ECOSYSTEM

By
KavyaSudhakar
Lecturer Dept. Of Science
What is an Ecosystem?

An ecosystem can be visualised as a functional

unit of nature, where living organisms interact
among themselves and also with the surrounding
physical environment. Ecosystem varies greatly
in size from a small pond to a large forest or a
sea.
● Many ecologists regard the entire biosphere as a global ecosystem,
as a composite of all local ecosystems on Earth. Since this system
is too much big and complex to be studied at one time, it is
convenient to divide it into two basic categories, namely the
terrestrial and the aquatic.
● Forest, grassland and desert are some examples of terrestrial
ecosystems.
● Pond, lake, wetland, river and estuary are some examples of aquatic
ecosystems.
● Crop fields and an aquarium may also be considered as man-made
ecosystems.
ECOSYSTEM – STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

● Interaction of biotic and abiotic components result in a

physical structure that is characteristic for each type of
ecosystem. Identification and enumeration of plant and
animal species of an ecosystem gives its species
composition.
● Vertical distribution of different species occupying different
levels is called stratification. For example, trees occupy top
vertical strata or layer of a forest, shrubs the second and
herbs and grasses occupy the bottom layers.
The components of the ecosystem are seen to
function as a unit when you consider the following
aspects:
(i) Productivity;
(ii) Decomposition;
(iii) Energy flow; and
(iv) Nutrient cycling.
PRODUCTIVITY
● A constant input of solar energy is the basic requirement for any ecosystem
to function and sustain.
● Primary production is defined as the amount of biomass or organic matter
produced per unit area over a time period by plants during photosynthesis.
● It is expressed in terms of weight (gm–2 ) or energy (kcal m–2 ). The rate of
biomass production is called productivity.
● Gross primary productivity of an ecosystem is the rate of production of
organic matter during photosynthesis. A considerable amount of GPP is
utilised by plants in respiration. Gross primary productivity minus respiration
losses (R), is the net primary productivity (NPP).
GPP – R = NPP
● Net primary productivity is the available biomass for the
consumption to heterotrophs (herbiviores and decomposers).
● Secondary productivity is defined as the rate of formation of
new organic matter by consumers.
● Primary productivity depends on the plant species inhabiting
a particular area. It also depends on a variety of
environmental factors, availability of nutrients and
photosynthetic capacity of plants. Therefore, it varies in
different types of ecosystems.
DECOMPOSITION
You may have heard of the earthworm being referred to as the farmer’s ‘friend’.
This is so because they help in the breakdown of complex organic matter as well
as in loosening of the soil. Similarly, decomposers break down complex organic
matter into inorganic substances like carbon dioxide, water and nutrients and the
process is called Decomposition.

● Dead plant remains such as leaves, bark, flowers and dead remains
of animals, including fecal matter, constitute detritus, which is the raw
material for decomposition.
● The important steps in the process of decomposition are
fragmentation, leaching, catabolism, humification and mineralisation.
● Detritivores (e.g., earthworm) break down detritus into smaller
particles. This process is called fragmentation.
● By the process of leaching, water soluble inorganic nutrients go
down into the soil horizon and get precipitated as unavailable
salts.
● Bacterial and fungal enzymes degrade detritus into simpler
inorganic substances. This process is called as catabolism.
● It is important to note that all the above steps in decomposition
operate simultaneously on the detritus.
● Humification and mineralisation occur during decomposition in
the soil.
● Humification leads to accumulation of a dark coloured amorphous substance called
humus that is highly resistant to microbial action and undergoes decomposition at
an extremely slow rate. Being colloidal in nature it serves as a reservoir of nutrients.
● The humus is further degraded by some microbes and release of inorganic nutrients
occur by the process known as mineralisation.
● Decomposition is largely an oxygen-requiring process. The rate of decomposition is
controlled by chemical composition of detritus and climatic factors.
● In a particular climatic condition, decomposition rate is slower if detritus is rich in
lignin and chitin, and quicker, if detritus is rich in nitrogen and water-soluble
substances like sugars.
● Temperature and soil moisture are the most important climatic factors that regulate
decomposition through their effects on the activities of soil microbes. Warm and
moist environment favour decomposition whereas low temperature and
anaerobiosis inhibit decomposition resulting in build up of organic materials.
ENERGY FLOW
● Plants and photosynthetic bacteria (autotrophs), fix Sun’s radiant energy to
make food from simple inorganic materials. Plants capture only 2-10 per cent
of the Photo activating radiant and this small amount of energy sustains the
entire living world. So, it is very important to know how the solar energy
captured by plants flows through different organisms of an ecosystem.
● All organisms are dependent for their food on producers, either directly or
indirectly.
● The green plant in the ecosystem are called producers. In a terrestrial
ecosystem, major producers are herbaceous and woody plants. Likewise,
producers in an aquatic ecosystem are various species like phytoplankton,
algae and higher plants.
● Starting from the plants (or producers) food chains or rather
webs are formed such that an animal feeds on a plant or on
another animal and in turn is food for another.
● The chain or web is formed because of this interdependency.
No energy that is trapped into an organism remains in it for
ever.
● The energy trapped by the producer, hence, is either passed on
to a consumer or the organism dies. Death of organism is the
beginning of the detritus food chain/web.
 ● All animals depend on plants (directly or indirectly) for their food needs. They
are hence called consumers and also heterotrophs.
● The primary consumers will be herbivores. Some common herbivores are
insects, birds and mammals in terrestrial ecosystem and molluscs in aquatic
ecosystem.
● The consumers that feed on these herbivores are carnivores, or more
correctly primary carnivores (though secondary consumers).
● Those animals that depend on the primary carnivores for food are labelled
secondary carnivores. A simple grazing food chain (GFC) is depicted below:
Grass —------------- —--------------- Goat —---------------------- ----------------------Man
(Producer) (Primary Consumer) (Secondary consumer)
● The important point to note is that the amount of energy decreases
at successive trophic levels.
● When any organism dies it is converted to detritus or dead
biomass that serves as an energy source for decomposers.
Organisms at each trophic level depend on those at the lower
trophic level for their energy demands.
● Each trophic level has a certain mass of living material at a
particular time called as the standing crop. The standing crop is
measured as the mass of living organisms (biomass) or the
number in a unit area. The biomass of a species is expressed in
terms of fresh or dry weight
ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS

● The base of a pyramid is broad and it narrows towards the apex.

