(CLASS XII) TUITION - BIOLOGY

CHAPTER - 07
ECOSYSTEM

It is the functional unit of nature, an association of organisms and their physical environment,
interconnected by a continuous flow of energy and cycling of nutrients. Ecosystem can be divided
into two :
1) Terrestrial Ecosystem : Forest, grassland and desert are some examples of terrestrial
ecosystems.
2) Aquatic Ecosystem : Pond, lake, wetland, river and estuary are some examples of aquatic
ecosystems.
Structure and Functions of Ecosystem
1) Structure Interaction :
Structure interaction of biotic and abiotic components results in a physical structure that is
characteristics for each type of ecosystem.
i) Biotic component - It consists of producers, consumers, decomposers and detritivores.
ii) Abiotic component - It consists the physical environment
2) Species Composition :
It is determined by the plant and animal species occupying an ecosystem.
3) Stratification :
It is the vertical distribution of different species occupying different levels in an ecosystem.
Components of Ecosystem
1) Productivity
It is the rate of biomass production per unit area over a time period. It is expressed as gm-2 yr-1 or (kcal
m-2) yr-1 . It can be two types :
i) Primary productivity :
It is the amount of biomass or organic matter produced per unit area over a time period by plants
during photosynthesis. It has two aspects :
Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) - The rate of total production of biomass.
Net Primary Productivity (NPP) - Net Primary Productivity is the available biomass for the
consumption to heterotrophs (herbivores and decomposers)
Net Primary Productivity = Gross Primary Productivity - Respiration loss

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Factors affect Primary Productivity

the plant species inhibiting a particular area
it also depends on a variety of environmental factors availability of nutrients and photosynthetic capacity
of plants.
ii) Secondary Productivity :
It is defined as the rate of formation of new organic matter by consumers.
2) Decomposition
It is the process of breaking down of complex organic matter into resemble inorganic substances.
Dead plant and animal remains such as leaves, bark, flowers and dead remains of animals, including
fecal matter, constitute detritus, which is the raw material for decomposition. Different steps in
decomposition are :
i) Fragmentation : Detritivores (eg: earthworm) break down detritus into smaller particles
ii) Leaching : Water soluble inorganic nutrients go down into the soil horizon and get precipitated as
unavailable salts.
iii) Catabolism : Bacterial and fungal enzymes degrade detritus into simpler inorganic substances.
iv) Humification : It is the process by which simplified detritus is changed into dark amorphous
colloidal substance called humus.
v) Mineralisation : It involves the release of inorganic substances and other nutrients
Decomposition is largely an oxygen-requiring process, controlled by chemical composition of detritus
and climatic factors.
Temperature and soil moisture are the most important climatic factors that regulate decomposition.
3) Energy flow
Sun is the only source of energy for all ecosystems, except deep sea hydrothermal ecosystem. Out
of the incident solar radiation, less than 50% of it is Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)
Plants and autotrophs use sun radiation to produce food. So these are producers in ecosystem.
Primary producers in an aquatic ecosystem are various species like phytoplankton, algae and higher
plants.
All animals depend on plants (directly or indirectly) for their food needs. They are hence called
consumers and heterotrophs.
i. Primary Consumers : If the animals feed on the producers, the plants, ie., herbivores.
ii. Secondary Consumers : If the animals eat other animals which in turn eat the plants
The consumers that feed on these herbivores are Carnivores, or more correctly primary carnivores
(though secondary consumers). Those animals that depends on the primary carnivores for food are
labelled secondary carnivores.
FOOD CHAIN
A straight line sequence of ‘who eats whom’ in an ecosystem is called food chain. There are two
types of food chains.
a) Grazing Food Chain (GFC) : In which energy flows from plants to herbivores and then through
carnivores.
Eg: Grass  Goat  Man

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b) Detritus Food Chain (DFC) : In which energy flows from dead organic matter through detritivores
and decomposers.
Eg: Dead leaves  Wood louse  Black bird

Natural interconnected food chains make Food web

TROPHIC LEVEL
Organisms occupy a place in the natural surroundings or in a community according to their feeding
relationship with other organisms. Based on the source of their nutrition or food, organisms occupy a
specific place in the food chain that is known as their trophic level. Producers belongs to the first
trophic level, herbivores (primary consumer) to the second and carnivores (secondary consumer) to
the third.

