A

MICROPROJECT

On

“Prepare Report On Ecosystem”

Submitted By

1. Name of Student 2. Enrollment No:

Class: CE4I

Under The Guidance

Miss. S. B. Pokale

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Padmashri Dr. Vitthalrao Vikhe Patil Institute of Technology and
Engineering (Polytechnic) Pravaranagar-413736.
(2023-2024)
 Padmashri Dr. Vitthalrao Vikhe Patil Institute of Technology and
Engineering (Polytechnic) Pravaranagar-413736

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that

1. Name of Student 2. Enrollment No

Class: CE4I

Has successfully submitted the Micro Project on

“Prepare Report On Ecosystem”

Towards the partial fulfillment of

Diploma in Civil Engineering affiliated to Maharashtra State Board of
Technical Education, Mumbai during academic year 2023-2024

(Miss. S. B. Pokale) (Mr. S. K. Gorde )

Guide HOD

Place: Loni
Date:
 Micro Project Evaluation Sheet (Group)

Academic Year: Name of Faculty:

Course: Course: Code: Semester:

Title of Micro Project: ……………………………………………………………………………

Cos addressed by the Micro Project:

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Major Learning Outcomes achieved by students by doing the project:

a) Practical Outcomes: …………………………………………………………………………

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b) Outcomes in Cognitive domain: ……………………………………………………………

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c) Outcomes in Affective domain: ………………………………………………………………

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Comments /Suggestions about team work / leadership/inter-personal communication (if any)
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………….…………………………………………………………………………………………
Marks out Marks out of
of 6 for 4 for
Total out
Roll Enrollment Performance Performance
Full Name of Student of
No. No. in group in oral/
10
activity presentation
(D5) (D5)
Add more rows if required

Name & Sign of Faculty

Micro Project Evaluation Sheet (Individual)
 Micro-Project Proposal (to be filled before start of project)

Title of Micro Project: ……………………………………………………………………………

1.0 Aims/Benefits of Micro Project (min 30-50 words)

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2.0 Course Outcome(s) Addressed:

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3.0 Proposed Methodology (procedure in brief that will be followed to do the micro project in
about 100-200 words)

4.0 Action Plan (sequence and time required for major activities)
Sr. Planned Planned Name of responsible
Details of Activity
No. start date finish date team members
5.0 Resources Required (Major resources such as raw material, some machining facility,
software, etc.)
Sr.
Name of resource/material Specifications Qty. Remark
No.

Name of Team Members:

Roll No. Name of Student

Name & Sign of Faculty

Micro-Project Report

(Minimum 4 pages)

1.0 Rationale (Importance of the project, in about 30-50 words)

2.0 Aims/Benefits of the Micro Project:

3.0 Course Outcome(s) Achieved:

a)……………………………………………………………………………………………
b) …………………………………………………………………………………………
c) …………………………………………………………………………………………
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4.0 Literature Review:

5.0 Actual Methodology Followed (Write step wise work done, data collected and its analysis (if
any).

6.0 Actual Resources Used (Mention the actual resources used for Micro Project).
Sr. Name of resource/material Specifications Qty. Remark
No.
7.0 Output(s) of the Micro project: (drawings of prototype or survey, presentation os collected
data, findings, ect)

8.0 Skill(s) developed / Learning outcome of this Micro Project:

9.0 Application(s) of this Micro project:

1. Introduction
- Definition of Ecosystem:* Explain what an ecosystem is, including its
components: biotic (living organisms) and abiotic (non-living elements like water,
soil, and climate). An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms
and the abiotic pools (or physical environment) with which they interact. The biotic
and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.

- Importance of Ecosystems: Describe their role in supporting life, regulating

climate, and providing resources.

