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Module A

Living Things and Life Processes

Disturbing Ecosystems
Disturbing an ecosystem
In the previous unit, you learnt that an ecosystem consists of a habitat and a community of organisms. However, the size of each population of organisms can change. Look at the picture of a simple farm ecosystem in Australia.

The numbers of sheep and cows will increase when they reproduce. The cows and sheep eat the grass and drink the water. If there is not enough grass or water, some animals will die and their numbers will decrease. Weather can change the amount of grass. Can you give an Good rainfall grass grows, plenty of water to drink. Lack of rain example of this? E.g. no grass growth, no water. Hot Sun - soil dries up, water evaporates Can you think of another way the numbers of the animals can change?
and grass dies. Heavy rain erosion of soil.

E.g. Lack of enemies numbers increases. Disease, lack of food, introduction of a predator numbers decrease.

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Many years ago, people brought a few rabbits into Australia. Look at the picture.

The number of rabbits on farms increased quickly. Then some of the sheep and cows began to die. Their numbers decreased. Can you think of some reasons why the numbers of rabbits Plenty of grass to eat, good weather conditions, no natural enemies, increased? E.g. most baby rabbits survived. Too many rabbits and not enough grass, rabbit holes The amount of grass then decreased. Why? E.g. (homes) destroyed a lot of the grassland. Then some sheep and cows died. Why?
Insufficient grass.

The rabbits disturbed the farm ecosystem. That is, they changed a normal situation in a way that caused problems. Ecosystems can be disturbed by natural forces and by human activities. What human activity disturbed the farm ecosystem The introduction of rabbits. above? In this unit, you will find out more how natural forces and human activities disturb ecosystems. Lets begin!

To disturb means to change or harm a normal situation.

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Balanced ecosystems
When an ecosystem is not disturbed, it is said to be balanced. A balanced ecosystem contains everything organisms need to live. There is enough food, water, light and shelter for each organism. The balance of an ecosystem is easily disturbed by natural forces and human activities. When this happens, the numbers of plants and animals changes in a way that harms the ecosystem. Here is an example. Most natural ecosystems, such as this tropical rainforest, are balanced. Human activity: Cutting down trees in a tropical rainforest. Result: The number of trees decreases. The number of monkeys and other animals decreases. A balanced ecosystem can be disturbed in many ways. Natural forces include: Weather, such as rain, floods and drought. Diseases that kill organisms. Different organisms coming into or leaving a habitat. Human activities include: Deforestation and habitat loss. Pollution and death of organisms. Over-hunting of animals (for food and for animal parts). Use of poisons to kill animals.

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Most artificial ecosystems, such as a zoos, are not balanced. Give one or more reasons.
They do not provide everything the organisms need to survives, e.g. Ecos need to provide animals with food and water.

Drought disturbs an ecosystem. There is not enough water and food. Some animals may die. Others move to another area to find water and food.
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Oil spills kill many sea birds and other animals.

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The animals in the picture eat grass. A disease kills lions that normally eat these animals. 1. With fewer lions, what will happen to the numbers of these animals? 2. What will then happen to the amount of grass? Explain. 3. What might then happen to the numbers of animals? 4. If the animals are to survive, what can they do?
1. Their number will increase. 2. There will be less grass as there are a more animals eating the grass. 3. With less food, many animals may die. 4.  Move out of that area and find another place where there is grass to eat.

African grassland

Effects on food chains

Animals and plants are part of food chains. In a balanced ecosystem, each animal in the food chain has enough food to eat. When the ecosystem is disturbed, the numbers of organisms in a food chain will change. Look at the following food chain.

Green plant

Caterpillar

Lizard

Snake

If the numbers of caterpillars decrease, what may happen to the numbers of lizards and snakes? Answer given in the paragraph below. Imagine there are not enough caterpillars for the lizards to eat. Many lizards will die. With fewer lizards, the number of snakes also decreases. Thus, a change in the numbers of caterpillars changes the numbers of the other organisms. What might then happen to the numbers of green plants? Explain. Increase as there are fewer caterpillars to eat them. How will this then affect the numbers of caterpillars, lizards numbers will increase again as there is more food at each and snakes? Their step of the food chain.

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Deer in the Grand Canyon

About 100 years ago, the ecosystem in the Grand Canyon was balanced. Then something happened to disturb the balance.

Wolves were killing the deer that lived there. The number of deer decreased.

To protect the deer, people killed the wolves. The number of deer then increased.

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Draw the food chain for the three organisms in the Grand Canyon.
grass -----> deer -----> wolves

The deer ate all the grass. There was not enough grass for all the deer to eat. Many deer then died of hunger. After some time, the numbers of deer increased again. Suggest the reason why.
With fewer deer, the amount of grass increased again. More grass could support more deer so their numbers began to increase again.

