ECO MIDTERM REVIEWER

Chapter 1: Energy flow

Chapter 2: Human impacts
Chapter 3: Limiting factors
Chapter 4: Niche
Chapter 5: Pioneers
Chapter 6: Rocks and Minerals
Chapter 7: Succession

1.1. PRODUCERS VS CONSUMERS

Producers provide energy for other organisms in an ecosystem
* Producers = Plants
* Producers are also known as autotrophs.
* Producers need sunlight to make food.
* The sun is their main source of energy.
* Consumers = Everything else!
* Consumers are also known as heterotrophs.
* Energy flows from producers to consumers.

Almost all producers obtain energy from sunlight

Chemosynthesis
* In 1977, scientists discovered the first prokaryotes (archaea) that did NOT need
sunlight to make food.
* Instead, these prokaryotes utilized the chemicals in the water to form
carbohydrates—this is called chemosynthesis.

1.2. FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS

1. Food Chains
A food chain is a sequence that links species by their feeding relationships.

Types of Consumers
* Herbivores - Eat only plants
* Carnivores - Eat only meat (includes insects)
* Omnivores - Eat both plants and animals (includes insects)
* Detritivores - Eat detritus, or dead organic matter
* Decomposers - Are detritivores that break down organic matter into simpler
compounds
* Specialist - A consumer that primarily eats one specific organism or feeds on a
very small number of organisms. Ex. Giant Pandas are specialists. Over 95% of their
diet comes from bamboo. If bamboo became scarce, the Panda would be in danger of
extinction.
* Generalist - Consumers that have a varying diet. Ex. Raccoons are generalists.
They can live almost anywhere, and eat almost anything.

1.3. TROPHIC LEVELS

Trophic levels are the levels of nourishment in a food chain.
* Producers - Basis of all trophic levels.
* Primary consumers - herbivores
* Secondary consumers - carnivores that eat herbivores.
* Tertiary consumers - carnivores that eat secondary consumers.
* Omnivores - May be listed at different trophic levels in different food chains.

* According to the law of conservation of energy, also known as the first law of
thermodynamics, energy is never created or destroyed, rather it is only converted
from one form to another. This law also applies to ecosystems and living things. In
living ecosystems, the first law of thermodynamics manifests as the 10 percent
rule.
* Ecosystem energy transfer can be understood in the terms of food webs. Food webs
are diagrams that show who eats who in a food web, or the energy transfer between
organisms. Food webs are divided into levels called trophic levels. These levels
can be drawn as a pyramid because the levels at the bottom of the food web support
the levels at the top.
* Producers are at the bottom of the food web. These are organisms that make their
own food. Producers are usually plants, but can also be algae and even bacteria.
They get 100% of their energy from the Sun.
* Next in the food web are the consumers, or organisms that must eat to get energy.
Consumers can be divided into different types. Primary consumers only eat
producers. Secondary consumers eat primary consumers, and tertiary consumers eat
secondary consumers and are considered carnivores.

The table below summarizes the types of organisms that might be in each trophic
level in a forest ecosystem.

In the food web or energy pyramid, each trophic level only gets 10% of its energy
from the level before it. The other 90% of the energy in the trophic level goes to
many functions, such as:
* Living
* Growing
* Reproduction
* Heat lost to the environment

2. Food Web
A food web is a model that shows the complex network of feeding relationships and
the flow of energy within and sometimes beyond ecosystems.

At each link in a food web, some energy is stored within an organism, and some
energy is dissipated into the environment.

The stability of any food web depends on the presence of producers, as they form
the base of the food web.

The mouse is both a primary and secondary consumer because it eats both plants and
insects in this food web.
1.4. PYRAMID MODELS
An energy pyramid shows the distribution of energy among trophic levels.

* Sunlight provides the energy for photosynthesis, and that energy flows up the
food chain. Along the way, some of the energy is dissipated, or lost.

Loss of Available Energy

Biomass is a measure of the total mass of organisms in a given area.

When a consumer incorporates the biomass of a producer to its own biomass, a great
deal of energy is lost in the process as heat and waste.

