ECOSYSTEM

Classification of Environment:
 Lithosphere
 Hydrosphere
 Atmosphere
 Biosphere

Atmosphere

Lithosphere
Hydrosphere

Biosphere

Interrelationship Between the Components:

 Every sphere has a flow of matter and energy to every other sphere, which is
a two-way linkage
 Two-way interactions are also taking place within individual spheres
 Environmental problem, not confined only to the component/system where
they arise but spread to other components as well.
Ecology:
 Deals with the study of organisms in their natural home interacting with
their surroundings.

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Ecosystem:
 An ecosystem is a group of biotic communities of species interacting with
one another and with their non-living environment exchanging energy
and matter.
Types of Ecosystem
 Natural ecosystem
 Artificial ecosystem
Based on energy resources:
 Unsubsidized Natural Solar-powered ecosystem
 Naturally Subsidized Solar-powered ecosystem
 Man Subsidized Solar-powered ecosystem
 Fuel powered ecosystem (Urban – Industrial ecosystem)
Structure and Function of an Ecosystem

Structure: Function:
 Composition of biological  Energy flow
community, population,  Cycling of nutrients
biomass, life history, etc.,  Ecosystem development and
 The quantity and distribution of regulations
abiotic materials
 The range of conditions of
existence (temperature, light,
etc.,)

Structural Features:
Biotic component:
Abiotic component: Living component
Non-living component  Autotrophic component
 Physical or Climatic factors:  Heterotrophic component (macro
sunlight, temperature, water, consumers and saprotrophs/micro)
wind, soils, etc., i. Producers
 Chemical factors: essential ii. Consumers
nutrients, inorganic substances  Primary consumers
as C, H, N, K,P, S, etc., Organic (herbivores)
substances as carbohydrates,  Secondary consumers
lipids, proteins and humus (primary carnivores)
 Tertiary consumers
 Quaternary consumers
iii. Decomposers

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Energy Flow in Ecosystems
 The sun’s energy enters the living beings through photosynthetic reactions
and is passed from one organism to another in the form of food.
 The flow of energy is uni-directional and is governed by the
thermodynamic laws
 There is loss at each level due to the energy dissipated as heat during the
metabolic processes of the organisms

Sun

Producers (Autotrophs)

Primary Consumers (Herbivores)

DEATH & DECAY

Secondary Consumers /
Primary carnivores

Tertiary
Consumers

Quaternary
Consumers

Decomposers
(Saprotrophs)

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Trophic Structure:
 The producers and consumers are arranged in the ecosystem in a definite
manner and their interaction along with population size be expressed as
trophic structure
 Each food level is known as trophic level.
Food Chains:
 The sequence of eating and being eaten in an ecosystem is known as food
chain.
 It is an ideal model of flow of energy in the ecosystem.
 The energy efficiency of each trophic level is very low.
 Shorter the food chain greater will be the availability of the food.
Food Web:
 It is network of food chains where different types of organisms are
connected at different trophic levels, so that there are a number of options of
eating and being eaten at each trophic level.
Significance of Food chain and Web:
 To understand the energy flow and nutrient cycling
 To maintain ecological balance (maintain and regulating population size)
 To study biological magnification
Ecological pyramid
 An Ecological Pyramid is a graphical representation designed to show the
relationship between energy and trophic levels of a given ecosystem.
 Ecological Pyramids begin with producers on the bottom and proceed through the
various trophic levels, the highest of which is on top.
Most commonly, this relationship is demonstrated through
 Pyramid of Numbers
 Pyramid of Biomass
 Pyramid of Energy

Pyramid of Numbers: it represents the number of individual organisms at each trophic

level.
It can be upright or inverted.
Pyramid of Biomass
 An Ecological Pyramid of Biomass shows the relationship between energy
and trophic level by quantifying the amount of biomass present at each
trophic level (dry mass per trophic level). As such, is assumed that there is a
direct relationship between biomass and energy

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  It can be upright or inverted
 The main problem with this type of Ecological Pyramid is that it can make a
trophic level look like it contains more energy than it actually does. For
example, all birds have a beak and skeleton, which despite taking up mass
are not eaten by the next trophic level
Pyramid of Energy
 An Ecological Pyramid of Energy is the most useful of the three types,
showing the direct relationship between energy and trophic level.
 It measures the number of calories per trophic level. As with the others, this
graph begins with producers and ends with a higher trophic level.
 It is always upright.
 When energy is transferred to the next trophic level, only 10% of it is used to
build bodymass, becoming stored energy (the rest going to metabolic
processes).
 As such, in a Pyramid of Energy, each step will be 10% the size of the
previous step (100, 10, 1, 0.1, 0.01, 0.001 etc.).
The advantages of the Pyramid of Energy:
o It takes account of the rate of production over a period of time because each
rectangle represents energy per unit area / volume per unit time. An example
of units might be - kJ/m2/yr.
o Two species weight for weight may not have the same energy content
therefore the biomass is misleading but energy is directly comparable.
o The relative energy flow within an ecosystem can be compared using
pyramids of energy; also different ecosystems can be compared.
o There are no inverted pyramids.
o The input of solar energy can be added.
The disadvantages of the Pyramid of Energy:
o The energy value for a given mass of organism is required, which involves
complete combustion of a sample.
o There is still the difficulty of assigning the organisms to a specific trophic level.
As well as the organism in the food chains there is the problem of assigning the
decomposers and detritivores to a particular trophic level.

