ECOSYSTEMS

W E W I L L C OV E R …

• Concept of an ecosystem
• Structure and functions of an ecosystem
• Energy flow in the ecosystem: Water cycle, Carbon cycle, Nitrogen
cycle, Phosphorus cycle
• Food chains, food webs and ecological pyramids
• Types of ecosystems: Forest ecosystem, Grassland ecosystem,
Desert ecosystem, and Aquatic ecosystems
 UNDERSTANDING ECOSYSTEM

• Ecosystem is a region with a specific and recognizable landscape form such as forest, grassland, desert,
wetland or coastal area. The nature of the ecosystem is based on its geo graphical features such as hills,
mountains, plains, rivers, lakes, coastal areas or islands.
• Also controlled by climatic conditions such as the amount of sunlight, the temperature and the rainfall in
the region.

• The living community of plants and animals in any area together with the non-living components of the
environment such as soil, air and water, constitute the ecosystem
UNDERSTANDING ECOSYSTEM

• ‘What does the ecosystem look like?’

• What is its structure?

• What is the composition of its plant and animal species?

• ‘How does the ecosystem work’?
S TRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS OF AN ECOS YS TEM

STRUCTURAL ASPECTS:
Components of the structural aspects include:
1) Inorganic aspects- C, N, CO2, H2O FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS:

2) Organic compounds- Protein, Carbohydrates, 1) Energy cycles

Lipids-link abiotic to biotic aspects
2) Food chains
3) Climatic regimes- Temperature, Moisture, Light
& Topography 3) Diversity – interlinkages between organisms

4) Producers – Plants 4) Nutrient cycles-biogeochemical cycles

5) Macroconsumers – Phagotrophs – Large animals
5) Evolution
6) Microconsumers – Saprotrophs, absorbers –
fungi
WA T E R C Y C L E
T H E WA T E R C Y C L E A F F E C T S A L L O T H E R C Y C L E S
• Water is essential for biochemical reactions
• It is involved in nearly every environmental system
• Hydrologic cycle = summarizes how liquid, gaseous, and solid
water flows through the environment
• Oceans are the main reservoir
• Evaporation = process by which water moves from aquatic
and land systems into the atmosphere
• Transpiration = release of water vapor by plants
• Precipitation, runoff, and surface water = water returns to
Earth as rain or snow and flows into streams, oceans, etc.
O U R I M PA C T S O N T H E WA T E R C Y C L E A R E E X T E N S I V E

• Removing forests and vegetation increases runoff and soil erosion and reduces
transpiration and infiltration
• Irrigating agricultural fields depletes rivers, lakes, and streams and lowers water
tables.
• Damming rivers slows movement of water from land to the sea and increases
evaporation
• Emitting air pollutants changes the nature of precipitation, sabotaging the natural
distillation process of evaporation and transpiration
CA R B O N C YC L E
T H E CA R B O N C YC L E C I RC U L AT E S A V I TA L O RGA N I C
NUTRIENT
• Carbon is found in carbohydrates, fats, proteins, bones, cartilage, and shells
• Carbon cycle = describes the route of carbon atoms through the environment
• Photosynthesis by plants, algae, and cyanobacteria
• Removes carbon dioxide from air and water
• Produces oxygen and carbohydrates
• Plants are a major reservoir of carbon
• Respiration returns carbon to the air and oceans
• Plants, consumers, and decomposers
WE ARE SHIFTING CARBON FROM THE
L I T H O S P H E R E T O T H E AT M O S P H E R E
• Burning fossil fuels moves carbon from the ground to the air

• Cutting forests and burning fields move carbon from vegetation to the air

• Today’s atmospheric carbon dioxide reservoir is the largest in the past 800,000
years
• It is the driving force behind climate change

• Uncertainties remain—there is a missing carbon sink: 1–2 billion metric tons of

carbon are unaccounted for
• It may be taken up by plants or soils of northern temperate and boreal forests
S E D I M E N T S T O R AG E O F CA R BO N A N D T H E O C E A N S
• Decomposition returns carbon to the sediment
• The largest reservoir of carbon
• May be trapped for hundreds of millions of years
• Aquatic organisms die and settle in the sediment
• Older layers are buried deeply and undergo high pressure
• Ultimately, it may be converted into fossil fuels
• Oceans are the second largest reservoir of carbon
• Compounds enter the oceans from runoff from land, detritus from marine
organisms
• Carbon dioxide is dissolved directly into the water from the atmosphere, making
the water more acidic
T H E N I T R O G E N C Y C L E I N V O LV E S S P E C I A L I Z E D
B AC T E R I A
• Nitrogen comprises 78% of our atmosphere
• It is contained in proteins, DNA, and RNA