The dissipation, or loss, of energy from one trophic level to the next may be as
much as 90%. Only 10% of the available energy is left to transfer from one trophic
level to the next
Energy Pyramid
Because energy is lost at each stage of a food chain, the longer the chain is, the
more energy is lost overall.

The total energy used by producers far exceeds the energy used by the consumers
they support.

An energy pyramid is a diagram that compares the energy used by producers, primary
consumers, and other trophic levels.

Other pyramid models illustrate an ecosystem’s biomass and distribution of

organisms.
* Biomass pyramid - Diagram that compares the biomass of different trophic levels
within an ecosystem.
* Pyramid of numbers - Shows the number of individual organisms at each trophic
level in an ecosystem.
* Population growth
* Acid rain
* Acidification of lakes
* Deforestation
* Bioaccumulation
* Ozone depletion
* Carbon-Fluoro-Carbons
* Pollution
* Exxon Valdez oil spill
* Global warming

2.1. Population Growth

Industrialization
* Burning fossil fuels
* Non-renewable resources
* Pollution
* Increased CO2 levels

2.2. Acid Rain

Burning of fossil fuels release sulfates and nitrates into the air.
Sulfates and nitrates mix with water vapor in air and form sulphuric acid and
nitric acid.

2.3. Acidification of lakes

Lakes and ponds can become so acidified that no life can live in them.

2.4. Deforestation
* Population growth leads to the loss of natural habitats.
* Cut down trees to build new homes
* Loss of Biodiversity
* Loss of oxygen producers and CO2 eliminators

2.4. Pollution
Water Pollution
* Oil Spills
* Gasoline Spills
Gets into drinking water

2.5. Exxon Valdez oil spill

Exxon Valdez oil spill was a manmade disaster that occurred when Exxon Valdez, an
oil tanker owned by the Exxon Shipping Company, spilled 11 million gallons of crude
oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989. The oil slick covered
1,300 miles of coastline and killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds, otters,
seals and whales.

2.6. Global Warming

* Increase in CO2
* Increase in greenhouse effect
* Increase in global temperatures

2.7. Biodiversity
What is Biodiversity? Why is it important?
Simply means the diversity, or variety, of plants and animals and other living
things in a particular area or region.
It is important because everything that lives in an ecosystem is part of the web of
life, including humans. Each species of vegetation and each creature has a place on
the earth and plays a vital role in the circle of life. Plant, animal, and insect
species interact and depend upon one another for what each offers, such as food,
shelter, oxygen, and soil enrichment.

How are humans affecting global biodiversity?

* Climate change, brought about by emissions of greenhouse gasses when fossil fuels
are burnt, is making life uncomfortably hot for some species and uncomfortably cold
for others.
* Pollution is currently poisoning all forms of life, both on land and in the
water, and contributing to climate change.
* Habitat loss and destruction, usually as a direct result of human activity and
population growth, is a major force in the loss of species, populations, and
ecosystems.

What is meant by “Conservation”

The protection, preservation, management, or restoration of wildlife and of natural
resources such as forests, soil, and water.

How we can preserve?

* Do not waste paper, use only as much as you require. Do not scribble on it or
tearing it off after writing just a line or two.
* Use recycle paper as far as possible.
* Try to reuse the envelopes where ever possible.
* 75% of all finishes are fully exploited or overfished. Species like cod, haddock
and halibut are already threatened. If we do not move towards sustainable use,
there will be no fish left for our grandchildren.
* Climate change is considered to be the greatest challenge for humanity. With
changing conditions, ecosystems and habitats will change as well. It is an
obligation to fight climate change and make sure that species can migrate or adapt
to new surroundings.