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Biogeochemical cycle
 A biogeochemical cycle is a circuit or pathway by which a chemical
element or molecule moves through both biotic and abiotic compartments
of an ecosystem.
 All chemical elements occurring in organisms are part of biogeochemical
cycles. In addition to being a part of living organisms, these chemical
elements also cycle through abiotic factors of ecosystems such as water
(hydrosphere), land (lithosphere), and the air (atmosphere)
 All the chemicals, nutrients, or elements—such as carbon, nitrogen,
oxygen, phosphorus—used in ecosystems by living organisms operate on
a closed system, which refers to the fact that these chemicals are
recycled instead of being lost and replenished constantly such as in an
open system.
 The energy of an ecosystem occurs on an open system; the sun
constantly gives the planet energy in the form of light while it is
eventually used and lost in the form of heat throughout the trophic levels
of a food web.
 Biogeochemical cycles always involve equilibrium states: a balance in the
cycling of the element between compartments
 The most well-known and important biogeochemical cycles, for example,
include the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, the oxygen cycle, the
phosphorus cycle, and the water cycle.
Primary Production
o Primary productivity of an ecosystem is defined as the rate at which radiant
energy is converted into organic substances by photosynthesis or
chemosynthesis by the primary producers
Secondary Production
o The energy stored at consumer level for use by the next trophic level is defined
as secondary production
Ecosystem Regulation
 Homeostasis: it is the inherent property of all living systems to resist change
 Negative Feedback Mechanism: it is deviation-counteracting mechanism,
which try to bring the system back to its ideal condition
 Positive Feedback Mechanism: add to the stress conditions and tend to take
the system away from the optimal conditions

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Ecological Succession
 The process by which organisms occupy a site and gradually change
environmental conditions so that other species can replace the original
inhabitants, is called ecological succession or ecological development
Ecosystem development is an autogenic process may be defined in terms of the
following parameters:
o It is an orderly process of community changes that involves changes in species
structure and community processes with time
o It results from the modification of the physical environment and population
structure by the community
o It culminates the establishment of as stable an ecosystem as in biologically
possible on that particular site
Causes of Ecological Succession:
Initial causes: climatic as well as biotic
Ecesis causes: continuing causes that include migration, aggregation, reaction etc.,
Stabilizing causes: responsible for the stabilization of the community. Called climax
Types of Succession:
o Primary succession: it occurs when a community begins to develop on a site
previously unoccupied by living organisms (island, body of water, new volcanic
flow etc.,)
o Secondary succession: it occurs when an existing community is disrupted and
a new one subsequently develops at the site.
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM
Abiotic characteristics of aquatic ecosystems
 An ecosystem is composed of biotic communities and abiotic environmental
factors, which form a self-regulating and self-sustaining unit.
 Abiotic environmental factors of aquatic ecosystems include temperature,
salinity, and flow.
 The amount of dissolved oxygen in a water body is frequently the key
substance in determining the extent and kinds of organic life in the water body.
 Fish need dissolved oxygen to survive. Conversely, oxygen is fatal to many kinds
of anerobic bacteria.
 The salinity of the water body is also a determining factor in the kinds of species
found in the water body. Organisms in marine ecosystems tolerate salinity, while
many freshwater organisms are intolerant of salt.
 Freshwater used for irrigation purposes often absorb levels of salt that are
harmful to freshwater organisms.

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Biota of aquatic ecosystems
The organisms (also called biota) found in aquatic ecosystems are either autotrophic or
heterotrophic.
Autotrophic organisms
 Autotrophic organisms are producers that generate organic compounds from
inorganic material.
 Algae use solar energy to generate biomass from carbon dioxide and are the
most important autotrophic organisms in aquatic environments.
 Chemosynthetic bacteria are found in benthic marine ecosystems. These
organisms are able to feed on hydrogen sulphide in water that comes from
volcanic vents
Heterotrophic organisms
 Heterotrophic organisms consume autotrophic organisms and use the organic
compounds in their bodies as energy sources and as raw materials to create their
own biomass.
 Euryhaline organisms are salt tolerant and can survive in marine ecosystems,
while stenohaline or salt intolerant species can only live in freshwater
environments.
Functions of aquatic ecosystems
o Aquatic ecosystems perform many important environmental functions. For
example, they recycle nutrients, purify water, attenuate floods, recharge ground
water and provide habitats for wildlife.
o Aquatic ecosystems are also used for human recreation, and are very important
to the tourism industry, especially in coastal regions.

