Name: Baltazar, Joshua D.

Date Submitted: August 16, 2019

Course and Section: Bs Biology 2-6 ECO 2102L

Activity # 1
The Organism and its Environment
Procedure:
A. Abiotic and Biotic Factors of the environment
1. Choose two areas of study: a) an open area; and b) a naturally shaded area.
2. Describe and Compare the physical environment (temperature, light intensity, soil
condition, etc.) of the two areas.
3. Take note of the time of day and weather condition.
4. List all the different plants and animal species found. Focus more on plants planted on
the soil than the potted ones. Note the morphology.
5. Compare the distribution of plants and animals (Tracks, animal sounds, etc.) that can
be used to ascertain the presence of the different animals.
6. Record and discuss the data.

B. Behavioral Responses of an Organism to Disturbance

1. Locate some ants in its natural habitat. Take note and describe where you found them.
Without disturbing them, observe their activities. Estimate the time lapsed for each
activity. Do this for 15 minutes.
2. Disturb the same group of ants by removing the few of them from the line.
3. Get some objects (e.g. leaf and twigs) and place them close to the ants. Note their
response. Do the same procedure but use sugar, coffee, breadcrumbs and salt. Note
which of the objects are picked up and taken away and those that are disregarded.
Results:
A. Abiotic and Biotic Factors of the Environment
Table 1. Description of the Physical Environment.
Physical Factors
Area Soil Temperature Light Humidity Precipitation
Condition Intensity
Open Area Moist, 30 degrees Moderate to Moderate Low
(PLM Field)
Loamy, and Celsius High
Time of the day: 10:10 am
Weather Condition: some areas
Windy and Cloudy
are muddy
Shaded Area Loamy, more 28 degrees Low Moderate Moderate
(CS Garden)
moist, some Celsius to High
Time of the day: 10:25 am
Weather Condition: Less areas are
Windy and Less Cloudy
rocky

Table 2. List of Organisms found in the area.

Area of Study PLANTS ANIMALS
Tawa- tawa Palm tree Mouse Mosquito
Carabao Grass Santan Dragonfly Bees
OPEN AREA Clover Crab grass Black garden ants
(PLM Field)
Evergreen Tuba-tuba Weaver ants
Spikesedge Different species of Flies

Carabao Grass Sweet Potato Weaver ant Millipedes

Spikesedge Alugbati Fire ant Earthworm

SHADED AREA
Palm tree Sili Mosquito
(CS Garden)
Banana tree Pansit-pansitan Common Black Ant

Moss Mango tree Housefly

Clover Calamansi Bird
*Some mushrooms and molds were also found in the shaded areas due to its humidity level
Table 3. Comparison of morphology of the different organisms found in the 2 areas (PLM Field
and CS Garden)
Organisms Plants Animals
Morphology: Morphology:
• Taller trees to reach enough sunlight • Common flies
Open Area • Different species of grasses that are tall • Less organism due to its open
(PLM Field) • Presence of evergreen tree environment, disturbance is always
Distribution: Dominated by Grasses present that’s why some species didn’t
exist in such place
Distribution: Dominated by small
plants
Morphology: Morphology:
• Smaller than the plants in Open Area • Diverse set of insects
Shaded Area
• Presence of “buttresses” (large winged • Visible earthworms
(CS Garden)
ribs at the base of trunk) in some trees • Different species of flies
• Presence of “strangler” creepers like Ficus • Mosquitos are widely present and
spp. bigger
• Mosses and mushrooms are widely Distribution: more ants found,
present which doesn’t require enough presents of earthworm and millipedes
sunlight
Distribution: more species of flies

B. Behavioral Responses of an Organism to Disturbances

Table 4. Natural Behavior of Ants.
Activity Time Elapsed Observations
Walking 15 Minutes Ants follow a path when walking

Communicating 15 Minutes Whenever an ant going to the colony encounters another ant going
away from the colony, both of the ant bump into each other.
 Gathering of 15 Minutes From the food source, ants carry the food to their colony
Food

Carrying dead 15 Minutes Ants that have died were carried back to their colony.
bodies

Table 5. Behavioral Responses of ants to disturbances.

