ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION ✓ SAND – largest of all soil particle and has poor water

retention due to wider space between particles.

Chapter 1:
SUNLIGHT – an important physical factor. No life on earth
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION – a practice for will sprout without it.
protecting the environment and natural resources. TEMPERATURE – an important factor because of its effect
– process of reducing the use of resources through recycling. in metabolism.
ECOLOGY – study of the relationships between living OXYGEN – is produced by green plants through plant-life
organisms. processes.
– provides information about the benefits of ecosystems and INTRASPECIFIC – relationship that includes mating,
how Earth’s resources can be used assistance, and competition. (between individual of the same
TWO SUBDIVISIONS OF ECOLOGY: species.)
1. AUTECOLOGY – the study of the individual organisms, INTERSPECIFIC – (between animals and different species
life history, behavior, characteristics, and its adaptation to the (interspecific) or between plants and animals.)
environment. HABITAT – area where every organism needs and where they
2. SYNECOLOGY – the study of groups of organisms, live.
associated as a unit in relation to its environment.
LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION
ADAPTATION – an inherited or learned characteristic of 1. ATOM – small unit of matter.
organisms during their spans of lifetime. 2. MOLECULES – made of atoms, the smallest unit of
ECOSYSTEM – interactions between living and non-living chemical elements.
things in a particular environment. 3. ORGANELLE – parts of cell.
SYMBIOSIS – different ways or methods that organisms can 4. CELL – the basic unit of life.
interact within each other. TWO KINDS OF CELL
TYPES OF SYMBIOSIS: ➢ PLANT CELLS - rigid cell wall made of cellulose
1. MUTUALISM – both organisms benefit from each other. molecules.
2. PARASITISM – one benefits and one suffers or is harmed. ➢ ANIMAL CELLS - flexible cell membranes.
3. COMMENSALISM – one benefits while the other neither 5. TISSUE – made of cells that work together to perform a
benefits or harmed. certain task.
4. PREDATION – biological interaction where a predator (the 6. ORGAN – a system of tissues that work together on a larger
one that hunts) feeds on its prey (the organism that is being scale to do certain jobs.
hunted). 7. ORGAN SYTEM – group of organs that work together to
perform specific bodily functions.
LIMITING FACTORS – these are biotic and abiotic factors 8. ORGANISM – a recognizable, self-contained individual.
that restrict the numbers, reproduction, or distribution of 9. POPULATION – group of multiple organisms of the same
organisms. species within a specific area.
TWO CLASSIFICATION OF LIMITING FACTORS: 10. COMMUNITY – consists of all the different species within
1. DENSITY INDEPENDENT FACTORS – affect the a certain area.
population no matter what its density is. 11. ECOSYSTEM – made up of all the communities in a
2. DESITY DEPENDENT FACTORS – only affect a certain area.
population when it reaches a certain density. 12. BIOSPHERE – all of the ecosystems on Earth added
together.
CARRYING CAPACITY – the maximum number of
organisms of a single specie that an area can hold. Chapter 2:

