Unit 2 Part 1

Ecosystem: Its Structure, Function and energy cycles in ecosystem

Ecological succession

Ecosystem development

Climax concept
 Ecosystem Note: This topic from slide 2 to 10
has been already discussed in
Unit 1.
Essential Questions:
• Concept , Structure , function and components
• How do nutrients move in the ecosystem?
• How does energy move through the ecosystem?
• Energy Flow, Food Chain , Food Web and Ecological Pyramid
 Ecosystem
The term Ecosystem was first
proposed by A.G. Tansley in
1935.

An ecosystem consists of the

biological community that
occurs in some locale, and the
physical and chemical factors
that make up its non-living
environment.

many examples of ecosystems - a

pond, a desert, a forest, an
estuary, an ocean.
Ecosystem
• All the organisms in a community plus abiotic factors
• ecosystems are transformers of energy
& processors of matter
• Ecosystems are self-sustaining
• what is needed?

 capture energy
 transfer energy
 cycle nutrients
 Ecosystem is the basic functional unit of Ecology.
Definition
A group of organisms interacting among themselves
and with environment is known as ecosystem. Thus an
ecosystem is a community of different species interacting
with one another and with their non living environment
exchanging energy and matter.

Example
Animals cannot synthesis their food directly but depend
on the plants either directly or indirectly.
 Ecosystem inputs

constant
energy flows
input
of
through
energy
nutrients cycle

Matter cannot
Don’t forget
bethe
created
laws of or
Physics!
destroyed

nutrients inputs
can only  energy
cycle
biosphere  nutrients
• Ecosystems with greater productivity have more sunlight,
water and nutrients.
An ecosystem consists of two main components
Abiotic or Non-living components.
1. Inorganic substances
2. Organic compounds
3. Climatic factors
Biotic or Living components.
1. Autotrophs or Producers
2. Heterotrophs or Consumers
3. Decomposers or Saprotrophs
Abiotic (non-living) components

The non-living components (physical and chemical) of ecosystem

collectively form a community called abiotic components (or) abiotic
community.

Ex: climatic factors, edaphic (soil) factors, geographical factors, energy, nutrients and
toxic substances

1.Physical components: Include the energy, climate, nutrients and living

space that the biological community needs.
The sunlight and shade, intensity of solar flux, duration of sun hours, average
temperature, maximum-minimum temperature, annual rainfall, wind, latitude and
altitude, soil type, water availability, water currents etc. are some of the important
physical features which have a strong influence on the ecosystem.
 2.Chemical Components: They are the sources of essential
nutrients.
• Organic substances : Protein, lipids, carbohydrates, etc.,

• Inorganic substances: All micro (Al, Co, Zu, Cu) and macro
elements (C,H, O, P, N, P, K) and few other elements.
 Chemical factors: Availability of major essential nutrients like carbon,
nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, hydrogen, oxygen and sulphur, level of
toxic substances, salts causing salinity and various organic substances
present in the soil or water largely influence the functioning of the
ecosystem.

 All the biotic components of an ecosystem are influenced by the abiotic

components and vice versa, and they are linked together through energy
flow and matter cycling.
 Functions of Ecosystem

• It regulates the essential ecological processes, supports life systems and renders the
stability.

• It is also responsible for the cycling of nutrients between biotic and abiotic components.

• It maintains a balance among the various trophic levels in the ecosystem.

• It cycles the minerals through the biosphere.

• The abiotic components help in the synthesis of organic components that involves the
exchange of energy.
 The functioning of an ecosystems may be understood by
studying the following terms.

• Energy and material flow.

• Food chains
• Food webs
• Food pyramids
 ENERGY FLOW IN THE ECOSYSTEMS

• Energy is the most essential requirement for all living organisms.

• Solar energy is the only source to our planet earth.
• Solar energy is transformed to chemical energy in photosynthesis by the
plants (Primary producers).
• S ome amount of chemical energy is used by the plants for their
growth and the remaining is transferred to consumers by the process of
eating.
• Thus the energy enters the ecosystems through photosynthesis and passes
through the different tropic levels or feeding levels.
 Energy Flow Through The Ecosystem

The transfer of energy and matter takes place in the process of

predator and prey relationship in a food chain.

Out of the enormous amount of energy continuously radiated

by the sun, most of it is reflected or refracted back (by
atmosphere, earth surface and object like plants). Only a very
small fraction, about one per cent, of the solar energy received
by the plant is used through the process of photosynthesis.
• The most important feature of this energy flow is that it is unidirectional.

Unlike the nutrients (like carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus etc.) which move in a cyclic
manner and are reused by the producers after flowing through the food chain, energy is
not reused in the food chain.

