Ecosystems

• Emergent Layer - has the tallest trees that tower above all other plants, controls how much light and water reach the lower layers.
• Canopy Layer - is a layer with trees that overlap into what looks like a solid green roof.
• Epiphytes - are plants that are totally dependent on other plants for support.
• Understory - where animals and plants live in a difficult environment.
• Forest Floor - very dark and the air is very still and quiet.
• The World has 3 major Tropical Rain Forests:

  • Amazon Basin

  • Congo Basin

  • Malay Archipelago
• The Philippines has four specific types of forest:

  • dipterocarp

  • molave

  • pine

  • mossy
• Temperate grassland - growing in places with hot summers and cold winters.
• Tropical grassland - growing in places where the climate is hot all year round.
• Savannah - is the most widely known type of grassland and home to the lion.
• Desert - they are quite different from the present view because deserts do have carpets of flowers, caves, canyons, and strange rock formations that add to their natural beauty.
• The world has 12 main desert regions:

  • Africa

  • Asia

  • Australia

  • North America
• Deserts are excessively dry they receive less than 25 cm of rain annually.
• When rain falls on the desert, some of it sinks down forming a reservoir of water, then this reaches the desert surface an oasis is formed.
• Temperate forests grow in milder climates, the weather in a temperate climate changes with the seasons.
• Temperate forests are divided into two categories:

  • Deciduous

  • Coniferous
• Deciduous Forests - home to deciduous or hardwood trees that shed their leaves each winter, these trees produce flowers and spring seeds and summer and spectacularly colored leaves in fall.
• Coniferous Forest - also known as christmas trees, trees in this forest are conifers also called evergreen trees that produce seeds and cones instead of flowers.
• Cold, wet climates promote the growth of coniferous trees primarily spruce and fir. 
• One of the largest biomes on earth is called by its russian name Taiga.
• Winters in taiga are long and cold and most of the precipitation falls in the summer.
• Tundra - is a biome with vast polar plane between the taiga and the permanent ice surrounding the north pole
• The climate in tundra is very cold and dry and most of the water in the tundra is permanently frozen in the soil as permafrost.
• The marine or ocean community covers about 70% of earth.
• An estimated 90% of all photosynthesis and release of free oxygen takes place in the ocean.
• Three major marine communities:

  • coastal zone/shallow ocean

  • open sea surface

  • deep seawaters
• Coastal zone - has warm and nutrient rich waters that extend near the shallow edge of the continental shelf.
• Open sea surface or Pelagic - extends from the end of the continental shelf to the vast volume of the ocean.
• Deep sea water zone -occupies the lowest part of the ocean where it is dark and very cold with little dissolved oxygen.
• Most deep sea creatures adapt to this zone by having a light glowing property in her body is known as bioluminescence which can attract either a prey or a mate.
• Freshwater ecosystems are the only places where you can easily get fresh flowing waters.
• Freshwater Habitats:

  • Lake

  • Pond

  • Stream

  • River
• Freshwater communities have three distinct zones the literal lymatic and profundal.
• Littoral Zone - is a shallow zone near the shore where aquatic plants live along with various predatory insects amphibians and small fish.
• Limnatic zone - refers to the area that is further away from the shore but closer to the surface.
• Profundal zone - is a deep water zone that is below the limits of effective light penetration.
• Open ecosystems or interdependent ecosystems - are areas that are open to outside and surrounding influences.
• Estuaries - commonly regarded as a place where rivers meet and connect to the open sea.
• Estuaries are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth.
• Estuaries filters sediments and nutrients and purify the water that drains off the land.