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DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Environment

Lecture – 03
Basics of Environment and
Ecology (Part 3)
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Basics of Environment and Ecology (Part 3)

Ecotone
❖ Ecotone is a zone of junction/transition between two or more diverse ecosystems.
➢ Such areas have richness in biodiversity due to edge effects.
❖ Examples of ecotones include:
➢ Marshlands: Dry and wet ecosystems
➢ Wet Wetlands: submerged with water. Midway between land and lakes, therefore having much higher
biodiversity.
➢ Mangrove forests: Terrestrial and marine ecosystems
➢ Grasslands: Desert and forest, and
➢ Estuaries: Saltwater and
freshwater
Characteristics of Ecotone:
❖ It is a zone of tension.
❖ It is linear as it shows a progressive
increase in species composition of
one in coming community and a
simultaneous decrease in species of
the other outgoing adjoining
community.
❖ A well-developed ecotone contains
some organisms which are entirely
different from that of the adjoining
communities.
Edge Effect:
❖ Edge effect refers to the changes in population or community structures that occur at the boundary of two
habitats.
❖ Sometimes the number of species and the population density of some of the species in the ecotone is much
greater than either community. This is called the edge effect.
❖ Species adapted to survive in edge-effect areas are called ecotypes.
Ecotype:
❖ An Ecotype is a population of species that differs genetically from other populations of the same species
because local conditions have been selected for certain unique morphological characteristics. physiological or
❖ Ecotypes are adapted to survive in an ecotone.
➢ Ex: Royal Bengal Tiger: adapted to mangrove, can drink salt water.
➢ Camel (Gujarat), Examples: Kharai Camel (Gujarat), Indian Rhino
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Functional Units of an Ecosystem:

❖ Productivity: It refers to the rate of biomass production.
❖ Energy flow: It is the sequential process through which energy flows from one trophic level to another. The
energy captured from the sun flows from producers to consumers and then to decomposers and finally back to
the environment.
❖ Decomposition - It is the process of breakdown of dead organic material. The top soil is the major site for
decomposition.
❖ Nutrient cycling - In an ecosystem nutrients are consumed and recycled back in various forms for the utilisation
by various organisms.
Tropical Level:
❖ A trophic level is the representation of energy flow in an ecosystem.
❖ It is the position it occupies in a food chain.
❖ It deals with how the members of an ecosystem are connected based on nutritional needs
❖ The trophic level interaction involves three concepts:
➢ Food Chain
➢ Food Web
➢ Ecological Pyramids
Energy in the ecosystem:
❖ Plants absorb less than 1% of the sunlight that reaches them.
❖ Photosynthetic organisms make 170 billion metric tons of food each year.
❖ 2 processes : photosynthesis and respiration.
Primary Producers (Autotrophs):
❖ Primary producers are basically green plants (and certain bacteria and algae)
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❖ They synthesise carbohydrates from simple inorganic raw materials like carbon dioxide and water in the
presence of sunlight by the process of photosynthesis for themselves, and supply indirectly to other non-
producers.
❖ In the terrestrial ecosystem, producers are basically herbaceous and woody plants, while in aquatic ecosystems
producers are various species of microscopic algae.
❖ Producers: Phototrophs or chemotrophs
➢ Phototrophs: organisms that perform photosynthesis and contain chlorophyll.
✓ Photosynthesis= Carbon dioxide + water + sunlight → sugar + oxygen
➢ Chemotrophs: Chemotrophs are organisms that obtain energy by the oxidation of reduced compounds.
These involves certain chemical reactions to obtain their food.
✓ Example: Sulphur bacteria like Thiobascillus.
❖ Carbon dioxide + water + hydrogen sulphide + oxygen = Carbohydrates + sulphuric acid.

