Handout 2

ECOSYSTEM

INTRODUCTION
Ecology is the science that deals with the relationships between living organisms with their
physical environment and with each other. Ecology can be approached from the viewpoints of (1)
the environment and the demands it places on the organisms in it or (2) organisms and how they
adapt to their environmental conditions. An ecosystem consists of an assembly of mutually
interacting organisms and their environment in which materials are interchanged in a largely
cyclical manner. An ecosystem has physical, chemical, and biological components along with
energy sources and pathways of energy and materials interchange. The environment in which a
particular organism lives is called its habitat.

In general, this handout will discuss ecosystem and the interaction between each
components. After studying this handout, students are expected to:

1. Explaining the characteristics of ecosystem

2. Understanding the component of ecosystem
3. Explaining the role of each component
4. Understanding the interaction between each component

Here is the instruction for using this handout.

1. Read carefully introduction section until you understand the whole topic that contain
in this handout
2. Read skimming every part of this handout and find out the key word for each topic.
Then, learn from that new key word.
3. Discuss each topic with your peer or tutors
4. Read also this material from another reference to support your understanding
5. Do every assignment to check your understanding

HAVE A GOOD STUDY

 ECOSYSTEM

Introduction
Ecosystems are broadly divided into natural and artificial. Natural ecosystems are those
that are existing in nature; they are further classified into terrestrial and aquatic. Terrestrial includes
hot desert, grass land, tropical and temperate rainforest and aquatic includes ponds, river, streams,
lakes, estuaries, oceans, mangroves, swamps and bays etc. However these two ecosystems are self
regulating, open system with a free exchange of inputs and outputs with other systems. Artificial
ecosystems are simple, human-made, unstable and subjected to human intervention and
manipulation. Usually it is formed by clearing a part of the forest or grassland e.g. crop field,
agricultural land.

A. Structure and Function of Ecosystem

An ecosystem has two components the biotic components consisting of living things, and
the abiotic portion, consisting of elements that are not alive. The non living constituents are said
to include the following category, habitat, gases, solar radiation, temperature, moisture and
inorganic and organic nutrients. The living organisms may be sub divided into producers,
consumers and decomposers. Abiotic components include basic inorganic and organic components
of the environment or habitat of the organism. The inorganic components of an ecosystem are
carbon dioxide, water nitrogen, calcium phosphate all of which are involved in matter cycle
(biogeochemical cycles). The organic components of an ecosystem are proteins, carbohydrates,
lipids and amino acids, all of which are synthesized by the biota (flora and fauna) of an ecosystem
and are reached to ecosystem as their wastes, dead remains etc. The climate 'microclimate'
temperature, light soil etc. are abiotic components of the ecosystems.

Ecosystem function is the capacity of natural processes and components to provide goods
and services that satisfy human needs, either directly or indirectly. Ecosystem functions are subset
of ecological processes and ecosystem structures. Each function is the result of the natural
processes of the total ecological sub-system of which it is a part. Natural processes, in turn, are the
result of complex interactions between biotic (living organisms) and abiotic (chemical and
physical) components of ecosystems through the universal driving forces of matter and energy.
There are four primary groups of ecosystem functions (1) regulatory functions, (2) habitat
functions, (3) production functions and (4) information functions. This grouping concerns all
ecosystems, not only for forests. General characterization of ecosystem functions are:

1. Regulatory functions: this group of functions relates to the capacity of natural and semi-
natural ecosystems to regulate essential ecological processes and life support systems
through bio-geochemical cycles and other biospheric processes. In addition to maintaining
the ecosystem (and biosphere health), these regulatory functions provide many services
that have direct and indirect benefits to humans (i.e., clean air, water and soil, and
biological control services).
2. Habitat functions: natural ecosystems provide refuge and a reproduction habitat to wild
plants and animals and thereby contribute to the (in situ) conservation of biological and
genetic diversity and the evolutionary process.
3. Production functions: Photosynthesis and nutrient uptake by autotrophs converts energy,
carbon dioxide, water and nutrients into a wide variety of carbohydrate structures which
are then used by secondary producers to create an even larger variety of living biomass.
This broad diversity in carbohydrate structures provides many ecosystem goods for human
consumption, ranging from food and raw materials to energy resources and genetic
material.
4. Information functions: Since most of human evolution took place within the context of an
undomesticated habitat, natural ecosystems contribute to the maintenance of human health
by providing opportunities for reflection, spiritual enrichment, cognitive development,
recreation and aesthetic experience.

