Plant Ecology

Erika P. Coronado
Rina Monica V. Dizon
Ena Anadelle A. Honrado
Aileen A. Vijar

Ecology
Is the broad discipline of study involving the
relationships of organisms to each other
and to their environment.
term ECOLOGY, was proposed by Ernst
Haeckel of 1869.
But the discipline of the ecology was origin
back in the early civilizations when humans
learned through the use of tools and fire.

Why ecology
?
Becauseoccur
of the carelessness
of
the people on the environment
It started at 1700s when
forests and lakes got damage
and people got affected to it.

History of
late 1700sEcology
Antoine Lavoisier, a chemist,
discovered Oxygen and Carbon and their
importance to living things
1852 Robert Angus Smith connected acid
rain to air pollution
1869 Ernst Haeckel coins the term ecology
1875- Eduard Seuss defines the biosphere

History of
1940s Ruth Patrick studied interdependence
Ecology
of organisms, particularly freshwater
ecosystems. She developed methods to
measure the health of a stream.
1950s People first become aware of the
harmful effects of pollution on ecological
systems and on people.
1951 Nature Conservancy is founded.

History of Ecology
1953 Eugene Odum, Howard Odum wrote the first
ecology textbook and ecology becomes a university
course.
1972 Acid rain effects on lakes is discovered and
studied by Harold Harvey
1978 Conservation Biology established as a discipline
focusing on environmental management
1980s Water pollution seriously reduced due to new
sewage treatment practices
1980s Air pollution reduced in cities as unleaded gas
and catalytic converters are used in autos

Level of Organization in
Ecology

Biological
Spectrum

Figure :Biological Spectrum

Ecological Succession

SS
Eu
Cc
Oc
Ne
Ds
As
Ri
Yo
n

Natural Cycles

Water and elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus are constantly
cycling throughout nature.

Water in Plants
Water is carried through their stems to the
leaves. Then water evaporates from the
leaves. If plants do not get enough water
from the soil, their leaves will droop. This is
called wilting. Without water, the leaves
will shiver and the plant may die.

The Water Cycle

Water is essential for life on Earth.
The earths water is constantly being recycled, and
the total amount remains stable.
Ninety-eight percent of the water is in oceans,
rivers, lakes, and puddles that make up about twothirds of the earths surface.
All water on Earth is part of the water cycle.

The Water Cycle

Figure :The Water Cycle

Process of Water
1. Evaporation Cycle
Evaporation is the process by which water changes
from a liquid to a gas or vapor. 2.Transpiration
The release of water from plant leaves.
Factors affecting transpiration are:
*Temperature
*Type of Plant

*Relative humidity
*Soil moisture availability

*Wind and air Movement

Process of Water
3. Evotranspiration
Cycle
It is the sum of evaporation from the land
surface plus transpiration from plants.
4. Condensation
The process in which water vapor in the air is
changed into liquid water.
Responsible for the formation of clouds, these
clouds may produce precipitation.

Process of Water Cycle

5. Precipitation
Precipitation is water released from clouds in
the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or
hail.
6. Stream Flow
The movement of water in a natural channel,
such as a river.

Process of Water Cycle

7. Infiltration
The downward movement of water from the
land surface into soil or porous rock
8. Ground water storage (Aquifers)
Aquifers are a huge storehouse of Earth's
water and people all over the world depend on
groundwater in their daily lives.

Process of Water Cycle

9. Ground water discharge
The movement of water out of the ground.
Water travels close to the land surface and
emerges very quickly as discharge into
streambeds.

The Carbon Cycle

All living things are made of carbon.
Carbon is also a part of the ocean, air, and
even rocks.
Carbon is attached to some oxygen in a gas
called carbon dioxide.
The carbon becomes part of the plant.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and
traps heat in the atmosphere.

The Carbon Cycle

Figure : The Carbon Cycle

Process of Carbon
1. Respiration and
Combustion
Cycle
Carbon enters the atmosphere as carbon
dioxide from respiration (breathing) and
combustion (burning).
2. Photosynthesis
Carbon dioxide is absorbed by producers to
makecarbohydratesin photosynthesis

Process of Carbon
Cycle
3. Decomposition
The dead organisms (dead animals and plants) are
eaten bydecomposersin the ground.
The carbon that was in their bodies is then returned
to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
4. Soil Respiration
This process is the same as plant respiration, only
in this case, the microbes do not make the fuel
themselves.

