Republic of the Philippines

PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY

Camarines Sur
College of Engineering and Technology

MODULE 3
Ecosystem Processes

Course Code: A-3 Week/Period: 4

Course Title: Environmental Science and Engineering Name of Faculty: Engr. Moriel L. Prado
Term: First Semester, Academic Year 2020-2021

Learning Objectives

At the end of this module, students should be able to:

 Describe the different ecosystem processes.
 Explain how energy is transformed.
 Explain the biochemistry involving element ratio, mass balance and element cycling.
 Explain the controls on ecosystem functions.
 Describe the geography of ecosystems.

Lesson/Topics

Processes of Ecosystems
This figure with the plants, zebra, lion, and so forth, illustrates the two main ideas about how ecosystems
function: ecosystems have energy flows and ecosystems cycle materials. These two processes are linked,
but they are not quite the same (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Energy flows and material cycles.

Energy enters the biological system as light energy, or photons, is transformed into chemical energy in organic
molecules by cellular processes including photosynthesis and respiration, and ultimately is converted to heat
energy. This energy is dissipated, meaning it is lost to the system as heat; once it is lost it cannot be recycled.
Without the continued input of solar energy, biological systems would quickly shut down. Thus the Earth is
an open system with respect to energy.

Prepared by: Engr. Moriel L. Prado A-3 1

 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Camarines Sur
College of Engineering and Technology

Elements such as carbon, nitrogen, or phosphorus enter living organisms in a variety of ways. Plants obtain
elements from the surrounding atmosphere, water, or soils. Animals may also obtain elements directly from
the physical environment, but usually they obtain these mainly as a consequence of consuming other
organisms. These materials are transformed biochemically within the bodies of organisms, but sooner or
later, due to excretion or decomposition, they are returned to an inorganic state (that is, inorganic material
such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, instead of those elements being bound up in organic matter).
Often bacteria complete this process, through the process called decomposition or mineralization (see next
lecture on microbes).

During decomposition these materials are not destroyed or lost, so the Earth is a closed system with respect
to elements (with the exception of a meteorite entering the system now and then...). The elements are cycled
endlessly between their biotic and abiotic states within ecosystems. Those elements whose supply tends to
limit biological activity are called nutrients.

The Transformation of Energy

The transformations of energy in an ecosystem begin first with the input of energy from the sun. Energy from
the sun is captured by the process of photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is combined with hydrogen (derived
from the splitting of water molecules) to produce carbohydrates (the shorthand notation is "CHO"). Energy
is stored in the high energy bonds of adenosine triphosphate, or ATP (see lecture on photosynthesis).

The prophet Isaah said "all flesh is grass", earning him the title of first ecologist, because virtually all energy
available to organisms originates in plants. Because it is the first step in the production of energy for living
things, it is called primary production (click here for a primer on photosynthesis). Herbivores obtain their
energy by consuming plants or plant products, carnivores eat herbivores, and detritivores consume the
droppings and carcasses of us all.

Figure 2. Food Chain

Prepared by: Engr. Moriel L. Prado A-3 2

 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Camarines Sur
College of Engineering and Technology

Figure 2 portrays a simple food chain, in which energy from the sun, captured by plant photosynthesis, flows
from trophic level to trophic level via the food chain. A trophic level is composed of organisms that make a
living in the same way, that is they are all primary producers (plants), primary consumers (herbivores) or
secondary consumers (carnivores). Dead tissue and waste products are produced at all levels. Scavengers,
detritivores, and decomposers collectively account for the use of all such "waste" -- consumers of carcasses
and fallen leaves may be other animals, such as crows and beetles, but ultimately it is the microbes that finish
the job of decomposition. Not surprisingly, the amount of primary production varies a great deal from place
to place, due to differences in the amount of solar radiation and the availability of nutrients and water.

For reasons that we will explore more fully in subsequent lectures, energy transfer through the food chain is
inefficient. This means that less energy is available at the herbivore level than at the primary producer level,
less yet at the carnivore level, and so on. The result is a pyramid of energy, with important implications for
understanding the quantity of life that can be supported.

Usually when we think of food chains we visualize green plants, herbivores, and so on. These are referred to
as grazer food chains, because living plants are directly consumed. In many circumstances the principal
energy input is not green plants but dead organic matter. These are called detritus food chains. Examples
include the forest floor or a woodland stream in a forested area, a salt marsh, and most obviously, the ocean
floor in very deep areas where all sunlight is extinguished 1000's of meters above. In subsequent lectures we
shall return to these important issues concerning energy flow.

