College of Arts and Sciences Education

2nd Floor, DPT Building

Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

WEEK 1-3 Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOb):

At the end of the unit, you are expected to explain how nature and systems
interact and how systems affect one another and identify the major biomes in an
ecosystem.

METALANGUAGE
In this section, the essential terms relevant to the study of environmental
science ULO-1 will be operationally defined to establish a typical frame inthe
field of natural sciences and social influences towards the quality of life and
sustainability. Please refer to the definition in case you will encounter difficulty in
theunderstanding of environmental science concepts.

1. Ecosystem – a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical

environment.

2. Biome – a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a

major habitat, e.g. forest or tundra.

3. Flora – the plants of a particular region, habitat, or geological period.

4. Fauna – the animals of a particular region, habitat, or geological period.

5. Region - an area or division, especially part of a country or the world having

definable characteristics but not always fixed boundaries.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE
BIOMES

Biomes are diverse biological communities where various plants and animal
speciesshare common characteristics for the environment, they are thriving in. They
are formed inresponse to a shared physical climate and on the world's different
continents. While theselocal communities have distinctive characteristics, they can
understand concerning a few general groups with the same climate conditions,
patterns of growth, and vegetation types.

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 College of Arts and Sciences Education
2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

https://socratic.org/questions/how-do-biomes-change-with-latitude-1

Tropical Moist Forest

The tropical moist forest supports the world's one of the most complex and
biologically rich biome. These forests do share standard features such as rainfall
and unchanging temperatures. One type of moist forest is the cool cloud forests
found in high mountains where fog and mist provide sufficient moisture for the
vegetation. On the otherhand, the tropical rainforest has an abundant rainfall per year
(more than 200 cm.) and warmto hot temperatures all year round.

TROPICAL MOIST FOREST in Cayo District, Belize

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Hoplopyga-liturata-habitat-in-in-tropical-moist-forest-in-Cayo-District-
Belize_fig14_288699564

Both tropical moist forests have an old, thin, acidic, and nutrient-poor soil.
However, the presence of species on these forests is overwhelming in the canopy
of the tropical rainforest, where millions of insect species are present. In
mountainous regions,temperatures are more relaxed, and precipitation is usually
more significant at high elevations. Communities can transition quickly from warm
and dry to cold and wet as yougo up a mountain. Vertical zonation refers to the
vegetation zones defined by altitude.

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 College of Arts and Sciences Education
2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

Tropical Seasonal

Although the temperatures are hot throughout the year, wet and dry
seasons arethe distinct characteristics of many tropical regions. These are the
areas that support drought-tolerant forests that are dormant and appear to be
brown during the dry season;however, they will turn into the vibrant green during rainy
months. Tropical seasonal forestshave annual dry seasons but with periodic rain to
support tree growth. The trees and shrubsthat grow in these forests are drought-
deciduous in which during drought or water is unavailable, will lose their leaves
and cease to grow. Moreover, seasonal forests are oftenopen woodlands that grade
into savannahs.

http://w3.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/tropdry.htm

Tropical Savannas and Grasslands

Both grasslands and savannahs are areas with too little rainfall to support
forests. However, unlike grasslands, the savannahs have thin tree cover. Like
tropical seasonal forests, most tropical savannahs and grasslands have a rainy
season, but typically, rains are less abundant than in a forest. The plants in these
areas have adaptations to survive drought, heat, and even fires. Many of these
plants have long-lived roots that seek deepgroundwater and can persist even the
leaves and stems die.

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 College of Arts and Sciences Education
2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

https://grasslandsbiomeproject6.weebly.com/tropical-savanna.html

Deserts

Deserts occur when rainfall is rare and unpredictable (less than 30 cm) and
hot orcold yet always dry. The vegetation in deserts is remarkably diverse, although
sparse. Well- adapted plants have water-storing leaves and stems, thick epidermal
layers to prevent excessive water loss and salt tolerance. Most desert plants and
animals are adapting to prolonged droughts, and both extreme heat and cold.
Whenever spring rainfalls, most of these plants blossom and rapidly dispose of
seeds.