3.3. Fundamentals of LImiting Factors

* A limiting is a resource or environmental condition which limits the growth,
distribution or abundance of an organism or population within an ecosystem.
* These can be either physical of biological factors which can be identified
through a response of increased growth, abundance, or distribution of a population,
when the factor is changes and when the other factors necessary to life are not.
* Limiting factors are theorized under different laws of the limiting factors
* A limiting factor restricts organisms from occupying their fundamental niche and
results instead in the fulfillment of their actual or realized niche.
* Fundamental Niche
* The total range of environmental conditions that is suitable in order for an
organism to exist, in the absence of limiting factors.
* Ranges of condition a species can potentially tolerate
* Range of conditions species can potentially use
* Not realistic
* Realized Niche
* The actual amount of resources or environmental conditions that an organism is
able to utilize within an ecosystem.
* Range of resources a species actually uses
* Species may have to restrict activity to avoid predators
* Competition may prevent use of resources

Types of Limiting Factor

* Density Dependent Factors
* Density dependent factors are those factors whose effect on a population is
determined by the total size of the population.
* Predation and disease, as well as resource availability, are all examples of
density dependent factors.
* As an example, disease is likely to spread quicker through a larger, denser
population, impacting the number of individuals within the population more than it
would in a smaller, more widely dispersed population.

* Density Independent Factors

* A density independent limiting factor is one which limits the size of a
population, but whose effect is not dependent on the size of the population (the
number of individuals).
* Examples of density independent factors include environmentally stressful events
such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, as well as sudden climate
changes such as drought or flood, and destructive occurrences, such as the input of
extreme environmental pollutants.
* Density independent factors will usually kill all members of a population,
regardless of the population size.

* Physical and Biological Limiting Factors

* Physical factors or abiotic factors include temperature, water availability,
oxygen, salinity, light, food and nutrients; biological factors or biotic factors,
involve interactions between organisms such as predation, competition, parasitism
and herbivory.

3.2. Law and its Pioneers

Shelford’s Law of Intolerance
* States that an organism’s success is based on a complex set of conditions and
that each organism has a certain minimum, maximum, and optimum environmental factor
or combination of factors that determine success.
* According to the law of tolerance, populations have optimal survival conditions
within critical minimal and maximal thresholds.
* As population is exposed to the extremes of a particular limiting factor, the
rates of survival begin to drop
* The distribution of a species in response to a limiting factor can be represented
as a bell-shaped curve with three distinct regions:

1. Optimal zone: Central portion of curve which has conditions

that favor maximal reproductive success and survivability.
2. Zones of stress: Regions flanking the optimal zone, where
organisms can survive but with reduced reproductive success.
3. Zones of intolerance: Outermost regions in which organisms
cannot survive (represents extremes of the limiting factor)

According to the Shelford’s law of tolerance, there are upper and lower threshold
value on the gradient beyond which the species cannot survive. Tolerance range
differ for one species to another

Liebig law of the minimum

* Often simply called Liebig’s law or the law of the minimum, is a principle
developed in agricultural science by Carl Sprengel (1840) and later popularized by
Justus von Liebig.
* It states that growth is dictated not by total resources available, but by the
scarcest resource (limiting factor)
Justus von Liebig
* generally credited as the "father of the fertilizer industry", formulated the law
of the minimum:
* if one crop nutrient is missing or deficient, plant growth will be poor, even if
the other elements are abundant.

Liebig compares the potential of a crop to a barrel with staves of unequal length.
The capacity of this barrel is limited by the length of the shortest stave (in this
case, phosphorus) and can only be increased by lengthening that stave. When that
stave is lengthened, another one becomes the limiting factor.

Blackman"s Law of limiting factors

* states that, when a process depends on a number of factors, its rate is limited
by the pace of the slowest factor.
* As the light intensity (LI) increases, the rate of p/s increases, until plant is
photosynthesizing as fast as it can
* LSP: Light Saturation Point. When the LSP is reacted, plants cannot
Photosynthesize any faster, even when the light gets brighter.
* Max. quantity of light that the plant can tolerate.

Ecology - The branch of biology that deals with the relation of organisms to one
another and to their environment
Environment - The surrounding or conditions in which a person, animals or plants
live.

Factors of environment
* Biotic Factors
* Abiotic Factors

4.1. Difference b/w Biotic and Abiotic Factors

* Biotic Factors
* The living parts of an ecosystem are called biotic components
* Plants, animals, birds, fungi, etc.
* Abiotic Factors
* The non-living parts of an ecosystem are called abiotic or non-biotic components
* Sunlight, temperature water, air, soil, etc.

