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ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURES & FUNCTIONS

CONTENTS

11. Ecosystem Structure and

Functions
V.K. GARG

Module 23 : Structure and Functions of Ecosystems

Learning Objectives

To Understand ecosystem components and structure

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 The key functional aspects of ecosystems
Energy flow and elemental cycling are linked
Concept of productivity and food webs
Ecosystem regulation and stability
Social–ecological systems, and ecosystem services

23.1. Introduction

The ecosystem has been a key organizational concept in ecology for many
years, an important theoretical and applied concept for studying global
change, and human environmental impacts. The ecosystem concept has
provided a conceptual framework for studying nature and for sustainable
management of natural resources (Odum, 1969; Aber et al., 1989; Vitousek et
al., 1997). Ecosystem concept has proved to be of practical value to
understand the complexity of natural systems and ecosystem properties. A
lake, an island or a watershed are good examples of ecosystems in the
context of systems theory of ecosystem analysis.
In 1935, A.G. Tansley, a British ecologist, defined an ecosystem as a basic
unit of nature, composed of the set of organisms and physical factors
forming the environment. Raymond Lindeman, while working on the Cedar
Bog Lake in Minnesota,USA gave the trophic dynamic concept in 1942 and
popularised the idea of the ecosystem as an energy transforming system.
E.P. Odum has been one of the most influential ecologists of the twentieth
century, laid foundations of the concept of ecosystem in ecological studies.
It has been defined as a “basic functional unit of nature which includes
organisms and their non-living environment, each interacting with the other
and influencing each other’s properties, and both necessary for maintenance
and development of system” (Odum 1953). A more elaborate definition
according to Odum (1971) is “the structural and functional unit of nature that
includes all of the organisms (i.e., “the community”) in a given area
interacting with the physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to
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 clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity and material cycles”.
According to the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity), an ecosystem is
“a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and
their non-living environment, interacting as a functional unit”, an integral
component of which are humans (United Nations 1992; Article 2 of CBD). In
all definitions, the concept of “interacting functional unit” in which living
and non-living components of the ecosystem are variously coupled is
emphasized.
Associated with the concept of ecosystem are those of structure and
ecosystem functioning. Structure is related to the organization and
distribution of elements within an ecosystem. Ecosystem functioning are
related to the exchange of materials and the flow of energy in an ecosystem.
23.2 . Ecosystem Components and Structure

The ecosystem has two major kinds of components: (1) Abiotic (non-living)
and (2) Biotic (living) components (Figs.23.1and 23.2).

2.1 Abiotic components

The abiotic structure is characterized by the quantity and distribution of

non-living materials, edaphic factors and the climate regime (light, rainfall
and temperature) (Figs.23.1and 23.2). The inorganic substances are carbon,
nitrogen, oxygen, CO2, and water, which are present in soil, water and air.
The atmosphere supplies carbon and nitrogen, whereas soil minerals, and
dissolved nutrients in water are a source of nutrients required by living
organisms. The organic compounds such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids,
and other complex molecules, form a link between biotic and abiotic
components of the system. The climatic factors like solar radiation and
temperature determine the abiotic conditions within which organisms carry
out their life functions. Soil is a medium of plant growth representing a
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 mixture of minerals and organic matter, capable of supplying all the essential
nutrients and water.

2.2 Biotic components

The organisms that make up the living part of the ecosystem (biotic
community) are divisible into two major categories, viz., autotrophs
(producers) and heterotrophs (consumers) (Figs.23.1and 23.2). This division is
based on the function of the organisms.
2.2.1 Autotrophs: These are the chlorophyll bearing organisms which
produce their own food by assimilating the solar energy and making use of
the simple inorganic abiotic substances. In terrestrial ecosystems, the
autotrophs are generally rooted plants (herbs, shrubs and trees). In open
water such as deep aquatic ecosystems and oceans, the dominant producers
are phytoplankton, which is –mostly microscopic organisms that float or
drift in the water. In freshwater and marine ecosystems, algae and plants are
the major producers near shorelines.