The Dessert of the North”La Paz Sand Dunes”, Ilocos Norte, Philippines.
https:www.vigattintourism.com/tourism/articles/The-Dessert-of-the-North-La-Paz-Sand-Dunes

Temperate Grasslands

As in tropical latitudes, temperate (mid-latitude) grasslands occur where

there is enough rain to support abundant grass but not enough for forests.
Generally, grasslandsare involved with diverse grasses and flowering herbaceous
plants or forbs that create acolorful grassland during summer. Vegetation can be
less than a meter in dry grasslandswhile in more humid areas, the vegetation can
exceed two meters. The accumulation of dead leaves during the annual winter
produces thick and organic-rich soil where roots candig deep to survive drought,
fire, and extreme heat and cold.

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 College of Arts and Sciences Education
2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

https://study.com/academy/lesson/temperate-grassland-biome-climate-plants-animals-locations.html

Temperate Shrublands

Dry environments can be biologically rich, where they can support drought-
adaptedtrees, shrubs, and grasses. In Mediterranean areas, hot season coincides
with dry season creating warm, dry summers and cold, moist winters. Dense
thickets are forming from evergreen shrubs with small, leathery, hard, and waxy
(sclerophyllous) leaves—a cluster of shrub oaks, dry-resistant pines, or other small
trees in sheltering valleys. Due to fuel-richplant assemblage, periodic fires burn
ferociously, allowing plant succession and spring flowers to bloom abundantly.
Temperate shrublands or chaparral (Sp. Thicket) have summer droughts.

Temperate Forests

Temperate forests can be evergreen or deciduous. Temperate, or

midlatitude, forests occupy a wide range of precipitation conditions, mainly
between 30 and 55-degrees. In general, we can group these forests by tree
type, which can be broadleaf deciduous (losing leaves seasonally) or
evergreen coniferous (cone-bearing).

Deciduous Forests. Broadleaf forests occur throughout the world,

whererainfall is plentiful, in mid-latitudes, deciduous forests located
in the forest lose their leaves during winter. The loss of green
pigments in plants produces brilliant colors in the forest during the
autumn season. Broadleaf forests are evergreen or drought-
deciduous, such as Southern live oaks usually found at a lower
latitude. Deciduous forests can regrow very fast sincethey inhabit warm,
moderate climates.

Coniferous Forests. These forests grow in a wide range of temperatures

andmoisture conditions. They occur in a limited moisture area that
may experience cold climates such as winter wherein moisture is
unavailable (frozen), and hot climates might have a seasonal
drought. It also includessandy soils that hold little moisture that is often
occupied by conifers. Waterloss of these trees reduced by thin, waxy
leaves common to pine needles.The coniferous forest of the Pacific
coast grows in extremely wet conditions.Rainy forests often enclosed
in fog, cool in temperature, and the most humid coastal forests are
known as temperate rainforest. Condensation in the canopy (leaf
drip) is a significant source of precipitation in the understory.

Boreal Forests

Since conifers can survive winter cold, they tend to limit the existence
of boreal forest or northern forest between about 50° and 60° north.
Numerous qualities and types of boreal forest in the mountainous areas are
at a lower latitudewhere dominant trees are pines, hemlocks, spruce, cedar,
and fir. Boreal forest, such as taiga (snow forest), known by its Russian
name, describe as extreme, and ragged edge where forest progressively
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 College of Arts and Sciences Education
2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

gives way to open tundra. In this area, extreme cold and short summer limit
the growth rate of trees. About 10 cm diameterof trees may be over 200 years
old in the far north. Boreal forests occur at high latitudes.

https://depositphotos.com/stock-photos/boreal-forest.html
Tundra

Tundra. It is a treeless landscape located in the mountaintops or high

latitudes, and the growing season of this biome is only two to three months. It
mayhave frosted any month of the year, and most of the year, temperatures
are below the freezing point where only small, hardy vegetation can survive.
Tundra can freeze inany month.