The Nitrogen Cycle

It makes up 78% of the troposphere.
Nitrogen is important to life because it is a key part
of amino and nucleic acids.
Also, it is an important part of ATP, which is the
basic energy molecule for living things.
Neither plants or animals can obtain nitrogen
directly from the atmosphere.

The Nitrogen Cycle

Figure :The Nitrogen Cycle

Process of Nitrogen
Cycle
1. Nitrogen Fixation
The process of converting N2 into biologically available
nitrogen
2. Nitrification
The process that converts ammonia to nitrite and then
to nitrate.
3. Denitrification
the process that converts nitrate to nitrogen gas, thus
removing bioavailable nitrogen and returning it to the
atmosphere.

The Phosphorus
Phosphorus isan
essential mineral nutrient for all
Cycle
plants and animals

Important parts of DNA molecules and are also a

part ofenergy storing molecules like the ATP and
ADP.
A building block of certain parts like bones and
teeth in humans and animals.

The Phosphorus
Cycle

Figure :The Phosphorus Cycle

Process of Phosphorus
The phosphorus enters the soil and water.
Cycle

Plants take in thephosphorus ions from the soil.

It will be transferred from plants to herbivores animals to

carnivore animals
Animals returns it to the soil through excretion while
decomposition for plants and dead material by microbes
The dead plant materials and other waste products are
decayed through the action of bacteria.

The Sulfur Cycle

Figure : The Sulfur Cycle

Process of Sulfur
Cycle
Conversion of
inorganic hydrogen sulfide to

1.
organic sulfur form
2. Sulfide oxidation to sulfate
3. Reduction of sulfate to sulfide
4. Encapsulation of sulfur compounds and
incorporation into organic sulfur form.

Biomes
The word BIOME is a short form of biological
home.
Biome may be defined as a large ecosystem
wherein we study the total assemblage of plant
and animal communities.
Is the largest division of the biosphere.

Biomes
Particular mix of plants and animals that are
adapted to living within a specific range of
environmental conditions in a given region.
Areas of land characterized by their climate and
type of vegetation.
Extensive groupings of many ecosystem
characterized by the distinctive aspects of dominant
plant.
Major types of ecosystem characterized by a
particular climate and a distinctive group of species.

Aquatic biomes
Fresh water

Saltwater

Lotic

Lentic

Wetlands

Coastal

Brook

Pond

Bog

Estuary

Creeks

Lake

Swamp

River

Marsh

Ocean

Aquatic biomes

Figure : Aquatic Biomes

Aquatic biomes
is an ecosystemin abody of water, occupying the
largest part of the biosphere.
Classified into two categories:
A. Freshwater
B. Saltwater
Brackish water is a combination of salt and fresh
water.

Fresh water biomes

Three basic types of freshwater ecosystem:
A. Lentic
Slow moving water.
B. Lotic
Faster moving water.
C. Wetlands
Areas where the soil is saturated or inundated for at
least part of the time.

Fresh water biomes

A. Lentic
1. Ponds
are small bodies of
freshwater with shallow
and still water,marsh,
and aquatic plants

Figure :Pond

algae, snails, fish, beetles, water bugs, frogs,

turtles, otters and muskrats.

Fresh water biomes

A. Lentic
2. Lakes
Body of standing fresh water.
Has three layers of water:
a. Epilimnion
b. Thermocline
c. Hypolimnion

Figure :Lake

Fresh water biomes

A. Lentic
2. Lakes
Can be classified by their
nutrient status:
a. Oligotrophic (nutrient-poor)
b. Eutrophic (nutrient-rich)
Figure :The Taal Lake
Eutrophication
Process in which a body of water receives a large input of
nutrients.

Fresh water biomes

A. Lentic
2. Lakes
a. Littoral zone
Closest to the shore
Protozoans, invertebrate fishes and some reptiles.
Phytoplankton and cattail
b. Limnetic zone
Sunlit body of the lake
Minnows and killifish
Phytoplankton are the main producers.

Fresh water biomes

A. Lentic
2. Lakes
c. Benthic zone
Include the sediment at the soil water interface
Worms, snails, clams, crayfishes and insect larvae are the
benthic species.
Decomposers break down wastes and dead organism into
nutrients.

Fresh water biomes

Fresh water biomes

B. Lotic
1. Streams
Includes brooks, creeks and rivers that
carry water and sediment from all portions
of the land toward the ocean.
Provide moisture and habitat to aquatic and
terrestrial organism.

