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Chapter 2

The document summarizes key concepts in ecology and natural resources, including: 1. It defines ecology as the study of relationships between organisms and their environment, and defines an ecosystem as a group of interacting plants, animals, and physical factors. 2. Within an ecosystem, biotic components include producers, consumers, and decomposers, while abiotic components are non-living physical and chemical factors. 3. Energy flows through ecosystems via primary production, respiration, and food webs comprising interconnected food chains with energy lost at each trophic level.

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Milki Mesay
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25 views

Chapter 2

The document summarizes key concepts in ecology and natural resources, including: 1. It defines ecology as the study of relationships between organisms and their environment, and defines an ecosystem as a group of interacting plants, animals, and physical factors. 2. Within an ecosystem, biotic components include producers, consumers, and decomposers, while abiotic components are non-living physical and chemical factors. 3. Energy flows through ecosystems via primary production, respiration, and food webs comprising interconnected food chains with energy lost at each trophic level.

Uploaded by

Milki Mesay
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter Two

Concepts of Ecology and Natural Resources


Components of the Environment
▪ The word environment originates from French word
“environ” meaning surrounding
Types of environment
Can be divided into three categories
I. Physical
II. Biological
III. Cultural
▪ On the basis of structures, the environment may be
divided into two fundamental types:
1. The abiotic or physical environment consisting of
air, water and soil/sediment
2. The biotic or biological environment consisting of
flora, fauna and microorganisms
▪ On the bases of physical characteristics and state,
the physical environment is subdivided into three
broad categories:
a. Lithosphere(sphere of rocks/soil/sediments)
b. Hydrosphere(sphere of water)
c. Atmosphere (sphere of gas)
Environment component Interaction
Ecosystem
▪ Ecology can be defined as the study of relationships between
organisms and their environment

• Ecosystem is an abbreviated for form of ‘ecological system’

• An ecosystem is a group of plants and animals, along with the


physical environment with which it interacts

• Ecology examines the life histories, distribution and behavior


of individual species, as well as the structure and functions of
a natural system in terms of populations, communities,
ecosystems and landscapes
• An ecosystem includes all of the organisms as well as
the climate, soil, water, rocks and other nonliving
things in a given area.
Ecosystem

Ecosystem

Community

Community

Population
Population

Organism
Organism
Structure of an ecosystem
▪ Composed of two chief components biotic and abiotic
▪ Biotic components
• Producers or Autotrophs
✓autotrophic organisms -- manufacture their own
food material
✓capture solar energy + simple inorganic substances
(water, carbon dioxide, salts)
✓ Food synthesized → growth, survival, and stored
E.g. Green plants, Photosynthetic bacteria, and
Chemosynthetic bacteria
Structure of an ecosystem
• Consumers or Heterotrophs

✓heterotrophic organisms (nourished by others) consume the


producers directly or indirectly.

✓Primary consumers/herbivores: consume the producers


directly

✓Secondary consumers/carnivores (flesh eaters): feed upon the


primary consumers. Omnivores: feed on both flesh and plants

✓Secondary carnivores/tertiary consumers: Carnivores which


feed upon the secondary consumers, they are also called
secondary carnivores, e.g. lions which feed upon cats and dogs,
etc.
Structure of an ecosystem
• Decomposers/Microconsumers/Reducers

✓heterotrophic organisms which are saprotrophs

✓consume the food by absorption but not by


ingestion.

✓mainly fungi, bacteria and certain protozoans

✓Decompose by excreting enzymes and


absorbtion →energy + inorganic nutrients,
minerals and gases ( used again by autotrophs)
Structure of an ecosystem
▪ Abiotic components

• non-living constituents of the environment i.e. the


habitat.