B. Component of Ecosystem

Complete ecosystem consists of four basic components such as producers, consumers,

decomposers and abiotic components e.g. Pond. If anyone of these four components are lacking,
then it is grouped under incomplete ecosystem e.g. Ocean depth or a cave.

1. Producers
Every living organism is in some way dependent on other organisms. Plants are food for
herbivorous animals which are in turn food for carnivorous animals. Thus there are
different tropic levels in the ecosys-tem. Some organisms such as fungi live only on dead
material and inorganic matter. Plants are the producers’ in the ecosystem as they
 manufacture their food by using energy from the sun. In the forest these form commu-nities
of plant life. In the sea these include tiny algal forms to large seaweed.

2. Consumers
The herbivorous animals are primary consumers as they live on the producers. In a forest,
these are the insects, amphibia, reptiles, birds and mammals. The herbivorous animals
include for example hare, deer and elephants that live on plant life. They graze on grass or
feed on the foliage from trees. In grasslands, there are her bivores such as the black buck
that feed on grass. In the semiarid areas, there are species such as the chinkara or Indian
gazelle. In the sea, there are small fish that live on algae and other plants. At a higher tropic
level, there are carnivorous animals, or secondary consumers, which live on herbivorous
animals. In our forests, the carnivorous animals are tigers, leopards, jackals, foxes and
small wild cats. In the sea, carnivorous fish live on other fish and marine animals. Animals
that live in the sea range in size from microscopic forms to giant mammals such as the
whale.
3. Decomposers or detrivores are a group of organisms consisting of small animals like
worms, insects, bacteria and fungi, which break down dead organic material into smaller
particles and finally into simpler substances that are used by plants as nutrition.
Decomposition thus is a vital function in nature, as without this, all the nutri-ents would be
tied up in dead matter and no new life could be produced. Most ecosystems are highly
complex and consist of an extremely large number of individuals of a wide variety of
species. In the species rich tropical ecosystems (such as in our country), only a few species
are very common, while most species have relatively few individuals. Some spe-cies of
plants and animals are extremely rare and may occur only at a few locations. These are said
to be ‘endemic’ to these areas. When human activities alter the balance in these ecosystems,
the “perturbation” leads to the disappearance of these uncommon species. When this
happens to an endemic species that is not widely distributed, it becomes extinct for all time.
4. Soil (Abiotic Component)
 Soil is a critical part of an ecosystem. It provides important nutrients for the plants. It helps
anchor the plants to keep them in place. Soil absorbs and holds water for plants and animals
to use and provides a home for lots of living organisms.
5. Air (Abiotic Component)
The atmosphere provides oxygen and carbon dioxide for the plants and animals in an
ecosystem. The atmosphere is also part of the water cycle. Without the complex
interactions and elements in the atmosphere, there would be no life at all!
6. Water (Abiotic Component)
Without water there would be no life. Water is a large percentage of the cells that make up
all living organisms. Water is also used by plants to carry and distribute the nutrients they
need to survive
7. The Sun (Abiotic Component)
The heat and light from the sun are critical parts of an ecosystem. The sun's heat helps
water evaporate and return to the atmosphere where it is cycled back into water. The heat
also keeps plants and animals warm. The light from the sun is necessary for photosynthesis,
so that plants have the energy they need to make food.

