Gladys: A pleasant morning to all. My name is Gladys Marie a.

Escalante and I’m the leader of Group 1,

which is going to present THE FIRST LAW OF ECOLOGY: Everything is related to everything else. Here, I
present you, my members.
Mariel: Good morning, everyone. My name is Mariel Duyogan and I am the assistant leader of Group 1.
I will be the one to share the overview.
Princess: Hi, I am Princess Garnica and I am your 1st reporter of Group 1.
Laarnie: Hello, my name is Laarnie Dompor, the 2nd reporter of Group 1.
Johvanne: Good morning, my name is Carl Johvanne Salingay. I am the 3rd reporter of Group 1.
Kent: And I am Kent Lico, the 4th reporter of Group 1.
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Gladys: Ecologist Barry Commoner wrote The Closing Circle in the early 1970s in which he discussed
the incredibly rapid growth of industry and technology and their lasting impact on all forms of life. He
suggests that we can lessen the negative impact by raising awareness, informing, and educating people
about their connection to the natural world. Commoner introduced four ecological laws to the scientific
community in the form of these straightforward statements:
1. Everything is connected to everything else
2. Everything has to go somewhere
3. Everything is always changing
4. There is no such thing as a free lunch
This law form the basis for studying and understanding relationships and independencies found in
communities and ecosystem they further explained that humankind is in fact only one member of the
biotic community and that people are shaped and nurtured by the characteristic of the land this laws
will not explain everything mysteries will remain but they will give you clearer understanding of and
appreciation of the land and your niche as a member of living community.
Our topic for todays discussion is about the 1st law of Ecology which is “Everything Is Connected To
Everything Else”
Mariel: The saying underscores the relationships between all living organisms and their environment,
which constitute the First Law of Ecology: everything is connected to everything else. The
word ecology was coined by the German zoologist Ernst Haeckel, who applied the term oekologie to
the “relation of the animal both to its organic as well as its inorganic environment.” The word comes
from the Greek oikos, meaning “household,” “home,” or “place to live” and from the Greek word
logos, meaning study. Thus, ecology deals with the organism and its environment.
The meaning of this law was brought home to some twenty participants in a workshop at a beach resort
in Batangas some time in 1982.The problem thrown at us by the late Agriculture Minister, Arturo
Tanco, Jr. was this: Why was the first catch of Batanguenos along the coast diminishing and what can be
done about it? This was the problem of the fishermen there which, it was discovered later, turned out
to be the problem of all the fishermen in the coastal towns or the entire archipelago.
For three days the environmentalists wrestled with the puzzle. They looked into the traditional causes
of marine life destruction including dynamite fishing and cyanide poisoning. But these did not appear to
be the major causes. Then on the second day of workshop, we toured the coastal waters and
investigated the condition of the coral reefs, the habitat of the fish. Lo and behold, the cause of the
problem stared us in our faces. The corals were being suffocated by silt deposits. Siltation, that was it.
Siltation was destroying the habitat and source of nutrients of the fishes. The loss of the corals in turn
drove the fish away. The fish Abandoned their traditional home, now ruined by an avalanche of soil
particles eroded from the mountains overlooking the coastline. We looked up and sure enough, the
mountains were bald. The trees had been cut and the vegetation destroyed by fire. The result was
diminution of fish harvests. What could be done about it? The only answer of course was to stop
denuding not only the forest of Batangas, but also all over the country where the problem existed.
Naturally, this was easier said than done.
Princess:
APPLICATION OF LAW NO. 1 THE FUNCTIONAL COMPONENTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM
Food Chain
The essence of life begins with light from the sun. It continues with the
transfer of this energy from sun to plant to animal. This link between
organisms is called a "food chain."
The series of stages that energy goes through in the form of food is called a
food chain. It can also be defined as the general sequence of who eats whom.
However, if we analyze in term of trophic level it would be better to consider the
term food web.
Food chains are simple models to illustrate food relationships between different
organisms. All food chains have a common beginning: the sun's solar energy.
Producers receive this energy and convert it into food for primary consumers
t(herbivores) and secondary consumers (carnivores).
Laarnie:
Food Web
Each species, including Homo sapiens, is a link in many chains. The mouse eats hundreds
of different plants, and the owl consumes other animals besides mice. Both animals are
links in hundreds of chains. These interlocking chains comprise a "food web" (see Fig. 2).
This tangle of chains seems confused and disorderly, yet in truth the web is highly
structured and stable. When a strand of the web is altered or cut, many other strands
adjust to it.
Historically, food relationships were simple, but through eons of time organisms have changed and
numbers increased, creating complex food relationships. Similarly, environmental changes have
occurred over several hundred years and organisms have had time to adjust. However, today
these organisms are finding it difficult to adjust to rapid alterations and disappearance of
their habitat. For the first time in history, food chains are getting shorter, rather than longer.