Arctic Tundra. It is an extended biome that has a short growing

season.Hence, it has low productivity. During midsummer, however,
24-hour sunshine supports the booming of plant growth and plenty of
insect’s life. Arctic tundra is essential for birds as well as to global
biodiversity.

https://alaskaconservation.org/protecting-alaska/priorities/protecting-lands-waters/arctic/

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 College of Arts and Sciences Education
2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

Alpine Tundra. It has a similar environmental condition and vegetation

tothe arctic tundra. It occurs on near mountaintops, and these zones
have ashort and extraordinary growing season. Often one sees a
mind-blowing abundance of flowers in alpine tundra. Hence,
everything must bloom immediately to create seeds in half a month
before the arrival of snow. Numerous alpine tundra plants have deep
pigmentation and weathered leaves to secure against the sunlight in
the thin mountain atmosphere. Compared to other biomes, the tundra
has relatively low diversity.

https://sites.google.com/site/biomesapes/home/tundra/alpine-tundra
MARINE ECOSYSTEMS

The diversity of organism in oceans and seas are no seen effectively. However,
they are also as diverse and complex as terrestrial biomes. The oceans cover three-
fourths of theEarth's surface, and it has an essential role but often unrecognized
compared to terrestrial ecosystems. Most of the marine species depend on
photosynthetic organisms the same asterrestrial animals.

https://sciencing.com/marine-ecosystem-classification-38170.html

Open Oceans

The open ocean is usually associated with a biological desert since

it generally has low productivity. But like terrestrial deserts, the open ocean
has areasof productive richness and diversity. Fish and plankton abound in
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 College of Arts and Sciences Education
2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

regions such asthe equatorial Pacific and Antarctic oceans, where currents
distribute nutrients. Phytoplankton, free-floating photosynthetic plants,
microscopic algae are essential to support the marine food web.
Oceanographers have discovered thousands of varieties of organisms, and
most of them are microscopic organisms. Open ocean (middle of the Pacific
Ocean) communities vary from surface to hadal zones.

Coastal Zones

Shoreline communities vary in terms of depth, light, nutrient

concentrations, and temperature. Estuaries have high biological productivity
and diversity due to the abundant nutrients that came from the land.
However, excessive loads of nutrients may stimulate bacterial growth that
consumes oxygen in the water, which is more than 200 "dead zones” occur
in coastal zones. Coastal zones support vibrant, diverse biological
communities.

Corals reefs are known in marine ecosystems because of their

exceptional biological productivity and their diverse, beautiful
organisms—reefs form clusters as colonial animals (coral polyps) that
live symbiotically with photosynthetic algae. Calcium-rich coral
skeletons build-up to make reefs, atolls, and islands. Reefs protect
shorelines and shelter of countless species of fish, worms,
crustaceans, and other life-forms. Reef-building corals exist where
water is shallow and clear enough for sunlight to reach the
photosynthetic algae. However, the biggest threat to reefs is global
warming. Elevated water temperatures cause coral bleaching, in
which corals expeltheir algal partner and then die.

Mangroves are trees that grow in saltwater. They take place along
calm, shallow, tropical coastlines around the world. Swamps help
stabilize shorelines, and they are also significant nurseries for fish,
shrimp, and other commercial species.

Estuaries are bays where river water meets the sea; hence, there is a
mixing of saltwater and freshwater. Salt marshes are shallow
wetlands flooded regularly or occasionally and drained by seawater,
usually on shallow coastlines, including estuaries.

In contrast to the shallow, calm conditions of estuaries, coral reefs,

and mangroves, tide pools may experience violent, wave-blasted
shorelines that support enchanting life-forms. Tide pools are
depressions in a rockyshoreline that are flooded at high tide but retain
some water at low tide. These areas remain rocky, where wave action
prevents most plant growth or sediment (mud) accumulation.