2.2.2 The heterotrophs: are the organisms, which cannot manufacture

their own food. The heterotrophs are two types:

(i) Phagotrophs or macro-consumers: The macro-consumers include

mainly the animals that ingest other organisms or particulate organic
matter (e.g., snail that ingests organic particles). The food of consumers
consists of organic compounds produced by other living organisms. The
phagotrophs may be herbivores (ingesting plants, e.g., goat, deer), or
carnivores (ingesting other animals – e.g., tiger, lion) or omnivores
(ingesting both plants and animals, e.g. bear, man). A primary consumer
that derives nutrition by eating plants is an herbivore. The secondary
consumer or carnivore is an animal that preys upon an herbivore of
other animals.
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 (ii)Microconsumers or saprotrophs: The saprotrophs are certain types of
bacteria and fungi. These are also called decomposers, which break down
complex dead organic matter in to simple inorganic forms, absorb some of
the decomposition products, and release inorganic nutrients that are reused
by the producers.
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 3. Ecosystem Structure

Ecosystem structure is a network of interactions between abiotic and

biotic components of the system. The biotic structure of the ecosystem is
characterized by the composition of the biological community including
species numbers, biomass, life-form, life-history and spatial distribution of
species. Species diversity at the levels of autotrophs, macroconsumers, and
decomposers is an important structural characteristic of the ecosystems.
The ecosystem level diversity refers to the complexity, showing the inter-
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 relationships among the different functional groups of organisms. The
structural aspects of ecosystems are discussed as follows:

3.1. Ecosystems at different spatial scales

Ecosystems may be considered to occur at different spatial scales, ranging

from a single bacterium in soil, to a whole tropical forest ecosystem
exhibiting stratification, a watershed, and the global ecosystem the whole
Earth.
Ecosystems are hierarchically structured, which indicates that patterns
manifest and processes operate at distinct spatial and temporal scales due to
the interaction of abiotic and biotic components. A hierarchy of ecosystems
ranging from a forest stand to a watershed and the whole landscape
(comprised of mosaic of habitats) is shown in Figure 3.
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 Fig.23.3. A hierarchy of ecosystems ranging from a forest ecosystem to a
watershed and the whole landscape (consisting of mosaic of habitats) Source
: Landscape photo SR Gupta ; Forest stand based on Singh et al.,2015).
23.3.2. Trophic structure

The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food web.

Plants form the first trophic level, also known as primary producers, as they
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 are able to convert solar energy into organic matter. The transfer energy
occurs to the upper trophic levels through a number of food pathways,
starting from plants. The uppermost trophic level includes top predators
that have no other species predating on them. Thus, the food relationships
between the structural components of the ecosystem, i.e., producers,
consumers, and decomposers. Each trophic level may contain many species.
These relationships facilitate the transfer of matter and energy between the
living components of the system, and between them and non-living
environment

23.3.3. Stratification

This refers to vertical structure of the organisms, which is a result of

different environmental conditions (light, water ability, etc.). For example, a
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 tropical rainforest exhibits vertical structure which consists of different
strata of vegetation.

23.4. Ecosystem Boundary

In some cases, the boundaries of the ecosystem are reasonably “apparent”,

as is in the case of a pond or a lake. The pond or a lake also is always
associated with a catchment or watershed, from which it receives the inflow
of water as well as of a variety of inorganic and organic substances. As
shown in Figure 4, the existence of the lake depends on its watershed, the
entire drainage basin (lake + watershed) may be considered as a single
ecosystem. Traditionally, earth’s ecosystems have been divided into
categories for comparing their structure and function.

Investigators often define a boundary around an area to delimit a locale in

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 which to study an ecosystem. For example, it could be the small watershed
ecosystem that is useful to quantify inflows and outflows of water and
dissolved elements. A watershed is the entire drainage of a stream or river,
from which all the surface water and ground water leave at a single point.
Watersheds have been used by scientists for measuring the input of
rainwater collected at various locations within the watersheds and output in
the streams that drain them. The watershed approach has been used by the
ecologists at Hubbard Brook Forest of New Hampshire, a pioneering study to
analyze nutrient cycling and regeneration processes for understanding how
ecosystem functions (see Likens, 2013).

23. 5. Ecosystem Functions

Ecosystems exhibit a natural tendency to persist which has been made

possible by a variety of functions performed by the structural components.
‘Functions’ refer to the biological, geochemical and physical processes that
take place within an ecosystem. Ecosystems are thermodynamically open,
which exhibit the exchange matter and energy with their environment. The
key functional aspects of ecosystems are energy flow, food chains and food
webs, biogeochemical cycling, ecosystem development, and ecosystem
regulation and stability.

