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A scientific paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements in BIO 150 (Principles of Ecology) laboratory
under Ms. Rodelina Deyto, 1st semester, 2014-2015.
INTRODUCTION
Community Ecology is the sphere of Ecology that focuses on the dynamics and interactions of
the populations of different species in a specific habitat. It is also the field involving the classification
of communities considering factors such as the climate and species composition to which several
approaches have been developed. Basic categories of communities which are defined by the species'
lifestyles and physical environments depending on the governing climate are also known as Biomes
(Morin, 2011). These can be categorized as Terrestrial Biomes or as Aquatic Biomes.
The tropical rainforest and the tropical grassland are examples of terrestrial biomes that
predominate in the Philippines and several other countries or continents located along the equator,
namely central and south America, Africa, southeast Asia, and islands in the carribean sea and pacific
ocean. Tropical rainforests, the ecosystem that is said to be the most diverse in species, are
characterized by the warm temperature and the frequent rainfall that it receives nearly everyday (in
excess of 200 centimeters /80 inches of rain per year) which cause the rapid growth of the inhabiting
plants like trees that grow tall and large providing canopy yet also result to the poor nutrition of the soil
making it unfit for farming. On the other hand, the tropical grasslands, also known as Savannas, have
grasses like Imperata cylindica (cogon) as the dominant vegetation and are occasionally with trees
that are also drought- and fire-resistant. It receives an uneven distribution of 50 to 150 centimeters (20
to 60 inches) of rainfall per annum causing the ecosystem to be very seasonally structured.
An ecosystem can change as its species composition is replaced. This process is known as
Succession which has two types the Primary and Secondary succession. The former is when
succession naturally happens from scratch while the latter is when succession happens through the
destruction of the old ecosystem and is first occupied by the Pioneer species. Succession is also
composed successional stages which will eventually lead to a stable stage called the climax community.
In tropical countries with high humidity like the Philippines, succession is affected most by the
moisture and the temperature associated with the altitude. The system gains more structure during the
wet season that it loses during the dry season which then creates a process that continues until it
reaches maturity. Due to the higher mean sea-level temperatures, the tropics also have richer vegetation
but have slower vegetation recovery due to the constant extreme weather distrurbances. The process of
succession in the tropics involves a series of steps that can last 30 to 50 years for secondary succession.
First step of which is when a disturbance affects a significant area and causes the invasion of shortlived forbs and vines. This is then followed by heliophytic shrubs and longer loving herbs, then by
rapidly growing pioneer trees, and lastly by more shade-tolerant trees (Ewel, 1980).
A primary succession community is the result when surface or total vegetation is completely
destroyed by some environmental disasters leaving no reproductive structures of previous population
which is why it is much slower (1000 years) as compared to secondary succession. For instance, the
forest in Mt. Makiling studied is an example of a secondary growth forest, given that this forest was
never completely erased, only degenerated because of massive logging activities, fuelwood gathering
and charcoal making, shifting cultivation and permanent agriculture especially during the hispanic era
which means that reproductive structures of old population may have been found and that it has
developed quicker than a primary growth forest would have. As mentioned by Lasco, et.al in 2001,
Before 1992, almost all logging activities were conducted in primary forests and resulted in their
In order to compare the communities of the forest and grassland study sites, their respective
species diversity was observed through comparing the Shannon and Simpson's indeces. The formulas
for the Shannon indeces of Diversity (H') and Evenness (J) are as follows, followed by the Simpson
indeces of Dominance (D), Diversity (SID), and Equitability (E):
SID = 1-D
E = SID/S
values.
Lastly, the Simpson index of Dominance with which the tropical grassland proves to have a
higher value with D equal to 0.4097 indicates that the grassland community has the higher degree to
which a certain species is more numerous. In this case, the dominant species, as the biome's name
suggests, are grasses like the Paspatum conjugatum or Buffalo grass and Bracharia distachya observed
in the sample transect which dominate because they are able to grow in this environment with long
periods of drought. Common plants in grasslands also have long tap roots that can reach the deep water
table, thick bark to resist annual fires, trunks that can store water, as well as leaves that fall off during
the winter to save water. What is rare in this biome are therefore plants that require much hydration like
forest trees and shrubs. In fact, no trees were observed in the grassland study site.
On the other hand, the tropical forest has a very low dominance value of 0.0257 as evidenced
by the fact that it is not dominated by any of the inhabiting tree species in particular given that its
species composition is greatly diverse. Trees of the same species are rarely found near each other. This
biodiversity and separation prevents contamination and die-off from disease or insect infestations.
REFERENCES
Banerjee, P. (2013, July 9). 7 major Differences between Primary & Secondary Succession |
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Ewel, J. (1980). Tropical Succession: Manifold Routes to Maturity. Biotropics, 12(2), 2-7.
Lasco, R. D., Visco, R. G., & Pulhin, J. M. (2001). Secondary Forests In The Philippines: Formation
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Morin, P. J. (2011). Communities. In Community Ecology (2nd ed., pp. 3-17). Malden, MA: Blackwell
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Wheeling Jesuit University. (2005, April 28). Earth Floor: Biomes.
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/savannah.html
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