Unit III- CH-1

Concept of an Ecosystem

The term “Ecosystem” was first coined by A.G.Tansley, an

English botanist, in 1935.

Living organisms cannot live isolated from their non-living environment because the latter
provides materials and energy for the survival of the former i.e. there is an interaction
between a biotic community and its environment to produce a stable system; a natural self-
sufficient unit which is known as an ecosystem.

Ecosystems are the foundations of the Biosphere and they determine the health of the
entire earth system.

An ecosystem is a structural and functional unit of ecology where the living

organisms interact with each other and the surrounding environment.

Structure and Function of an Ecosystem
Each ecosystem has two main components:

(1) Abiotic (2) Biotic

(1) Abiotic Components: The abiotic components of an ecosystem are all of the nonliving

elements. They include the water, the air, the temperature and the rocks and minerals that

make up the soil.

 Abiotic components are mainly of two types:

(a) Climatic Factors: Rain, temperature, light, wind, humidity etc.

(b) Edaphic Factors: Soil, pH, topography minerals etc.

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 (2) Biotic Components: The living organisms including plants, animals and micro-

organisms (Bacteria and Fungi) that are present in an ecosystem form the biotic

components. The biotic components of the ecosystem both live on and interact with the

abiotic components.

 Biotic components can be classified into three main groups:

(A) Producers

(B) Consumers

(C) Decomposers or Reducers.

(A) Producers:
1. Producers are the living organisms in the ecosystem that take energy from sunlight and use it

to transform carbon dioxide and oxygen into sugars.

2. Eg. Of producers - Plants, algae and photosynthetic bacteria. Autotrophs (i.e. auto = self,

trophos = feeder) are the green plants manufacture their own food form the base of the food

web and are generally the largest group in the ecosystem by weight, or biomass.

3. They also act as an interface with the abiotic components of the ecosystem during nutrient

cycles as they incorporate inorganic carbon and nitrogen from the atmosphere.

4. The chemical energy stored by the producers is utilized partly by the producers for their own

growth and survival and the remaining is stored in the plant parts for their future use.

(B) Consumers:
1. Consumers are living organisms in the ecosystem that get their energy from consuming other

organisms.

2. Herbivores eat producers, carnivores eat other animals and omnivores eat both. Along with

producers and decomposers, consumers are part of what is known as food chains and webs,

where energy and nutrient transfer can be mapped out.

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3. Consumers can only harvest about 10 percent of the energy contained in what they eat, so

there tends to be less biomass at each stage as you move up the food chain.

The consumers are of four types, namely:

Primary Herbivores : Animals that feed on plants or the producers. Eg. rabbit, deer,
Consumers goat, cattle etc.
Secondary Primary Carnivores : Animals feed on the herbivores are called the I ry
Consumers carnivores. Ex. are cats, foxes, snakes etc.
Tertiary 3rd order consumers : large carnivores which feed on the secondary
Consumers consumers. Example are Wolves.
Quaternary 4th order Consumers or Omnivores: Largest carnivores which feed on the
Consumers IIIry consumers and are not eaten up by any other animal. Ex. lions and tigers.

(C) Decomposers or Reducers :

1. Decomposers are the living component of the ecosystem that breaks down waste material and

dead organisms. Ex. earthworms, dung beetles and many species of fungi and bacteria.

2. The decomposers are known as Saprotrophs (i.e., sapros = rotten, trophos = feeder).

3. They perform a vital recycling function, returning nutrients incorporated into dead organisms

to the soil where plants can take them up again.

4. In this process, they also harvest the last of the sunlight energy initially absorbed by

producers. Decomposers represent the final step in many of the cyclical ecosystem processes.

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The functions of the ecosystem are as follows:

1. It regulates the essential ecological processes, supports

life systems and renders stability.
2. It is also responsible for the cycling of nutrients between
biotic and abiotic components.
3. It maintains a balance among the various trophic levels
in the ecosystem.
4. It cycles the minerals through the biosphere.
5. The abiotic components help in the synthesis of organic
components that involve the exchange of energy.

Types of Ecosystems
An ecosystem is the community of biological organisms, where
they interact with their physical environment.

1. Aquatic Ecosystem

This ecosystem is made up of plants and animals that live in

the water. These ecosystems differ in relation to the geographic
region where they exist Antarctica, Subantarctic, tropical and

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subtropical) and their proximity to the land (coastal, oceanic
and estuarine ecosystems).
Aquatic (as well as terrestrial) ecosystems can vary widely in
size from an ocean to a pool of water. There are also aquatic
ecosystems of salt and fresh water.

The organisms acquire physical characteristics very similar to

each other as a result of their adaptation to the water. In this
ecosystem the variations of temperatures are not very marked,
reason why this does not affect the survival of the alive beings.
This ecosystem is the largest because they represent 75%.

According to different habitats of aquatic organism, aquatic

ecosystem are various kinds and divided into the following:

Benthic: these are located at the bottom of aquatic

ecosystems. Eg. algae. In the deeper ones, the majority are
consumers.

Nectonic: these animals move freely, thanks to their means of

locomotion can adapt to water currents.

