SHEPHERDVILLE COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF HEALTH
BS MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
MODULE 8
COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
FOR MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
Prepared by:
ELSIE O. CONTANTE, RPh, MSPH, LPT.
College Professor
ELSIE O. CONTANTE, RPh, MSPH, LPT.
Community & Public Health for Medical Laboratory Science
Module 8
1|Page
SHEPHERDVILLE COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF HEALTH
BS MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
Term: PRELIM
A.
INTRODUCTION:
The human sciences are balkanized into several social science, humanistic, and human
biological disciplines. Ecologists are used to thinking that systemic nature of individual
organisms and populations of organisms mean that we typically have to understand how
diverse parts of the system operate together to produce behavior. The traditional human
science disciplines take people apart; human ecologists endeavor to put us back together.
Breaking complex problems down to operationally tractable parts is a great strategy, but
only so long as some are committed to putting them back together in the end!
B.
TOPIC- Competency #8: HUMAN ECOLOGY, DEMOGRAPHY, AND
EPIDEMIOLOGY
Objectives: At the end of the module, the students are expected to:
1. To know the Components of ecosystem
2. What is human Ecology?
Definition of Terms:
TERMS
1. Human Ecology
2. Biotic components
3. Abiotic components
MEANING
is an approach to the study of human behavior
The living components of an ecosystem.
are the physical and/or the chemical factors that act on
the living organisms at any part of their life
THE CONTENTS: Lecture Outline:
HUMAN ECOLOGY
What is human ecology?
Human ecology is an approach to the study of human behavior marked by two commitments.
First, human ecologists think that humans should be studied living systems operating in complex
environments.
Second, human ecologists think that humans are subject to very similar ecological and
evolutionary processes as any other species. Of course, humans are unique, and this fact has
important consequences. However, we think that the deep rifts between human biologists and
ELSIE O. CONTANTE, RPh, MSPH, LPT.
Community & Public Health for Medical Laboratory Science
Module 8
1|Page
SHEPHERDVILLE COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF HEALTH
BS MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
social scientists (and between scientists and humanists for that matter) are a deeply embarrassing
scandal that honest scholars are obligated to repair as expeditiously as possible.
Why study human ecology?
As Dr. Vila puts it: “I regard the study of human ecology as much more than an enjoyable
intellectual challenge. I’ve spent the majority of my adult life dealing with human aggression and
violence: as a young Marine in Viet Nam; as a street cop in Los Angeles; as a police chief in the
emerging island nations of Micronesia; and as one of the people responsible for planning for the
continuity of our national government in the event of a nuclear war. These experiences have led
me to believe that it is imperative that we gain a fundamental understanding of why humans
sometimes cooperate and behave altruistically—and why they sometimes act in the opposite
fashion.
A. Component of Ecology
Due to overpopulation, human habitation and the number of industries has increased. For this
reason, the areas of traditional cultivable land and natural forests have decreased. Sound, smoke,
industrial waste, garbage and bad smell of the factories, etc. are polluting the environment. As a
result, the balance of the environment is being disrupted.
The different animals of the world are not only dependable on one another, they are also
dependable upon the physical factors of the environment e.g., soil, water, air, and plants. For this
reason, living beings cannot be separated from the nonliving. There is an intimate relationship
between the living community and the non-living environment for survival. The interrelationship
between organisms and their environment is ecology.
ELSIE O. CONTANTE, RPh, MSPH, LPT.
Community & Public Health for Medical Laboratory Science
Module 8
1|Page
SHEPHERDVILLE COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF HEALTH
BS MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
SAQ #1: EXPLAIN IN YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING
THE COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEM. (10 POINTS IN
CLASS STANDING)
Components of Ecosystem
There are two main components of an ecosystem that are in constant communication with each
other. They are the biotic components and the abiotic components.
Biotic Components of Ecosystem
The living components of an ecosystem are called the biotic components. Some of these factors
include plants, animals, as well as fungi and bacteria. Producers, consumers, and decomposers
are the three broad categories of biotic components.