4.2. Ecological Niche

* It is the role and position of a species in its environment.

Factors
* Energy
* Nutrition
* Timing of activity
* What they eat
* Nest
* Condition of temperature & moisture

4.3. Discovery
Charles Elden (1917) - Plants occupy their own ecological niche Ex. Mistletoe on
Eucalyptus

Hutchinson Niche Concept - A description of the ecological space occupied by a

species.

Types of Ecological Niche

* Fundamental Niche
* There are no limiting factors on the environment and resources can use
* Theoretical niche
* Range of environmental conditions in which each of the species survive and
reproduce.
* It is larger.
* Elaborate various roles of species. Full niches of species.
* No competition either for resources or predator
* Realized Niche
* Occupied by a variable population of a specie in the presence of competitor
* Where the specie actually live
* Range of environmental conditions in which a species is really found.
* It is smaller
* Portion of fundamental niche that is actually filled.
* Competition occur both for resources and predator
Competitive Exclusion Principle - Also called Gause's law because “Georgy Gause
“describe this term.

“Two species can not occupy the same niche” , “Two species with identical niches
cannot co exist”.
a. Competition for food
b. Competition for habitat Definition

* When two species compete, one is more likely to be more successful

* And other specie will decrease and remove from the environment

An example of Competitive exclusion is the two protozoan species.

* Paramecium aurelia
* Paramecium caudatum

When grown individually in the laboratory, they both thrive. But when they are
placed together in the same test tube (habitat), P. aurelia outcompetes P. caudatum
for food, leading to the latter’s eventual extinction.

Resource Partitioning
* If two species are competing for the same resource, they can avoid competition by
choosing different time for feeding or different foraging behavior
* MacArthur show five closely related species of warblers on the same tree by
behavioral differences in their foraging.

Types of resource partition

* Temporal - Same resources but different time. Ex. Spiny mouse
* Spatial - Use of different habitats of resources. Ex. Warbler
* Morphological - use of body shape and size. Ex Finches

Importance of ecological niche

* Niches reduces competition for resources
* Interspecies competition lead to evolutionary changes
* Each species' ecological niche includes their spot in the food chain. If the
species is missing from the ecosystem food chain then it may cause the entire
ecosystem to fail and ultimately die.
* Segregation of organisms into niches avoids confusion of activities in the
community and gives a more orderly and efficient life pattern for each species.
* Segregation of different species in a particular niche results in full
exploitation of all available resources.

4.4. Narrow and Broad niches

* Generalist specie
* Have broad niches
* Live in many different areas
* Eat Variety of food
* Tolerate wide range of environment condition
* Ex. Colorado Beetle: Feed on potatoes, belladonna, eggplant and other plants.
Live in North America, Europe, Asia

* Specialist specie
* Narrow niches
* May only live in one type of habitat
* Eat few type of food
* Tolerate narrow range of environmental condition
* Ex. Giant Panda: 90 percent diet. Live only in few mountains of china.
Temperature forest at 1200-3900m elevation.

4.5. Habitat VS Niche Habitat

* Habitat
* Actually where the organisms live including biotic and abiotic factors.
* All of the parameters.
* Address of the organisms.
* It is not specie specific , many specie can occupy the same habitat
* Habitat consist of several niches
* It is superset of niche
* Ex. Desert, ocean forest
* Niche
* All the factors which an organism requires to live and reproduce in a healthy way
in a particular area.
* Selective parameters.
* Profession or job of the organism.
* A niche is a particular role played by an organism in an ecosystem.
* It is species specific. It support only one specie
* It is a subset of habitat.
* Ex. Different trophic position occupied by darwin's finches.

5.1. History of Ecology as a Science

From early teachings of philosophy, ethics and politics.

* Aristotle (3rd century B.C.)

