous forests are home to a few large
carnivores
• They are also home to herbivores such as moose
and squirrels.
• Reptiles include toads, wood frogs, and shorelines, coral reefs, and mangrove
salamanders. Most of them imitate the dead, forests)
decomposing leaves on the ground to avoid • 2. Freshwater life zones (lakes, rivers,
predators. streams and inland wetlands)

OPEN SEA AND THE OCEAN FLOOR HOST A

• The rate of decomposition in temperate
deciduous forests is slower
• As a result, they accumulate a thick layer or
slowly decaying leaf litter, which becomes a
storehouse of nutrients.
VARIETY OF SPECIESTYPES OF FORESTS
1. EUPHOTIC ZONE
• Brightly lit upper zone, where drifting
phytoplankton carry about 40% of the
world’s photosynthetic activity

Temperate Rain Forests/ Coastal Coniferous 2. BATHYAL ZONE

Forests
• Dimly lit middle zone which receives little
• Found in scattered coastal temperate areas with sunlight and therefore does not contain
ample rainfall and moisture from dense ocean photosynthesizing producers
frogs
3. ABYSSAL ZONE

3. COLD/ NORTHERN CONIFEROUS FORESTS
• Also called as boreal forests or taiga
• Found in areas where winters are long and
extremely cold, and with winter sunlight available
only for 6-8 hours/day
• Summers are short, w/ cool to warm
temperatures, and the sun shines as long as 19
hours a day (mid-summer)
• World’s largest terrestrial biome with its eco zone
spanning 8 countries
• Plant diversity is low because only a few species
can survive the winter
• Decomposition is slow because of low
temperature, waxy coating of the needles, and
high soil acidity
• Wildlife includes bears, wolves, moose, lynx, and
many burrowing rodent species
• Deepest zone
• No sunlight to support photosynthesis
• Has little dissolved oxygen
TYPES OF MARINE/ SALTWATER ECOSYSTEM
1. ESTUARIES
• Where a river meets the sea
• Partially enclosed body of water where
seawater mixes with the river’s freshwater
as well as nutrients and pollutants in runoff
from the land
2. SALT MARSHES
• Coastal wetlands that are flooded and

MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS

• AQUATIC LIFE ZONES:
• Aquatic equivalents of biomes
• Saltwater and freshwater portions of the
biosphere that can support life
• SALINITY:
• The amount of various salts such as sodium
chloride dissolved in a given volume of
water
• Types of Aquatic Life Zones depending on
Salinity: drained by salt water brought in by the tides
• 1. Saltwater or marine life zones (oceans, • Oxygen level here is very low (hypoxia)
bays, estuaries, coastal wetlands, • Seagrass and Seagrass Beds
 • Found in shallow salty and brackish waters
• Have long, grass-like leaves
• Seagrasses have leaves, roots and veins
and produce flowers and seeds and aid in
photosynthesis and nutrient transport
• Have no stomata
• Provide shelter and food to a variety of
species ranging from small invertebrates to
large marine animals as well as birds
3. MANGROVE FORESTS
• Upper trunk along with its leaves and
branches are above the water line, while the
lower trunk and very large system and prop
roots are underwater.
• Structure creates an intricate network of
habitat for numerous amphibious and marine
animals
• They are ecosystem engineers
• They can be responsible for creating entire
islands
• Protects coastline from erosion and serves
as defense for storms
• Provide important nursery habitat for many
species of fishes and invertebrates,
including those that are commercially
important fisheries species
• The dual services of coastal protection and
habitat for commercially important species
make mangrove forests one of the most
valuable ecosystems in the world.
• a. Littoral Zone
• Warmest since it is shallow and can absorb
more of the sun’s heat
• Sustains a fairly diverse community
• b. Limnetic Zone
• Near-surface open water surrounded by the
littoral zone
• Well-lighted (like the littoral zone) and is
dominated by plankton
• c. Profundal Zone
• Much colder and denser than the other 2
• Little light penetrates all the way though the
limnetic zone into the profundal zone
• Fauna is heterotrophs
2. STREAMS AND RIVERS
• Bodies of flowing water moving in 1 direction
• Get their starts at headwaters, which may be
springs, snowmelt or even lakes, and then travel
all the way to their mouths, usually another water
channel or the ocean
3. WETLANDS
• Associated with estuaries
• Coastal land areas covered with water all or part
of the year
• One of Earth’s most productive ecosystem
(includes coastal marshes, mangrove forests,
sea-grass beds)

4. OPEN OCEAN ECOSYSTEM

• Largest ecosystem on Earth

• Open ocean organisms live out their
existence without ever coming into contact
with the shore, the seafloor, or the water’s
surface

TYPES OF FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM

1. PONDS AND LAKES

• Range in size from just a few sq.m. to thousands

of sq. km.
• Several are remnants from the Pleistocene
glaciation
• Many ponds are seasonal, lasting just a couple of
months (such as sessile pools) while lakes may
exist for hundreds of yrs. or more.