Fresh water
B. Lotic
biomes
1. Streams
a. Brooks
a small, natural stream
of fresh water
is a flowing body of
water with no tributaries
and dries up part of the year

Figure : Brook

Fresh water biomes

B. Lotic
1. Streams
B. Creeks
a stream smaller than a
river
is a flowing body of

Figure :Creek

water with several brooks as tributaries.

Fresh water biomes

B. Lotic
1.Streams
c. Rivers
Largest streams
has one or more
major tributaries and
Figure : Batasan River
any number of the previous flowing bodies
of water.

Fresh water biomes

C. Wetlands
Areas that are wet for at least
part of a year
1. Marshes
Wetlands that are frequently
or continually inundated by
water.

Figure :Marsh of Agusan Del Sur

Rushes, reeds and other grasses are found here.

Fresh water biomes

C. Wetlands
2. Swamps
Wetlands that are
dominated by either
woody plants or shrubs.
Cypress, red maple

Figure :Swamp in Candaba, Pampanga

and tupelo are the common swamp trees.

Fresh water biomes

C. Wetlands
3. Bogs
Characterized by
acidic water, peat
deposits and
sphagnum moss.
Figure : Bogs

Species of plants in bogs are cranberries, orchids,

venus flytraps and pitcher plants.

Salt water
biomes

Classes of organisms found in marine ecosystems

include:
*brown algae
*corals
*echinoderms

*dinoflagellates
*cephalopods
*sharks

Fishes caught in marine ecosystems are the biggest

source of commercial foods obtained from wild
populations.

Salt water biomes

1. Coastal
A. Estuary
Intertidal zone
Region of shoreline that lies
between the high and low tide
marks.
Upper portion (Splash zone)
Midportion
Below

Salt water biomes

Figure :Intertidal Zones

Salt water biomes

1. Oceans
Intertidal/Littoral zone (shoreline)
Is the area between high and low tides.
Neritic zone
Shallow sea water between the coast and the edge of the
continental shift.
Oceanic zone
Deep water that extends beyond the continental shelf.
Pelagic zone (open waters)

*Epipelagic

*Mesopelagic

*Bathypelagic

Salt water biomes

Figure :Zones of the Ocean

Salt water biomes

Coral reefs
Underwater structure of calcium

carbonate built by coral animals.

75% or the coral reefs are in the

Indian and Pacific oceans.

Primary found in shallow, warm

and tropical waters.

Provides home for microscopic algae
zooxanthellae.

Salt water biomes

Figure :Coral Reefs

Terrestrial Biomes
TERRESTRIAL BIOMES

TROPICAL
FORESTS

TROPICAL
DRY
FORESTS

DESERT

TUNDRA

TROPICAL
RAIN
FORESTS

TAIGA

TEMPERATE
DECIDUOUS
FORESTS

GRASSLAND

CHAPPARAL

SAVANNA

Terrestrial Biomes
Terrestrial biomes are only found in land.
There are eight primary terrestrial biomes,
namely: tundra, taiga, savanna,
chaparral, temperate deciduous forest,
tropical forest, temperate grassland
and desert.

Terrestrial Biomes
1. GRASSLANDS
Grasslands are found toward the interiors of
continental masses. Those located in
Mediterranean climatic zones usually include
vernal pools with unique annual floras.

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure : Grassland

Terrestrial Biomes
Characteristics of grassland
A. CLIMATE
with warm to hot summers and cool to very cold winters.
B. SOIL
Chernozens
C. VEGETATION
Domination by grasses
D. DIVERSITY
Probably the most abundant plants in the world

Terrestrial
Biomes

E. PLANT ADAPTATION
Grasses are superbly adapted to cover open ground,
relatively resistant to both fire and grazing.
Heavily endowed with silica,

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Grassland

Terrestrial Biomes
2. TAIGA
The taiga (from a Russian word meaning wet
forest) is also referred to as a northern coniferous
or boreal forest.
It is located adjacent to and south of the arctic
tundra.
Taiga is dominated by coniferous trees, with birch,
aspen, and willow in the wetter areas. Many
perennials and few annuals occur in taiga.

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Taiga

Terrestrial Biomes
Characteristics of Taiga
A. CLIMATE
There are cool summers and very cold winters.
B. SOIL
Podzols
C. VEGETATION
Coniferous trees
Mosses and lichens dominate the ground cover.