Also, the flow of energy follows the two laws of Thermodynamics:

First law of Thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor be destroyed
but it can be transformed from one form to another. The solar energy captured by the
green plants (producers) gets converted into biochemical energy of plants and later into
that of consumers
Second law of Thermodynamics states that

• Energy gets converted from a more concentrated to dispersed form.

• The loss of energy takes place through respiration, loss of energy in

locomotion, running, hunting and other activities. At every level there is about
90% loss of energy and the energy transferred from one trophic level to the
other is only about 10%.
Flow of energy and nutrient cycling from abiotic to biotic and vice versa.
 TROPHIC STRUCTURE

 The structure and functions of ecosystems are very closely related and influence
each other so intimately that they need to be studied together.

 The flow of energy is mediated through a series of feeding relationships in a

definite sequence or pattern which is known as food chain.

 The producers and consumers are arranged in the ecosystem in a definite manner
and their interaction along with population size are expressed together as trophic
structure.

 Each food level is known as trophic level and the amount of living matter at each
trophic level at a given time is known as standing crop or standing biomass.
 Tropic Levels (T1,T2, T3, T4, T5) (or) Feeding levels
The various steps through which food energy Passes in an ecosystem
is called as tropic levels.

The tropic levels are arranged in the following way,

• The green plants or producers represent first tropic level T1,
• The herbivores or primary consumers represent second tropic level T2.
• The carnivores or secondary consumers represent third tropic level T3.
• The tertiary consumers are fourth tropic level T4.
• Finally decomposers represent last tropic level T5.
 FOOD CHAINS
Definition
“There sequence of eating and being eaten in an
ecosystem is known as food chain” (or) “Transfer of
food energy from the plants through a series of
organisms is known as food chain”

• A food chain always starts with plant life and ends with
animal. When the organisms die, they are all decomposed by
microorganism (bacteria and fungi) into nutrients that can
again be used by the plants.
• At each and every level, nearly 80-90% of the potential
energy gets lost as heat.
Phytoplanktons → water fleas → small fish → Tuna (Pond
ecosystem)

Lichens → reindeer → Man (Arctic tundra

 Food chains are classified into two main types Grazing food chain

• Grazing food chain: Found in Grassland ecosystems and pond ecosystems. Grazing food
chain starts with green plants (primary producers) and goes to decomposer food chai
or detritus food chain through herbivores and carnivores.
• Detritus food chain: Found in forest ecosystems. Detritus food chain starts with
dead organic matter (plants and animals) and goes to decomposer food chain
through herbivores and carnivores.
The following diagram shows that grazing food chain and detritus food chain are
interconnected to each other but are not isolated.
Inefficiency of energy transfer sun
• Loss of energy between levels of food chain
• To where is the energy lost? The cost of living!

17%
growth

energy lost to
only this energy daily living
moves on to the 33%
next level in cellular
the food chain respiration 50%
waste (feces)
 FOOD WEB

• The interlocking pattern of various food chains in an ecosystem

is known as food web.

• In a food web many food chains are interconnected, where different

types of organisms are connected at different tropic levels, so that
there are a number of opportunities of eating and being eaten at
each tropic level.

• Grass may be eaten by insects, rats, deer's, etc., these may be eaten
by carnivores (snake, fox, tiger). Thus there is a interlocking
of various food chains called food webs
 Difference between food chains and food web

• Food webs give greater stability to the ecosystem. In a linear food chain, if
one species becomes extinct or one species suffers then the species in the
subsequent trophic levels are also affected. In a food web, on the other
hand, there are a number of options available at each trophic level. So if
one species is affected, it does not affect other trophic levels so seriously

• In a tropical region, on the other hand, the ecosystems are much more
complex. They have a rich species diversity and therefore, the food webs
are much more complex.
 Significance of food chains and food webs

• Food chains and food webs play a very important role in the
ecosystem. Energy flow and nutrient cycling takes place through
them.

• They maintain and regulate the population size of different tropic

levels, and thus help in maintaining ecological balance.

• They have the property of bio-magnification. The non – biodegradable

materials keep on passing from one tropic level to another. At each
successive tropic level, the concentration keep on increasing. This
process is known as bio-magnification.
 ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS

• “Graphical representation of structure and function of tropic levels

of an ecosystem, starting with producers at the bottom and
successive tropic levels forming the apex is known as an ecological
pyramid.”

• In food chain starting from the producers to the consumers,there is

a regular decrease in the biomass and number of the organisms.

• Since energy is lost as heat in each tropic levels, it becomes

progressively smaller near the top.
 Types of Ecological pyramids

•Pyramid of numbers.
•Pyramid of energy.
•Pyramid of biomass.
 I t represents the number of individual organisms present in each tropic levels.
Ex: A grassland Ecosystem

• The producers in the grasslands are grasses, which are in size and large in
numbers. So the producers occupy lower tropic level (1St tropic level).