Planktonic: these living beings live floating in the terrestrial or

marine water and are dragged by the water currents, they do
not move by their own movements.

Neustonic: these live on the surface of the water, floating.

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Terrestrial ecosystems, such as the aquatic ecosystem, present
a series of landscapes that have their own characteristics. So
According to the characteristics of landscapes aquatic
ecosystem is the following:

– Wetland : is a zone of flat lands that has groundwater of

shallow depth and that ascend to the surface in determined
periods, forming lagoons and marshes, until where they come
to live hundreds of species. There are five classes of wetlands:
marine, estuarine, lake, riparian and marshy.

– Mangrove : is a grouping of semi-submerged trees that have

been flooded with water, with high levels of salinity and
therefore they develop and survive in coastal lands. The trees
grow on long roots, which like stilts raise the trunks above the
level of the waters. To reproduce, they quickly retain the seeds
in the branches until they are about to develop. When the tide
goes down they are able, within a few hours, to root and begin
to grow before being again underwater.

– Coral reef :
Corals are composed of thin plates, or layers, of calcium
carbonate secreted over time by hundreds of soft bodied
animals called coral polyps.
Coral reefs are one of the most biologically diverse
ecosystems on earth, rivaled only by tropical rain forests.
They are made up not only of hard and soft corals, but also
sponges, crustaceans, mollusks, fish, sea turtles, sharks,

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dolphins and much more. It is one of the richest aquatic
ecosystems of the planet, product of the great amount of
species that inhabit in them (fish, snails, corals and algae). The
reef structure consists of large colonies of corals,
accumulations of sediments and calcareous sands.

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 FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEB

Food Chains:

Food chain is a model that shows flow of energy and nutrients from one organism to another
organism in an ecosystem. The length of a food chain depends upon the number of
organisms. It starts from producer species EG. grass and ending at apex predator species such
as grizzly bears or killer whales; detrivores such as earthworms or woodlice; or decomposer
species like fungi or bacteria. A food also shows the relation between organisms as who they
are related with each other by the food they eat.

 All living things need food to give them the energy to grow and
move. A food chain shows how each living thing gets its food.

 A food chain always starts with a green plant ... (All plants are
PRODUCERS.)

 ...... which is eaten by an animal. ( All the animals in a food chain are
CONSUMERS)
 A food chain ends with a predator. (The predator is at the top of the food
chain)

Food Web:

 Food Web - a network of interrelated food chains in a given area

 A food web consists of many food chains.
 A food chain only follows just one path as animals find food.
eg: A hawk eats a snake, which has eaten a frog, which has eaten a
grasshopper, which has eaten grass.
 A food web shows the many different paths plants and animals
are connected.
eg: A hawk might also eat a mouse, a squirrel, a frog or some other
animal. The snake may eat a beetle, a caterpillar, or some other animal.
And so on for all the other animals in the food chain.

Food web or food cycle is the connection between food chains and what species eats what in
an ecological system. Food web also known as consumer-resource system. Most communities
in food web include various populations of producer organisms which are eaten by any

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number of consumer populations. For example, the green crab is a consumer and
decomposer. In food web, producers are eaten by many different consumers, and most
consumers onward are eaten by more than one predator. For example, a squirrel eats seeds,
fruits, and nuts. The squirrel man be eaten by a fox or a raccoon. Fox also eats mice and
grasshoppers , etc. Most organisms are part of several food chains. A food web starts with

the producers in ecosystem and then branches off into interconnected food chains that show
who eats whom in ecosystem.

Food chain

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 Food web

Differences:

Following are the main differences between food chain and food web.

 Food chain is a single linear pathway through which food energy and nutrients
travels in the ecosystem while food web is number of interconnected food chains
through which energy and nutrients travels in the ecosystem.
 In food chains, usually member of high trophic level feed upon a single type of
organism of lower trophic level while in food web members of higher trophic level
feed upon many organisms of lower trophic level.
 In food chains, separate and isolated food chains increases the instability of the
ecosystem. In food web, stability of the ecosystem increases by the presence of
complex food webs.
 Food chains have no effect on improving the adaptability and competitiveness of
the organisms while more complex food webs improves the adaptability and
competitiveness of the organisms.

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 Lesson II
ENERGY FLOW IN THE ECOSYSTEM AND ECOLOGICAL
SUCCESSION

10.1 Ecosystem Functioning

. The function of the ecosystem is to allow flow of energy and cycling of
materials which ensures stability of the system and continuity of life. These two
ecological processes including interaction between the abiotic environment and the
communities may be considered as the ‘heart’ of the ecosystem functioning. For
the sake of convenience, the ecosystem dynamics may be analysed in terms of the
following: (i) food chains, (ii) food pyramids, (iii) energy flow, (iv) nutrient cycles,
(v) development and evolution of ecosystem, and (vi) homeostasis and stability of
ecosystem.