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10% Law
10% energy is transferred to each trophic level from the lower trophic level.
Standing crop : The standing crop is measured as the mass of living organisms (biomass) or the
number in a unit area.
Ecological Pyramids
Ecological pyramids are the diagrammatic illustration of connection between different trophic levels
in terms of energy, biomass and number of an organisms.
The base of each pyramid represents the producers or the first trophic level, while the apex represents
tertiary or top level consumer. The three types of ecological pyramids are :
i) Pyramid of number : It shows relationship between producers and consumers in an ecosystem
in terms of numbers.

ii) Pyramid of biomass : It shows relationship between producers and consumers in an ecosystem
in terms of biomass. It can be :
 Upright - Terrestrial Ecosystem
 Inverted - Aquatic Ecosystem

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iii) Pyramid of Energy : It shows relationship between producers and consumers in an ecosystem
in terms of flow of energy. It is always upright because energy is always lost as heat at each step.

Limitations of Ecological Pyramids

1) Did not consider organisms belonging to multiple trophic level
2) Considered only simple food chain
3) No place for saprophytes

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Descriptive Questions
1. What are the limitations of ecological pyramids ?
2. Decomposition takes place through different steps. Mineralisation is the last step. Write the other
four steps.
3. What are the factors which affect decomposition ?
4. (a) Define productivity
(b) Distinguish primary productivity from secondary productivity
5. What is 10% law ?
6. Match the following

A B
Water soluble inorganic nutrients
Fragmentation
do down into the soil
Breakdown of detritus into
Leaching
smaller particles
Formation of inorganic nutrients
Catabolism
from humus
Bacterial and fungal enzymes
Mineralisation degrade detritus into simpler
inorganic substances

7. Among the ecological pyramids, one type is always upright and can never be inverted.
a) Identify the pyramids. Why it is always upright ?
b) How does it keep with first law of thermodynamics ?
8. Match the items of column I with those of column II.

C olumn I C olumn II
Algae D ecom poser
Grass hopper Secondary carnivore
Frog Producer
Hawk Prim ary consum er
Prim ary carnivore

9. Distinguish between
a) Grazing food chain and detritus food chain
b) Production and decomposition
c) Upright and inverted pyramid
d) Food chain and Food web

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10. Given below is a data showing number of individuals and dry weight of different trophic levels in a
grassland ecosystem. Construct,
a) Pyramid of number
b) Pyramid of biomass

Number of Dry weight

Trophic level -2
individuals (Kg m )
Primary producer 5,842,000 809

Primary consumer 7,08,000 37

Secondary consumer 3,54,000 11
Tertiary consumer 3 1.5

Objective Questions
1. Secondary productivity is rate of formation of new organic matter by
A) Consumers B) Decomposers C) Producers D) Parasites
2. Which of the following representation shows the pyramid of numbers in a forest ecosystem.

A) D B) A C) B D) C
3. Which of the following is a detritivore ?
A) Earthworm B) Virus C) Fox D) Cow
4. Primary productivity is least in
A) Coral reef B) Grassland C) Coniferous forest D) Desert
5. Sun is said to be the ultimate source of energy except in
A) Deserts B) Corals
C) Deep sea hydrothermal units D) Forest
6. Herbivores of aquatic ecosystems are
A) Insects B) Molluscs C) Birds D) Mammals
7. GPP stands for
A) Gross Primary Productivity B) Gross Photosynthetic Productivity
C) Grease primary Productivity D) General Photosynthetic Produce
8. Annual NPP of biosphere is
A) 55 billion tons B) 115 billion tons C) 70 billion tons D) 170 billion tons

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9. Vertical distribution of different species occupying different levels in an ecosystem is called _____ .
A) Species composition B) Stratification
C) Species diversity D) Standing crop
10. Dark, amorphous, colloidal substance is
A) Detritus B) Litter C) Humus D) Minerals