CHAPTER

14

ECOSYSTEM
 An ecosystem is a functional unit of nature, where
living organisms interact each other and with the
physical environment.

ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE &

FUNCTION
Types of ecosystems

• Terrestrial ecosystem: Forest, grassland, desert etc.

• Aquatic ecosystem: Pond, lake, wetland, river & estuary.
• Man-made ecosystem: Crop fields and aquarium.
- Entire biosphere is regarded as global ecosystem.
- Inanecosystem,bioticandabioticcomponentsinteract
and function as a unit.
- Vertical distribution of different species occupying
different levels is called stratification. E.g. in a forest, trees occupy top
strata (layer), shrubs the second and herbs & grasses the bottomlayers.
• Pond (Aquatic ecosystem)
A pond is a shallow, simple, self-sustainable water body that exhibits all
basic components of an ecosystem.
• Abiotic components: Water and soil deposit.
• Climatic conditions: Solar input, cycle of temperature,
day-length etc.
• Autotrophic components: Phytoplankton, some algae and the floating,
submerged and marginal plants.
• Consumers (heterotrophs): Zooplankton, free swimming and bottom
dwelling forms.

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

• Decomposers: Fungi, bacteria and flagellates.
Pond performs all the functions of an ecosystem such as o Conversion
of inorganic into organic material using solar radiant energy by the
autotrophs.
o Consumption of the autotrophs by heterotrophs.
o Decomposition and mineralization of the dead matter to release
them back for reuse by the autotrophs.

4 basic components of functioning of an ecosystem:

1) Productivity 2) Decomposition
3) Energy flow 4) Nutrient cycling

PRODUCTIVITY
- Solar energy is the basic requirement for an ecosystem to
function and sustain.
- Amount of biomass (organic matter) produced per unit area
over a time period by plants during photosynthesis is called
primary production. It is expressed in weight (g–2) or
energy (kcalm–2).
- The rate of biomass production is called productivity. It is
expressed in g–2 yr–1 or (kcal m–2) yr–1.
- It is divided into gross primary productivity (GPP) and net
primary productivity (NPP).
- Gross primary productivity: It is the rate ofproduction
of organic matter during photosynthesis. A considerable
amount of GPP is utilized by plants in respiration.
- Net primary productivity (NPP): It is the available
biomass for the consumption to heterotrophs (herbivores & decomposers).

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

DECOMPOSITION
- It is the breakdown of complex organic
matter by
decomposers into inorganic substances
like CO2, water and nutrients. It is
largely an oxygen-requiringprocess.
- Raw material for decomposition is
called Detritus. E.g. dead plant remains
(leaves, bark, flowers etc.), dead remains
of animals, fecal matter etc.

STEPS OF DECOMPOSITION
a. Fragmentation: It is the breakdown of detritus into smaller particles
by detritivores (e.g. earthworm).
b. Leaching: Water soluble inorganic nutrients go down into soil horizon
and precipitate as unavailable salts.
c. Catabolism: Degradation of detritus into simpler inorganic substances
by bacterial and fungal enzymes.
The above three processes occur simultaneously.
d. Humification: Accumulation of humus (dark amorphous substance) in
soil. Humus is resistant to microbial action and so decomposes very
slowly. Being colloidal in nature it serves as a reservoir of nutrients.
e. Mineralization: It is the release of inorganic nutrients due to the deg-
radation of humus by some microbes.

FACTORS INFLUENCING DECOMPOSITION

• Chemical composition of detritus: Decomposition rate is slower in de-
tritus rich in lignin & chitin. It is quicker, if detritus is rich in nitrogen
and water-soluble substances like sugars.

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

• Climatic factors (temperature & soil moisture): Warm
and moist environment favour decomposition. Low
temperature and anaerobiosis inhibit decomposition
resulting in buildup of organicmaterials.