• Nitrogen cycle = describes the routes that nitrogen atoms take through the environment
• Nitrogen gas cannot be used by most organisms

• Nitrogen fixation = lightning or nitrogen-fixing bacteria combine (fix) nitrogen with

hydrogen to form ammonia, which can be used by plants
N I T RO G E N F I X I N G B AC T E R I A
N I T RO G E N C YC L E
N I T R I F I CAT I O N A N D D E N I T R I F I CAT I O N

• Nitrification = process by which bacteria convert ammonium ions, first into nitrite ions,
then into nitrate ions
• Plants can take up nitrate most easily

• Animals obtain nitrogen by eating plants or other animals

• Decomposers get nitrogen from dead and decaying plants or other animals, releasing
ammonium ions to nitrifying bacteria
N I T R I F I CAT I O N A N D D E N I T R I F I CAT I O N

• Denitrifying bacteria = bacteria that convert nitrates in soil or water to gaseous nitrogen,
releasing it back into the atmosphere and completing the nitrogen cycle
W E H AV E G R E A T L Y I N F L U E N C E D T H E N I T R O G E N
C YC L E
• Nitrogen fixation was a crop production
bottleneck = the limiting factor in crop production
• Haber-Bosch process = production of fertilizers by combining nitrogen and hydrogen to
synthesize ammonia
• Humans overcame the bottleneck on crop productivity
W E H AV E G R E A T L Y I N F L U E N C E D T H E N I T R O G E N
C YC L E
• Overuse of fertilizers has negative side effects:
• Increases the flux of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the land
• Causes eutrophication in estuaries and coastal ecosystems and fisheries
• Washes essential nutrients out of the soil

• Burning fossil fuels adds nitrogen compounds to the atmosphere that contribute to acid
precipitation
T H E P H O S P H O RU S C YC L E C I RC U L AT E S A L I M I T E D
NUTRIENT
• Phosphorus (P) is a key component of cell membranes, DNA, RNA, ATP, and ADP
• Phosphorus cycle = describes the routes that phosphorus atoms take through the
environment
• Most phosphorus is within rocks
• It is released by weathering
• There is no significant atmospheric component

• There is naturally low environmental concentrations

• Phosphorus can be a limiting factor for plant growth
W E A F F E C T T H E P H O S P H O RU S C YC L E

• Humans add phosphorus to fertilizers to promote crop growth

• Runoff from farm fields and lawns contains phosphorus
• Increases phytoplankton growth
• Results in eutrophication and hypoxia

• Wastewater discharge also releases phosphorus

• Detergents have traditionally contained high levels of phosphates
TAC K L I N G N U T R I E N T E N R I C H M E N T R E Q U I R E S
D I V E R S E A P P ROAC H E S
• We rely on synthetic fertilizers and fossil fuels
• Nutrient enrichment will be an issue we must address
• There are a number of ways to control nutrient pollution
• Reduce fertilizer use on farms and lawns
• Apply fertilizer at times that minimize runoff
• Plant vegetation “buffers” around streams
• Restore wetlands and create artificial ones
• Improve sewage treatment technologies
• Reduce fossil fuel combustion
• These approaches have varying costs
FOOD CHAINS. FOOD WEBS AND ECOLOGICAL
PYRAMIDS
• Transfer of energy from 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 interconnected with each other.
• This interlocking pattern is known as the food web.
• Each step of the food web is called a trophic level.
• Green plants occupy the first level, herbivores the second level, carnivores the
third level and secondary carnivores the fourth level. These trophic levels
together form the ecological pyramid.
ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
• In an ecosystem, green plants – the producers, utilize energy directly from sunlight and convert
it into matter. A large number of these organ isms 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
T YPES OF ECOSYSTEMS

Terrestrial ecosystem Aquatic Ecosystem

Forest Pond
Grassland Lake
Semi arid areas Wetland
Deserts River
Mountains Delta
Islands Marine
 CONCLUSION

• Thinking in terms of systems teaches us how to avoid disrupting Earth’s

processes and how to mitigate any disruptions we cause
• Life interacts with its nonliving environment in ecosystems through which
energy flows and matter recycles
• Understanding biogeochemical cycles is crucial
• Humans are significantly changing the ways these cycles function
• Environmental systems have survived for ages
• Negative feedback has kept these systems stable
• We can learn how to be sustainable from these examples