• A habitat is a specific set of physical and chemical


conditions (space, substratum and climate) that
surrounds a single species, a group of species or a
large community.
Abiotic components
A.Physical Factors
• Light (sun as the main energy source)

• temperature (controls the climate) →organism distribution

• evaporation and precipitation (control climate)

• gravity (controls rock material and hydrological cascade


system, movement of matter, and orientation and
distribution of animals)

• pressure (limits distribution of organisms)

• humidity (Transpiration and absorption of water)

• air and water currents (weathering)


Abiotic components

b. Chemical Factors

• Oxygen →Pulse of the environment

• Carbon dioxide →Raw material

• Minerals (micro- and macro-nutrients)

• Organic matter (Carbohydrates, proteins and


lipids)
Functions of an ecosystem
▪ Production and flow of energy
▪ Nutrient recycling
▪ Food web
▪ Food Chain
▪ Ecological pyramids
▪ Biogeochemical cycles
Energy flow in the Ecosystem

• The sun is the primary source of energy

•Primary producers →sunlight-using organisms

•Photosynthesis →convert energy from sunlight into


chemical energy

•6CO2 + 6H2O +2800 kJ energy from sun chlorophyll


C6H12O6 + 6O2

•Net primary productivity (NPP). The rate of


production of biomass glucose, cells, and other
organic chemicals by the primary producers
• Aerobic respiration: the breakdown of organic
chemicals, such as sugar and starches, by molecular
oxygen to form gaseous carbon dioxide

➢ Photohetrotrophs

✓Organisms able to obtain energy through


photosynthesis but are not capable of reducing
carbon dioxide
✓They obtain carbon from reduced carbon
compound generated by other organism
✓Purple non sulfur bacteria, green non sulfur
bacteria etc
➢Chemotrophs
• Obtain their energy from either inorganic or
organic carbon rather than from light

• Can be autotrophic(lithotrophs ): they build


cell mass from inorganic carbon

• Can be heterotrophic(organotrophs) : use


organic form of carbon to synthesize new cells
and compounds
Trophic Levels
Energy flow in the Ecosystem

▪ Energy flow: is the transfer of energy from one


trophic level to another trophic level

▪ In an ecosystem the flow of energy is unidirectional

▪ The study of energy transfer between different


trophic levels in an ecosystem is known as
bioenergetics
Energy flow in the Ecosystem
▪ The energy in an ecosystem is controlled by two laws of
thermodynamics
• Energy can neither be created nor destroyed.
• Every transfer of energy is accompanied by its dispersion.
▪ The flow of energy in an ecosystem depends on the following
factors:
• Efficiency of producers to trap solar energy and convert it
into chemical energy
• Use of chemical energy present in the producers by the
consumers
• Loss of energy in the form of unused energy in dead
organism and heat during respiration.
Energy Flow
▪ The figure indicates two aspects of energy
flow in an ecosystem

▪ The flow of energy in unidirectional

▪ There is a successive reduction in the energy


flow at successive trophic levels
Food Chain
“The transfer of energy and nutrients from one
feeding group of organisms to another in a series.”

▪ It is the sequence of eater being eaten, or who eats


whom.

▪ Trophic level: successive level of nourishment

▪ In each transfer some energy is lost.

▪ the shorter the food chain, or the nearer the


organism to the beginning of the chain, the greater
the energy available
Food Chain
➢ Two major food chains

▪ Grazing food chain: Starts from living plants, goes


through herbivores and ends in carnivores.

▪ Detritus food chain: Starts from dead organic matter


and ends in inorganic compounds.
Food web
• Food web: Interconnected food chains

• Food webs maintain the stability of an ecosystem

• Complexity ← the diversity of species and their


interconnectivity.

• Diversity of species ← food habits

•Interconnectivity → alternatives at different level of


consumer

•Complex food webs are more stable than simple food


webs.
Ecological Pyramids
▪Ecological pyramids are the graphic representation of the
number, biomass and energy of the successive trophic levels of
an ecosystem.
▪The loss of energy occurs
–energy is not used efficiently
–energy dissipates as kinetic energy and heat
Biogeochemical Cycles
▪ Biogeochemical cycle is the complete pathway that
a chemical element follows through the Earth
system.

• chemical cycle because chemical elements are the


form that we consider

• bio- because these are the cycles that involve life.

• geo- because these cycles include atmosphere,


water, rocks, and soils
Biogeochemical Cycles
▪ We are interested to know

• The major chemical cycles

• The importance of these cycles to life

• The factors that control these cycles

• The rate of these cycles

• How each components of the Environment are


involved

• The impact of humans on these cycles


The Carbon Cycle

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