2. Origin and development of the term

The term "ecosystem" was first used in 1935 in a publication by British ecologist Arthur
Tansley. The term was coined by Arthur Roy Clapham, who came up with the word at
Tansley's request. Tansley devised the concept to draw attention to the importance of
transfers of materials between organisms and their environment He later refined the
term, describing it as "The whole system, including not only the organism-complex, but
also the whole complex of physical factors forming what we call the
environment" Tansley regarded ecosystems not simply as natural units, but as "mental
isolates". Tansley later defined the spatial extent of ecosystems using the term
"ecotope".

G. Evelyn Hutchinson, a limnologist who was a contemporary of Tansley's,

combined Charles Elton's ideas about trophic ecology with those of Russian
geochemist Vladimir Vernadsky. As a result, he suggested that mineral nutrient
availability in a lake limited algal production. This would, in turn, limit the abundance of
animals that feed on algae. Raymond Lindeman took these ideas further to suggest that
the flow of energy through a lake was the primary driver of the ecosystem. Hutchinson's
students, brothers Howard T. Odum and Eugene P. Odum, further developed a
"systems approach" to the study of ecosystems. This allowed them to study the flow of
energy and material through ecological systems.

3. Processes
External and internal factors
Ecosystems are controlled by both external and internal factors. External factors, also
called state factors, control the overall structure of an ecosystem and the way things
work within it, but are not themselves influenced by the ecosystem. On broad geographic
scales, climate is the factor that "most strongly determines ecosystem processes and
structure". Climate determines the biome in which the ecosystem is embedded. Rainfall
patterns and seasonal temperatures influence photosynthesis and thereby determine the
amount of energy available to the ecosystem.

Parent material determines the nature of the soil in an ecosystem, and influences the
supply of mineral nutrients. Topography also controls ecosystem processes by affecting
things like microclimate, soil development and the movement of water through a system.
For example, ecosystems can be quite different if situated in a small depression on the
landscape, versus one present on an adjacent steep hillside.

Other external factors that play an important role in ecosystem functioning include time
and potential biota, the organisms that are present in a region and could potentially
occupy a particular site. Ecosystems in similar environments that are located in different
parts of the world can end up doing things very differently simply because they have
different pools of species present. The introduction of non-native species can cause
substantial shifts in ecosystem function.

Unlike external factors, internal factors in ecosystems not only control ecosystem
processes but are also controlled by them. While the resource inputs are generally
controlled by external processes like climate and parent material, the availability of these
resources within the ecosystem is controlled by internal factors like decomposition, root
competition or shading. Other factors like disturbance, succession or the types of
species present are also internal factors.
.

4. Primary production
Primary production is the production of organic matter from inorganic carbon sources.
This mainly occurs through photosynthesis. The energy incorporated through this
process supports life on earth, while the carbon makes up much of the organic matter in
living and dead biomass, soil carbon and fossil fuels. It also drives the carbon cycle,
which influences global climate via the greenhouse effect.

Through the process of photosynthesis, plants capture energy from light and use it to
combine carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates and oxygen. The
photosynthesis carried out by all the plants in an ecosystem is called the gross primary
production (GPP). About half of the gross GPP is respired by plants in order to provide
the energy that supports their growth and maintenance. The remainder, that portion of
GPP that is not used up by respiration, is known as the net primary production (NPP).
Total photosynthesis is limited by a range of environmental factors. These include the
amount of light available, the amount of leaf area a plant has to capture light (shading by
other plants is a major limitation of photosynthesis), the rate at which carbon dioxide can
be supplied to the chloroplasts to support photosynthesis, the availability of water, and
the availability of suitable temperatures for carrying out photosynthesis.

5. Energy flow
Energy and carbon enter ecosystems through photosynthesis, are incorporated into living
tissue, transferred to other organisms that feed on the living and dead plant matter, and
eventually released through respiration. The carbon and energy incorporated into plant tissues
(net primary production) is either consumed by animals while the plant is alive, or it remains
uneaten when the plant tissue dies and becomes detritus. In terrestrial ecosystems, the vast
majority of the net primary production ends up being broken down by decomposers. The
remainder is consumed by animals while still alive and enters the plant-based trophic system.
After plants and animals die, the organic matter contained in them enters the detritus-based
trophic system.