Consumers (Hetero-trophs):
❖ Consumers are incapable of producing their own
food (photosynthesis).
❖ They depend on organic food derived from plants,
animals or both.
❖ Consumers can be divided into two broad groups
namely micro and macro consumers.
Macro Consumers:
❖ They feed on plants or animals or both and are
categorised on the basis of their food sources.
❖ Herbivores are primary consumers which feed
mainly on plants.
➢ e.g. cow, rabbit. Secondary consumers feed on
primary consumers e.g. wolves.
❖ Carnivores which feed on secondary consumers are called tertiary consumers e.g. lions which can eat wolves.
❖ Omnivores are organisms which consume both plants and animals e.g. man, monkey.
❖ Scavengers : feed on dead and decaying organisms
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Scavengers:
❖ Scavengers feed on carrion (dead or injured animal corpses)
❖ Scavengers will feed on these dead plants/animals and decomposers will finish the job

Micro Consumers:
❖ They are bacteria and fungi which obtain
energy and nutrients by decomposing
dead organic substances (detritus) of
plant and animal origin.
❖ They feed on small microscopic bits of
dead organic matter and convert them
into inorganic nutrients.
❖ The products of decomposition such as
inorganic nutrients which are released in
the ecosystem are reused by producers
and thus recycled.
❖ Earthworms and certain soil organisms
(such as nematodes and arthropods) are detritus feeders and help in decomposition.
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Decomposers and Detritivores:

Example of Aquatic Ecosystem:

❖ Producers in aquatic ecosystems are Blue-green algae
(cyanobacteria), Phytoplankton, and Diatoms.
❖ Primary consumers are Crustaceans, Zooplankton, Small
fish
❖ Secondary Consumers are Herrings, Bigger fish, Sharks
etc.
Food Chain:
❖ A sequence of organisms that feed on one another, form a
food chain.
❖ It is the process of transfer of food energy from green
plants (producers) through a series of organisms with repeated eating and being eaten link.
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❖ Arrows in a food chain represent the flow of energy

through the process of eating.
❖ Linear: Unidimensional Flow of Energy
Food Web:
❖ A food web is a diagram or model that illustrates the
interdependence of various organisms in an ecosystem,
showing the flow of energy and nutrients from one
organism to another.
❖ It is a representation of the feeding relationships among
different species in an ecosystem.
❖ Non-Linear: Multi-dimensional Flow of Energy
❖ Complexity: More the number of species, greater the
interactions and more complex the food web. These food
webs are more stable.

Food Web Collapse:

❖ A food web collapse occurs when the interconnected food chain of an ecosystem breaks down or fails to
function in a sustainable manner.
❖ This can happen due to a number of factors such as changes in climate, loss of key species, pollution and
overexploitation by humans.
❖ A food web collapse can have serious consequences on the entire ecosystem, including loss of biodiversity,
reduced productivity, and even ecosystem collapse.
Ecological Pyramids:
❖ Ecological pyramids are graphical representations of the trophic levels within an ecosystem.
❖ They show the relative abundance or biomass of different groups of organisms at each trophic level in an
ecosystem, and the flow of energy and nutrients through the food chain.
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Law of 10%: Given By Raymond Lindeman:

❖ From one trophic level to another, only biomass will get
transferred. However, not all the energy obtained by an
organism will get converted to biomass.
❖ When all energy losses are added, only about 10% of the
energy entering one trophic level is available to the next
trophic level; because only 10% of the energy obtained is used
to make biomass.) This is known as the 10% law.
❖ Because of the 10% law, food chains have five or less links.
Because 90% of energy. is lost at each level, the amount of
energy available decreases very quickly.
❖ Most of the energy loss is in production of heat energy and movement from one place to the other.
Ecological Pyramids:
❖ Ecological
pyramids are
graphical
representations
of the trophic
levels within an
ecosystem.
❖ They show the
relative abundance or biomass of different groups of
organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem, and
the flow of energy and nutrients through the food
chain.
Pyramid of Energy:
❖ The pyramid of energy is a graphical representation of
the flow of energy through an ecosystem.
❖ It is always upright.
❖ As you move up the pyramid, there is less energy
available because some is lost in each transfer. (10%
Rule)
❖ This loss of energy is due to the laws of
thermodynamics.
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