The Interactions in the

Ecosystems
 01.
What is an ecology?

Ecology is the study of the interaction among organisms and their environment. People who
specialize in this course are called ecologist. An ecosystem is a community of biotic components
that interact with each other and with abiotic components in a given area. Biotic components
include all organisms such as plants, animals, and bacteria. Abiotic components are the nonliving
parts, such as weather, climate, temperature, rocks, soil, and the sun. Both biotic and abiotic
components depend on each other. The absence of one can affect the other in the ecosystem.
 Types of Organisms
01. Producers – manufacture their own food.

02. Consumers – feed on other organisms.

03. Decomposers – break down or decompose decaying

or dead bodies of organisms.

04. Scavengers – eat dead organisms.

Types of
Ecosystems
Terrestrial Ecosystem
Tropical rainforests are terrestrial ecosystems. They usually found in
wet tropical uplands and lowlands near Earth’s equator. So, these foresee have
a relatively hot and moist environment, which can be suitable for various
organisms.
 This type of ecosystem contains a wide
array of vegetation and is dominated by trees with
broad leaves that form a green, functional canopy.
 Layers of trees in the Tropical Rainforest:
01. Emergent Layer

The Emergent layer of the rainforest has

enormous umbrella-shaped trees that take up plenty of
sunlight. These trees are also exposed to winds that
can dry up their leaves. Many of these trees have
small, pointed leaves. In the Philippines, Talisay and
narra are found in the emergent layer.
Animals such as orangutans, monkeys, and birds
such as hornbills and eagles also live in this layer. Bats
and butterflies are also visible in the emergent layer of
tropical rainforest.
 02. Canopy Layer

• Lower Canopy Layer or UNDERSTORY

• Upper Canopy Layer

• Lower Canopy Layer or UNDERSTORY

- is mostly made up of shrubs and small trees. It also contains trees

that are about 18 meters or less in height. Because most of the
sunlight is blocked by the upper canopy, this area is always shaded
and has high humidity. Animals such as bats, owls, monkeys, spiders,
ants, and stick insects are usually found in this layer.
 02. Canopy Layer

• Upper Canopy Layer

- is below the emergent layer. Plenty of sunlight is readily available in here, blocking
light exposure for the lower canopy.

- Plants that eat small insects are also found in the upper canopy, such as
Rafflesia. The third species of Rafflesia, the rafflesia speciosa, is a parasite of
a species of lianas. Its smell resembles that of rotting meat, attracting flies.
Another carnivorous plant, the pitcher plant has modified leaves called pitfall
traps that have a deep cavity filled with liquid. It traps very small insects. Most
of the rainforest animals live here such as big parrot and spider monkeys
 03. Forest Floor

Last is the forest floor. This is the darkest layer in the rainforest. Because
it only gets a small amount of sunlight due to the layers above it, only a few
plants grow in this part. Termites, earthworms, and fungi that decompose the
fallen dry leaves and wastes occupy this area. Giant millipedes, frogs, snakes,
lizards, and some insects also live in this layer. There are no dominant species in
any layer of the tropical rainforest. Each plant or animal thrives in the layer that
it inhabits depending on the conditions it favors.
Symbiotic
Relationships

As mentioned earlier, different organisms

coexist within the ecosystem. This interactions means
that these organisms depend on each other for food
and shelter. The long-term relationship that exist
between two organisms is called a symbiotic
relationship.
 Preda
tion
In tropical rainforest, there are
animals that act as predators and
some that serve as their prey.
.
The predator eats the weaker
organisms called the prey. The frog
or lizard, for example, eat insects.
Snakes, owls, or eagles eat small
birds.

This symbiotic relationship is called predation.

 Mutual
ism
There are small animals such as ants and small birds
that live in the trees. They protect the trees from other insects
and vines. Because of this, the tree grows more quickly. This
type of relationship is called mutualism, wherein two organism
benefit from each other. The ants and birds use the tree as
their shelter. The tree gets protection from other organism in
return.
 Commens
alism
There are case wherein one organism benefits,
but the other organism Is unaffected. One example is the
epiphyte that gets support from the trees to obtain more
sunlight and nutrients from the air. The tree is neither
harmed nor does it benefit from the relationship. This is
called commensalism.
 Competiti
on
There are cases wherein two or more animals
fight for the same food, or trees compete to get more
sunlight. This relationship is called competition.
 Organisms in the tropical rainforest also interact
with the abiotic components to survive and live. For instance,
plants manufacture their own food through photosynthesis.
They need sunlight and carbon dioxide to do this. All plants
and animals need sunlight, water, food, and air to live.
Terrestrial plants need soil and rocks to stand upright.
Worms and some insects live in the soil and speed up the
decomposition of dried leaves, wastes, and dead animals so
they can be used again by the plants.
How are the
organisms of an
ecosystem classified?
In an ecosystem there are a large number of organisms with
many different functions. There are 3 categories of
organisms in ecosystems: producers, consumers and
decomposers.
Classification of
organisms
01. Producers
They are autotrophic organisms, that
is, they are capable of generating their
own food from simple substances with
the help of sunlight. They are the basis
of the food chain.
Classification of
organisms
02. Consumers
These are heterotrophic organisms, which means that they do not
have the capacity to manufacture their own food, so they feed on
other beings.
They can be classified as:
● Primary consumers or herbivores
● Secondary consumers or carnivores
● Tertiary and quaternary consumers or super carnivores
Classification of
organisms
03. Decomposers
These are organisms that feed on
decomposing organic matter from
other living organisms.
02.
Types of ecosystems
Types of
ecosystems
Mixed ecosystem
These are ecosystems located in areas of "intersection" of
different types of terrain, for example, in which aquatic and
terrestrial environments are combined. Mixed ecosystems,
also called hybrids, share characteristics of both terrestrial
and aquatic ecosystems, and are considered transition zones
between both types of ecosystems.
03.
Characteristics
of an ecosystem
Characteristics
of an ecosystem
1. They vary in size and structure according to their type.
2. They can be terrestrial (in reliefs such as desert, mountain, prairie), aquatic (fresh or saltwater) or
mixed (such as those found in wetlands).
3. They can be natural or artificial (created and/or intervened by humans).
4. They are dynamic and variable environments that experience natural or artificial changes and a
constant flow of energy and nutrients between the factors that constitute them.
5. They are complex systems due to the interactions among their members. The greater the biodiversity,
the greater the complexity of the ecosystem.
6. They can be altered naturally (such as natural catastrophes) or by human action (such as
deforestation, pollution and indiscriminate fishing).
 04.
Examples
Examples

Polar ecosystems Coral reefs Rainforest / forest

ecosystems
Examples

Forest / woodland Lentic ecosystems / Wetland ecosystems

ecosystems lagoons
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