DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Introduction to
environmental science

Lectures 2:
The ecosystem (components)
 The ecosystem lecture outline

► What is meant by organism, species, population, community

► The ecosystem: definition, components and ecosystem concepts

► Habitat and the concept of ecological niches

► Ecosystem services

► Ecosystem valuation
 The ecosystem
background
► One of the main focuses of environmental sciences is trying to understand the
interactions among organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems and the
ecosphere.
 The ecosystem organism and species

► Organism is any form of life such as an individual animal, plant, bacterium, etc.

► A species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often

defined as a group of organisms that resemble one another in appearance,
behaviour, chemistry and genetics.

► Organisms are classified in the same species if, under natural conditions, they can
actually or potentially breed with one another and produce live, fertile offspring.
 The ecosystem organism and species

►Ecologists make a distinction between wild species (exist in a

natural habitat) and domesticated species (such as cows, sheep,
food crops, animals in zoos, plants in gardens). They have been
taken out from their normal ecological environment to support the
needs and wants of humans and thus plays a much weaker
ecological and evolutionary role than the wild species).
 The ecosystem population

► A population consists of a group of interacting individuals of the same species that

occupy a specific area at the same time.

► Populations are dynamic groups that change in size, age distribution, density, and
genetic composition as a result of the changes in environmental conditions.
 The ecosystem community

► A community or biological community consists of

a group of interacting populations of all different
species occupying one particular place.

► It is a complex interacting network of plants,

animals and microorganisms.

► Biotic communities may be of varying sizes, and

larger ones may contain smaller ones.

► The interactions between species are especially

evident in food or feeding relationships.
 The ecosystem ecosystem

► An ecosystem is a community of different species interacting with one another and

with their nonliving (abiotic) environment of matter and energy.

► Another definition: an ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals

and microorganisms in an area functioning together and with all the non-living
physical factors of the environment

Aquatic ecosystem Terrestrial ecosystem

 The ecosystem the ecosystem concept

► Ecosystems are composed of a variety of abiotic and biotic components that

function in an interrelated fashion.
► Some of the more important components are: soil, atmosphere, radiation from the
Sun, water, and living organisms.

► Soils are much more complex than simple sediments.

- They contain a mixture of weathered rock fragments, highly altered soil mineral
particles, organic matter, and living organisms.

- Soils provide nutrients, water, a home, and a structural growing medium for
organisms.

- The vegetation found growing on top of a soil is closely linked to this component of
an ecosystem through nutrient cycling.
 The ecosystem the ecosystem concept

• The atmosphere provides organisms found within ecosystems with

carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and oxygen for respiration.
- The processes of evaporation, transpiration, and precipitation
cycle water between the atmosphere and the Earth's surface.

• Solar radiation is used in ecosystems to heat the atmosphere and to

evaporate and transpire water into the atmosphere.
- Sunlight is also necessary for photosynthesis.
- Photosynthesis provides the energy for plant growth and
metabolism, and the organic food for other forms of life.
 The ecosystem the ecosystem concept

► Water:
- Most living tissue is composed of a very high percentage of water, up to and even
exceeding 90%.
- Is the medium by which mineral nutrients enter and are translocated in plants.
- It is also required for photosynthetic chemical reactions.
- Plants and animals receive their water from the Earth's surface and soil.
- The original source of this water is precipitation from the atmosphere.

► Ecosystems are composed of a variety of living organisms that can be classified

as producers, consumers, or decomposers.

► Within the ecosystem, species are connected by food chains or food webs.
 The ecosystem the ecosystem concept

►The concept of an ecosystem can apply to units of variable size, such as a pond, a
field, or a piece of dead wood.

►An ecosystem within another ecosystem is called a micro ecosystem. For example,
an ecosystem can be a stone and all the life under it.

►A meso ecosystem could be a forest, and a macro ecosystem a whole eco

region, with its drainage basin.
 The ecosystem ecosystem scale

►The savanna ecosystem could be divided into subunits forming other

ecosystems, for example the tree in the picture could be an ecosystem of its
own

Savanna ecosystem
A tree as an ecosystem
The ecosystem ecosystem scale

A tree as an ecosystem
 The ecosystem ecosystem scale

►The tree, itself, could be sub-divided into

smaller ecosystems such as a small branch
under the tree could also be studied as a
whole ecosystem.
The ecosystem ecosystem scale
 The ecosystem habitat and ecological niche

►Habitat: is the spatial area where a particular species lives.

-It is essentially the natural environment in which an organism lives.