ENERGY FLOW
-Sun is the only source of energy for all
ecosystems (except deep sea hydro-ther-
mal ecosystem).
- Of the incident solar radiation, less than
50% is photosynthetically active radiation
(PAR).

- Plants and photosynthetic & chemosynthetic

bacteria (autotrophs), fix solar radiant energy to make food.
- Plants capture only 2-10% of the PAR. This energy sustains the
entire living world.
- Ecosystems obey 2nd Law of thermodynamics. They need a
constant supply of energy to synthesize the molecules. It helps
to counteract the entropy.

PRODUCERS (AUTOTROPHS):
- These are organisms that synthesize food.
- In a terrestrial ecosystem, major producers are herbaceous and woody
plants. Primary producers in an aquatic ecosystem are phytoplankton,
algae and higher plants.
- The energy trapped by the producer is either passed on to a consumer
or the organism dies.

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

Consumers (heterotrophs):
- These are animals that directly or indirectly depend on plants for food.
They include:
o Primary consumers (herbivores): Feed on plants. E.g. insects, birds,
mammals, molluscs etc.
o Secondary consumers (primary carnivores): Feed on herbivores. E.g. frog,
fox, man etc.
o Tertiary consumers (secondary carnivores): Feed on primary carnivores.
E.g. tiger, lion etc.
- The chain of feeding relationship between different organisms is called
a food chain. It is 2 types:

• Grazing Food Chain (GFC): Here, primary consumer

feeds on living plants (producer).E.g.

Grass ---------- Goat ---------- Man ------

Producer Primary Secondary
Consumer consumer

• Detritus Food Chain (DFC): Here, primary consumer

feeds on dead organic matter (detritus). Death of
organism is the beginning of the DFC.

- Detritus is made up of decomposers (saprotrophs) such as fungi & bac-

teria. They secrete digestive enzymes that breakdown detritus into
simple, inorganic materials, which are absorbed by them. Thus, they get
energy &nutrients.
- In an aquatic ecosystem, GFC is the major conduit for energy flow.
- In a terrestrial ecosystem, a much amount of energy flows through the
DFC than through the GFC.
- DFC may be connected with GFC at some levels. Some organisms of DFC
are prey to the GFC animals. Some animals (cockroaches, crows etc.) are
omnivores. Such interconnections of food chains make a food web.

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

- A specific place of organisms in the food chain is known as their trophic
level.

4th tropic level (top carnivore)

Ter. Consumer
E.g. Man, lion etc.

3rd tropic level (Consumer)

Sec. Consumer
E.g. Birds, fishes, wolf etc.

2nd trophic level (herbivore)

Primary Consumer
E.g. zooplankton, grasshopper, cow etc.

1st tropic level (plants)

Primary Producer E.g. Phytoplankton, grass, tress etc.

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

- The amount of energy decreases at successive trophic levels. When an
organism dies it becomes dead biomass (detritus). It is an energy
sourcefor decomposers.
- Organisms at each trophic level depend on those at the lower trophic
level for their energy.
- Each trophic level has a certain mass of living material at a particular
time called as the standing crop. It is measured as the biomass (mass
of living organisms) or the number in a unit area.
- Biomass of a species is expressed in terms of fresh or dry weight. It
is more accurate measurement.
- Number of trophic levels in GFC is restricted as it follows 10%law (only
10% of energy is transferred to each trophic level from the lower trophic
level).

ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
- The representation of a food chain in the form of a pyramid is
called ecological pyramid.
- The base of a pyramid represents producers (first trophic level). The
apex represents tertiary or top level consumer.
- Ecological pyramids are 3 types: Pyramid of number, Pyramid of
biomass and Pyramid of energy.

A) PYRAMID OF NUMBER:
E.g. grassland ecosystem.

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

 B) PYRAMID OF BIOMASS:
It shows a sharp decrease in biomass at higher trophic levels.