Finally, although we have been talking about food chains, in reality the organization of biological systems is
much more complicated than can be represented by a simple "chain". There are many food links and chains
in an ecosystem, and we refer to all of these linkages as a food web. Food webs can be very complicated,
where it appears that "everything is connected to everything else" (this is a major take-home point of this
lecture), and it is important to understand what are the most important linkages in any particular food web.
The next question is how do we determine what the important processes or linkages are in food webs or
ecosystems? Ecosystem scientists use several different tools, which can be described generally under the
term "biogeochemistry".

Biogeochemistry

How can we study which of these linkages in a food web are most important? One obvious way is to study
the flow of energy or the cycling of elements. For example, the cycling of elements is controlled in part by
organisms, which store or transform elements, and in part by the chemistry and geology of the natural world.
The term Biogeochemistry is defined as the study of how living systems (biology) influence, and are controlled
by, the geology and chemistry of the earth. Thus biogeochemistry encompasses many aspects of the abiotic
and biotic world that we live in.
There are several main principles and tools that biogeochemists use to study earth systems. Most of the
major environmental problems that we face in our world today can be analyzed using biogeochemical
principles and tools. These problems include global warming, acid rain, environmental pollution, and
increasing greenhouse gases. The principles and tools that we use can be broken down into 3 major
components: element ratios, mass balance, and element cycling.

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 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Camarines Sur
College of Engineering and Technology

1. Element ratios
In biological systems, we refer to important elements as "conservative". These elements are often nutrients.
By "conservative" we mean that an organism can change only slightly the amount of these elements in their
tissues if they are to remain in good health. It is easiest to think of these conservative elements in relation to
other important elements in the organism. For example, in healthy algae the elements C, N, P, and Fe have
the following ratio, called the Redfield ratio after the oceanographer who discovered it. The ratio of number
of atoms of these elements (referenced to 1 P atom) is as follows:

Once we know these ratios, we can compare them to the ratios that we measure in a sample of algae to
determine if the algae are lacking in one of these limiting nutrients.

2. Mass Balance

Another important tool that biogeochemists use is a simple mass balance equation to describe the state of a
system. The system could be a snake, a tree, a lake, or the entire globe. Using a mass balance approach we
can determine whether the system is changing and how fast it is changing. The equation is:

NET CHANGE = INPUT + OUTPUT + INTERNAL CHANGE

In this equation the net change in the system from one time period to another is determined by what the
inputs are, what the outputs are, and what the internal change in the system was. The example given in class
is of the acidification of a lake, considering the inputs and outputs and internal change of acid in the lake.

3. Element Cycling

Element cycling describes where and how fast elements move in a system. There are two general classes of
systems that we can analyze, as mentioned above: closed and open systems.

A closed system refers to a system where the inputs and outputs are negligible compared to the internal
changes. Examples of such systems would include a bottle, or our entire globe. There are two ways we can
describe the cycling of materials within this closed system, either by looking at the rate of movement or at
the pathways of movement.

In an open system there are inputs and outputs as well as the internal cycling. Thus we can describe the
rates of movement and the pathways, just as we did for the closed system, but we can also define a new
concept called the residence time (one of our scientific concepts mentioned at the beginning of lecture).
The residence time indicates how long on average an element remains within the system before leaving the
system.

Prepared by: Engr. Moriel L. Prado A-3 4

 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Camarines Sur
College of Engineering and Technology

Controls on Ecosystem Function

Now that we have learned something about how ecosystems are put together and how materials and energy
flow through ecosystems, we can better address the question of "what controls ecosystem function"? There
are two dominant theories of the control of ecosystems. The first, called bottom-up control, states that it is
the nutrient supply to the primary producers that ultimately controls how ecosystems function. If the nutrient
supply is increased, the resulting increase in production of autotrophs is propagated through the food web
and all of the other trophic levels will respond to the increased availability of food (energy and materials will
cycle faster).

The second theory, called top-down control, states that predation and grazing by higher trophic levels on
lower trophic levels ultimately controls ecosystem function. For example, if you have an increase in predators,
that increase will result in fewer grazers, and that decrease in grazers will result in turn in more primary
producers because fewer of them are being eaten by the grazers. Thus the control of population numbers
and overall productivity "cascades" from the top levels of the food chain down to the bottom trophic levels.
In earlier lectures this idea was also introduced and explained as a "trophic cascade".

So, which theory is correct? Well, as is often the case when there is a clear dichotomy to choose from, the
answer lies somewhere in the middle. There is evidence from many ecosystem studies that BOTH controls
are operating to some degree, but that NEITHER control is complete. For example, the "top-down" effect is
often very strong at trophic levels near to the top predators, but the control weakens as you move further
down the food chain toward the primary producers. Similarly, the "bottom-up" effect of adding nutrients
usually stimulates primary production, but the stimulation of secondary production further up the food chain
is less strong or is absent.

