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ECOSYSTEM
is a community of living
organisms (plants, animals and
microbes) in conjunction with
the nonliving components of their
environment (things like air, water
and mineral soil), interacting as a
system.
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WHATISECOSYSTEM?
ECOSYSTEM - a community
and its physical environment treated
together as a functional system

SYSTEM - regularly
interacting and interdependent
components forming a unified whole

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an ecosystem is composed of the
organisms and physical environment of
a specified area.

SIZE: micro to MACRO
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1. Everything is connected to everything else.
2. Everything must go somewhere.
3. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
RULESOFECOSYSTEM
F. A. BAZZAZ:

To understand any system you must understand
the next larger system.

-H. T. Odum
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COMPONENTSof
Ecosystems
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ABIOTICcomponents:

Solar energy provides practically all the energy
for ecosystems.

Inorganic substances, e.g., sulfur, boron, tend to
cycle through ecosystems.

Organic compounds, such as proteins,
carbohydrates, lipids, and other complex
molecules, form a link between biotic and abiotic
components of the system.
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BIOTICcomponents:

The biotic components of an ecosystem can be
classified according to their mode of energy
acquisition.

In this type of classification, there are:
Autotrophs and Heterotrophs
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Autotrophs
Autotrophs (=self-nourishing) are called primary
producers.

Photoautotrophs fix energy from the sun and store
it in complex organic compounds
(= green plants, algae, some bacteria)

photoautotrophs
simple
inorganic
compounds
complex
organic
compounds
light
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Heterotrophs
Heterotrophs (=other-nourishing) cannot
produce their own food directly from sunlight+
inorganic compounds. They require energy
previously stored in complex molecules.

heterotrophs
simple
inorganic
compounds
complex
organic
compounds
(this may include several steps, with
several different types of organisms)
heat
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Heterotrophs can be grouped as:



consumers



decomposers

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Energyflowin
Ecosystems
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All organisms require energy, for growth,
maintenance, reproduction, locomotion, etc.
Hence, for all organisms there must be:

A source of energy

A loss of usable energy
Energyflowin
Ecosystems
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Transformationsof
energy
How is solar energy converted to chemical
energy?

How does this process influence life as we see it
on earth?

The transformations of energy from solar
radiation to chemical energy and mechanical
energy and finally back to heat are a
traditional topic of Ecosystem Ecology.
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Lawsofthermodynamics
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Energy flow is a one-directional process.
sun---> heat (longer wavelengths)




FIRST LAW of THERMODYNAMICS:

Energy can be converted from one form to another,
but cannot be created or destroyed.
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SECOND LAW of THERMODYNAMICS:

Transformations of energy always result in some
loss or dissipation of energy

Internal combustion engines in cars are 25%
efficient in converting chemical energy to
kinetic energy; the rest is not used or is lost
as heat.
My house, particularly my girls' rooms, goes
from a complex, ordered state to a simpler,
disordered state.
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TROPHICLEVELS
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Energyflow
heat
Producers Consumers
Decomposers
heat
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We can further separate the TROPHIC LEVELS,
particularly the Consumers:

Producers (Plants, algae, cyanobacteria; some
chemotrophs) -- capture energy, produce complex
organic compounds

Primary consumers -- feed on producers

Secondary consumers -- feed on primary consumers

Tertiary consumers -- feed on secondary consumers


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More trophic levels:
Detritivores -- invertebrates that feed on
organic wastes and dead organisms
(detritus) from all trophic levels

Decomposers -- bacteria and fungi that
break down dead material into
inorganic materials
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Together, these groups make up a
FOOD CHAIN
E.g., grass, rabbit, eagle
Carnivore Herbivore Producer
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Carnivores
Animal eaters
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HERBIVORE
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Food
chains
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Biomass -- the dry mass of organic material in
the organism(s).

(the mass of water is not usually included, since
water content is variable and contains no
usable energy)

Standing crop -- the amount of biomass present at
any point in time.
TERMINOLOGY
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Primaryproductivity
Primary productivity is the rate of energy
capture by producers.
= the amount of new biomass of
producers, per unit time and space
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Gross primary production (GPP)
= total amount of energy captured

Net primary production (NPP)
= GPP - respiration


Net primary production is thus the amount of
energy stored by the producers and potentially
available to consumers and decomposers.
TERMINOLOGY
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Secondary productivity is the rate of production
of new biomass by consumers, i.e., the rate at
which consumers convert organic material into
new biomass of consumers.

Note that secondary production simply involves the repackaging of
energy previously captured by producers--no additional energy is
introduced into the food chain.

And, since there are multiple levels of consumers
and no new energy is being captured and
introduced into the system, the modifiers gross
and net are not very appropriate and are not
usually used.
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