Barrier islands are low, narrow, sandy islands that form parallel to a
coastline. They occur where the continental shelf is shallow, and
rivers or coastal currents provide a steady source of sediments. They

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2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

protect brackish (moderately salty), inshore lagoons and salt marshes

from storms, waves, andtides.

FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS

Freshwater environments are not that wide as the marine ecosystem, but
they areabundant and center of biodiversity. Most of the terrestrial communities
rely relatively onfreshwater habitats. In the desert, isolated pools, streams, and
even underground watersystems support astounding biodiversity and land animals
with water.

https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=28066

Lakes
Like marine environments, freshwater lakes have distinct vertical
zones. Close to the surface, a subcommunity of plankton, primarily
microscopic plants, animals, and protists (single-celled organisms such as
amoebae), float freely in the water column. Some insects may live at the air-
water interface such as water strider and mosquitoes. The fish move through
the water column, sometimes close to thesurface and sometimes at depth.
Finally, a variety of snails, burrowing worms, fish, and other organisms
occupy the bottom or benthos. They make up the benthic community. They
are reducing the levels of oxygen in the benthic environment, primarily
because there is little mixing to introduce oxygen to this zone. Anaerobic
bacteria (not using oxygen) may exist in low-oxygen sediments. In the littoral
zone,arising of plants such as cattails and rushes grow in the bottom sediment.

Lakes, unless shallow, have a warmer upper layer mixed with wind
and warmed by the sun. This layer is the epilimnion. The epilimnion is the
hypolimnion (hypo = below), a colder, deeper layer that is not combined. You
may have found the sharp temperature limit known as the thermocline
between these layers on theoff chance that you have swum in a moderately

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 College of Arts and Sciences Education
2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

deep lake. Underneath this limit, thewater is a lot colder. This limit is likewise
called the mesolimbic.

Local conditions that influence the characteristics of an aquatic

communityinclude:

1. Excess nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates

2. suspended matter, such as silt that affects light penetration
3. depth
4. temperature
5. currents
6. bottom characteristics, such as muddy, sandy, or rocky floor
7. internal currents
8. connections to, or isolation from, other aquatic and terrestrial system

Wetlands

Wetlands are shallow biological systems where the land surface is

saturated or lowered in the late part of the year. Wetlands have vegetation
that is adjusted todevelop under saturated conditions. These are shallow
and beneficial. These relatively small systems rich in biodiversity and are
essential for both breeding andmigratory birds. Wetlands catch, and often
purify industrial and farm wastewater,while bacteria and plants consume the
nutrients and pollutants in the water. Its biodiversity as wetlands. Wetlands
may gradually convert to terrestrial communitiesas they with sediment, and
as the vegetation slowly fills in towards the center. This process often
accelerated by increased sediment loads from urban development, farms,
and roads.

Swamps are wetlands with trees.

Marshes are wetlands without trees.
Bogs are areas of concentrated land, and usually, the ground is
comprised of deep layers of accumulated, undecayed vegetation
known as peat.
Fens are like bogs except that they are mainly fed by groundwater, so
they have mineral-rich water and exceptionally adapted plant species.
Bogs are primarily fed by precipitation.

Swamps and marches provide a significant degree of ecological

sustainability. Bogsand fens, mostly nutrient-poor and have limited environmental
efficiency.

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 College of Arts and Sciences Education
2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