* Historia Animalia
* Theophrastus organism environment

5.1. History of Ecology as a Science (18th Century)

Schools of Thought:
* Arcadian ecology
* Arcadian Ecology is the school of thought that advocates for a harmonious
relationship between humans and nature.
* It is named for the mountainous Arcady region of Greece.
* Imperial Ecology
* Opposing the Arcadian view is Francis Bacon's ideology, “imperial ecology”.
* Imperialists work “to establish through the exercise of reason and by hard work,
man’s dominance over nature”.
* Imperial ecologists also believe that man should become a dominant figure over
nature and all other organisms as “once enjoyed in the Garden of Eden”.
* Both views continued their rivalry through the early eighteenth century until
Carl Linnaeus's support of imperialism; and in a short time due to Linnaeus's
popularity, imperial ecology became the dominant view within the discipline.

Carl Linnaeus
* Father of Taxonomy
* binomial system of nomenclature
* (1735) Systema Naturae
* phenology and geography of plants *environmental factors seasonal
progression and plant distribution
* Imperial ecology

5.2. History of Ecology as a Science (19th Century)

* plant geography and natural history (e.g. study of plants, birds, mammals, fish,
etc.)
* expeditions for natural resources (Great Britain, Portugal, Spain)

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859)

* Father of Ecology
* correlated vegetation types with environmental characteristics
* ecological gradient of latitudinal biodiversity
* increases towards the tropics
* Idea for Plant Geography
Darwin
* (1859) On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection
Haeckel - ecology
Edward Seuss
* (1875) Biosphere
* (1879) symbiosis first described
Eugen Warming - biogeography

5.3. History of Ecology as a Science (20th Century)

(1920) Human Ecology

Vladimir Vernadsky - (1926) redefined biosphere “The Biosphere”

Arthur Tansley
* (1950) harmful effects of pollution to ecosystems known
* (1935) Ecosystem
Eugene Odum and Howard Odum
* (1953) wrote first ecology textbook
* Ecology as university course *E. Odum
* (1966) systems ecology or ecosystem ecology
Charles Elton
* (1971) Father of animal ecology
* food chain/ food web and niche concepts
Barry Commoner
* Four Basic Laws of Ecology in “The Closing Circle”
Herodotus and Plato - Providential ecology
Chief Indian Seattle - pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a
personal relationship with David Swinson "Doc" Maynard
Robert Malthus - relationship of population and food supply
Vito Volterra and Alfred Lotka - predator-prey interaction model
Pierre Verhulst – proposed the growth of population
Justus von Leibig - (1840) Law of Minimum
Victor Shelford - (1913) Law of Tolerance
Georgy Gause - “Competitive Exclusion” principle

Ecology
* oldest science
* indigenous practices in the Phils:
a. Bontocs in Cordillera: nutrient cycling
B. Ikalahan in Nueva Vizcaya: shifting cultivation
c. Hanunoo Mangyans of Mindoro: kaingin farming from lands cleared from forest

Implications of Indigenous Practices

* survival strategy is an integral part
* evolutionary development not only between plants and animals with their
environment but also between human communities and their environments

George Perkins Marshst

* Environmental Awareness in the U.S.
* Early Conservationist/Naturalist Philosophers
* Book: Man and Nature
John Wesley Powell & Henry David Thoreau - Book: Life in the woods

5.4. History of Ecology as a Science (20th Century - Present)

1960s and 1970s

* concern for the state of environment
* public prominence of ecology
* became involved in social, political and economic issues- awareness about
pollution, overpopulation, degraded environments
* resource management Ex: environmental impact assessment
Rachel Carson
* Mother of environmental movements
* “There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in
harmony with its surroundings. Then a strange blight crept over the sea and
everything began to change.There was a strange stillness. The few birds seen
anywhere were moribund; they trembled violently and could not fly. It was a spring
without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of
scores of bird voices, there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and
woods and marsh.”
Fairfield Osborn - Book: Our Plundered Planet
James Lovelock - Book: GAIA A new look at life on earth
—-----------------------------------------------------

6.1 FUNDAMENTALS OF MINERALS

MINERALS
* Naturally occurring, Inorganic, Solid, has a definite chemical composition, and
has a definite crystal structure.

