ECOSYSTEM

GAGAZA N.M
INTRODUCTION
• Living organisms are constantly interacting with other organisms as well as
the environment in which they live in order to survive and reproduce.
• A particular area in which biotic components interact with each other and
with abiotic components is called an ecosystem.
• Biotic components refers to living components
• Abiotic components refers to non-living components
• The study of ecosystem is known as ecology.
• An ecosystem consist of two main components:
Abiotic (non-living) component
Biotic (living) component
ABIOTIC (NON-LIVING) COMPONENTS
The abiotic component includes the following:
• Physiographic factors
• Edaphic (soil) factors
• Light
• Temperature
• Water
• Atmospheric gases
• Wind
PHYSIOGRAPHIC FACTORS
Aspect (slope direction)
• Aspect refers to the position of an area in relation to the sun.
• The vegetation on a north facing slope differs from the vegetation on
a south facing slope.
• North facing slopes get more direct sunlight that the south facing
slopes.
• This means that north facing slopes are warmer, drier and the plants
thrive in the sunlight
• South facing slopes are cooler and wetter, where shade plants like
ferns thrive.
PHYSIOGRAPHIC FACTORS
Slope
• A mountain’s slope determines the rate of water run-off
• A steep slope’s water runs faster than the gradual slope and soil erosion will occur
more frequently.
• Soil in a steep slope is usually shallow and infertile.
• Few plants and animals are present
Height above sea level
• Areas high above sea level (e.g. mountains) experience extreme weather
conditions such as strong winds and even snow.
• Plants and animals that occur high above sea level differ from those closer to sea
level.
EDAPHIC (SOIL) FACTORS
Type of soil/ soil texture
• There are three types of soil, i.e. clay, loam and sand.
• Clay consist of tiny soil particles and loam of slightly bigger particles, while
sandy soil is coarser and consist of large particles.
Soil air
• some spaces between the soil particles are filled with water. The other
spaces are filled with air, which is vital for the survival of the soil organisms.
• Sandy soil have larger spaces between the soil particles and it is said to be
well aerated, while clay soil has very small spaces and is therefore poorly
aerated.
EDAPHIC (SOIL) FACTORS
Water holding capacity
• Sandy soil has a low water holding capacity
• This means that water rapidly filters through sandy soil, taking along
valuable nutrients.
• This process is called leaching.
• Clay has a high water holding capacity.
• Therefore, the drainage of clay is poor and plant roots may rot easily.
• Loam is the most suitable type of soil for plant growth.
• It has a medium water holding capacity, is well aerated and contains
sufficient nutrients.
EDAPHIC (SOIL) FACTORS
Humus content
• Humus is decayed animal and plant matter.
• It increases both the soil fertility and the water holding capacity of the
soil.
• Soil with a high humus content is usually dark in colour.
pH
• Some plants grow better in acidic soil (low pH), e.g. proteas
• Succulent plants grow better in alkaline soil (high pH).
• Whereas, most plants grow well in neutral soil (pH 7).
SANDY SOIL
LOAM SOIL
CLAY SOIL
LIGHT
• Plants need light for photosynthesis.
• However, too much light may damage the tissues of plants
• Some plants are short-day plants since they only flower when if the
day light is shorter than 12 hours. Some are long-day plants which
need a day length of more than 12 hours and some are neutral plants
which are not affected by day length. Plants are adapted to the light
intensity they are exposed to e.g. shade plants vs sun plants
TEMPERATURE
• The temperature that plants and animals are exposed to varies significantly between day
and night and between summer and winter.
• Ectothermic animals, where the body temperature depends on the environmental
temperature, become inactive in cold winter temperatures and hibernate to survive.
• Endothermic animals, keep their body temperature constant regardless of environmental
temperature, also hibernate or even migrate to warmer habitats during winter.
• Annuals complete their life cycle in one season and survive the winter in the form of
seeds.
• Deciduous trees lose their leaves in winter, thereby reducing their metabolism in order to
survive.
• Some plants lose their aboveground parts and hibernate in the form of bulbs, tubers and
rhizomes.
HIBERNATION
WATER
• Water is vital for the survival of all living organisms.
• Plants are adapted with regard to their water needs and are consequently divided into:
Hydrophytes – plants that are adapted to grow in water
Mesophytes – plants that grow in areas with moderate water supply
Xerophytes – plants that are adapted to grow in extremely dry conditions
• Animals are adapted in different ways with regard to water:
Animals like kangaroo rat never drink water, but obtain water from the food.
Camels live without water for a long time
Desert animals excrete urine in the form of crystals, to retain as much water as possible
in the body.
Earthworms live in damp soil
Insects have hard exoskeleton to prevent dehydration of the body
Other animals are adapted to live in water and are called aquatic animals
Water cycle
• Water move from the atmosphere to the earth in the form of rain, snow, fog, hail,
dew and frost. This is called precipitation.
• A part of water that reaches the earth is absorbed by the upper layers of the soil to
form hygroscopic and capillary water.
• Some of the water filters through the upper layers of the soil to the water table and
is called gravitational water.
• This process where by water is absorbed by the soil is known as infiltration.
• Some of the water runs off above the ground and forms streams and rivers that flow
into the lakes and oceans.
• Some of the underground water can reach the soil surface again via springs.
• Water reaches the atmosphere by evaporation from large water masses from the soil.
• Plants transpire and loose water to the atmosphere in the form of water vapour.
• Large amount of water vapour condense and form clouds.
• The cycle is now complete and water returns to the earth by means of precipitation.