It is obvious that people are living things. Most of us realise that plants are living too, but
what about a car? Cars need fuel, and can do many of the things that animals and plants can do.
An individual living thing, such as an animal or a plant, is called an organism. The term ‘living
organism’ is usually used to describe something which displays all the characteristics of living
things.
C. Interaction between each Components

1. Commensalism
In this one species derives the benefits while the other is unaffected.
Example:
a. Cellulolytic fungi produce a number of organic acids from cellulose which serve as
carbon sources for non-cellulolytic bacteria and fungi.
b. Growth factors are synthesised by certain microorganisms and their excretion
permits the proliferation of nutritionally complex soil inhabitants.
2. Proto-cooperation
It is also called as non-obligatory mutualism. It is an association of mutual benefit to the
two species but without the cooperation being obligatory for their existence or for their
performance of reactions.
Exmple:
N2 can be fixed by Azotobacter with cellulose as energy source provided that a cellulose
decomposer is present to convert the cellulose to simple sugars or organic acids.
3. Mutualism
Mutually beneficial interspecific interactions are more common among organisms. Here
both the species derive benefit. In such association there occurs a close and often permanent
and obligatory contact more or less essential for survival of each.
Example:
a. Pollination by animals. Bees, moths, butterflies etc. derive food from hectar, or
other plant product and in turn bring about pollination
b. Symbiotic nitrogen fixation:
Legume - Rhizobium symbiosis. Bacteria obtain food from legume and in turn fix
gaseous nitrogen, making it available to plant.
4. Parasitism
A parasite is the organism living on or in the body of another organisms and deriving its
food more or less permanently from its tissues. A typical parasite lives in its host without
killing it, whereas the predator kills its upon which it feeds.
 Example:
a. Species of Cuscuta (total stem parasite) grow on other plants on which they depend
for nourishment.
Parasitism may occur even with in the species. Hyperparasites which are chiefly
fungi growing parasitically on other parasites, (ie) Parasite on a parasite.
b. Cicinnobolus cesatii is found as hyperparasite on a number of powdery mildew
fungi.
5. Competition
It is a condition in which there is a suppression of one organism as the two species struggle
for limiting quantities of nutrients O2 space or other requirements (food, water, etc).
Example: Competition between Fusarium oxysporum and Agrobacterium radiobacter
6. Predation
A predator is free living which catches and kills another species for food. Most of the
predatory organisms are animals but there are some plants (carnivorous) also, especially
fungi, which feed upon other animals.
Example:
a. Grazing and browsing by animals on plants
b. Carnivorous plants such as Nepenthes, Darligtoria, and Drosera etc. consume
insects and other small animals for food.
c. Protozoans feeding on bacteria.
7. Antibiosis
The phenomenon of the production of antibiotic is called as antibiosis. Antibiotic is an
organic substance produced by one organism which in low concentration inhibits the
growth of other organism.
Example: Streptomycin-S.griseus, Penicillin-P. notatum, Trichoderma harzianum inhibits
the growth of Rhizoctonia sp.

D. Food Chain, Food Webs, and Ecologycal Pyramids

The transfer of energy from the source in plants through a series of organisms by eating
and being eaten constitutes food chains. At each transfer, a large proportion of energy is lost in the
form of heat. These food chains are not iso-lated sequences, but are interconnected with each other.
This interlocking pattern is known as the food web. Each step of the food web is called a trophic
level. Hence green plants oc-cupy the first level, herbivores the second level, carnivores the third
level and secondary carni-vores the fourth level. These trophic levels to-gether form the ecological
pyramid.

1. Food chain
The most obvious aspect of nature is that en-ergy must pass from one living organism to
another. When herbivorous animals feed on plants, energy is transferred from plants to
animals. In an ecosystem, some of the animals feed on other living organisms, while some
feed on dead or-ganic matter. The latter form the ‘detritus’ food chain. At each linkage in
the chain, a major part of the energy from the food is lost for daily ac-tivities. Each chain
usually has only four to five such links. However a single species may be linked to a large
number of species.
2. Food webs
In an ecosystem there are a very large number of interlinked chains. This forms a food web.
If the linkages in the chains that make up the web of life are disrupted due to human
activities that lead to the loss or extinction of species, the web breaks down.
3. Ecologycal Pyramids
In an ecosystem, green plants – the producers, utilize energy directly from sunlight and
convert it into matter. A large number of these organisms form the most basic, or first
‘trophic level’ of the food pyramid. The herbivorous animals that eat plants are at the
second trophic level and are called primary consumers. The preda-tors that feed on them
form the third trophic level and are known as secondary consumers. Only a few animals
form the third trophic level consisting of carnivores at the apex of the food pyramid. This
is how energy is used by living creatures and flows through the ecosystem from its base to
the apex. Much of the energy is used up in activities of each living organism.