HAS DEFINITE CRYSTAL STRUCTURE

Graphite – pencil lead, batteries
Sulfur – matches, fireworks
Talc – Powder, ceramics

NOT Minerals
* Cement
* Steel (Man-made)
* Coal (comes from plants)
* Amber (comes from tree sap)
* Pearls (comes from oysters)
* Mercury (it is liquid at room temperature)

Solids
* Have a definite volume and a definite shape.
* Stable and solid at room temperature
* Mercury is NOT A MINERAL

Chemical Composition
1. SILICATE and (b) NON-SILICATE

SILICATE - silicon and oxygen groupings; SiO2

* Combined with one or more metals
Talc- Mg3Si4O10(OH)2
* Largest group of minerals
90% of the earth's crust

NON-SILICATE - Do note contain SiO2

* Subdivided into several other classes: Native, Sulfides, Sulfates, Oxides,
Halides, Carbonates
* Extremely rare
8% of the Earth's crust
* Few are relatively common
Calcite

1. Native
* elements found in nature in their mineral form.
* gold (Au), sulfur (S), silver(Ag)
2. Sulfides
* minerals that contain sulfur ions.
* Galena (PbS), Pyrite (FeS2)
3. Sulfates
* minerals which include the sulfate ion (SO42-).
* Gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O)
4. Oxides
* minerals that contain oxygen bonded with one or more metals
* Hematite (Fe2O3), Magnetite (Fe3O4)
* Minerals containing (OH) are typically included in this class. (hydroxides)
* Portlandite (Ca(OH)2)
5. Halides
* Minerals that contain Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine and Iodine ions.
* Halite (NaCl), Fluorite (CaF2)
6. Carbonates
* Minerals that contain a carbonate ion, CO2−3.
* Calcite (CaCO3), Dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2)

6.2. CRYSTAL STRUCTURE

* The internal structure or arrangement of atoms within a mineral
Halite (NaCl)
* Atoms/molecules are arranged in repeating geometric patterns.

SIX BASIC CRYSTAL SYSTEMS

1. Cubic - Galena, Halite, Pyrite

2. Tetragonal – Chalcopyrite

3. Hexagonal - Quartz, Calcite

4. Orthorhombic - Olivine, Topaz

5. Monoclinic – Mica, gypsum

6. Triclinic – Feldspar, Turquoise

6.3. MINERAL FORMATION
* When lava or magma cools to solidification
* When water evaporates and leaves minerals remain
* When water is supersaturated with a mineral; minerals will settle out of the
water and deposit as a precipitate.

6.4. IDENTIFYING MINERALS

can be identified by their physical and chemical characteristics.

1. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
* Color
* Streak
* Luster
* Hardness
* Cleavage or Fracture
* Density

2. CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
* Specific and unique for each mineral
* Determined by chemical composition and structure

1. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

1. COLOR
* Is Not a reliable property; some minerals can be many different colors.
* Color may vary due to:
Natural coloring agents - impurities
Weathering; exposure to the environment

Malachite-green

Quartz - clear, purple, white, grey-brown

Sulfur - yellow

Hematite - black, silver, reddish brown

2. STREAK
* The color of the mineral in its powdered form.
* Determined by using a streak plate
Quartz: White/colorless
Hematite: reddish brown

3. LUSTER
The way a mineral shines/reflects light from its surface.

1. Metallic: reflects light like the surface of a polished metal

Galena, Pyrite, Graphite, Magnetite

2. Non Metallic: reflects light in more subtle ways

* Pearly-Mica

* Glassy-Quartz

* Dull/Earthy-Bauxite

* Waxy-Talc

* Brilliant-Diamond

4. HARDNESS
A measure of how easily a mineral can be scratched.
1. Determined by a minerals internal structure.
2. When a mineral is scratched by a substance; it is softer than the substance
3. When a mineral scratches a substance; it is harder than the substance

Mohs Hardness Scale

Hardness
Name of Mineral
1
Talc
 2
Gypsum
3
Calcite
4
Fluorite
5
Apatite
6
Feldspar
7
Quartz
8
Topaz
9
Corundum
10
Diamond

5. CLEAVAGE
When a mineral splits/breaks along smooth flat surfaces
* Mica - One direction; sheet
* Galena – Three; cubic shape
Determined by atomic structure
of mineral
* Cleavage is the way a mineral breaks
* Crystal Shape is the way crystal grows