Ecologists and other natural resource experts are beginning to recognize that maintaining
these complex food relationships and interdependencies is crucial for a healthy, biotic
community. Instead of managing land for the benefit of one species, land managers are starting to
consider diversity and balance in their management plans.
Mariel:
TYPES OF FOOD CHAINS: Two major pathways of energy flow through ecosystem:
I. Grazing food chain is one which goes from green plants to grazing herbivores and finally to
carnivores.
II. Detritus food chain is one which goes from dead organic matter to micro-organisms and then to
detritus feeding organisms.
Ecological Pyramids
Nutritional relationships in an ecosystem are often shown as pyramids. These models place are
producers at the base and the carnivores at the tip. Energy Flow Definitions of Energy:
I. A capacity for interaction between particles.
II. A capacity to make things happen.
III. A capacity to do work.
Princess:
The driving force behind all life in the biosphere is energy, 99.99% of all the radiant energy required for
life on earth is provided by the sun and the remaining o,o1 % comes from the heat within the planet,
thus the sun is the ultimate source of all energy. Since the sun’s energy exists for at least 4,600 million
years and will continue hopefully into the future, it is described as infinite resource. The energy of the
sun arrives at the outer edge of the atmosphere at very high-energy short-wave radian .As the radiation
travels through the atmosphere about half of its energy is absorbed, scattered, and reflected by water
vapor. The ozone layer in the outer edge of the atmosphere plays a crucial role in trapping the
biological harmful ultraviolet radiation given off by the sun. Currently, man is threatening the said layer
with ozone depleting substances like chlorofluorocarbon. 95.25 % of energy that reaches the surface of
the earth is absorbed by the oceans, leaving almost 5% available to green plants for photosynthesis
Johvanne:
COMPETITION
Competition occurs between members of the same species and between species competing for the
same re- sources (food, shelter, mates, nests, dens, water, etc.) at the same time. Competition should
not be viewed as all bad. Occasionally, intensified competition benefits species in the long run.
For moose, competition becomes intensified in early fall during "the rut" (breeding season). Why?
Because bull moose are competing for the same resource: cows. Only the larger, more dominant bulls
will mate. It is not only the strength and size of the bull that decides who will mate and who will not,
but also the size of the antlers. Bulls often fight, but rarely sustain injuries. Even if a bull moose is
mature enough to mate, larger and more dominant moose will prevent subordinate bulls from mating.
In this way, only the strongest genes of the moose herd are passed to the next generation. Subordinate
bulls must wait until the following year, if they mate at all.
Competition also occurs among plants as well as animals. White oak saplings may compete for limited
sunlight, but only the strongest ones will push ahead to capture the sun's rays, while the weaker ones
perish. Viewed as a whole, the white oak forest benefits with fewer plants competing
for light, water and nutrients.
In competitions, there is often a winner and a loser. However, this is not always true. In
New England, the boreal (hemlock/white pine) forest is inhabited by five kinds of
warblers (a small bird). They all eat insects and tree buds. It would seem highly unlikely
that these warblers could occupy the same niche in the same habitat. However, these
five warblers (myrtle, cape may, black-burnian, black-throated green and the bay-
breasted) have adapted their behavior by feeding at different levels, varying their diet
and nesting at different times. Their unusual success at adaptation can be attributed to an earlier period
of competition. These five species were able to alter their feeding and nesting habits enough to co-exist
peacefully (see Fig. 3).
Kent:
PREDATOR-PREY RELATIONSHIPS
A special form of competition that occurs between two different species is the predator-prey
relationship. A predator is an animal that captures and kills its prey. Predators often eliminate the
weakest or diseased members of the prey species, thereby leaving stronger members behind to
reproduce and pass their genes to the next generation.
As predator populations increase, they consume more prey and reduce prey
populations. With less food avail- able, predator populations decline, and prey
populations increase, creating a subsequent increase in predators. These predator-
prey cycles are healthy and maintain the strength of both species.
A clear example of the predator-prey cycle is the relationship between the
snowshoe hare and the Canada lynx in the northern United States and Canada.
Records of their population have been documented since the early 1800's. The
data clearly depicts a ten-year, predator-prey cycle. Increases in prey populations are followed the next
year by increases in predator populations.
Here is the summary about the 1st Law of Ecology - Everything Is Connected to Everything Else
"Food chains" are mechanisms that link different plants and animals to one another.
"Food webs" are interlocking "food chains" that depict complex relationships and
interdependencies among "web" members.
Competition can be beneficial, as well as detrimental, in the welfare of plant and animal species.
Alterations in prey populations directly alter predator populations and vice-versa.