One gets a similar shape, whether you express the food or energy
relationship between organisms at different trophic levels. This,
relationship is expressed in terms of number, biomass or energy.
● The base of each pyramid represents the producers or the first
trophic level while the apex represents tertiary or top level
consumer.
● The three types of ecological pyramids that are usually studied are
(a) pyramid of number; (b) pyramid of biomass and (c) pyramid of
energy.
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
● The characteristics of population and community and also their response
to environment and how such responses vary from an individual
response. Let us examine another aspect of community response to
environment over time.
● An important characteristic of all communities is that their composition
and structure constantly change in response to the changing
environmental conditions. This change is orderly and sequential, parallel
with the changes in the physical environment.
● These changes lead finally to a community that is in near equilibrium with
the environment and that is called a climax community.
● The gradual and fairly predictable change in the species composition of a
given area is called ecological succession. During succession some species
colonise an area and their population become more numerous whereas
populations of other species decline and even disappear.
● The present day communities in the world have come to be because of
succession that has occurred over millions of years since life started on earth.
Actually succession and evolution would have been parallel processes at that
time
● Examples of areas where primary succession occurs are newly cooled lava,
bare rock, newly created pond or reservoir. The establishment of a new biotic
community is generally slow. Before a biotic community of diverse organisms
can become established, there must be soil. Depending mostly on the
climate, it takes natural processes several hundred to several thousand years
to produce fertile soil on bare rock.
● Secondary succession begins in areas where natural biotic communities
have been destroyed such as in abandoned farm lands, burned or cut
forests, lands that have been flooded. Since some soil or sediment is
present, succession is faster than primary succession.
● At any time during primary or secondary succession, natural or human
induced disturbances (fire, deforestation, etc.), can convert a particular
seral stage of succession to an earlier stage. Also such disturbances
create new conditions that encourage some species and discourage or
eliminate other species.
● Description of ecological succession usually focuses on changes in
vegetation. However, these vegetational changes in turn affect food and
shelter for various types of animals. Thus, as succession proceeds, the
numbers and types of animals and decomposers also change.
Succession of Plants
● Based on the nature of the habitat – whether it is water (or very wet areas) or
it is on very dry areas – succession of plants is called hydrarch or xerarch,
respectively.
● Hydrarch succession takes place in wet areas and the successional series
progress from hydric to the mesic conditions. As against this, xerarch
succession takes place in dry areas and the series progress from xeric to
mesic conditions. Hence, both hydrarch and xerarch successions lead to
medium water conditions (mesic) – neither too dry (xeric) nor too wet (hydric).
● In secondary succession the species that invade depend on the condition of
the soil, availability of water, the environment as also the seeds or other
propagules present. Since soil is already there, the rate of succession is much
faster and hence, climax is also reached more quickly.
NUTRIENT CYCLING
● organisms need a constant supply of nutrients to grow, reproduce and
regulate various body functions. The amount of nutrients, such as carbon,
nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, etc.,
● What is important is to appreciate that nutrients which are never lost from the
ecosystems, rather they are recycled time and again indefinitely. The
movement of nutrient elements through the various components of an
ecosystem is called nutrient cycling.
● Another name of nutrient cycling is biogeochemical cycles (bio: living
organism, geo: rocks, air, water). Nutrient cycles are of two types: (a) gaseous
and (b) sedimentary.
Ecosystem – Carbon Cycle
● When you study the composition of living organisms, carbon constitutes 49
per cent of dry weight of organisms and is next only to water. If we look at the
total quantity of global carbon, we find that 71 per cent carbon is found
dissolved in oceans.
● This oceanic reservoir regulates the amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere.
● Fossil fuel also represent a reservoir of carbon. Carbon cycling occurs
through atmosphere, ocean and through living and dead organisms.
● According to one estimate 4 × 1013 kg of carbon is fixed annually in the
biosphere through photosynthesis.
● A considerable amount of carbon returns to the atmosphere as CO2 through
respiratory activities of the producers and consumers.
● Decomposers also contribute substantially to CO2 pool by their processing of
waste materials and dead organic matter of land or oceans.
● Some amount of the fixed carbon is lost to sediments and removed from
circulation.
● Burning of wood, forest fire and combustion of organic matter, fossil fuel,
volcanic activity are additional sources for releasing CO2 in the atmosphere.
● Human activities have significantly influenced the carbon cycle. Rapid
deforestation and massive burning of fossil fuel for energy and transport have
significantly increased the rate of release of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Healthy ecosystems are the base for a wide range of economic, environmental
and aesthetic goods and services. The products of ecosystem processes are
named as ecosystem services.

for example, healthy forest ecosystems purify air and water, mitigate droughts
and floods, cycle nutrients, generate fertile soils, provide wildlife habitat,
maintain biodiversity, pollinate crops, provide storage site for carbon and also
provide aesthetic, cultural and spiritual values.