23.5.1 Energy flow

The green plants capture the solar energy and convert it through the
process of photosynthesis into chemical energy of food and store it into
their body. This process is called primary productivity. The rate of total
capture of energy or total organic matter production by autotrophs (primary
producers) is known as gross primary production, Fig. 23.6. The autotrophs
use some of the energy they acquire for respiration. The remainder is the
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 net primary production, the amount of energy left for the heterotrophic
organisms. The energy is lost from the ecosystem when organic matter is
oxidized back to CO2 by the respiration of autotrophs and heterotrophs. At
the trophic level of heterotrophs, the rate of assimilation of energy is called
secondary productivity.

Generally, primary productivity on land increases from Polar regions, to

the equator except for the intervening strongly water-limited deserts. The
greater productivity of tropical regions to a large extent is due to the
favourable combination of high incident solar radiation, warm temperatures,
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 abundant rainfall, and high biological diversity. These factors result into
longer, almost year-round growing season. Aquatic gross primary
production depends on the quantity of phytoplankton and the vertical
profile of light and other physical factors. Microscopic phytoplanktons living
in oceans are responsible for more than 40% of Earth’s photosynthetic
production, but the ecosystem with the greatest net primary production
per unit area is the tropical rain forest.
5.2 Biogeochemical cycling

Nutrients move through the ecosystem in biogeochemical cycles. A

chemical element moves through the biotic and the abiotic components of
an ecosystem. Of the 30 to 40 elements necessary to life, six rank as the
most important: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and
phosphorus. These nutrients move from non-living to the living and back to
the non-living again in a cyclic manner (Fig.23.6). The biogeochemical cycles
are driven by energy flow and are crucial for the maintenance of life on
earth in its present form. The biogeochemical cycles are of two basic types,
viz., gaseous and sedimentary types. In the gaseous cycles (such as nitrogen
and carbon) the reservoir is in the atmosphere or hydrosphere (ocean). In
sedimentary types (for example, phosphorus cycle), the reservoir is in the
lithosphere.
The nutrients are first taken up by the autotrophs, bound in the organic
matter and move along the food chain to heterotrophic level and ultimately
from all trophic levels, with the detritus, to the decomposer food-chain. The
decomposers break down the complex organic compounds and release the
nutrients to the soil from where they are again taken up by the plants. These
biogeochemical cycles provide the foundation to understand how human
activities lead to eutrophication (nutrient enrichment) and global climate
change.
5.3 Food chains and Foodwebs
A trophic level is the position occupied by an organism in a food chain. A
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 linear arrangement of trophic levels is called food-chain along which the
energy flows (Fig. 23.7). At each trophic level some energy is lost as heat and
respiration, as a result available energy decreases moving away from the first
trophic level. Therefore, the number of trophic levels in a food chain is
limited. The herbivorous animals derive the energy by ingesting plants or
plant parts. These animals are eaten by carnivorous animals (first order
carnivore) which in turn are eaten by other carnivorous animals (second
order carnivore). In this chain of eating and being eaten away, the green
plants form the first trophic level, the herbivores the second trophic level,
and the carnivores constitute second order and the third trophic level, and
so on.
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 Grazing food chain: The food chain that starts from green plants constitutes
the grazing pathway
Green plants → herbivores → first order carnivores → second order
carnivores
Some examples of grazing food chain in an ecosystem would be:
Grass → Rabbit → Fox
Phytoplanktons → Zooplanktons → Fish → Man

Detritus food chain: In many cases, the principal energy input is not green
plants but dead organic matter. These are called detritus food chains.
Examples of detritus food chains include the forest floor, a salt marsh, and
the ocean floor in very deep areas.
Example of such a forest floor food chain is:
Dead leaves → Fungi → Collembola → Predatory mite

Detritivores get their nutrition by feeding on detritus, or freshly dead

organisms, before they are fully decomposed. Detritus feeders include
earthworms, some insects, hyenas, and vultures. In natural ecosystems,
decomposers and detritivores eliminate the build up of plant litter, animal
wastes, and dead plants and animals. Therefore, these organisms are the key
to nutrient cycling.

