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3. Functions of an Ecosystem – Succession and Homeostasis

• The function of an ecosystem includes:

1. Ecological succession or ecosystem development
2. Homeostasis (cybernetic)/feedback control mechanisms
3. Energy flow through the food chain
4. Nutrient cycling (biogeochemical cycles)

3.1. Ecological Succession

• The process by which communities of plant and animal species in an area are replaced or changed into
another over a period of time is known as ecological succession. It occurs due to large-scale changes or
destruction (natural or manmade).

Stages in Ecological Succession

• Succession is a directional change in vegetation on an ecological time scale. The process involves a progres-
sive series of changes, with one community replacing another until a stable, mature, climax community
develops.
• The first plant to colonise an area is called the pioneer community. The final stage of succession is called
the climax community, which is more complex and long-lasting. The stages leading to the climax community
are called successional stages or seres. Each transitional community that is formed and replaced during
succession is called a stage in succession or a seral community.
• Succession is characterised by the following: increased productivity, the shift of nutrients from the res-
ervoirs, increased diversity of organisms, and a gradual increase in the complexity of food webs.
• Succession would occur faster in an area existing in the middle of the large continent. This is because
here seeds of plants belonging to the different seres would reach much faster.

Primary Succession

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• Primary succession takes place over an area where no community has existed previously. Such areas
include rock outcrops, newly formed deltas and sand dunes, emerging volcano islands and lava flows, glacial
moraines (muddy areas exposed by a retreating glacier), slopes exposed by landslides, etc. In primary

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succession on a terrestrial site, the new site is first colonised by a few hardy pioneer species that are of-
ten microbes, lichens, and mosses. The pioneers, over a few generations, alter the habitat through their
growth and development.
[UPSC 2014] Lichens, which are capable of initiating ecological succession even on a bare
rock, are actually a symbiotic association of
a) algae and bacteria
b) algae and fungi
c) bacteria and fungi
d) fungi and mosses
Explanation:
• Lichen are plant-like organisms that consist of a symbiotic association of algae and fungi. Fungi
provide shelter, water and minerals to the algae and, in return, the alga provides food.
Answer: b) Algae and Fungai
[UPSC 2021] In nature, which of the following is/are likely to be found surviving on a surface
without soil?
1) Fern
2) Lichen
3) Moss
4) Mushroom
Select the correct answer using the code given below
a) 1 and 4 Only
b) 2 Only
c) 2 and 3
d) 1, 3 and 4
• The pioneers, through their death and decay leave patches of organic matter in which small animals can live.
The organic matter produced by these pioneer species produce organic acids during decomposition that
dissolve and etch the substratum releasing nutrients. Organic debris accumulates in pockets and crevices,
providing soil where seeds can become lodged and grow. The new conditions may be conducive for the
establishment of additional organisms that may subsequently arrive at the site.
• As the community of organisms continues to develop, it becomes more diverse, and competition increases,
but at the same time, new niche opportunities develop. The pioneer species disappear as the habitat condi-
tions change and the invasion of new species progresses, leading to the replacement of the preceding
community.
Autotrophic and Heterotrophic succession
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• Succession in which, initially, the green plants are much greater in quantity is known as autotrophic succes-
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sion, and the ones in which the heterotrophs are greater in quantity is known as heterotrophic succession.
Secondary Succession
• Secondary succession is the sequential development of biotic communities after the complete or partial
destruction of the existing community.
Explanation

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• A mature or intermediate community may be destroyed by natural events such as floods, droughts, fires, or
storms or by human interventions such as deforestation, agriculture, overgrazing, etc. This abandoned land
is first invaded by hardy grasses that can survive in bare, sun-baked soil. Tall grasses and herbaceous plants
may soon join these grasses. These dominate the ecosystem for some years, along with mice, rabbits, insects,
and seed-eating birds.
• Eventually, some trees come up in this area, seeds of which may be brought by wind or animals. And over
the years, a forest community develops. Thus, an abandoned land over a period becomes dominated by trees
and is transformed into a forest.

Difference Between Primary and Secondary Succession

• Unlike the primary succession, the secondary succession starts on a well-developed soil already formed at
the site. Thus, secondary succession is relatively faster.

Autogenic and Allogenic Succession

• When living inhabitants of that community itself bring about succession, the process is called autogenic
succession, while change brought about by outside forces is known as allogenic succession.
[UPSC 2013] In the grasslands, trees do not replace the grasses as a part of an ecological suc-
cession because of
a) insects and fungi
b) limited sunlight and paucity of nutrients
c) water limits and fire
d) None of the above
Explanation:
• Grasses have one good trick to monopolise a place. In the dry season, the grasses dry up and cause fires
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which destroy other plant species and their seeds (autogenic succession). Also, grasslands develop in
regions with scanty rainfall where plant growth cannot be achieved.
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• Though forests form the climax community in most ecosystems, in the grassland ecosystem, grasses
form the climax community. Thanks to fire and lack of water. Grasslands are almost irreversible once
deforestation in water-scarce areas gives way to grasslands.
Answer: c)

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 The biotic components of an ecosystem drive autogenic succession. Allogenic succession is driven by the
abiotic components (fire, flood) of the ecosystem.