Thus we find that both of these controls are operating in any system at any time, and we must understand
the relative importance of each control in order to help us to predict how an ecosystem will behave or change
under different circumstances, such as in the face of a changing climate.

The Geography of Ecosystems

There are many different ecosystems: rain forests and tundra, coral reefs and ponds, grasslands and deserts.
Climate differences from place to place largely determine the types of ecosystems we see. How terrestrial
ecosystems appear to us is influenced mainly by the dominant vegetation.

The word "biome" is used to describe a major vegetation type such as tropical rain forest, grassland, tundra,
etc., extending over a large geographic area (Figure 3). It is never used for aquatic systems, such as ponds or
coral reefs. It always refers to a vegetation category that is dominant over a very large geographic scale, and
thus is somewhat broader geographically than an ecosystem.

Prepared by: Engr. Moriel L. Prado A-3 5

 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Camarines Sur
College of Engineering and Technology

Figure 3: The distribution of biomes.

We can draw upon previous lectures to remember that temperature and rainfall patterns for a region are
distinctive. Every place on Earth gets the same total number of hours of sunlight each year, but not the same
amount of heat. The sun's rays strike low latitudes directly but high latitudes obliquely. This uneven
distribution of heat sets up not just temperature differences, but global wind and ocean currents that in turn
have a great deal to do with where rainfall occurs. Add in the cooling effects of elevation and the effects of
land masses on temperature and rainfall, and we get a complicated global pattern of climate.

A schematic view of the earth shows that, complicated though climate may be, many aspects are predictable
(Figure 4). High solar energy striking near the equator ensures nearly constant high temperatures and high
rates of evaporation and plant transpiration. Warm air rises, cools, and sheds its moisture, creating just the
conditions for a tropical rain forest. Contrast the stable temperature but varying rainfall of a site in Panama
with the relatively constant precipitation but seasonally changing temperature of a site in New York State.
Every location has a rainfall- temperature graph that is typical of a broader region.

Prepared by: Engr. Moriel L. Prado A-3 6

 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Camarines Sur
College of Engineering and Technology

Figure 4. Climate patterns affect biome distributions.

We can draw upon plant physiology to know that certain plants are distinctive of certain climates, creating
the vegetation appearance that we call biomes. Note how well the distribution of biomes plots on the
distribution of climates (Figure 5). Note also that some climates are impossible, at least on our planet. High
precipitation is not possible at low temperatures -- there is not enough solar energy to power the water cycle,
and most water is frozen and thus biologically unavailable throughout the year. The high tundra is as much a
desert as is the Sahara.

Prepared by: Engr. Moriel L. Prado A-3 7

 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Camarines Sur
College of Engineering and Technology

Figure 5. The distribution of biomes related to temperature and precipitation.

Summary

 Ecosystems are made up of abiotic (non-living, environmental) and biotic components, and these
basic components are important to nearly all types of ecosystems. Ecosystem Ecology looks at energy
transformations and biogeochemical cycling within ecosystems.
 Energy is continually input into an ecosystem in the form of light energy, and some energy is lost with
each transfer to a higher trophic level. Nutrients, on the other hand, are recycled within an ecosystem,
and their supply normally limits biological activity. So, "energy flows, elements cycle".
 Energy is moved through an ecosystem via a food web, which is made up of interlocking food chains.
Energy is first captured by photosynthesis (primary production). The amount of primary production
determines the amount of energy available to higher trophic levels.
 The study of how chemical elements cycle through an ecosystem is termed biogeochemistry.
A biogeochemical cycle can be expressed as a set of stores (pools) and transfers, and can be studied
using the concepts of "stoichiometry", "mass balance", and "residence time".
 Ecosystem function is controlled mainly by two processes, "top-down" and "bottom-up" controls.
 A biome is a major vegetation type extending over a large area. Biome distributions are determined
largely by temperature and precipitation patterns on the Earth's surface.

Prepared by: Engr. Moriel L. Prado A-3 8

 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Camarines Sur
College of Engineering and Technology

Learning Activity

1. Students will be required to join the free online course (MOOC) in coursera:
Ecology: from cell to Gaia

2. Video will be provided to students for supplemental lessons.

 https://www.coursera.org/lecture/ecology/3-1-fundamental-ecological-processes-
ZzxS5?authType=facebook

Assessment

Pre/Post tests will be uploaded in Google Classroom.

References

1. https://globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/kling/ecosystem/ecosystem.html
2. https://www.coursera.org/lecture/ecology/3-1-fundamental-ecological-processes ZzxS5?auth Type=
facebook

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