Food Web: An ecosystem contains several food-chains, often these food

chains are inter-linked forming a food web. Food webs provide another way
to describe the flow of energy through ecosystems. A food web is a complex
network of interconnected food chains. Food webs are useful in studies at
the ecosystem level.

Elton’s high Arctic ‘food web’ diagram is the classic study which has
depicted major pathways of nutrient/energy flux and the interdependence
between the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (Summerhayes and Elton,
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 1923). A more recent study has shown that there are the intricate food web
relationships among different types of organisms in this high arctic region. A
long-term study on invertebrate communities on W. Spitsbergen (500 km N
of Bear Island), Svalbard has contributed a more detailed and realistic
terrestrial food web based on a variety of published and unpublished data.
The main characteristics of the food web worked out in this study are: (i) the
presence of high number of species, (ii) the higher levels of connectivity
among species, (iii) the occurrence of the significantly longer food chains.
The simple vertebrate food web and its relationship to invertebrate food
web for the high arctic region are shown Fig. 23.8.
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 Food-chain length representing the number of feeding links from a basal
species to a top predator has been considered to be an important
characteristic of food webs. The various hypotheses relating to food-chain
length are: (i) the energy limitation hypothesis, (ii) the dynamic stability
hypothesis, (iii) the optimal foraging hypothesis, (iv) the design constraint
hypothesis (Pimm, 1982 and references therein). In addition, studies from
both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems suggest that food-chain length is
positively correlated with habitat area suggesting another possible
determinant of food-chain length ( Pimm, 1982).
5.4 Ecosystem Development
The gradual change in species composition and processes of communities
over time is known as ecological succession. As succession proceeds,
changes occur not only in the biotic community but also in physical
environment and overall structural and functional characteristics of
ecosystems in a holistic manner. Thus, succession has been considered as
ecosystem development that culminates in a stabilized ecosystem in which
biomass and symbiotic function between organisms are maintained per unit
of available energy flow (Odum 1969).
5.5. Ecosystem Regulation and Stability
Ecosystem is an open system with built-in homeostatic mechanisms. The
ecosystem is an open system as well as a cybernetic system:
The ecosystem is an open system because of the requirement of an
outside input in the form of solar radiation and an output to the
environment (e.g. heat of respiration) for continued operation, (Fig.23.9a).
Cybernetic system: In open systems, when some of the output
information may be fed back as input to control the functioning is called a
cybernetic system. A system responds to inputs and has outputs, and a
specialized kind of system response is called feedback (Fig. 23.9a ). This
feedback is of two types: positive feedback and negative feedback. In the
positive feedback, increased output results in increased input and therefore
in further increased output and so on. Reproduction is an example of
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 positive feedback: births increase population size, which in turn increases
the rate of reproduction, which leads to yet more births.
Negative feedback is one of the principal mechanisms of homeostasis- the
maintenance of dynamic equilibrium by internal regulation .This decreases
the amount of change and leads to stability and the state of dynamic
equilibrium. Predator–prey systems are examples of negative feedback.
Consumption of prey by a predator, for example, has a positive effect on the
consumer but a negative effect on the prey. The negative effect of predators
on prey prevents an uncontrolled growth of a predator’s population, thereby
stabilizing the population sizes of both predator and prey. If the negative
feedbacks are weak or absent, population cycles can amplify and lead to
extinction of one or both of the interacting species.
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 Resilience and resistance stability

The ecosystem stability has two components: resistance and resilience

(Holling 1973). The concept of resilience and resistance stability as applicable
to an ecosystem is shown in Fig.23.10. The degree of deviation from normal
operating range of the ecosystem function is resistance stability; the time
required for recovery of normal processes from a disturbance is resilience
stability. The resistance stability refers to the ability of the system to resist
the forces that tend to cause it to leave its equilibrium. The resilience is the
rapidity and ease with which the system returns to its original equilibrium
state following perturbation or the time needed for the system to return to
its pre-disturbance state.