10.2.1 Energy flow in the ecosystem

The behaviour of energy in ecosystem can be conveniently termed as energy flow
because of unidirectional energy transformations. Some energy is used in photosynthesis;
the rest is used in converting the water into vapours or heating the soil and air. Ultimately the
energy reflected back to outer space as heat.
Energy flow is the way the sun's energy is transferred throughout a community, from
the sun, to plants (Producers or Autotrophs), to herbivores (Primary Consumers), to
carnivores (Secondary Consumers and so on). As each new organism consumes the last for
energy, 90% of the energy is lost, while 10% is passed on.

Out of the amount of energy so fixed by green plants, some is released again in
respiration. The fixed energy, in the form of food, then passes from plant source through
herbivores to carnivores. At each stage of food transfer, potential energy is released, resulting
in further loss of a large part of energy. The energy flow, thus follows the second law of
thermodynamics.

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Ecological Succession
Ecological Succession is when a disturbance occurs and an ecosystem starts new, with the grass

coming in the first year, bushes and shrubs coming in a few years later, then trees after that.

The end of this process happens when the Climax Community is reached, then it stays that

way until a disturbance occurs once again.

Ecological pyramid

Apex consumer.01%
0..01% Energy lost as heat
III level consumer.1%
0..01%

Recycled
nutrients

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An energy pyramid is a presentation of the trophic levels in an ecosystem. Energy from the sun is
transferred through the ecosystem by passing through various trophic levels. Roughly 10% of the
energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next, thus preventing a large number of trophic
levels. There must be higher amounts of biomass at the bottom of the pyramid to support the
energy and biomass requirements of the higher trophic levels.

An ecological pyramid (also trophic pyramid, eltonian pyramid, energy pyramid, or sometimes
food pyramid) is a graphical representation designed to show the biomass or bio productivity
at each trophic level in a given ecosystem.

Biomass pyramids show how much biomass (the amount of living or organic matter present in
an organism) is present in the organisms at each trophic level, while productivity pyramids
show the procroation or turnover in biomass. There is also pyramid of numbers which
represent the number of organisms in each trophic level. They may be upright (e.g. Grassland
ecosystem), inverted (parasitic ecosystem) or dumbbell shaped (forest ecosystem).
Energy pyramids begin with producers on the bottom (such as plants) and proceed through
the various trophic levels (such as herbivores that eat plants, then carnivores that eat flesh,
then omnivores that eat both plants and flesh, and so on). The highest level is the top of
thefood chain.

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 Types of Ecosystem
Ecosystems

“An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the

components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil),
as a system. These biotic and abiotic components are regarded as linked
through nutrient cycles and energy flows. As ecosystems are defined by t
of interactions among organisms, and between organisms and their envir
they can be of any size but usually encompass specific, limited spaces (al
some scientists say that the entire planet is an ecosystem).”

There are very many types of ecosystems out there, but the three major classe
sometimes referred to as ‘biomes’, which are relatively contained, are the follo
 Freshwater Ecosystems
 Terrestrial Ecosystems
 Ocean Ecosystems

Freshwater Ecosystems

These can then be broken up into smaller ecosystems. For instance, in the fres
ecosystems we find:
 Pond Ecosystems – These are usually relatively small and contained.
the time they include various types of plants, amphibians and insects.
Sometimes they include fish, but as these cannot move around as easi
as amphibians and insects, it is less likely, and most of the time fish are
artificially introduced to these environments by humans.
 River Ecosystems – Because rivers always link to the sea, they are m
likely to contain fish alongside the usual plants, amphibians and insect

Terrestrial Ecosystems

Terrestrial ecosystems are many because there are so many different sor
places onEarth. Some of the most common terrestrial ecosystems that ar
are the following:
 Rainforests – Rainforests usually have extremely dense ecosyste
there are so many different types of animals all living in a very sm
 Tundra – As mentioned above, tundra usually have relatively sim
ecosystems because of the limited amount of life that can be supp
in these harsh conditions.

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  Deserts – Quite the opposite of tundra in many ways, but still har
animals live in the extreme heat than live in the extreme cold of
for instance.
 Savannas – These differ from deserts because of the amount of r
they get each year. Whereas deserts get only a tiny amount of pr
every tea, savannas tend to be a bit wetter which is better for sup
more life.
 Forests – There are many different types of forests all over the w
including deciduous forests and coniferous forests. These can sup
a lot of life and can have very complex ecosystems.
 Grasslands – Grasslands support a wide variety of life and can ha
very complex and involved ecosystems.

Ocean Ecosystems

Ocean ecosystems are relatively contained, although they, like freshwate

also include certain birds that hunt for fish and insects close to the ocean
There are different sorts of ocean ecosystems:
 Shallow water – Some tiny fish and coral only live in the shallow
close to land.

 Deep water – Big and even gigantic creatures can live deep in th
of the oceans. Some of the strangest creatures in the world live rig
bottom of the sea.

 Warm water – Warmer waters, such as those of the Pacific Ocean

some of the most impressive and intricate ecosystems in the wor

 Cold water – Less diverse, cold waters still support relatively com
ecosystems. Plankton usually form the base of the food chain, foll
by small fish that are either eaten by bigger fish or by other creat
such as seals or penguins.

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