Environmental Variables Affecting the Biomes

1. SUNLIGHT. Sunlight powers the photosynthesis that supplies energy to nearly all
life on earth. It is also essential for vision, which many animals rely on for
catching foods, spotting predators, etc.
2. TEMPERATURE. Organisms can survive within a specific, limited range of
temperature. If the body temperature either rises above or falls below that range,
the critical chemical reactions in the tissues get “out of synch” with one another,
resulting in metabolic chaos.
3. WATER AND DISSOLVED SALTS. Precise balance of water, dissolved salts,
and organic molecules in the body fluids of organisms must be maintained to
keep the cells alive. Many plants and animals cannot survive in dry conditions,
such as deserts, because they cannot acquire and store water that are needed
by their body cells. But some organisms cannot equally live in swamps or
marshes because of too much water in the soil. Hence, salinity which is the
concentration of dissolved organic salts, affects the ability of the organisms to
control their water balance.
4. OXYGEN. The concentration of available oxygen can be important limiting factor
in a variety of environments. Bacteria can either be aerobic or anaerobic. Too
much oxygen for anaerobic organisms can be fatal as lack of oxygen is for
aerobic. Air-breathing animals need more oxygen to sustain life.
5. METABOLIC WASTE. All organisms produce metabolic waste products. Plants
release oxygen by day, give off carbon dioxide by night, and discard leaves and
stems on a seasonal basis. Waste products must enter the biogeochemical cycle
wherein they are broken down and carried away.
6. NUTRIENTS. Distribution of nutrients is important in determining where
organisms can grow and where they cannot. The more nutrients available in
each area, the more living things can successfully survive.

SELF HELP
You can refer to the source below to help you further understand the
lesson:

Magill, G., & Potter, J., 2017. Integral Ecology: Protecting Our Common Home.
Cambridge Scholars Publisher. United Kingdom.

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 College of Arts and Sciences Education
2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

LET’S CHECK
Activity 2. Answer the following questions:
Biomes
___________________ 1. They are diverse biological communities were various
plants and animal species share common
characteristics for the environment, they are thriving in.
Tropical Moist Forest
___________________ 2. These forests share standard features such as
rainfall and unchanging temperatures.
Tropical Seasonal Forest
___________________ 3. These forests have annual dry seasons but with
periodic rain to support tree growth.

___________________
Tropical Savannas and Grasslands 4. These are areas with too little rainfall to support
forests.

___________________
Dessert 5. The plants and animals are adapting to prolonged
droughts, and both extreme heat and cold in this area.

___________________
Temperate Forest 6. A rainy forest which is often enclosed in fog, cool in
temperature, and the most humid coastal forests.
Tundra
___________________ 7. It is a treeless landscape located in the
mountaintops or high latitudes, and the growing season
of this biome is only
two to three months.
Phytoplankton
___________________ 8. They are free-floating photosynthetic plants,
microscopic algae which are essential to support the
marine food web.
Wetlands
___________________ 9. They are shallow biological systems where the land
surface is saturated or lowered in the late part of the
year.
Bogs
___________________ 10. They are areas of concentrated land, and usually,
the ground is comprised of deep layers of accumulated,
undecayed vegetation known as peat.

LET’S ANALYZE
Activity No. 2. In this activity, you require to elaborate your answer once again
to each ofthe questions provided below.

1. Why are tropical rainforests so interesting to scientists and so potentially

valuable to human society?

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 College of Arts and Sciences Education
2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

Scientist is interesting in the tropical forest because of the beauty of the diversity like plants,
animals and other living things. Also it is potentially valuable to human because it absorbed
carbon dioxide and releases oxygen that we depend on for our survival.

2. Describe the environmental variables and explain their importance to plants

and animals.
Environmental variables is important to the plants and animals because it gives them energy
to produced their own food and to survive also in the environment.

3. Differentiate the following:

a. Tundra from Taiga
The taiga is known for snow forest while tundra is known for treeless and also the have
a different precipitation level.
b. Temperate Forest from Boreal Forest
Temperate forest is evergreen than Boreal forest because it can survived in a cold
weather.

c. Wetlands from Lakes

IN A NUTSHELL
Activity No. 2. Make research of the different types of forest in the
Philippines. Provide a clear photo of each type and a description. Include the
different species that are most likely found, their limiting factors, and the threats it
is facing for each type.

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 College of Arts and Sciences Education
2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

Q & A LIST
Do you have any questions for clarification?

Questions/ Issues Answers

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

KEYWORD INDEX
Biomes Ecosystem Marches
Rainforest Marine Desert
Forest Freshwater Tundra
Taiga Wetlands Swamps

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