6. Ecosystem Processes
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 Ecosystem processes are the transfers of energy and materials from one
compartment to another.. Fluxes involving biotic components include the
absorption of minerals nutrients by plants, the decomposition of dead
organic matter by soil microbes, the consumption of living plants or plant
parts by herbivores and the consumption of herbivores by carnivores. The
various ecosystem processes are briefly described as follows:
6.1 Photosynthesis

The functions are carried out in the ecosystem through the process of
photosynthesis involved in primary productivity. Most carbon enters
ecosystems through photosynthesis mediated by primary producers (plants
on land and phytoplankton in aquatic ecosystems. Most producers capture
photosynthetically active solar radiations to make carbohydrates (such as
glucose, C6H12O6) through the process of photosynthesis. In
photosynthesis, energy enters the system in the form of sunlight and carbon
enters as CO2.

The actual fixation of CO2 may be by one of the three different

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 photosynthetic pathways:

C3 photosynthetic pathway: About 85% of vascular-plant species fix

carbon by the C3 photosynthetic pathway, in which Rubisco is the primary
carboxylating enzyme. CO2 is initially bound to ribulose-1, 5-diphosphate
(RuDP) through the action of the enzyme RuDP carboxylase (Rubisco).
Current and future increase in CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere
provide C3 grasses, shrubs, and trees with a marked positive effect on
growth because of reductions in transpiration and stomatal
conductance(Ainsworth and Rogers 2007).

C4 photosynthetic pathway: About 3% of the global flora carries out

photosynthesis by the C4 photosynthetic pathway (Sage, 2004), and
contributes about 23% of terrestrial gross primary productivity. C4 species
dominate many warm, high-light environments, particularly tropical
grasslands and savannas. In C4 photosynthesis, phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP)
is first carboxylated by PEP carboxylase in mesophyll cells to produce four-
carbon organic acids. These organic acids are transported to specialized
bundle sheath cells, where they are decarboxylated. The CO2 released from
the organic acids then enters the normal C3 pathway of photosynthesis to
produce sugars that are exported from the leaf.

Crassulacean acid metabolism: CAM is a photosynthetic pathway that

enables plants to gain carbon under extremely dry conditions. About 10% of
the earth’s flora possesses CAM photosynthesis. Succulent plant species
(e.g., cacti) grow in dry environments, many epiphytes in the canopies of
tropical forests, gain carbon through CAM photosynthesis. CAM accounts
for a small proportion of terrestrial carbon gain because it is active only
under extremely dry conditions.

6.2. Chemosynthesis
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 A few producers, mostly chemosynthetic bacteria can convert simple
compounds from their environment into more complex nutrient compounds
without sunlight through the process of chemosynthesis. For example, the
sulphur bacteria Beggiatoa, which are abundantly found in sulphur springs.
The hydrothermal vents in some parts of ocean floor produce large amounts
of superheated ocean water and hydrogen sulphide gas. In the dark and hot
environment, specialized producer bacteria carry out chemosynthesis to
convert inorganic hydrogen sulphide to nutrients, they require for their
growth. The conversion of mineral-rich hydrothermal fluid into energy
through the process of chemosynthesis is a key aspect of these unique
ecosystems.
6.3 Respiration

The energy is lost from the ecosystem when organic matter is oxidized
back to CO2 by combustion or by the respiration of plants, animals, and
microbes. The percentage of respiration, for example may be only around 25
per cent of gross primary production in a cornfield and as high as 50-70 per
cent in some forests. The continual flow and degradation of energy through
an ecosystem are essential for life to persist.

6.4 Decomposition

Decomposition concerns the breakdown of complex organic matter by

decomposers to inorganic materials like carbon dioxide, water and various
mineral nutrients. The surface layer of soil is the main site for
decomposition processes in the ecosystem. Decomposition is a complex and
multi step process of breaking down of complex organic matter by soil
organisms to release free the nutrients for renewed uptake by the plants
(Swift et al., 1979). During the process of litter decomposition, a large
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 proportion of carbon is lost as respiration of decomposer organisms and
nutrients are released during mineralization.

The resource cascade model of decomposition shows the participation of

different substrates and soil biota in different phases of decomposition.
“Decomposition is a process of equivalent importance as photosynthesis and
needs to be understood in its full detail” (Heal et al., 1997). Most important
factors affecting the rate of decomposition are moisture, temperature, and
chemical composition of the substrate. Biodegradation of detritus in marine
systems is attracting the attention of marine biologist to understand their
role in oceanic carbon cycle, biological diversity and the importance of
detritus food webs in nutrient regeneration in the oceans.