Disturbance Response

Removal of They avoided the area where other ants were removed. The, they returned and walked
on their original path.
some Ants

Leaf They moved away to avoid the leaf. They scattered for a long period of time, but they
eventually found a new path.

Twig They scattered and moved away from the disturbance. They examined the twig and
found that there was no danger, so they travelled across the twig.

Sugar They moved closer to the sugar but did not take it away.

Coffee Many ants picked it up and took it away surprisingly.

Breadcrumbs Many ants picked it up and took it away same with the coffee

Salt Some ants picked it up but eventually abandoned it. No salt was taken back to the
colony.

Guide Questions:
1. Differentiate environment, habitat, and niche. What comprises the environment and
habitat? Give examples of niche.
- Environment is the surroundings or condition in which a person, animal, or plant lives
or operates. It is also the natural world, as a whole or in a particular geographical area,
especially as affected by human activity. Habitat is the type of natural environment in
 which a particular species of organism lives. Niche is the match of a species to a
specific environmental condition; it is also the role of an organism to the environment.
- All the biotic and abiotic factors that act on an organism, population, or ecological
community and influence its survival and development. Biotic factors include the
organisms themselves, their food, and their interaction. Abiotic factors include such
items as sunlight, soil, air, water, climate. Atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, etc. An
organism’s habitat refers to an ecological or environmental area inhabitated by
particular species of plants, animals, fungi, etc. it refers to an organism’s natural
environment.
- Example of Niche

2. Explain the possible association between the similarities and differences in the kinds of
plants and animals found and the differences in physical conditions in the two areas. Why
are there organisms found only in shady areas while some are in open area? Give examples
from your own data.
- Organisms lived in a certain area that are accessible to their needs (Food, shelter,
reproduction, etc.) and at some point, they even change the environment to suite their
respective needs. Even though some organisms live in both areas like the Carabao grass
that can grow in shady and open areas, they still show significant differences especially
in morphology. Carabao grass requires enough sunlight and water to grow and
reproduce and proven with the figures of the carabao grass in an open area, but the
Carabao grass in shady areas are typically small and few due to its lack of direct
sunlight yet enough water resources. Another example is the presence of millipedes.
Millipedes normally live in and feed on rotting leaves, rotting wood, and other kinds
 of moist, decaying plant matter. Sometimes individual millipedes wander from
their moist living places into homes, but they usually die quickly because of the dry
conditions and lack of food. Meaning, millipedes are normally found in shady and
moist areas like the CS Garden and abundant in that kind of environment and absent in
the PLM Field due to its hot temperature and lack of food source that can cause the
organism to die.

3. Research for a plant (be specific) that naturally inhabits an open area (e.g. in grassland)
and one that is naturally found in a shady area (e.g. in shady forest interior). Describe their
characteristics in their natural habitat. What would happen if the “shade” plant be
transferred into the open environment and the “open” plant into the shady area? Discuss
their physiological and Morphological responses to their new environment.
- Hibiscus rosa-sinensis for plant that inhabits open area and moss/bryophytes for plant
that inhabits shady area. The difference was that Hibiscus rosa-sinesis requires sunlight
and enough water to sustain its survivability and grow and when placed in a shady area,
it will still grow perfectly well in partial shade, but it won't fill in as fully or bloom as
spectacularly. On the other hand, Mosses/bryophytes lives normally in shaded areas
where the humidity is relatively high and requires not that much sunlight.
Morphologically, mosses are not that tall and doesn’t require too much sunlight so
when you place it in an open area, it will be subjected to heat which evaporates most
of the most from it body, it cannot survive for a long time and might die soon after.
Every organism lives to a specific environment that is favorable to them to sustain
survivability and reproduction which are the primary key to continue and multiply their
species and certain standards should be met in terms of their environment to properly
execute their proper growth and development.