-While, it is possible to describe the habitat of a single organism, we generally may

not find any particular or individual organism, but the grouping of organisms of the
same species that comprise a breeding population and occupy a certain geographical
area.

-Therefore, the term "habitat" can be used more broadly in ecology.

-It was originally defined as the physical conditions that surround an individual, or
population, or community.

-Thus, it is not just a species population that has a habitat, but an assemblage of
many species, living together in the same place that essentially share a habitat.
 The ecosystem habitat and ecological niche
► Ecological niche:

- Describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources

and competitors and how it in turn alters those same factors (e.g., limiting access to
resources by other organisms, acting as a food source for predators and a consumer
of prey).

-Ecological niche is a description of the role played by a species in a biological

community and the total set of environmental factors that determine species
distribution.

-Every species has a range of physical and chemical conditions as well as biological
interactions etc. within which it can exist.
 The ecosystem habitat and ecological niche

►The ecological niche of an organism depends not only on where it lives but also on
what it does.

►It may be said that the habitat is the organism's "address", and the ecological niche
is its "profession", biologically speaking.

►The same species may also occupy a different niche in different areas.

►The more adaptable the species the wider the niche it may occupy.
 The ecosystem habitat and ecological niche

► A useful extension of the niche concept is the distinction between fundamental

and realized niches.

► The fundamental niche of a species includes the total range of environmental

conditions that are suitable for existence without the influence of interspecific
competition or predation from other species.

► The realized niche describes that part of the fundamental niche actually occupied
by the species.
 The ecosystem habitat and ecological niche

- The diagram shows a hypothetical situation where a species distribution is controlled by

just two environmental variables: temperature and moisture.

-The square and circle describe the combinations of temperature and moisture that the
species requires for survival and reproduction in its habitat.

-This resource space is known as the fundamental niche. The circle area describes the
actual combinations of these two variables that the species utilizes in its habitat.

-This subset of the fundamental niche is known as the realized niche.

 The ecosystem ecosystem services

► Experts currently recognize five categories of ecosystem services. The

following lists represent samples of each:

▪ Provisioning services
• food (including seafood)
• precursors to pharmaceutical and industrial products
• energy (hydropower, biomass fuels).

▪ Regulating services
• carbon sequestration and climate regulation
• waste decomposition and detoxification
• nutrient dispersal and cycling

▪ Supporting services
• purification of water and air
• crop pollination and seed dispersal
• pest and disease control
 The ecosystem ecosystem services

▪ Cultural services
• cultural, intellectual and spiritual inspiration
• recreational experiences (including ecotourism)
• scientific discovery

▪ Preserving services
• genetic and species diversity for future use
• protection of options
 The ecosystem ecosystem services

► Natural ecosystems, plants and animals within them provide humans with services
that would be very difficult to duplicate.

► While it is often impossible to place an accurate monetary amount on ecosystem

services, we can calculate some of the financial values.

► Many of these services are performed seemingly for "free", yet are worth many
trillions of dollars.

► The average value of Ecosystem Services is considered about $33 trillion.

 The ecosystem ecosystem
valuation

• Ecosystem valuation: is a widely used tool in determining the impact

of human activities on an environmental system, by assigning an
economic value to an ecosystem or its ecosystem services.

• Ecosystem values are measures of how important ecosystem services

are to people – what they are worth.

• Economists measure the value of ecosystem services to people by

estimating the amount people are willing to pay to preserve or enhance
the services.
 The ecosystem ecosystem valuation

• Ecosystem valuation can be a difficult and controversial task, and

economists have often been criticized for trying to put a “price-tag” on
nature.

• However, agencies in charge of protecting and managing natural

resources must often make difficult spending decisions that involve
tradeoffs in allocating resources.

• Therefore, economic valuation can be useful, by providing a way to

justify and set priorities for programs, policies, or actions that protect
or restore ecosystems and their services.
 The ecosystem ecosystem
valuation

• Most importantly, while some services of ecosystems, like fish or lumber,

are bought and sold in markets, many ecosystem services, like a day of
wildlife viewing or a view of the ocean, are not traded in markets.

• Thus, people do not pay directly for many ecosystem

services. Additionally, because people are not familiar with purchasing
such goods, their willingness to pay may not be clearly defined. However,
this does not mean that ecosystems or their services have no value, or
cannot be valued in dollar terms.

• It is not necessary for ecosystem services to be bought and sold in markets

in order to measure their value in dollars. What is required is a measure of
how much purchasing power (dollars) people are willing to give up to get
the service of the ecosystem, or how much people would need to be paid
in order to give it up, if they were asked to make a choice similar to one
they would make in a market.