College of Arts and Sciences Education

2nd Floor, DPT Building

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

BIG PICTURE

WEEK 4-5 Unit Learning Outcome d (ULOd)

Discuss how species interaction shape biological communities.

METALANGUAGE
Below are the essential terms that you are going to encounter in the pursuit of ULOd.

1. Biological Communities – The term biological community refers to all the living
components in an ecosystem. A slightly different concept is encompassed in the
word biota, which refers to all flora and fauna, or plant and animal life, in a
particular region.

2. Predation it is referring to a biological interaction where one organism captures

and kills other organisms, its prey.
2.1. It is one of the known modes of feeding behaviors that includes parasitism
and micropredation and parasitoids.

3. A symbiotic relationship is referring to any close and long-term biological

interaction between two different organisms.
3.1. The organisms, each termed a symbiont, may be of the same or different
species.

4. Mutualism it is referring to a biological and ecological interaction where both

organisms benefit from each other.
11.1. It is one of the known ecological interactions.

5. Parasitism. A symbiotic relationship between species, where one organism, the

parasite, lives on or in another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is
adapted structurally to this way of life.

6. Keystone species. It is a concept that was introduced by Robert T. Paine in

1969. It pertains to species relative to its abundance is a disproportionate effect
on its natural environment.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE
BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES

A population consists of all individuals of a single species that exist together at

a given place and time. A species is a single type of organism that can interbreed and
produce fertile offspring. All of the populations living together in the same area make up
a community. An ecosystem is made up of the living organisms in a community and
the nonliving things, the physical and chemical factors, that they interact with.

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

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The living organisms within an ecosystem are its biotic factors and the physical
and chemical features are abiotic factors. Abiotic factors include resources living
organisms need, such as light, oxygen, water, carbon dioxide, good soil, and nitrogen,
phosphorous, and other nutrients. Abiotic factors also include environmental features
that are not materials or living things, such as living space and the right temperature
range. Energy moves through an ecosystem in one direction.

https://sciencenotes.org/biotic-and-abiotic-factors-in-ecology/

Organisms must make a living. This means that each individual organism must
acquire enough food energy to live and reproduce. A species' way of making a living is
called its niche. An example of a niche is making a living as a top carnivore, an animal
that eats other animals, but is not eaten by any other animals. Every species fills a niche,
and niches are almost always filled in an ecosystem. An organism’s habitat is where it
lives. The important characteristics of a habitat include climate, the availability of food,
water, and other resources, and other factors, such as weather.
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2nd Floor, DPT Building
Matina Campus, Davao City
Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

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What Is a Community?
A community is the biotic part of an ecosystem. It consists of all the populations
of all the species in the same area. It also includes their interactions. Species interactions
in communities are important factors in natural selection. They help shape the evolution
of the interacting species. There are three major types of community interactions:
predation, competition, and symbiosis.

• Predation is a relationship in which members of one species (the predator)

consume members of another species (the prey).
• Competition is a relationship between organisms that strive for the same
resources in the same place. The resources might be food, water, or space. There
are two different types of competition:
1. Intraspecific competition occurs between members of the same species.
For example, two male birds of the same species might compete for mates
in the same area. This type of competition is a basic factor in natural
selection. It leads to the evolution of better adaptations within a species.
2. Interspecific competition occurs between members of different species.
For example, predators of different species might compete for the same prey.
• Symbiosis is a close relationship between two species in which at least one
species benefits. For the other species, the relationship may be positive, negative,
or neutral. There are three basic types of symbiosis: mutualism, commensalism,
and parasitism.

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

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A food chain is an arrangement of the organisms according to the order of

predation in which one uses another as a food source. It also shows the flow of energy
in an ecosystem.it allows one to identify what eats what. The trophic level refers to the
position of organisms in the food chain. A food web shows interlocking food chains. It
allows one to see the precise feeding relationship among populations of organisms.

https://biodifferences.net/difference-between-food-chain-and-food-web/

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

The food chain is the part of the natural ecosystem in which food, nutrients, and
energy are transmitted from one organism to another organism whereas the food web is
a system in which numerous food chains are interconnected with each other. In an
ecosystem, all living organisms depend on each other for food which develops a food
chain and in this way, they survive and reproduce. But organisms cannot depend on only
one type of food chain so they have to interact with another type of food chain which
eventually leads to the formation of a food web. All types of food chains have sunlight,
producer, consumer, and decomposer as its components.

COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS

Communities are complex systems that can be characterized by community

structure (the number and size of populations and their interactions) and community
dynamics (how the members and their interactions change over time). Understanding
community structure and dynamics allows us to minimize impacts on ecosystems and
manage ecological communities we benefit from.

A keystone species is one whose presence has inordinate influence in

maintaining the prevalence of various species, the ecological community’s
structure, and sometimes its biodiversity.

Community dynamics are the changes in community structure and composition over
time, often following environmental disturbances such as volcanoes, earthquakes,
storms, fires, and climate change. Communities with a relatively constant number of
species are said to be at equilibrium. The equilibrium is dynamic with species identities
and relationships changing over time, but maintaining relatively constant numbers.
Following a disturbance, the community may or may not return to the equilibrium
state.

Succession describes the sequential appearance and disappearance of species in a

community over time after a severe disturbance. In primary succession, newly exposed
or newly formed rock is colonized by living organisms. In secondary succession, a
part of an ecosystem is disturbed and remnants of the previous community remain. In
both cases, there is a sequential change in species until a more-or-less permanent
community develops.

HUMAN IMPACTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

In contrast to the millions of years that extinctions normally occur, human activity
is directly responsible for hundreds of extinctions in the last two centuries. Humans have
altered the earth in previously unheard-of ways as the twenty-first century goes on.
Human impact on the environment has become one of the main topics all over the world.
Here are some of the negative impacts of human population on the environment:

• Overpopulation
• Pollution
• Global Warming
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Phone No.: (082)300-5456/305-0647 Local 118

• Genetic Modification
• Ocean Acidification
• Overfishing
• Deforestation
• Acid Rain
• Ozone Depletion

SELF-HELP
You can refer to the sources below to help you further understand the lesson.

Marten. G.G. 2008. Human Ecology: Basic Concepts for Sustainable Development.
Earthscan, USA

Cunningham, W. P., and Cunningham, M., 2010. Environmental Science: A Global

Concern.11th Edition. McGraw Hill, New York.

Botkin, D., and Keller, E., 2011. Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet. 8th
Edition. John Wiley and Sons, USA

LET’S CHECK
Activity 4. Answer the following briefly:

1. Discuss the features of a biological community.

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2. Differentiate biological community from ecological system. .

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3. Are natural resource have effect on the species composition, structure, and
function.
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4. Discuss the importance of community interactions. .

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5. Why organisms compete? Can competition favor or eliminate biological species.

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

_______________________________________________________________
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6. For an ideal community interaction, what must be observed?

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LET’S ANALYZE
Activity No. 4. In this activity, you require to elaborate your answer once again to
each of the questions provided below.

1. How human disturbance affects ecosystems?

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2. Identify physical and biological factors that are most important in shaping the
biotic community.
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3. What are the factors that limit ecosystem functionality?

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4. Develop a conceptual framework that depicts the relationship between physical,

chemical, and biological factors in shaping communities and maintaining
biological diversity. Discuss your framework comprehensively.
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Discussion of the Framework:

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

IN A NUTSHELL
Activity No. 4. The approaches of environmental studies viewed as a very
complicated process. With the human population on many ecosystems that are widely
dispersed around the globe also have detrimental impacts on biological communities as
well about sustainability. Ecosystems and communities have evolved to keep abreast of
the changing activities within a specific geographical unit. The physical, chemical and
biological attributes of different communities will determine how our ecosystems will be
in the many years to come. In this part, you require to draw conclusions, perspectives,
and arguments about ecological system functions and communities' patterns from the
unit lesson. I will supply the first two items, and you will continue the rest.

1. Human introduction and removal of biological species in a community have a

profound effect on the community structure and its ecosystem functions. It is
significant to consider long-term studies and investigation before embarking on
this undertaking. It might hamper ecological services performed by organisms,
neither limits ecosystems functionality, adding a new set of organisms in a
community.

2. Species interactions are important in the process of natural selection. Through

these processes, the unique set of organisms and environmental conditions will
determine key organisms that can continue to flourish and pass off their genes to
their offsprings, which will be the second line of resilient organisms that will shape
a new set of biological communities.

YOUR TURN

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

Questions/ Issues Answers

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

KEYWORDS INDEX
Community Predation Habitat
Species Competition Keystone species
Interaction Symbiosis Ecological structure

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