4. Discuss how the abiotic factors observed affect the abundance, distribution and over all
ecology of the organisms. Give examples.
 - Abiotic variables found in an ecosystem can include things like rain, wind, temperature,
altitude, soil, pollution, nutrients, pH,
types of soil, etc. Certain species or
organism can be found in a specific area
because it is favorable to them and
somehow beneficial. They take it as an
advantage to improve and sometimes
modify it. One example are mosses which
typically grows in dense, shady area with high humidity percentage. Mosses are
bryophytes and moist environment is required for it to reproduce. Living and
multiplying in a shady and humid area is very favorable for them to grow that’s why
most bryophytes can be found in rainforests or any place humid and not enough
sunlight.
- Another example are the sunflowers (Helianthus annuus). Sunflowers, as their name
implies, grow best in full sun. These plants
are native to Central America, and thrive in
warm, sunny conditions.
In shade, sunflowers won't bloom or produce
seeds well. Plant them in late spring where
they'll receive 6 to 8 hours of sunlight each
day.

5. Can organisms modify their physical environment? In what way? Give examples.
- Yes, organisms like us can modify our physical environment. These modifications be
positive or negative but modified according to our favor. The modifications are made,
somehow, for the higher chance of survival and adaptation to the environment. As
humans, we often want something that can make us stay alive every day and one of the
necessities that we need is food. We clear the forests and make plains of crop fields to
sustain our needs both beneficial (especially for us) yet destructive (destruction of
natural habitats of some other organisms). Another example is when the government
launches cloud seeding activities in the affected places where El nino strikes. Through
 this, the weather can be modified and change the amount of precipitation in the air that
are favorable for us but the organisms might not due to its chemical compounds.

6. A particular organism lives the way it does in the context of the kind of physical and biotic
environment of its habitat. Why is this so?
- Because a certain organism can survive in such condition and its environment due to
its beneficiaries that can actually help and sustain its needs. Their behavior in such
environment complements not only to sustain its needs but also to interact with other
organisms. The accessibility of its primary necessities are basically met in such
condition of the environment that is favorable for them to survive and reproduce and at
some point, such kind of physical and biotic environment of its habitat is appropriate
for it to live the way an organism adopt and adapt in the environment it is into to
maintain its kind.
7. How does the response of the ants to the disturbances in their environment demonstrate
ecology?
- Disturbance is a key driver of ecosystem dynamics and ants are ecosystem engineers
that create habitats for other organism and have a crucial role to play in nutrient cycle.
Ecology focuses on interactions of organism to its environment and the response of the
ants demonstrates on how such species react when a disturbance affects its reaction to
changes especially to its environment which is the primary focus of ecology.

8. Why do ecologists start their study at the individual level and not at the cellular level?
- Ecology is the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one
another and to their physical surroundings. Objects of study include interactions
of organisms that include biotic and abiotic components of their environment. Topics
of interest include the biodiversity, distribution, biomass, and populations of
organisms, as well as cooperation and competition within and
between species. Ecologists doesn’t start with cellular level because the ecology is
primarily for organism’s behavior, interaction to its environment and its physical and
biological aspect that doesn’t require cellular information, even though morphology
can be used but cellular level might not be needed to identify such information.
9. Why is the natural habitat of an organism the laboratory of an ecologist?
- A habitat is the type of natural environment in which a particular species of organism
and it is the job of an ecologist to study and understand their behavior in their respective
environment/habitat. The natural habitat of an organism is being studied by an ecologist
and characterized by both physical and biological features especially the sustainability
capacity of an organism on how it became more favorable to that certain species to live
in such location. Such study comprises the place/location, food location, shelter,
protection and mates for reproduction which are beneficial and necessities of an
organism to survive.