MST 112 Presentation

THE ECOSYTEM
PRESENTED BY: BUISSAN & PARANGUAY

CONCEPT OF THE ECOSYSTEM AND
ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT
ECOSYSTEM
An ecosystem (or ecological system) is made up of all the organisms that
interact with their physical environment.
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE TERM

The term "ecosystem" was first used in a publication by British ecologist Arthur
Tansley in 1935. Arthur Roy Clapham coined the term at Tansley's request.
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL FACTORS

• External factors, also known as state factors, influence the overall structure of
an ecosystem and how things work within it but are not influenced by the
ecosystem itself.
• Internal factors in ecosystems not only control but also are controlled by
ecosystem processes.
ECOSYSTEM
An ecosystem (or ecological system) is made up of all the organisms that
interact with their physical environment.
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE TERM

The term "ecosystem" was first used in a publication by British ecologist Arthur
Tansley in 1935. Arthur Roy Clapham coined the term at Tansley's request.
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL FACTORS

• External factors, also known as state factors, influence the overall structure of
an ecosystem and how things work within it but are not influenced by the
ecosystem itself.
• Internal factors in ecosystems not only control but also are controlled by
ecosystem processes.
PRIMARY PRODUCTION
• The production of organic matter from inorganic carbon sources.
• Plants use photosynthesis to capture light energy and use it to combine
carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates and oxygen.
DYNAMICS AND RESILIENCE

Ecosystems are dynamic entities. They are subject to periodic disturbances and
are constantly recovering from previous disturbances.
NUTRIENT CYCLING
Ecosystems are constantly exchanging energy and carbon with the surrounding
environment. Mineral nutrients, on the other hand, are primarily exchanged
between plants, animals, microbes, and the soil.
NUTRIENT CYCLING
FUNCTION AND BIODIVERSITY
• Ecosystem processes are driven by the species in an ecosystem, the nature of
the individual species, and the relative abundance of organisms among these
species.
• The addition (or loss) of species that are ecologically similar to those already
present in an ecosystem tends to only have a small effect on ecosystem
function.
ECOSYSTEM GOODS AND SERVICES

• Ecosystems provide a wide range of goods and services on which people rely.
• Ecosystem services are generally defined as "improvements in the condition
or location of valuable things.
• Human activities are both limiting and threatening ecosystem services.
ECOSYSTEM MANAGMENT
• Ecosystem management is a natural resource management approach that
seeks to ensure the long-term sustainability and persistence of an ecosystem's
functions and services while also meeting socioeconomic, political, and
cultural needs.
• The term "ecosystem management" was coined by F. Dale Robertson.
Robertson stated, “By ecosystem management, we mean an ecological
approach that must blend the needs of people and environmental values in
such a way that the National Forests and Grasslands represent diverse,
healthy, productive and sustainable ecosystems.
PRINCIPLES OF ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT
• Systems thinking: Management has a holistic perspective, instead of
focusing on a particular level of biological hierarchy in an ecosystem (e.g., only
conserving a specific species; only preserving ecosystem functioning).
• Ecological boundaries: Ecological boundaries are clearly and formally
defined, and management is place-based and may require working across
political or administrative boundaries.
• Ecological integrity: Management is focused on maintaining or reintroducing
native biological diversity, and on preserving natural disturbance regimes and
other key processes that sustain resilience.
• Data collection: Broad ecological research and data collection is needed to
inform effective management (e.g., species diversity, habitat types,
disturbance regimes, etc.).
• Monitoring: The impacts of management methods are tracked, allowing for
their outcomes to be evaluated and modified, if needed.
• Adaptive management: Management is an iterative process in which
methods are continuously reevaluated as new scientific knowledge is gained.
• Interagency cooperation: As ecological boundaries often cross
administrative boundaries, management requires cooperation among a range
of agencies and private stakeholders.
• Organizational change: Successful implementation of management requires
shifts in the structure and operation of land management agencies.
• Humans and nature: Nature and people are intrinsically linked, and humans
shape, and are shaped by, ecological processes.
• Values: Humans play a key role in guiding management goals, which reflect a
stage in the continuing evolution of social values and priorities.
STAKEHOLDERS
Stakeholders are individuals or groups affected by or have interest in ecosystem
management decisions and actions.
STRATEGIES TO STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION

• Stakeholder involvement is inclusive, equitable, and focused on trust-building
and empowerment.
• Stakeholders are engaged early on, and their involvement continues beyond
decision and into management.
• Stakeholder analysis is performed to ensure parties are appropriately
represented. This involves determining the stakeholders involved in the
management issue; categorizing stakeholders based on their interest in and
influence on the issue; and evaluating relationships between stakeholders.
• Stakeholders agree upon the aims of the participatory process from its
beginning, and the means and extent of stakeholder participation are case-
specific.
• Stakeholder participation is conducted through skilled facilitation.
• Social, economic, and ecological goals are equally weighed, and stakeholders
are actively involved in decision making, which is arrived at by collective
consensus.
• Stakeholders continually monitor management plan’s effectiveness.
• Multidisciplinary data are collected, reflecting multidisciplinary priorities, and
decisions are informed by both local and scientific knowledge.
• Economic incentives are provided to parties responsible for implementing
management plans.
• To ensure long-term stakeholder involvement, participation is
institutionalized.
STRATEGIES OF ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT
• Command and control management: Command and control management
employs a linear problem-solving approach in which a perceived problem is
solved using controlling devices such as laws, threats, contracts, and/or
agreements.
• Natural resource management: Natural resource management aims to meet
societal demand for a given resource without harming the ecosystem or
jeopardizing the resource's future.
• Adaptive management: The concept of adaptive management is based on
the idea that predicting future influences and disturbances to an ecosystem is
difficult and uncertain.
• Strategic management: Strategic management in encourages the
establishment of goals that will sustain an ecosystem while keeping
socioeconomic and political policy drivers in mind.
• Landscape-level conservation: Landscape-level (or landscape-scale)
conservation is a method of conservation that takes into account wildlife
needs on a larger landscape scale when implementing conservation initiatives.
TROPHIC STRUCTURE OF THE ECOSYSTEM
TROPHIC STRUCTURE
• A characteristic feature of any ecosystem, measured and described either in
terms of the standing crop per unit area, or energy fixed per unit area per unit
time, at successive trophic levels.
• The amount of energy at each trophic level decreases as it moves through an
ecosystem. As little as 10 percent of energy at any trophic level is transferred
to the next level; the rest is lost largely through metabolic processes as heat.
TROPHIC LEVEL
• Broad cast of organisms within an ecosystem characterized by mode of food
supply.
• All organisms in an ecosystem can be placed in trophic levels depending on
what energy source they rely upon and how they provide energy for other
organisms in the food web.
ENERGY FLOW
Photosynthesis allows energy and carbon into ecosystems, where they are
incorporated into living tissue, transferred to other organisms that feed on
living and dead plant matter, and eventually released through respiration.
DIAGRAM OF TROPHIC LEVELS AND ENERGY
TRANSFER
ECOTONES AND GRADIENTS
ECOTONES
• An ecotone is a area of transition between two biological communities where
the two communities integrate.
• Alfred Russel Wallace coined the term ecotone after observing the abrupt
boundary between two biomes in 1859. It is formed by combining ecology and
-tone, from the Greek tonos or tension - in other words, a place where
ecologies are at odds.
FEATURES
• An ecotone can have a distinct vegetation transition, with a clear boundary
between two communities.
• A change in physiognomy (the physical appearance of a plant species) can be
an important indicator.
• A shift in species can indicate the presence of an ecotone.
FORMATION
Changes in the physical environment, such as the interface between forest and
cleared land, can result in a sharp boundary.
ENVIRONMENTAL GRADIENTS
An environmental gradient, also known as a climate gradient, is a change in
abiotic (non-living) factors over time (or time). Altitude, depth, temperature,
soil humidity, and precipitation are all factors that influence environmental
gradients.
VEGETATION DISTRIBUTION ALONG
MOUNTAIN ENIRONMENTAL GRADIENT
ABIOTIC INFLUENCE
The abiotic factors that make up environmental gradients can have a direct
impact on organismal survival.
BIOTIC INFLUENCE
Although environmental gradients are made up of gradually changing and
predictable patterns of an abiotic factor, there is a lot of interaction between
biotic-biotic and biotic-abiotic factors.
LOCAL ADAPTION ALONG GRADIENTS
• Local adaptation between populations inhabiting two extremes of the
landscape may occur depending on the size of the landscape and gene flow
between populations.
• Populations may be able to differentiate due to opposing extremes in abiotic
conditions and a lack of homogenizing gene flow.
EXAMPLES OF ECOSYSTEM
SAVANNAH
Savannahs are a mix of woodland and grassland ecosystems. The widely
spaced, scattered canopy trees allow light to penetrate and reach the ground.
CORAL REEF
The coral reef is an ecosystem created by reef-building corals. The reefs are
actually colonies of coral polyps, such as stony corals that live together in
clusters. They are one of the most diverse ecosystems on earth. As such, they
are referred to as the rainforests of the sea.
HOT SPRING
A hot spring is a spring with water temperatures that are higher relative to its
surroundings. The water that is coming out of the spring is heated geothermally,
i.e. via the heat from the earth’s mantle. Because of the high temperature, it is
one of the ecosystems that contain very few types of organisms.
MICRO-ECOSYSTEMS
Ecosystems confined to small or tiny spaces and yet defined by specific
environmental factors are called micro-ecosystems. For example, a tree may
harbor lichens and other epiphytes (arboreal plant), invertebrates (such as
insects), amphibians, and other animals.
LAKES
Lakes are an example of a stationary ecosystem as the enabling environment is
relatively still. Streams, rivers, ponds and oceans are similarly included under
this category and is part of the aquatic ecology. The biotic components include
fish, bacteria, phytoplanktons and zooplanktons while the abiotic factors
include the water, light, and rocks underneath the lake.
DESERTS
The desert is considered as an ecosystem because it has an ecology
characterized by both biotic and abiotic functions and processes in arid areas. It
includes both plant, animal, and bacterial populations and their interaction with
desert climate, air and soil.
FORESTS
In a forest, there are many animal and plant species interacting with non-living
things. For example, precipitation and sun’s energy is taken up by the plants and
used for growth and then consumed by primary consumers (the herbivores).
DECIDUOUS FOREST
A deciduous forest is dominated by trees that shed leaves seasonally and then
regrow their leaves at the start of the new growing season. They shed leaves as
an adaptive mechanism against the cold season in temperate regions or to the
dry seasons of the subtropical and tropical regions.
OCEANS
The oceans have diverse range of natural components that enable its continuity
and the constant exchange of materials between living and non living things.
Aquatic animals such as fish obtain essential nutrients such as phosphorous,
nitrogen, oxygen and food from within the water. The same applies to the
plants living under water.
THANK YOU
FOR LISTENING

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THE ECOSYTEM

PRESENTED BY: BUISSAN & PARANGUAY

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE TERM

EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL FACTORS

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE TERM

EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL FACTORS

DYNAMICS AND RESILIENCE

ECOSYSTEM GOODS AND SERVICES

STRATEGIES TO STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION

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