▪ Producers are the plants in the ecosystem, which can generate their own energy
requirement through photosynthesis, in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll. All
other living beings are dependent on plants for their energy requirement of food as
well as oxygen.
▪ Consumers include herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. The herbivores are the living
organisms that feed on plants.
▪ Decomposers are the fungi and bacteria, which are the saprophytes. They feed on the
decaying organic matter and convert this matter into nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
ELSIE O. CONTANTE, RPh, MSPH, LPT.
Community & Public Health for Medical Laboratory Science
Module 8
1|Page
SHEPHERDVILLE COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF HEALTH
BS MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
Abiotic Components of Ecosystem
Abiotic components are the physical and/or the chemical factors that act on the living organisms
at any part of their life. They mainly take up the role of life supporter. These are also called as the
ecological factors. The physical and chemical factors are characteristic of the environment. Light,
air, soil, and nutrients, etc. form the abiotic components of an ecosystem. They determine and
restrict the population growth, number, and diversity of biotic factors in an ecosystem.
We understand from the discussion above that ecosystem has two components. One is the biotic
community and the other is the non-living environment. It is the non-living environment, which
holds the biotic community. In any particular environment of a geographical region, the
relationships and interactions between living and nonliving objects are collectively known as Ecosystem.
SAQ #2. Explain the two main components of
an ecosystem that are in constant
communication with each other. They are the
biotic
components
and
the
abiotic
components. (10 points in Class Standing)
Ecology can be classified into different types.
Global Ecology
Landscape Ecology
Ecosystem Ecology
Community Ecology
Population Ecology
➢ It is the study of interactions among earth’s ecosystems,
atmosphere, land, and oceans.
➢ It is the study of the exchange of energy, organisms, materials, and
other products of ecosystems.
➢ It is the study of the entire ecosystem which includes the study of
living and non-living components and their relationship with the
environment.
➢ It is the study of how community structure is changed by
interactions among living organisms.
➢ It is the study of factors that change and impact the size and genetic
composition of the population of organisms.
ELSIE O. CONTANTE, RPh, MSPH, LPT.
Community & Public Health for Medical Laboratory Science
Module 8
1|Page
SHEPHERDVILLE COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF HEALTH
BS MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
There are many practical applications of ecology in conservation biology, wetland management,
natural resource management (agriculture, forestry, agroforestry, fisheries, etc.), city planning
(urban ecology), community health, economics, basic and applied science, and human social
interaction (human ecology). Ecosystems sustain life-supporting functions and produce natural
capital, such as biomass production (food, fuel, fiber, and medicine), the regulation of climate,
global biogeochemical cycles, water filtration, soil formation, erosion control, flood protection, and
many other natural features of scientific, historical, economic, or intrinsic value.
SAQ#3. Explain Ecosystem Ecology. (10 points
in Class Standing)
D.
SUMMARY:
The term came to geography via sociology, when a University of Chicago geographer, Harlan
Barrows in 1923, defined geography as the science of human ecology. This definition gave
the term a different sense than that used by the sociologists. Barrows' focus was on human
adjustment to physical environments.
We have been discussing the concept of human ecology by starting with a definition and
tracing out some of its ramifications. Concepts do not seem very scientific perhaps, since
definitions are arbitrary. However, some concepts are very productive of scientific
discoveries. They “cut nature at her joints” as philosophers say
E.
REFERENCES:
1.
https://qsstudy.com/biology/components-of-ecology
2. http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/Richerson/BooksOnline/He195.pdf
ELSIE O. CONTANTE, RPh, MSPH, LPT.
Community & Public Health for Medical Laboratory Science
Module 8
1|Page
SHEPHERDVILLE COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF HEALTH
BS MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
Prepared by:
ELSIE O. CONTANTE, RPh, MSPH, LPT.
College Professor
ELSIE O. CONTANTE, RPh, MSPH, LPT.
Community & Public Health for Medical Laboratory Science
Module 8
1|Page