6. Decomposition

The carbon and nutrients in dead organic matter are broken down by a group of
processes known as decomposition. This releases nutrients that can then be re-used for
plant and microbial production and returns carbon dioxide to the atmosphere (or water)
where it can be used for photosynthesis. In the absence of decomposition, the dead
organic matter would accumulate in an ecosystem, and nutrients and atmospheric
carbon dioxide would be depleted.

Decomposition processes can be separated into three categories—leaching,

fragmentation and chemical alteration of dead material. As water moves through dead
organic matter, it dissolves and carries with it the water-soluble components. These are
then taken up by organisms in the soil, react with mineral soil, or are transported beyond
the confines of the ecosystem (and are considered lost to it). Newly shed leaves and
newly dead animals have high concentrations of water-soluble components and
include sugars, amino acids and mineral nutrients. Leaching is more important in wet
environments and less important in dry ones.

Fragmentation processes break organic material into smaller pieces, exposing new
surfaces for colonization by microbes. Freshly shed leaf litter may be inaccessible due to
an outer layer of cuticle or bark, and cell contents are protected by a cell wall. Newly
dead animals may be covered by an exoskeleton. Fragmentation processes, which
break through these protective layers, accelerate the rate of microbial
decomposition. Animals fragment detritus as they hunt for food, as does passage
through the gut. Freeze-thaw cycles and cycles of wetting and drying also fragment dead
material.

7. Decomposition rates
Decomposition rates vary among ecosystems. The rate of decomposition is governed by
three sets of factors—the physical environment (temperature, moisture, and soil
properties), the quantity and quality of the dead material available to decomposers, and
the nature of the microbial community itself. Temperature controls the rate of microbial
respiration; the higher the temperature, the faster the microbial decomposition occurs.
Temperature also affects soil moisture, which affects decomposition. Freeze-thaw cycles
also affect decomposition—freezing temperatures kill soil microorganisms, which allows
leaching to play a more important role in moving nutrients around. This can be especially
important as the soil thaws in the spring, creating a pulse of nutrients that become
available.

Decomposition rates are low under very wet or very dry conditions. Decomposition rates
are highest in wet, moist conditions with adequate levels of oxygen. Wet soils tend to
become deficient in oxygen (this is especially true in wetlands), which slows microbial
growth. In dry soils, decomposition slows as well, but bacteria continue to grow (albeit at
a slower rate) even after soils become too dry to support plant growth.

8. Dynamics and resilience

Ecosystems are dynamic entities. They are subject to periodic disturbances and are
always in the process of recovering from past disturbances. When a perturbation occurs,
an ecosystem responds by moving away from its initial state. The tendency of an
ecosystem to remain close to its equilibrium state, despite that disturbance, is termed
its resistance. The capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while
undergoing change so as to retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and
feedbacks is termed its ecological resilience. Resilience thinking also includes humanity
as an integral part of the biosphere where we are dependent on ecosystem services for
our survival and must build and maintain their natural capacities to withstand shocks and
disturbances. Time plays a central role over a wide range, for example, in the slow
development of soil from bare rock and the faster recovery of a community from
disturbance.

Disturbance also plays an important role in ecological processes. F. Stuart Chapin and
coauthors define disturbance as "a relatively discrete event in time that removes plant
biomass". This can range from herbivore outbreaks, treefalls, fires, hurricanes,
floods, glacial advances, to volcanic eruptions. Such disturbances can cause large
changes in plant, animal and microbe populations, as well as soil organic matter content.
Disturbance is followed by succession, a "directional change in ecosystem structure and
functioning resulting from biotically driven changes in resource supply."

9. Conclusion
- Summary of Key Points: Recap the importance and functions of ecosystems.

- Call to Action: Emphasize the need for continued conservation and sustainable practices.

10. References
- List sources used for research and data.

This outline should give you a solid foundation for preparing your report. Adjust the sections as
needed based on the depth and focus of your project.