Terrestrial Biomes
D. DIVERSITY
feature only 1-3 dominant tree species.
The diversity of conifers, especially Pinaceae, is substantial over
the entire zone and highest in Pacific Northwest.
Betulaceae and Salicaceae are also diverse among trees and
shrubs, Rosaceae, Ranunculaceae, and Saxifragaceae among
herbs.

Terrestrial Biomes
E. PLANT ADAPTATION
Densely packed monospecific conifer forests could attract
high densities of seed predators, but many species produce a
superabundance of seeds in one year, thus saturating seed
predators, which cannot increase during the alternate years
when few seeds are produced.

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Taiga

Terrestrial Biomes
3. TUNDRA
Tundra is found primarily above the Arctic
Circle.
It includes few trees and many lichens
and grasses and is characterized by the
presence of permafrost below the surface.
Alpine tundra occurs above timberline in
mountains below the Arctic Circle.

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Tundra

Terrestrial Biomes
Characteristic of Tundra
A. CLIMATE
Cool summers and very cold winters.
B. SOIL
Gleys
C. VEGETATION
shrubs up to several meters high in the southern
part.
vegetation is lacking.

Terrestrial Biomes
D. DIVERSITY
Dominant plant groups include Cyperaceae,
Poaceae, Salicaceae, and Brassicaceae.
E. PLANT ADAPTATION
densely haired, adaptations against
desiccation by the dry winds.
Some plants are so low and densely packed
that they deserve the name "cushion plants.

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Tundra during

Autumn

Terrestrial
Biomes

4. Deserts
Deserts are characterized by low annual
precipitation and wide daily temperature ranges,
with plants adapted both in form and metabolism to
the environment.
Unrelated species such as Cacti with water-storing
stems that live in North American deserts are similar
to euphorbs with water storing stems that live in
African Deserts.

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Desert

Terrestrial Biomes
Characteristics of Desert
A. CLIMATE
Temperatures are generally high but it may be cold
at night and very cold in winter in higher-latitude
deserts.
B. SOIL
They are usually calcareous and may be highly
saline.
Sand is a common substrate.

Terrestrial Biomes
C. VEGETATION
Desert vegetation typically consists of open, well-spaced shrubs
with numerous branches from ground level and small, thick
leaves.

Grasses and forbs may or may not fill in the spaces among the
shrubs.

D. DIVERSITY
Some plant families are especially diverse in deserts, for
example Chenopodiaceae, Crassulaceae, and Cactaceae.

Terrestrial Biomes
E. PLANT ADAPTATION
The leaves are small and heavily coated with waterproofing
materials to prevent excess water loss.
Some shrubs associated with water courses have long tap
roots to reach the water table.
most succulents are protected by spines

Terrestrial Biomes
They evolved independently in two groups as a result of
living in similar environments.

Figure :Convergent evolution of spines of cacti and euphorbs

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Desert

Terrestrial Biomes
5. TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FOREST
Temperate broadleaf forest is found mainly at
midlatitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, with
smaller areas in Chile, South Africa, Australia, and
New Zealand.
They have a distinct annual rhythm in which trees
drop leaves and become dormant in winter, then
produce new leaves each spring.

Terrestrial Biomes

MOUNTAIN AND COASTAL

FORESTS
Figure :Temperate Deciduous Forests

Terrestrial Biomes
CHARACTERISTICS OF TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS
FORESTS
A.CLIMATE
Precipitation can average from about 70 to over 200
cm annually.
Significant amounts fall during all seasons, including
summer rain and, in some forests, winter snow.
B. SOIL
Generally have loamy soils.

Terrestrial Biomes
C.VEGETATION
Composed of primarily deciduous trees
Some evergreens appear
Multilayered, with 1-2 tree layers, a shrub layer, and an
herb layer.
Usually there is a pulse of growth and flowering of the
herbaceous species during spring.
Few epiphytes

Terrestrial Biomes
D. DIVERSITY
North American and eastern Asian plant diversity are very
high.
Many major tree groups occur in this zone, with important
tree families including the Pinaceae, Fagaceae,
Juglandaceae, Aceraceae, Salicaceae, and Betulaceae.
Dominant shrub families include Rosaceae and Ericaceae,
dominant herb families Caryophyllaceae, Ranunculaceae,
Brassicaceae, Apiaceae, Lamiaceae, and Asteraceae.