6.5 Herbivory and carnivory

Herbivory refers to ingestion of living plants or plant parts by

heterotrophs, while carnivory refers to the ingestion of herbivores and other
heterotrophs by animals. In a typical terrestrial ecosystem,
herbivory may remove about 10% of net primary productivity; though
percentage varies in different types of ecosystems. For example, the
herbivory in different ecosystems amount to 2-3% for desert scrub, 4-7% for
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 forest, 10-15% for temperate grasslands, 30-60% for tropical grasslands and
grasslands managed for cattle raising (Singh et al., 2015).

The planet’s largest animal, the blue whale, is a carnivore. The blue whale
can reach 30 meters long and weigh as much as 200 tons. It feeds by taking
huge gulps of water and then filtering out tiny shrimp-like creatures called
krill. The blue whale can eat about 3.6 metric tons of krill every day. The
biggest land based predator in the world is the polar bear, which feeds
mainly on
seals(http://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/carnivore/).Consum
ers also influence the ecosystems by affecting nutrient cycling. The role of
herbivory in seed dispersal and plant diversity is well known. Studies have
indicated that consumers play an active role in the maintenance and
regulation of energy flow through the ecosystem and hence contribute to its
persistence.

7. Integration of humans into ecosystem framework

Humans depend on ecosystem properties and on the network of

interactions among organisms and within and among ecosystems for
sustenance, just like all other species. In performing various functions,
ecosystems provide materials to humans in the form of food, fiber, and
building materials and they contribute to the regulation of soil, air, and
water quality. Integration of humans and their socio-economic needs into
ecosystem framework is essential for ecological sustainability. As shown in
Figure 23.11, the ecosystem resources and services are dependent on energy,
biogeochemical and hydrological cycles and the various types of human
uses, which have an effect on these flows. Human activities have an
increasing impact on all the processes that govern ecosystem properties.
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 The human use of ecosystem services and support depends on the proper
functioning of local ecosystems linked to other multifunctional ecosystems
(Folke, 1998). The social-ecological systems approach emphasizes that
people, communities, economies, societies, and cultures are an integral part
of the biosphere and shape it, from local to global scales (Steffen et al.,
2004). It is now clear that the genetic and species diversity making up the
biosphere allows it to persist and adapt under changing conditions (Mace et
al., 2014).

8. Ecosystem Services
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 Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. The
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) distinguished four broad
categories of ecosystem services, i.e., provisioning, regulating, cultural, and
supporting services (MA, 2005). The provisioning services describe the
processes that yield foods, fibers, fuels, freshwater, biochemicals (medicinal
plants, pharmaceuticals), and genetic resources. The cultural services
comprise a set of largely non-material benefits of the ecosystems including
recreation and tourism and the spiritual, religious, esthetic, and
inspirationalwell-being. The regulating services are the benefits obtained
from regulation of ecosystem processes; include pollination, water
purification, and waste treatment; air quality maintenance, climate
regulation, hydrological flows, and disease regulation. The supporting
services are those that are necessary for the production of all other
ecosystem services (MA, 2005), The supporting services differ from
provisioning, regulating, and cultural services in that their impacts on people
are indirect.

23.9. Summary

1. Ecosystem constitutes a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-

organism communities and their non-living environment, interacting as
a functional unit (e.g., a lake, grassland, or a forest ecosystem).
2. The ecosystem has biotic and abiotic components. Abiotic components
are non-living, biotic components are the living organisms (biotic
community).
3. Ecosystem structure is a network of interactions between abiotic and
biotic components of the system.
4. Spatial scale refers to the distribution of ecosystems in space.
5. The rate of total organic matter production by autotrophs through the
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 process of photosynthesis is known as gross primary production.
6. Consumers are herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, or decomposers.
Decomposers recycle nutrients back to the producers by decomposing
the wastes and remains of other organisms.
7. Nutrients move through the ecosystem in biogeochemical cycles
(gaseous and sedimentary types).
8. During ecosystem development, changes occur in physical environment
and overall structural and functional characteristics of ecosystems over
a period of time.
9. The degree of deviation from normal operating range of the ecosystem
function is resistance stability; the time required for recovery of normal
processes is resilience stability..
10. Ecosystem processes are the transfers of energy and materials from one
pool to another. The various ecosystem processes are photosynthesis,
respiration, and decomposition, herbivory and carnivory.

you can view video on Ecosystem Structure and Functions

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