Ewhds

ECOSYSTEM
All the interacting organisms in an area together with the non-living physical
surroundings form an ecosystem
Ex: Desert, Forest, Pond, etc
Components of an ecosystem:
Abiotic component: Non-living component.
Inorganic substances
Organic compounds
Climatic factors – Atmospheric and edaphic
Biotic Components: Living component
Arti cial Ecosystems:

~ Means man-made ecosystems.
~ Ex: Paddy elds, sh tanks, man-made lakes/ponds
Natural Ecosystems:
~ Means formed without the interference of humans.
~ Ex: Forests, mountains, rivers, natural lakes
Features of a Food Chain:

~ The ow of energy from one organism to the next in an ecosystem.
~ Shows ow of energy from the producer, to di erent consumers, and nally
decomposers.
~ Shows only one path.
A food chain shows a single, connected path of energy ow through an

ecosystem. Some animals only eat plants while some animals eat other animals. A
food chain shows the di erent levels of eating within an ecosystem. The arrows
show the ow of energy from one organism to the next. Most food chains begin
with the sun at the bottom.
There are three types of organisms in a food chain: producers, consumers and
decomposers.
Producers (autotrophs) - These organisms absorb the sun’s energy and convert the
energy into food for themselves, allowing them to grow larger, make owers and
fruit, etc. An example of a producer is a plant
Consumers (heterotrophs) - These organisms, mostly animals, can be split into a
few categories:
Primary consumers only eat plants, so they are called herbivores.
Secondary consumers eat primary consumers. Many secondary consumers also
eat plants, which makes them omnivores (meat and plant eaters).
Tertiary consumers eat the secondary consumers and are usually carnivores (meat
eaters).
Decomposers (saprophytes - These organisms turn dead material (such as a fallen
tree, or a dead hawk) into soil and recycle nutrients so they can be re-used by
producers to create food.
fi
fl
fl
fl
fi
fi
ff
ff
fl
fl
fi
Food Web:
~ An interconnected network of food chains within an ecosystem is called Food
Web.
Trophic Level:
~ Each feeding level in an ecosystem is located within a tropic level.
~ Organisms at each tropic level take in energy from the organisms they eat.
Energy Flow Between Organisms-Pyramid:

~ Within an ecosystem, the energy ow between trophic levels does not remain
constant.
~ At each level, some animals use the energy taken in to perform life processes.
Some energy is given o as heat.
Some energy is stored in bones and teeth that may not be eaten by another
animal.
Energy Flow between trophic levels:

~ Only 10% of the energy is passed onto the next higher trophic level.
~ Energy in an ecosystem can be measured in the total number of animals or the
combined mass of all animals.
~ Increase a level, animals increase in size.
~ Increase a level, animals decrease in the number.
Symbiosis:
~ It is a close association between organisms of two di erent species in both the
species are mutually bene ted.
~ Eg. Lichens – association between algae and fungi
Parasitism:
~ In this association, one organism (parasite) derives nutrition from the other
organism (host) and harms it.
~ Eg: Ectoparasite – Ticks, lice - Endoparasite – Tapeworm, Plasmodium - Plant
Parasites – Cuscuta
Predation:
~ A predator is an animal that feeds on other living organisms. The prey is killed by
the predator for its food.
~ Eg. Deer and lion, Rat and snake
Role of Producers, Consumers and Decomposers:

Producers:
~ Make their food using photosynthesis.
~ Eg: Plants, green algae, kelp, phytoplankton
Consumers:
~ Eat other organisms for food.
~ Eg: Cow, human, eagle
ff
fi
fl
ff
Decomposer:
~ Break down the remains of other organisms.
~ Eg: Fungi and some bacteria
~ Vital to ecosystems because they return important nutrients to the environment
Hawk, Jackals and Crows
Inorganic substances or nutrients such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, water

and all the minerals.
Organic compounds, such as proteins, carbohydrates, fats; these are present in
the living organisms (plants and animals) and link the abiotic compounds with the
biotic component.
Climatic factors — these are of two types—
(a) atmospheric (such as temperature, light, humidity, wind, and rainfall), and
(b) edaphic (pertaining to soil).
The climate along with the nature of soil and water in an area determines the type
of organisms found in the area. In fact, both living and non-living components
in uence each other.
Interaction between Biotic and Abiotic Factors:

The biotic and abiotic factors interact in the environment in various ways. This
interaction shows a great impact on the maintenance of an ecosystem. The abiotic
factors like temperature, rainfall, soil, etc. determine the presence of di erent kinds
of abiotic factors (plants, animals and microbes) in a particular area. For example,
hot and wet climate will support the presence of evergreen trees, lizards, snakes,
big wild animals (elephants, bear, tigers) and insects. But very cold climate will
support the life of polar hears, penguins, seal, Arctic hares, yak, etc. A lake
supports the presence of water, plants water animals and many microbes. In each
type of ecosystem the green plants prepare food and animals depend on these
green plants for their food. When the plants and animals die, the microbes
fl
ff
decompose these dead organisms and put back the nutrients into the soil, water
and air.
Food (trophic) relationships and energy transfer through the biotic components of
ecosystems may be quanti ed and shown diagrammatically as ecological
pyramids. An ecological pyramid is a graphic representation of an ecological
parameter, like number of individuals, biomass, or energy present at various
trophic levels of a food chain. While producers form the base, the top carnivores
form the tip
of the pyramid.
The pyramids are usually prepared for three aspects of a food chain in an
ecosystem — (i) number of individuals, (ii) amount of biomass (living matter), and
(iii) amount of energy.
Pyramid of numbers : It is a graphic, stepwise representation of the number of

individuals present at each trophic level with producers kept at the base and top
carnivores at the top. The pyramid of number is mostly upright with the members
of successive higher trophic level being fewer than the previous one. The
maximum number of individuals occur at the producer level.
fi

Ewhds

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ewhds

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ewhds

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ECOSYSTEM

Arti cial Ecosystems:

Features of a Food Chain:

A food chain shows a single, connected path of energy ow through an

Energy Flow Between Organisms-Pyramid:

Energy Flow between trophic levels:

Role of Producers, Consumers and Decomposers:

Hawk, Jackals and Crows

Inorganic substances or nutrients such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, water

Interaction between Biotic and Abiotic Factors:

Pyramid of numbers : It is a graphic, stepwise representation of the number of

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.