Terrestrial Biomes
E. PLANT ADAPTATIONS
The broad, thin leaves of angiosperm trees grow
rapidly, intercept photons efficiently, and provide
effective photosynthetic organs during the warm,
wet summers of this zone.
The production of great quantities of seeds
simultaneously probably allows many to escape
potential seed predators.

Terrestrial Biomes
6. TROPICAL FORESTS
This terrestrial biome is found near the equator,
the temperature is nearly constant.
It has two types: tropical dry forests and tropical
rainforests.

Terrestrial Biomes
6. TROPICAL FORESTS
A. TROPICAL DRY FORESTS
Terrestrial biomes that are found in areas that have distinct
wet and dry seasons.
Characteristic of Tropical Dry Forest
A. CLIMATE
Temperatures are high all year, but there is a betterdeveloped dry season than in the tropical rain forest.

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure : Tropical Dry Forest

Terrestrial Biomes
B. SOIL
Soils are essentially like those of tropical rain forests, with the
same processes.
C. VEGETATION
The undergrowth is often dense and tangled because of greater
light penetration.
Drought-resistant epiphytes (orchids, bromeliads and cacti)
may be abundant.

Terrestrial Biomes
D. DIVERSITY
Environmental stress increases with instability (seasonality) of the
environment, and fewer plants and animals can generate
homeostatic mechanisms (for internal stability) to cope.
E. Adaptations
Antifire adaptation
Antidesiccation adaptation
Antiherbivore adaptation

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Tropical Dry Forest

Terrestrial Biomes
6. TROPICAL FORESTS
B. TROPICAL RAINFORESTS
The tropical rain forests constitute nearly
half of all forest land and contain more
species of plants and animals than all the
other biomes combined.

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Tropical Rainforest

Terrestrial Biomes
Characteristics of Tropical Rainforest
A. CLIMATE
Day lengths are essentially the same year-round.
There are one or more relatively dry months and few
areas are wet throughout the year
B. SOIL
Latosols.

Terrestrial Biomes
C. VEGETATION
Most plant species are evergreen, their leaves elliptic, often with
an elongate ("drip") tip.
Lianas (large woody vines) are prominent.

D. DIVERSITY
Highest plant diversity of any zone.
Gymnosperms are rare, except cycads. Ferns and monocots
are very diverse.
The Orchidaceae is one of the largest plant families,
primarily epiphytic in this biome.

Terrestrial Biomes
E. PLANT ADAPTATIONS
With intense competition for light, many trees have the ability to
remain semidormant under the canopy until a light gap appears,
then undertake very rapid growth.
New leaves in many plants are without chlorophyll (they look
red or white) until they have grown to full size and have
survived potential herbivore browsing.
Pollination

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Tropical Rainforest

Terrestrial Biomes
7. SAVANNA
Grasslands with scattered trees or shrubs and
bands of woody vegetation along streams.

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Savanna

Terrestrial Biomes
Characteristics of Savanna
A. Climate
Three distinct seasons in this regions: cool and dry, hot and
dry, warm and wet.
B. SOIL
Lastosols and calcareous soils

Terrestrial Biomes
C. VEGETATION
Tropical grasslands usually support scattered trees, and
this mixture is called a "savanna."
Savannas actually encompass a broad spectrum of
vegetation types from pure grasses and forbs at one
end through trees and shrubs at variable densities to
thorn forest at the other end, which in turn grades into
tropical dry forest in areas of higher precipitation.

Terrestrial Biomes
C. VEGETATION
Tree growth is controlled not only by rainfall but
also by soil type; large areas of hardpan soils
(often laterites) allow no tree roots to penetrate
except through cracks, and the cracks determine
tree distribution.
Palms and legumes are important components of
woody savanna floras in most regions.

Terrestrial Biomes
D. DIVERSITY
Savannas are quite low in tree species diversity but
fairly high in diversity of herbaceous plants;

Terrestrial Biomes
E. PLANT ADAPTATION
long tap roots to reach the deep water table.
thick bark for resistance to annual fires.
deciduousness to avoid moisture loss.
trunk as a water-storage organ (as in baobab).
Siliceous spicules
Bulbs and corms

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Savanna

Terrestrial Biomes
8. Chaparral
it consists of scrublands usually found along
coastlines and is characterized by mild, rainy
winter and long, hot, dry summers.
is maintained by and adopted to periodic fires

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Chaparral

Terrestrial Biomes

Figure :Chaparral

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http://www.cas.miamioh.edu/mbi-ws/biogeochemicalcycles/Nitrogen/nit
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accessed: March 24, 2016

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