TWO BASIC FACTORS OF ENVIRONMENT: Biomes - large terrestrial geographic regions containing
1. ABIOTIC FACTRS – non-living conditions or things, that distinctive plant communities.
influences or affects ecosystem and organisms.
❖ (WATER – an inorganic substance which plays an
important role in the ecosystem.) TYPES OF BIOMES
2. BIOTIC FACTORS – living things which influence or 1. DESERT - very dry, often barren biome.
affect an ecosystem. • Cool Deserts - dominated by sage bush and rabbit
❖ (SOIL – determines largely the character of bush.
vegetation and the types of animals that maintain • Hot Deserts - dominated by cacti.
themselves upon it.) 2. GRASSLANDS - away of deep-rooted beautifully flowering
TYPES OF SOIL non-grass species. (have a few trees)
✓ LOAM – good for agriculture with the addition of • Temperate Grassland - covers extensive areas to
organic materials called “humus”. support forest or woodland.
✓ CLAY – smallest inorganic particle of soil, sticky and
3. FORESTS - regions where trees grow.
prone to water clogging.
✓ SILT – made up of very fine particles deposited as • Tropical Rainforest - forest with high constant
sediments. rainfall and temperature.
 • Tropical Seasonal Forest - also known as monsoon 3. There’s another process called Evapotranspiration (i.e.
forest. vapour produced from leaves) which aids this process. It is the
• Temperate Deciduous Forest - dominated by trees evaporation of water from the leaves, soil and water bodies to
that lose their leaves each year. the atmosphere which again condenses and falls as rain.
• Temperate Evergreen Forest - favors conifers or
broad-leaved evergreen over deciduous trees. The Carbon Cycle
• Temperate Rainforest - occurs in cold climate near 1. It is one of the biogeochemical cycles in which carbon is
the sea with abundant water rainfall and summer exchanged among the biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere,
clouds/fogs. atmosphere and pedosphere.
• Temperate Woodland - climate is too dry to support 2. All green plants use carbon dioxide and sunlight for
a forest. photosynthesis. Carbon is thus stored in the plant. The green
• Coniferous Forest - a biome with vast forest of plants, when dead, are buried into the soil that gets converted
coniferous trees growing latitudes cold snowy winters into fossil fuels made from carbon. These fossil fuels when
and short summers. burnt, release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
4. SAVANNA - dry open grassland containing stunted widely 3. Also, the animals that consume plants, obtain the carbon
spaced trees. stored in the plants. This carbon is returned to the atmosphere
• Tropical Savanna - grassland dotted with scattered when these animals decompose after death. The carbon also
returns to the environment through cellular respiration by
small trees and shrubs. (acacia)
animals.
5. TUNDRA - a tree-less biome where winter is too dry and
4. Huge carbon content in the form of carbon dioxide is
cold.
produced that is stored in the form of fossil fuel (coal & oil) and
6. TAIGA - a Russian word meaning “primeval forest”. Also
can be extracted for various commercial and non-commercial
known as boreal forest.
purposes. When factories use these fuels, the carbon is again
released back in the atmosphere during combustion.
Population - a collection of organisms of a particular species.
- group of similar species living in a certain place
The Oxygen Cycle
at the same time.
1. This biogeochemical cycle moves through the atmosphere,
the lithosphere and the biosphere. Oxygen is an abundant
Characteristics of Population:
element on our Earth. It is found in the elemental form in the
1. Size - the number of individuals in population.
atmosphere to the extent of 21%.
Several factors that can affect the size of the population:
2. Oxygen is released by the plants during photosynthesis.
➢ Emigration (number of species that leave the land)
Humans and other animals inhale the oxygen exhale carbon
➢ Immigration (number of species that entered the land)
dioxide which is again taken up by the plants. They utilise this
➢ Natality (number of species that are born)
carbon dioxide in photosynthesis to produce oxygen, and the
➢ Mortality (number of species that died)
2. Density - number of the individuals or species living in a cycle continues.
particular area of that population.
The Phosphorus Cycle
3. Distribution - tells how individuals are located in a particular
1. In this biogeochemical cycle, phosphorus moves through the
area.
hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. Phosphorus is
Three ways that organisms can be distributed:
extracted by the weathering of rocks. Due to rains and erosion
➢ Random Distribution - no specific order, organism is
phosphorus is washed away in the soil and water bodies. Plants
spread throughout the area without pattern. (shrubs)
and animals obtain this phosphorus through the soil and water
➢ Uniform Distribution - organisms are evenly
and grow. Microorganisms also require phosphorus for their
distributed. (coconut plantation)
growth. When the plants and animals die they decompose, and
➢ Clumped Distribution - organisms are concentrated
the stored phosphorus is returned to the soil and water bodies
in an area. Offer the population protection from
which is again consumed by plants and animals and the cycle
enemies. (school of fishes)
continues.
Chapter 3:
The Sulfur Cycle
1. This biogeochemical cycle moves through the rocks, water
The Water Cycle
bodies and living systems. Sulfur is released into the
1. The water from the different water bodies evaporates, cools,
atmosphere by the weathering of rocks and is converted into
condenses and falls back to the earth as rain.
sulphates. These sulphates are taken up by the microorganisms
2. This biogeochemical cycle is responsible for maintaining
and plants and converted into organic forms. Organic sulfur is
weather conditions. The water in its various forms interacts
consumed by animals through food. When the animals die and
with the surroundings and changes the temperature and pressure
decompose, sulphur is returned to the soil, which is again
of the atmosphere.
obtained by the plants and microbes, and the cycle continues.
Chapter 4: economy – for example through employment, processing and
trade of forest products and energy – and investments in the
Types of Forests forest sector.
DIPTEROCARP - crowns of these trees extend 30 to 50 - The forest sector accounts for 1% of global jobs, employing
meters high, and their trunks may reach almost two meters more than 33 million people. Beyond providing jobs, forest
indiameter. (apitong, bagtikan, lauan, tangile, guijo, yakal) landscapes provide timber, fiber, fodder, and energy that feed
PINE the wider economy. They are also important for food security
1. Mindoro Pine - for pulp and paper, furniture, fancy and provide a social safety net to rural communities.
panels, for light construction materials. (needles are in
pairs)
2. Benguet Pine - found in the highlands of Northern
Luzon. (needles are in cluster of three)
MOLAVE - tree that grows irregularly, short, crooked, and has
a fluted bole with thick, low, medium, to moderately large
buttresses.
- Agaloos (1984), molave forest type makes up only 3% of the
total forest area of the Philippines.
- Usually included in the dipterocarp category (Umali, 1981).
MANGROVES - on tidal mudflats along the sea coast
extending along the streams.
MOSSY FOREST - or cloud forest is referred as unproductive
forest, usually above 1,800 m.
- considered as Strict Nature Reserves (National Integrated
Protected Areas System-NIPAS)

IMPORTANCE OF FORESTS
1. Climate Control
- regulate temperature across the urban to rural landscape. This
decreases the amount of energy required and carbon emitted to
cool indoor spaces.
- They combat climate change because of their capacity to
remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it, which is called
forest mitigation.
2. Habitat and Ecosystems
- Forests are home to more than half of the world's land-based
species of animals, plants and insects.
- Forests offer many different food sources, such as prey
animals, vegetation like grasses and leaves, fungi, nuts, and
berries.
- As primary habitat for a wide range of species, forests support
biodiversity maintenance and conservation.
- Healthy ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a
variety of disasters such as floods and wildfires.
3. Watershed
- Well managed forests have direct impacts on the high quality
of water yields from watersheds and on the lower storm flow
peaks and volumes for a given input of rainfall. They also
contribute to soil erosion control and consequently to reducing
the levels of sediment downstream.
- Forest soil can absorb and hold large amounts of rainwater.
Trees are intertwined with watershed health, and provide a
range of ecosystem services, including filtering excess
sediment, nutrients and toxins before they enter waterways,
reducing erosion and flooding, and shading streams so they are
at optimal temperatures for aquatic wildlife.
4. Economy
- Forests provide a wide range of economic and social benefits
to humankind. These include contributions to the overall