WB

Activity 1

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Effects on food webs

Food chains are part of a food web. Most animals in a food web eat more than one food. A change in one link of a food web can upset the balance of the whole food web. Below shows a food web:

Hawk Snake Grasshopper Small bird

Frog Green plants

Snail

Suppose people use a poison to kill all the grasshoppers. What can happen to other organisms in the food
Answer web? given below

There are no grasshoppers for the frogs to eat. But they also eat snails. So, the frogs will still survive. However, there are now not enough snails for the small birds. So, many small birds will die. As the numbers of grasshopper and snails have decreased, the number of green plants will then increase. Predict other changes to the food web if all the caterpillars were killed. E.g. Some of the hawks die because of less food or they fly to another area

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E.g. The numbers of snakes and small birds increase, as there are now fewer hawks to eat them. However, they will eat most of the frogs and snails (and more grasshoppers). The number of grasshoppers may increase and will eat more of the green plants.

Suppose, for some reason, most of the hawks disappeared. Give examples of how this will disturb the balance of the food web.

to seek food. With fewer snails and grasshoppers, the number of green plants increases. Then the numbers of snails and frogs increase again.

Mosquitoes in Borneo
In the past, the Dayak people of Borneo had malaria. Mosquitoes spread malaria. A poison, called DDT, was used to kill the mosquitoes.
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However, the DDT disturbed the balance of their ecosystem. Two things happened: 1 The houses started to fall down!! 2 The people did not get malaria but they got typhus, another disease! Rash caused by typhus How did this happen? Look at the food web below and it will give you the clue.

Wasp

Lizard (Gecko)

Cat

Straw roof

Caterpillar

Mosquito

Rat

1 The roofs of the houses were made of straw. Caterpillars eat straw. Wasps eat caterpillars. The DDT killed the wasps but not the caterpillars. The number of caterpillars increased. They ate the straw roofs. The houses fell down. 2 The DDT got into the bodies of the caterpillars and wasps. The geckos ate them and DDT got into their bodies. But the DDT did not kill the geckos. Cats eat geckos. The DDT in the geckos killed the cats. Cats also eat rats. Without cats, the number of rats increased. Rats carry the disease typhus. The typhus spread from the rats to the people. Because the cats died, live cats were dropped by parachute into the villages! WB Activity 2
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Why was this done?

So the cats would kill/eat the rats.

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Disappearing organisms
Human activities disturb ecosystems. Because of this, plants and animals are endangered. Here are some examples.

Deforestation and habitat loss

Forests are home to many kinds of plants and animals. Deforestation destroys these homes. Here are examples of endangered organisms caused by deforestation. Proboscis monkey The Giant Panda

Fun Science
Every second, an area of forest the size of a football field is destroyed in the world! Because of this deforestation, scientists think that about 18 000 different kinds of plants and animals become extinct each year!

This monkey lives in the rain forests of Indonesia. Because of deforestation, the monkey is now endangered. Borneo Elephant

It lives in China and feeds on bamboo plants. People have destroyed many of the bamboo forests. Only about 1 000 giant pandas remain in the wild. Rafflesia

Rafflesia is one of Indonesias three national flowers.

This elephant lives in the forests and grasslands of Borneo. Because of habitat loss, only about 1 300 remain.

This flower is only found in tropical rain forests of Asia. As the forests of Sumatra and Borneo disappear, many Rafflesia plants are becoming extinct.

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We should not eat the meat from endangered animals.

Using animals for food

People hunt and kill land animals for food. People also catch fish in the sea for food. However, because of over-hunting and over-fishing, many animals are now endangered. They may soon be all gone! Here are some examples.

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Sea turtles

Pangolin

1. People remove the eggs of sea turtles. How does this endanger the animals? 2. Do you know of other plants and animals in Indonesia that are endangered because people eat them?
1.  With fewer eggs, there will be fewer turtles. 2.  E.g. Fruit bats, Green sea turtle, Crested Black Macaques (Celebes Apes), Dwarf buffalo (Sulawesi).

People collect turtle eggs to eat them.

This small mammal is also killed for food. It is now an endangered animal.

Sharks

Whales

In some countries, people use shark fins to make soup. Sharks are now endangered.

Some kinds of whales are killed for meat and oil.

The Dodo

This bird lived in Mauritius. It was killed for food. It is now extinct.
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Killing for animal parts

People hunt and kill animals for their body parts. Here are some examples. Some of these animals are now on endangered.

African elephant People kill these elephants and use their ivory tusks to make jewellery and ornaments.

Sumatran tiger People kill it for its skin and for other parts to make medicines. Because of over-hunting, only about 400 of these tigers remain.

Javan rhinoceros People also kill it for its horn and blood to make medicines. Today, only about 60 animals remain. Where are most of the remaining Javan rhinoceros? Ujung Kulon National
Park in Java

Ivory pendant Snakes People kill snakes for their skins. The skins are used to make bags, shoes and clothes.