6. FRACTURE
When a mineral breaks unevenly into curved or irregular pieces with rough and
jagged surfaces.

Sulfur, bauxite, hematite, quartz

7. DENSITY OR HEFT
Minerals have different densities, and vary in weight given the same sample size.
* How heavy the mineral feels in your hand

B. CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
1. Effervescence
* Calcite reacts with HCl; bubbles of CO2

2. Oxidation
* Reaction between Iron (Fe) and oxygen (O2).
* Iron (Fe) + oxygen = Rust
* Metal is weakened by change
* Reaction between copper and air; creates a greenish coating
* Copper (Cu) + oxygen = copper oxide
* metal is not weakened; pennies

C. SPECIAL PROPERTIES
1. Lodestone - Magnetite; is naturally magnetic

2. Iceland Spar - Calcite; produces double refraction

3. Pitchblend; radioactive

* The observed process of change in the species structure of an ecological

community over a period of time
* Is a gradual process of change and replacement of types of species in a
community.
* The progressive change in the species composition of an ecosystem.

Each new community makes it harder for the previous community to survive.

7. 1. TYPES OF ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION

1. PRIMARY SUCCESSION
* It is the process of creating life in an area where no life existed earlier.
* An example of an area which a community has never lived before, would be a new
lava or rock from a volcano that makes a new island.
* It begins in a place without any soil, like: sides of volcanoes, landslides,
and flooding.
1. It starts with the arrival of living things such as lichens that do not need
any soil to survive.
* They are called PIONEER SPECIES.
2. When lichens die, they decompose, adding small amounts of organic matter to
the rock to make soil.
* Simple plants like mosses and ferns can grow on this new soil.
* The simple plants dies, adding more organic material.
3. The soil layer thickens, and grasses and other plants begin to take over.
4. These plants die, and they add more nutrients to the soil.
* Shrubs and trees can survive now, on this soil.
5. Insects, small birds and mammals can now begin to move in.
* What was earlier only bare rock, now supports a variety of life.
B. SECONDARY SUCCESSION
* It is the process of re-stabilization that follows a disturbance in an area,
where life has formed an ecosystem.
* It occurs on a surface where an ecosystem has previously existed.
* It is the process by which one community replaces another community which has
been partially or totally destroyed, might be by natural processes such as floods,
earthquakes, etc.
* When an existing community has been cleared by any type of disturbance, such
as fire, cyclone etc and the soil remains intact, the area begins to return to its
natural community.
* Because these habitats previously supported life, secondary succession begins

The Circle of life in Secondary Succession

7.2. WHY AND HOW: ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION

Why does Ecological Succession Occur?
* Because it is the process of life for plants and other living organisms.
* Because organisms alter soil structure and the species communities constantly
change over a period of time.
* Succession will continue until the environment reaches its final stage – the
Climax Community

Gradual Change from Pioneer Stages to Climax Community

How Ecological Succession takes place?

* Succession will continue until the environment reaches it’s final stage, ----
the Climax Community.

7.3. CLIMAX COMMUNITY

* A climax community is a mature, stable community that is the final stage of
ecological succession
* This type of community remains the same throughout the time, if it is not
disturbed.
* A stable group of plants and animals, which is the end result of the
succession process, does not always mean only big trees. They could be:
* Cacti in deserts
* Grasses in fields

PHYSICAL FACTORS
The two main physical factors that determine the nature of the community that
develops in an area are:
1. Temperature
2. The amount of rainfall.

7.4. THREATS TO SUCCESSION

* The grasses that move in as pioneer species are often thought of as weeds.
* The subsequent growth of shrubs are considered undesirable “brush”.
* But, without these intermediate stages, the disturbed habitat can’t return to
forest.

How do Humans affect Ecological succession?

* Clearing the land for garden and preparing the soil for planting is a type of
major external event that radically re-structure and disrupt a previously
stabilized ecosystem.
* This disturbance may immediately begin a process of ecological succession.
Does Ecological Succession ever stop?
* Over a long period of time, the climate conditions of an ecosystem are bound
to change.
* No ecosystem has existed or will remain unchanged over a Geological Time Scale