• The primary consumers (herbivores) are rats, the 2nd tropic level. Since the
number of rats are lower Compared to the grasses, the size is small.

• The secondary consumers (carnivores) are snakes, which occupy the 3rdtropic level.
Since the number of snakes are lower when compared to the rats.

• The tertiary consumers (carnivores) are eagles, which the next tropic level.
The number and size of the last level is till smaller.
A pyramid of biomass is a
graphical representation of
biomass present in a unit area
of various trophic levels. I t
shows the relationship
between biomass and trophic
level quantifying the biomass
available in each trophic level.
 Pyramid of Biomass

• It represents the total amount of biomass (mass or weight of

biological material or organism) present in each tropic levels. Ex: A
forest ecosystem

• The above figure shows that there is a decrease in the biomass from
the lower tropic level to the higher tropic level.

• This because the trees (producers) are maximum in the forest, which
contribute a huge biomass. The next tropic levels are herbivores
(rabbit, deer) and carnivores (snakes, fox). Top of the tropic level
contains few tertiary consumers (lion, tiger), the biomass of which is
very low.
The pond ecosystem shows an inverted pyramid of biomass .

The total biomass of producers (phytoplanktons) is much less

as compared to herbivores (zooplanktons, insects), Carnivores
(Small fish) and tertiary carnivores (big fish).

Thus the pyramid takes an inverted shape with narrow base

and broad apex.
 Pyramid of Energy

• The amount of energy present at each trophic level is considered for this type of pyramid.
Pyramid of energy gives the best representation of the trophic relationships and it is
always upright.

• This pyramid indicates not only the amount of energy flow at each level, but
more importantly, the actual role the various organisms play in the transfer of
energy.

• An energy pyramid illustrates how much energy is needed as it flows upwards

to support the next trophic level.

• Always there is a huge loss of energy.

At every successive trophic level, there is a huge loss of energy
(about 90%) in the form of heat, respiration etc. Thus, at each
next higher level only 10% of the energy passes on.

Hence, there is a sharp decline in energy level of each successive

trophic level as we move from producers to top carnivores.
 Ecological Succession
• Ecological succession is the steady and gradual change in a species of a given area with
respect to the changing environment.

• It is a predictable change and is an inevitable process of nature as all the biotic components
have to keep up with the changes in our environment.

• The ultimate aim of this process is to reach equilibrium in the ecosystem. The community
that achieves this aim is called a climax community.

• In an attempt to reach this equilibrium, some species increase in number while some other
decreases.

• All the communities that we observe today around us have undergone succession over the
period of time since their existence.

• Thus, we can say that evolution is a process that has taken place simultaneously along with
that of ecological succession..
 Ecological Succession

• Primary Succession
• Primary succession is the succession that starts in lifeless areas such as the regions
devoid of soil or the areas where the soil is unable to sustain life.

• When the planet was first formed there was no soil on earth. The earth was only made
up of rocks. These rocks were broken down by microorganisms and eroded to form soil.

• The soil then becomes the foundation of plant life. These plants help in the survival of
different animals and progress from primary succession to the climax community.

• If this primary ecosystem is destroyed, secondary succession takes place.

• Secondary Succession
• Secondary succession follows a major disturbance, such as a fire or a flood.

• The stages of secondary succession are similar to those of primary succession;

however, primary succession always begins on a barren surface, whereas secondary
succession begins in environments that already possess soil.

• In addition, through a process called old-field succession, farmland that has been
abandoned may undergo secondary succession..
 Climax Concept

In some environments, succession reaches a climax, which produces a stable

community dominated by a small number of prominent species.

• This state of equilibrium, called the climax community, is thought to result

when the web of biotic interactions becomes so intricate that no other species
can be admitted.

• In other environments, continual small-scale disturbances produce

communities that are a diverse mix of species, and any species may become
dominant.
 Biogeochemical Cycles

• Biogeochemical cycles refer to the flow of such chemical elements and

compounds between organisms and the physical environment.

• Chemicals taken in by organisms are passed through the food chain and come
back to the soil, air, and water through mechanisms such as respiration, excretion,
and decomposition.

• Types of Biogeochemeical cycles

1. Gaseous cycle – main reservoir of the element is atmosphere and the ocean.
2. Sedimentary cycle- main reservoir is the soil. Rocks and the earth's crust.

• Few important biogeochemical cycles − Carbon Cycle ,Nitrogen Cycle, Water

Cycle, Oxygen Cycle, Phosphorus Cycle, Sulphur Cycle.