Tiger skin Bird of paradise These beautiful birds are found in Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya. They are killed for their skin and feathers. However, they are not endangered.

Horn ornament
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Do you know of other animals that are killed for their parts? What are the parts used for?
E.g. Peacock because of its beautiful feathers, crocodile for its skin,

Mask with feathers A snake skin bag

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Plant parts
People cut down trees and use their parts. In Grade 3, Unit 12, you learnt about uses of different parts of the coconut tree. Here are two plants found in the tropical forests of Asia. Because of over-cutting, it is hard to find these in forests now. Teak The wood of the teak tree has a nice smell. It is used to make buildings, furniture and boats.
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1. (a) Name some parts of the coconut tree and what they are used for.

This is the largest teakwood building in the world. It is a former royal palace in Bangkok Thailand.

(b) Is the coconut tree endangered? Explain.

Teak leaves are used in Indonesia for wrapping food.

The coconut tree 2. Do you know uses made of some other trees or plants?
1. (a) Refer to Grade 3, Unit 12, Activity (b) No, as the trees are replaced. 2. E.g. Ebony, ironwood.

Sandalwood Sandalwood is a small plant. It has a nice smell. The wood is used to make furniture, carvings and large boxes. Oil from the wood is used as a medicine, to treat the skin and as a perfume. Sandalwood perfume

WB

Activity 3

Sandalwood box with carvings

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What can be done?

We must protect and conserve our plants and animals. Here are four ways to do this. Making laws Javan gibbons

Orang utan

Borneo elephants

Sumatran water shrew

Countries have laws to protect plants and animals. For example, most countries do not kill whales now. Selling elephant ivory is banned. Indonesia has laws to protect orang-utans and other wild animals. Protecting habitats National parks are protected areas. People are not allowed to hunt animals there. The few Javan rhinoceros left in Indonesia live in Ujung Kulon National Park.

Indonesia has several national park where animals are protected, such as: Ujung Kulon, Way Kambas in Lampung, Komodo National Park in Pulau Komodo and Bunaken in North Sulawesi

The Ujung Kulon National Park in Java.

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Breeding animals in zoos Endangered animals are kept in zoos where they can breed safely. The animals are often released back into the wild. Join organisations that work to protect wildlife. Two of the organisations we can join are Friends of the Earth and World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature.

A komodo dragon born in Surabaya Zoo.

There are only about 4 000 Komodo dragons left in the wild.

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1. A balanced ecosystem contains everything organisms need to live. There is enough food, water, light and shelter for each organism. 2. Balanced ecosystems can be disturbed by natural forces such as weather, diseases and organisms coming into or leaving a habitat. 3. Balanced ecosystems can be disturbed by human activities such as deforestation, pollution, over-hunting of animals and using poisons to kill animals. 4. When disturbed, the number of organisms in a food chain or food web will change. 5. Because of human activities, many plants and animals are endangered. Reasons include: Loss of habitats due to deforestation, over-hunting of animals, killing animals for body parts and use of plant parts. 6. Ways to protect plants and animals and to prevent them from extinction include: Making laws, protecting habitats, breeding endangered animals in zoos and supporting organisations that protect wildlife.
WB

Activity 4

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Stretch yourself

1. Endangered animals

Encourage pupils to search the Internet for information on this topic. Here are some of the many websites available: http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/map.html http://animal.discovery.com/guides/endangered/endangered.html http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/vanishing.htm http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/Endangered/index.html http://library.thinkquest.org/19689/data/esframe.html

Many animals around the world and in Indonesia are endangered. Find out the names of 12 or more endangered animals. Collect pictures of these animals. Make a poster about endangered animals. 2. Protection of endangered animals
E.g. Under Indonesian law, it is illegal to capture, kill, possess or trade animals such as orang utans, gibbons and the Sumatran tiger. There are laws to prohibit the import and export of endangered plants and animals.

Indonesia has laws to protect endangered animals. Find out what laws we have and how they protect animals.. 3. Re-establishing extinct animals Mammoths have been extinct for a long time. Scientists think they can use a process called cloning to establish mammoths again. Find out what cloning is and how it might be used to do this.
E.g. Vertebrates reproduce by sexual reproduction to give offspring that are never exactly the same as the parents. With cloning, an animal is reproduced using one cell of a parent animal that is an exact duplicate. Frogs, mice, sheep, cows and dogs have been cloned. Mammoths have been extinct for a long time. Scientists think that it may be possible to make a mammoth clone by placing a nucleus from a mammoth cell into an egg of a female elephant. This egg would then be placed in the uterus of another elephant to make a baby mammoth clone. (An elephant would be used as it is large enough for a baby mammoth to grow in).

New words
to disturb over-hunting wasp bamboo teak law organisation

situation over-fishing gecko ivory sandalwood to ban wildlife

balanced to suppose typhus jewellery to treat to breed

to harm straw to disappear ornament perfume to release

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