Classifications
 Freshwater ecosystem
 Marine ecosystem
Freshwater ecosystems
 Freshwater ecosystems cover 0.8% of the Earth's surface and contain 0.009% of
its total water.
 They generate nearly 3% of its net primary production.
 Freshwater ecosystems contain 41% of the world's known fish species.
There are three basic types of freshwater ecosystems:
 Lentic: slow-moving water, including pools, ponds, and lakes.
 Lotic: rapidly-moving water, for example streams and rivers.
 Wetlands: areas where the soil is saturated or inundated for at least part of the
time

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Pond ecosystem
 Small freshwater ecosystem is seasonal in nature. And are shallow water bodies
 They contain several types of algae, aquatic plants, insects, fishes and birds.
Structure and Function:

Abiotic substances: basic inorganic and organic compounds such as water, CO2, O2,
calcium, phosphorus salts, amino acids. A small portion is in the solution and larger
portion is in the bottom sediments and in the organisms themselves.
Biotic substances:
Producer organisms: two main types; Rooted or large floating plants (grow in shallow
water), and minute floating plants
Macro-consumers:
 Primary consumers are animal planktons
 Secondary consumers are insects and small fishes
 Tertiary consumers are big fishes
Saprotropic organisms: includes aquatic bacteria, flagellates and fungi, which presents
Lake Ecosystem:
mainly along the bottom.
 Big freshwater bodies with standing water
 They contain Littoral zone, Limnetic zone and Profoundal Zone
Organisms:
 Planktons – that float on surface waters; phytoplankton (algae) and
zooplanktons (rotifers)
 Nekton – that swim (fishes)
 Neustons – that rest or swim on the surface
 Benthos – attached to the bottom sediments (snails)
 Periphyton – attached or clinging to other animals (crustaceans)
Types of Lakes:
 Oligotrophic, eutrophic, dystrophic, endemic, desert salt volcanic,
impoundements, meromictic lakes
Rivers and Streams Ecosystem
 They act as major transporters of materials from the land to the sea/ocean
 They differ widely in volume of water, speed of flow, dissolved oxygen content,
temperature and many other physical and chemical parameters
 The nature as well as composition o flora and fauna largely depend on the
source of origin and the terrestrial ecosystems through which they pass.
 The major zones in river ecosystems are determined by the river bed's gradient
or by the velocity of the current. Faster moving turbulent water typically contains

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 greater concentrations of dissolved oxygen, which supports greater biodiversity
than the slow moving water of pools.
 The food base of streams within riparian (the area of land bordering a body of
water) forests is mostly derived from the trees, but wider streams and those that
lack a canopy derive the majority of their food base from algae. Anadromous fish
are also an important source of nutrients
Marine ecosystems
 Marine ecosystems cover approximately 71% of the Earth's surface and contain
approximately 97% of the planet's water.
 They generate 32% of the world's net primary production.
 They are distinguished from freshwater ecosystems by the presence of dissolved
compounds, especially salts, in the water.
 Approximately 85% of the dissolved materials in seawater are sodium and
chlorine. Seawater has an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand (ppt) of
water. Actual salinity varies among different marine ecosystems.
Marine ecosystems can be divided into the following zones:
 Oceanic (the relatively shallow part of the ocean that lies over the continental
shelf); profundal (bottom or deep water);
 Benthic (bottom substrates);
 Intertidal (the area between high and low tides);
 Estuaries; salt marshes; coral reefs; and
 Hydrothermal vents (where chemosynthetic sulphur bacteria form the food
base).
 Classes of organisms found in marine ecosystems include brown algae,
dinoflagellates, corals, cephalopods, echinoderms, and sharks. Fish caught in
marine ecosystems are the biggest source of commercial foods obtained from
wild populations.
Degradation of Aquatic Ecosystem:
 The health of an aquatic ecosystem is degraded when the ecosystem's ability to
absorb a stress has been exceeded.
 A stress on an aquatic ecosystem can be a result of physical, chemical of
biological alterations of the environment.
 Physical alterations include changes in water temperature, water flow and light
availability.
 Chemical alterations include changes in the loading rates of biostimulatory
nutrients, oxygen consuming materials, and toxins.
 Biological alterations include the introduction of exotic species.
 Human populations can impose excessive stresses on aquatic ecosystems.
 Environmental threats to rivers include loss of water, dams, chemical pollution
and introduced species

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 Eutrophication is accelerated by human activity within the catchment area of the
lake.
 Environmental problems concerning marine ecosystems include unsustainable
exploitation of marine resources (for example overfishing of certain species),
water pollution, and building on coastal areas.

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