Dry weight (Kg/m3)

Tertiary
1.5
Consumer (TC)

Secondary consumer (SC) 11

Primary Consumer (PC) 37

Primary producer (PP) 809

Inverted pyramid of biomass: Small standing crop of

phytoplankton supports large standing crop of zooplankton.

Primary consumer (PC) 21

Primary
4
producer (PP)

C) PYRAMID OF ENERGY:
Primary producers convert only 1% of the energy in the sunlight
available to them intoNPP.

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

- Any calculations of energy content, biomass, or numbers has to
include all organisms at that trophic level.
- The trophic level represents a functional level, not a species as such.
A given species may occupy more than one trophic level in the same
ecosystem at the same time.
E.g. A sparrow is a primary consumer when it eats seeds, fruits,
peas. It is a secondary consumer when it eats insects & worms.
- In most ecosystems, all the pyramids are upright, i.e.,
producers are more in number and biomass than the herbivores, and
herbivores are more in number and biomass than the carnivores.
Also, energy at a lower trophic level is always more than at a higher
level.

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

- Examples for inverted pyramids:
o Insects feeding on a big tree
o Pyramid of biomass in sea is inverted because the biomass of fishes
far exceeds that of phytoplankton.
- Pyramid of energy is always upright, because when energy flows from
a trophic level to the next trophic level, some energy is always lost as
heat at each step.
- Limitations of ecological pyramids:
o It does not consider the same species belonging to two or more tro-
phic levels.
o It assumes a simple food chain that almost never exists in nature; it
does not accommodate a food web.
o Saprophytes are not included in ecological pyramids even though they
play a vital role in theecosystem.

ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
- It is a gradual, slow and predictable change in the species composition of
an area leading to a climax community (community that is in equilibrium
with the environment).
- In this, some species colonize an area and increase in number, whereas
other species decline and disappear.
- The entire sequences of communities that successively change in an area
are called sere. Individual transitional communities are termed seral
stages (seral communities).
- In the successive seral stages there is a change in species diversity, in-
crease in number of species and organisms and an increase in the total
biomass.
- The present-day communities are due to succession of millions of years.
Succession and evolution would have been parallel processes at that time.

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

- Succession is 2 types:
O PRIMARY: The succession taking place in areas where no living organ-
isms ever existed. E.g. newly cooled lava, bare rock, newly created pond
orreservoir. Before a biotic community is established, there must be
formation of fertile soil through natural processes. So the primary suc-
cession is a very slow process.
O SECONDARY: The succession taking place in an area after the existed
organisms are lost. E.g. abandoned farm lands, burned or cut forests,
lands that are flooded. Since some soil or sediment is present, succes-
sion is faster than primary succession.
The species that invade depend on the condition of the soil, availability
of water etc.
- In succession, changes in vegetation affect food & shelterof
animals. Thus, as succession proceeds,thenumber and typesof animals &
decomposers also change.
- Natural or human induced disturbances (deforestation, fire
etc.) convert a particular seral stage to an earlier stage.
They create new conditions that encourage some species
and discourage or eliminate other species.

SUCCESSION OFPLANTS

- Based on the nature of the habitat, succession of plants is

2 types: hydrarch andxerarch.
o Hydrarch succession: It takes place in wetter areas.The successional
series progress from hydric to the mesic conditions.
o Xerarch succession: It takes place in dry areas. The series progress
from xeric to mesic conditions.
- Hence, both hydrarch & xerarch successions lead to medium water
conditions (mesic, the climaxcommunity).

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

- The species invading a bare area are called pioneer species.
- PRIMARY SUCCESSION ON ROCKS (XEROPHYTIC HABITAT):
Lichens (pioneer species. They secrete acids to dissolve rock, helping
in weathering & soil formation) - small plants like bryophytes (they
need only small amount of soil) - bigger plants - stable climax
forest community (mesophytic).
The climax community remains stable as long as the environment
remains unchanged.
- PRIMARY SUCCESSION IN WATER:
Phytoplankton (pioneers) - free-floating angiosperms - rooted hy-
drophytes - sedges, grasses - trees (climax community is a forest).
With time, the water body is converted into land.