The importance of wetlands
• Wetlands include a wide range of inland and coastal habitats which
are linked by rivers and streams.
• Wetlands provide a regular water supply, the water is filtered
naturally by the vegetation and the effects of floods and drought are
reduced.
• Most of wetlands have a high water table and soil with high water
holding capacity. Hydrophyte plants are abundant.
• Wetlands play an important role in maintaining biodiversity, because
they support an extraordinary variety of plant and animal life.
WETLANDS
ATMOSPHERIC GASES
• The air in the atmosphere consist of:
78% Nitrogen
21% Oxygen
0,04% Carbon dioxide
0,96% other gases in varying amounts e.g. water vapour
• All living organisms need oxygen for respiration.
• Green plants need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis plants absorb nitrogen in a
form of nitrates from the soil, while animals obtain it from the food they eat.
WIND
• Wind accelerates the processes of evaporation and transpiration resulting in living
organisms losing water more rapidly.
BIOTIC (LIVING) COMPONENTS
• Biotic components are divided into the:
Autotrophic component
Heterotrophic component
AUTOTROPHIC COMPONENT
• Consist of all green plants that can photosynthesis and produce their
own food.
• This component is known as the producers.
HETEROTROPHIC COMPONENT
• Consists of organisms that cannot manufacture their own food.
• They rely on autotrophs (producers) in order to obtain their food.
• These are also known as consumers and they are subdivided into:
 the primary,
secondary and
tertiary consumers,
as well as the decomposers.
Primary consumers
• They feed directly on the producers and include;
Herbivores that live on plant matter.
Omnivores that live partially on plant matter.
Secondary consumers
• Feed on the primary consumers and include the following:
Carnivores that live only on animal matter.
Omnivores that live partially on animal matter on plant matter.
Scavengers that eat the remains of dead animals.
CARNIVORES
Decomposers
• Are mainly saprophytic bacteria and fungi that feed on dead organic
matter.
• They break down organic compounds into simple inorganic
substances that are released back into the environment.
 ENERGY FLOW
• Radiant energy from the sun is converted into chemical potential energy during photosynthesis
and carbohydrates are stored in green plants. (producers)
• Primary consumers obtain their energy from the plants that they eat.
• In turn, secondary consumers obtain their energy by eating the primary consumers.
• Tertiary consumers obtain their energy by eating secondary consumers.
• Finally, consumers and producers die and are decomposed by bacteria and fungi.
• Energy is released to the environment.
• This transfer of energy from the sun, through green plants and the various consumers, is known
as food chain.
• A food chain always starts with the producers, followed by the consumers and ends with the
decomposers.
• A food chain never occurs in isolation, but is usually inked to other food chains to form a food
web.
Tropic levels
NUTRIENT CYCLE
• Nutrients are essential for the growth and development of living
organisms.
• Some nutrients circulate between living organisms, the hydrosphere,
atmosphere and lithosphere and include;
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Carbon
 OXYGEN CYCLE
• Oxygen circulates through the ecosystem and biosphere.
• The earth has a fixed amount of oxygen, which occurs in the atmosphere, oceans, rocks and all living
organisms.
• Living organisms use oxygen in various forms.
• Photosynthetic organisms are the main source of oxygen on earth since they use carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere to form carbohydrates and oxygen.
• Both animals and plants absorb oxygen from the atmosphere to breakdown glucose into carbon
dioxide and water during the process called cellular respiration.
• Decomposers need oxygen to decompose organic matter and release carbon dioxide.
• A large amount of oxygen is dissolved in the water of oceans, lakes and rivers.
• Just like terrestrial organisms, aquatic organisms use oxygen for respiration and decomposition and
release carbon dioxide in water.
• A large part of earth’s oxygen is found in rocks.
• Oxygen from the atmosphere combines with silicon and iron among others in rocks to form rust in
order surface weathering to occur
• Organisms such as lichens break down rocks and release nutrients and oxygen for living organisms.
OXYGEN CYCLE
NITROGEN CYCLE
• Nitrogen is essential for many biological processes.
• Living organisms need nitrogen to form amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins.
• Nitrogen gas occurs in large amounts in the atmosphere, but plants and animals cannot use it in
this form.
• Plants can only use nitrogen in a form of nitrates
• Nitrogen is converted to nitrates through;
 Nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which lives mutualistically with plants in the soil.
 Nitrogen fixing bacteria is able to convert nitrogen into nitrates in order for plants to access it, in
return it gets food and secure habitat from the plants.
• Nitrates in the soil are absorbed by the plants and they use it to form plant proteins.
• Animals eat the plants and obtain nitrogen, which is used to form animal proteins.
• When plants and animals die, the proteins in their bodies are broken down into ammonia by
decomposers.
 Ammonia is further broken down into nitrates by nitrifying bacteria and it is available for plants.
 Ammonia is broken down again by denitrifying bacteria in the soil to free nitrogen and it is
available in the atmosphere.
NITROGEN CYCLE
CARBON CYCLE
• Carbon is an important component of organic compounds, e.g. carbohydrates, proteins,
lipids, nucleic acids and vitamins.
• Carbon occurs in the form of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and is dissolved in water.
• Carbon dioxide is used in photosynthesis by green plants to produce organic compounds.
• The carbon, which forms part of the organic compounds in plants, is transferred to animals
when they eat plant material.
• Sometimes dead plant and animal remains do not decompose, but are compressed to form
fossil fuel such as coal and oil.
• Carbon dioxide returns to the atmosphere in three ways;
 Cellular respiration
 Decomposition
 Combustion
Carbon cycle