Abiotic Components

1. The non-living components of an ecosystem include the physical

environment the soil, water and air along with the inorganic
substances like carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen etc.
2. The physical factors or climate factors like light, temperature, pressure
and humidity are also considered abiotic components.

Biotic Components

The biotic components of an ecosystem (or the living components of an

ecosystem) is a community of organisms (like plants & animals), which is
made up of many different inter-dependent population. The biotic community
includes three types of organisms:

1. Producer organisms (or Autotrophs) which synthesize their own food.

All the green plants are producers.
2. Consumer organisms (or Heterotrophs) which are dependent on others
for food. All animals are consumers
3. Decomposers organisms (or Saprotrophs) which consume the dead
remains of other organisms. Certain bacteria and fungi are
decomposers.

The functioning of Ecosystem

Ecosystem functions as a self-sufficient or independent unit in nature.

All the non-living & living components makes the ecosystem function as
follows:

→ From the nutrient pool of the earth (soil, water and air), carbon dioxide,
and water are absorbed by the producer organisms (green plants).

→ With the help of sunlight energy, the producer organisms convert these
inorganic substances into organic compounds like carbohydrates which act
as food.

→ The consumers derive their energy directly or indirectly, from producers.

When the producers and consumers die, then decomposers act on their dead
bodies to return the various elements back to the nutrient pool (soil, water
and air).

An ecosystem involves input of energy and matter which are exchanged

between living and non – living components in a cyclic process.

Organisms can be grouped according to the manner in which they obtain

their sustenance from the environment. Producers or Autotrophs , Consumers
, Decomposers

Producers or Autotrophs

All green plants and certain blue-green algae which can produce food by the
process of photosynthesis.

These are the source of nutrition for rest of ecosystem. They take up CO2
and release oxygen in turn into environment, thus balance the composition
of air

Food Chain

A food chain is the flow of food energy from one organism to the next and to
the next and so on.

Each organism stands at a particular level, which is known as TROPHIC

LEVEL.

DEF: The trophic level is the position an organism occupies in the food chain.
The producers form the first trophic level.

Trophic Level

Each step or level of the food chain forms a trophic level.

First Trophic level- The autotrophs or the producers. They fix up the solar
energy & make it available for heterotrophs or the consumers.

Second Trophic level- The herbivores or the primary consumers.

Third Trophic level- Small carnivores or the secondary consumers.

Fourth Trophic level—Larger carnivores or the tertiary consumers

Loss of energy in an ecosystem: The 10% Law

When one form of energy is changed to another, some energy is lost to the
environment in forms which cannot be used again.

The green plants In a terrestrial ecosystem capture about 1% of the energy

of sunlight that falls on their leaves and convert it into food energy.When
green plants are eaten by primary consumers, a great deal of energy is lost
as heat to the environment, some amount goes into digestion and in doing
work and the rest goes towards growth and reproduction

Loss of energy in an ecosystem: The 10% Law

An average of 10% of the food eaten is turned into its own body and made
available for the next level of consumers.

Therefore, 10% can be taken as the average value for the amount of organic
matter that is present at each step and reaches the next level of consumers.

Only 10% of the energy is passed on from one trophic level to another.

90% energy is lost in the form of heat, only 10% energy is transferred to the
successive trophic levels.

Since, so little energy is available for the next level of consumers, food
chains generally consist of only three or four steps.

The loss of energy at each step is so great that very little usable energy
remains after four trophic levels.

At which trophic level would you find a greater number of organisms?

Since there is a progressive loss of energy at the successive trophic levels,

there are generally greater number of individuals at the lower trophic levels
of an ecosystem, the greatest number is of the producers.

Food Web

A group of several interconnected food chains, where an organism gets food

from more than one group of organisms.
Each organism is generally eaten by two or more other kinds of organisms
which in turn are eaten by several other organisms.

So instead of a straight line food chain, the relationship can be shown as a

series of branching lines called a food web.

Food Pyramid

An ecological hierarchy of food relationships in which a chief predator is at

the top, each level preys on the next lower level, and usually green plants
are at the bottom.

Summary

A food chain is always straight, which means it is unidirectional flow of

energy. It involves producers, consumers, and decomposers.

It utilises energy from the sun (photosynthesis).

A food chain follows 10% energy law, for the same reason there are 3-4
trophic levels in a food chain.

It is the basis of flow of energy (food) in any ecosystem.

As energy moves progressively through the various trophic levels it is no

longer available to the previous level.

Biomagnification

An interesting aspect of the food chain is how unknowingly some harmful

chemicals enter our bodies through the food chain.

DEF: the process by which a compound (such as a pollutant or pesticide)

increases its concentration in the tissues of organisms as it travels up the
food chain.

Water bodies are polluted by industrial, agricultural, and human wastes.

These chemicals are either washed down into the soil or into the water
bodies.
From the soil, these are absorbed by the plants along with water and
minerals, and from the water bodies these are taken up by aquatic plants
and animals.

As these chemicals are not degradable, these get accumulated progressively

at each trophic level.

As human beings occupy the top level in any food chain, the maximum
concentration of these chemicals get accumulated in our bodies.

This is the reason why our food grains such as wheat and rice, vegetables
and fruits, and even meat, contain varying amounts of pesticide residues.

They cannot always be removed by washing or other means.

HOW DO OUR ACTIVITIES AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT?

In the troposphere, ozone is a deadly poison.

However, at the higher levels of the atmosphere, that is, in the stratosphere,
ozone performs an essential function.

It shields the surface of the earth from ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the
Sun.

This radiation is highly damaging to organisms, for example, it is known to

cause skin cancer in human beings

Depletion of ozone layer in the atmosphere

The amount of ozone in the atmosphere began to drop sharply in the 1980s.

This decrease has been linked to synthetic chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons

(CFCs) which are used as refrigerants and in fire extinguishers.

Ozone hole is a region of exceptionally depleted ozone in the stratosphere

over the Antarctic that happens at the beginning of the Southern Hemisphere
spring (August-October).

In 1987, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) succeeded in

forging an agreement to freeze CFC production at 1986 levels. It is now
mandatory for all the manufacturing companies to make CFC-free
refrigerators throughout the world.
‘Disposal of waste’ means ‘to get rid of waste’. The disposal of waste should
be done in a scientific way. There are different methods of waste disposal.
The method to be used depends on the nature of the waste.

Recycling

Process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects.

It reduces the amount of non-biodegradable waste.

Materials like tin, cans, metallic articles, rags, paper, glass etc., are
recyclable.

Landfill

In this process, the waste that cannot be reused or recycled are separated
out and spread as a thin layer in low-lying areas across a city.

A layer of soil is added after each layer of garbage.

Such land or area is declared unfit for construction of buildings for the next
20 years.

Incineration

Burning of substance at high temperature to form ash.

It reduces the volume of the waste considerably.

Commonly used to dispose hospital waste.

Sewage Treatment

Sewage treatment carried out by Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), where

sewage is filtered.

Organic material in the sewage is allowed to settle down and decompose in

large tanks

The water from these tanks is cleaned and is released into water bodies.
Biogas Productio

Biodegradable waste, such as food items, animal waste or organic industrial

waste from food packaging industries are sent to biodegradation plants.

In bio-degradation plants, they are converted to biogas by degradation with

the help of bacteria, fungi, or other microbes.

Here, the organic matter serves as food for the micro-organisms.

The degradation can happen aerobically (with oxygen) or anaerobically

(without oxygen). Biogas is generated as a result of this process, which is
used as fuel, and the residue is used a manure