Succession in Plants
• Succession that occurs on land where moisture content is low, for e.g. on a bare rock, is known as xerarch.
• Succession that takes place in a water body, like a pond or lake, is called hydrarch.
• Both hydrarch and xerarch successions lead to medium water conditions (mesic) – neither too dry (xeric) nor
too wet (hydric). With time, the xerophytic habitat gets converted into a mesophytic habitat (requiring
only a moderate amount of water).

Succession in Water
• In primary succession in water, the pioneers are the phytoplankton. They are replaced by floating angio-
sperms, then by rooted hydrophytes (aquatic plants), sedges (some monocotyledonous plants), grasses
and finally, the trees. The climax again would be a forest. As time passes, the water body is converted to land.
Succession, whether taking place in water or on land, proceeds to a similar climax community – the mesic.

3.2. Homeostasis in Ecosystem

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• In ecology, homeostasis is the tendency for a biological system to resist changes. Ecosystems can maintain
their state of equilibrium. They can regulate their own species’ structure and functional processes. This ca-
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pacity of the ecosystem of self-regulation is known as homeostasis.

• For example, in a pond ecosystem, if the population of zooplankton increases, they consume much phyto-
plankton, and as a result, food would become scarce for zooplankton. When the number of zooplankton is
reduced because of starvation, the phytoplankton population increases. After some time, the population size
of zooplankton also increases, and this process continues at all the trophic levels of the food chain.

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• In a homeostatic system, a negative feedback mechanism (an increase in one factor causes a decrease in
another, and vice versa) induced by the limiting resource (here, its scarcity of food) is responsible for main-
taining stability in an ecosystem. However, the homeostatic capacity of ecosystems is not unlimited as well
as not everything in an ecosystem is always well-regulated.

Homeostasis
• Homeostasis is the maintenance of stable equilibrium, especially through physiological (bodily) func-
tions. E.g., Cooling one’s body through sweating processes. Organisms try to maintain the constancy of
their internal environment despite varying external environmental conditions that tend to upset their ho-
meostasis.
Regulate
• Some organisms can maintain homeostasis by physiological means (sweating to cool the body, increase
in metabolism to keep the body warm, etc.), and sometimes by behavioural means (animals migrating to
under tree shade to avoid the summer heat), which ensure constant body temperature, constant osmotic
concentration, etc.
• All birds and mammals and a very few lower vertebrate and invertebrate species are indeed capable of
such regulation (thermoregulation and osmoregulation). The success of mammals is largely due to
their ability to maintain constant body temperature and thrive whether they live in Antarctica or the
Sahara Desert. Plants, on the other hand, do not have such mechanisms to maintain internal tempera-
tures. Hence their range is comparatively limited.
Conform
• An overwhelming majority of animals and nearly all plants cannot maintain a constant internal environ-
ment. Their body temperature changes with the ambient temperature. In aquatic animals, the osmotic
concentration of the body fluids changes with that of the ambient water osmotic concentration. These
animals and plants are simply conformers.
Conformers have not evolved to become regulators
• Thermoregulation is energetically expensive for many organisms. This is particularly true for small ani-
mals like shrews and hummingbirds. Since small animals have a larger surface area relative to their
volume, they tend to lose body heat very fast when it is cold outside. Hence, they must expend much
energy to generate body heat (a lot of food energy goes into heat generation) through metabolism. This
is the main reason why very small animals are rarely found in polar regions.
Migrate
• The organism can move away temporarily from the stressful habitat to a more hospitable area and return
when a stressful period is over. For example, every winter, the famous Keoladeo National Park (Bha-
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ratpur) in Rajasthan hosts thousands of migratory birds coming from Siberia and other extremely cold
regions.
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Suspend
• In bacteria, fungi and lower plants, various kinds of thick-walled spores are formed, which help them to
survive unfavourable conditions. They germinate on the availability of a suitable environment.

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• In higher plants, seeds and some other vegetative reproductive structures serve as means to tide over
periods of stress besides helping in dispersal.
• In animals, the organism, if unable to migrate, might avoid the stress by escaping in time. The familiar case
of polar bears going into hibernation during winter is an example of an escape in time.
• Some snails and fish go into aestivation to avoid summer-related problems – heat and desiccation.
• Under unfavourable conditions, many zooplankton species in lakes and ponds are known to enter dia-
pause, a stage of suspended development.

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