NUTRIENT CYCLING
- The amount of nutrients like carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus,
calcium etc. present in the soil at any given time, is referred
to as the standing state. It varies in different kinds of
ecosystems and also on a seasonal basis.

biological cycle Soil fertility Food nutritional

quality

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

- Nutrients are never lost from the ecosystems. They are recycled
again and again. The movement of nutrient elements through
various components of an ecosystem is called nutrient cycling
(biogeochemicalcycles).

- Nutrient cycles are 2 types:

a. Gaseous cycle: For this, the reservoir exists in the atmosphere. E.g.
Nitrogen & Carbon cycles.
b. Sedimentary cycle: For this, the reservoir is located in Earth’s crust.
E.g. Sulphur & Phosphorus cycles.
- Environmental factors (soil, moisture, pH, temperature, etc.) regulate
the rate of release of nutrients into the atmosphere. The reservoir
meets with the deficit of nutrients due to imbalance in the rate of
influx and efflux.

CARBON CYCLE
- Reservoir of carbon: Atmosphere (about 1%), organisms (49% of dry
weight), oceans (71% dissolved carbon. It regulates the amount of atmo-
spheric CO2), fossil fuel etc.
- Carbon cycling occurs through atmosphere, ocean and through living
and dead organisms.
- 4 1013 kg of carbon is fixed in the biosphere through photosynthesis
annually.
- A major amount of carbon returns to the atmosphere as CO2 through
respiration.
- Processing of wastes & dead organic matter by decomposers also re-
lease CO2.

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

- Some amount of the fixed carbon
is lost to sediments and removed
from circulation.
- Burning of wood, forest fire and
combustion of organic matter, fossil
fuel and volcanic activity are other
sources for releasing CO2 in the
atmosphere.

- Role of human activities in carbon cycle: Deforestation, burning of

fossil fuel etc. has increased the rate of release of CO2 into the
atmosphere.

PHOSPHORUS CYCLE
- Phosphorus is a constituent of biologi-
cal membranes,
nucleic acids & cellular energy transfer
systems. Many
animals use phosphorus to make shells,
bones and teeth.
- The natural reservoir of phosphorus is
rock (in the form of
phosphates).

- When rocks are weathered, minute amounts of phosphates dissolve in

soil solution and are absorbed by the plants. Herbivores and other animals
obtain this from plants. The waste products and the dead organisms are
decomposed by phosphate-solubilising bacteria releasing phosphorus.

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

 Consumer Producers

litter fall
Detritus

decomposition
uptake
soil solution

weathering runoff

Rock minerals

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CARBON AND PHOSPHOROUS CYCLES

Carbon cycle Phosphorous cycle

Atmospheric input is higher Much smaller

There is gaseous exchange Gaseous exchange is

b/w organism & environment negligible

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
- The products of ecosystem processes are called ecosystem services.
- E.g. healthy forest ecosystems purify air and water, mitigate droughts
and floods, cycle nutrients, generate fertile soils, provide wildlife habitat,
maintain biodiversity , pollinate crops, provide storage site for carbon and
provide aesthetic, cultural & spiritual values.

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001

 - Robert Constanza and his colleagues have tried to put
price tags on nature’s life-support services.

- Researchers have put an average price tag of US $ 33

trillion a year on fundamental ecosystems services. This is
nearly twice the value of the global gross national product
GNP (US $ 18 trillion).
- Out of this total cost, soilformation accounts for about 50%.
- Contributions of other services like recreation & nutrient
cycling are less than 10%each.
- The cost of climate regulation and habitat for wildlife are
about 6 % each.

anand_mani16 DR. Anand Mani https://www.anandmani.com/ https://discord.io/anandmani t.me/anandmani001