ECOSYSTEM

MODULE 3
Course Outline

• 1. Concept of an ecosystem,
• 2.Types of ecosystem,
• 3.Structure and function of an ecosystem, Producers, consumers and
decomposers.
• 4.Energy flow in the ecosystem, Food chains, food webs and
ecological pyramids.
• 5.Ecological succession.
• 6. Introduction, types, characteristic features, structure and function
of Forest ecosystem, Grassland ecosystem and Desert ecosystem,
Aquatic ecosystems (ponds, streams, lakes, rivers, ocean estuaries)
Ecosystem

• A system resulting from the integration of living and non-living

components of the environment is called ecosystem.

• A basic functional unit of organisms and their environment,

interacting with each other and with their own components is
termed as ecosystem.

• “The scientific study of the interactions of organisms with their

physical environment and with each other, is called ecology”.
 ECOSYSTEM
• First coined in 1935 by the Oxford ecologist Arthur
Tansley to encompass the interactions among biotic
and abiotic components of the environment at a given
site.
• Definition:- A unit that includes all the organisms, ie.,
the community in a given area interacting with the
physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to
clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity and
material cycles.
Characteristics of the ecosystem

1. A major structural and functional unit of ecology

2. Structure of an ecosystem is related to its species
diversity in the sense that complex ecosystem have
high species diversity
3. Function of ecosystem is related to energy flow
and material cycles within and outside the system.
4. The function of every ecosystem involves a series
of cycles, eg., water cycle, nitrogen cycle, oxygen
cycle, etc.
ASPECTS OF ECO-
SYSTEM

• The eco-system can be defined as any spatial or

organizational unit including living organisms and
non-living substances interacting to produce an
exchange of materials between the living and non-
living parts.
• 1. Structural Aspect
• The structural aspects of ecosystem include a
description of the arrangement, types and numbers
of species and their life histories, along with a
description of the physical features of the
environment.
• 2. Functional
• The functional aspects of the ecosystem include the
flow of energy and the cycling of nutrients
 • (1) Producer
Photosynthetic algae, plants and
bacteria are the producers of the
ecosystem; all other organisms depend
upon them directly or indirectly for
food.
• (2) Consumers
Division of Consumers are herbivorous,
Ecosystem carnivorous, and omnivorous animals;
they eat the organic matter produced
by other organisms.
• (3) Reducers
Reducers are heterotrophic organisms
like animals; they are fungi and
bacterial that decompose dead organic
matter
Types of ecosystem
1. Natural ecosystems:- capable of operating
and maintaining themselves without any
major interference by man.
• Terrestrial ecosystems:- forest,
grasslands and desert.
• Aquatic :- fresh water, viz. pond, lake,
river
• Marine:- ocean, sea or estuary
2. Artificial ecosystem:-maintained by man,
manipulated by man for different purposes,
eg., croplands, artificial lakes, reservoirs,
townships and cities.
Functions of an ecosystem

1. Energy flow in an
ecosystem
2. Food chain, food web
and ecological
pyramids
3. Biogeochemical cycles
4. Ecological succession
 On average about 10% of net energy
production at one trophic level is passed
on to the next level.
Processes that reduce the energy
transferred between trophic levels
include respiration, growth and
Energy flow reproduction, defecation and non-
in an predatory death.
ecosystem The low rate of energy transfer between
trophic levels makes decomposers more
important than producers in terms of
energy flow.
Decomposers process large amounts of
organic material and return nutrients to
the ecosystem in inorganic form.
Energy is not recycled during
decomposition, but rather is released
mostly as heat.
 Food chain
Food chains: A food chain is a
series of populations through
which food and the energy
contained in it passes in an
ecosystem.

There are two main types of

food chain:
1. Predator or grazing food
chain
2. Detritus food chain
1. Predator
or grazing
food chain
 Predator or
grazing food chain
• The grazing food chain begins with the
photosynthetic fixation of light, carbon dioxide
and water by plants (primary producers) that
produce sugars and other organic molecules.
• Primary consumers or herbivores form the
second link in the grazing food chain.
• Secondary consumers or primary carnivores,
form third link in the chain.
• Tertiary consumers or secondary carnivores
receive their organic energy by consuming
primary carnivores.
• Example:- Grass--- Rabbit---Fox---Wolf----Tiger
• Grass- Cattle-Man
 • The organisms making it up are generally
smaller ( algae, bacteria, fungi, insects &
centipedes). They get energy and nutrients
by decomposing dead organic matter or
detritus.
Detritus
Food Chain • The functional roles of the different
organisms do not fall as neatly into
categories like the grazing food chains
trophic levels

• Example:
• Detritus–--- Earthworm—Sparrow--Falcon
 • Interlocking pattern of several
interlinked food chains is termed as
Food Web.
Food web
• Food web shows the transfer of
energy in the ecosystem
 • An ecological pyramid is a
graphical representation of the
relationship between different
organisms in an ecosystem.

Ecological • Each of the bars that make up

pyramid the pyramid represents a
different trophic level and their
order, which is based on who
eats whom, represents the flow
of energy.
 1. Pyramid of Number
Types of 2. Pyramid of Biomass
pyramids
3. Pyramid of Energy
 • The pyramid illustrates the
relationship between the
number of producers,
Pyramid of herbivores and carnivores. The
organisms of an area are first
Numbers counted and then grouped into
their trophic levels.
1. Forest ecosystem
2. Grassland ecosystem
3. Pond ecosystem
forest ecosystem
 • The shape of pyramid is
Forest rhomboidal.
ecosystem
• The number of primary
consumers is more than the
number of producers.

• Thereafter, the number of

secondary and tertiary
consumers decreases
progressively.
Grassland
ecosystem
 • Grasses are producers.

• The number of consumers decreases

Grassland towards the top of the pyramid
ecosystem
• Pyramid of number is straight or
upright
Pond ecosystem
 • The number of organism
decreases progressively
from the first trophic level
Pond to the last trophic level.
ecosystem
• Therefore, the pyramid of
number in pond ecosystem
is straight upright
Pyramid of biomass
• The total mass of organisms is
called biomass.
• Biomass is a measurement of the
amount of living organisms in an
area. It shows the total dry mass
of organisms found at each
trophic level.
• g/m₂ is the unit used in a
pyramid of biomass.

1. forest ecosystem and

grassland ecosystem
2. pond ecosystem
 • The energy in the form of food
gets transferred from one
trophic level to another.
• The flow of energy is always uni-
directional.
Pyramid of
• The amount of energy decreases
energy with each successive higher
trophic level.
• Therefore, in all types of
ecosystem, such a pyramid
would be upright
Energy
pyramid
 • 1. Transformation of Solar Energy into
Food Energy
• 2. The Circulation of elements through
Energy Flow
Functions of • 3. The Conversion of Elements into
Eco-system Inorganic Flow
• 4. The Growth and Development of
Plants
• 5. Productivity of ecosystem
 • The transport and transformation of
substances in the environment,
through life, air, sea, land and ice are
collectively known as biogeochemical
Biogeochemica cycles.
l cycling
• These global cycle include the
circulation of certain elements or
nutrients upon which life and the
earth climate depend.
Ecological succession

The gradual and continuous replacement of plant and animal

species by other species until eventually the community as a
whole is replaced by another type of community.

Succession begins when an area is made partially or

completely devoid of vegetation because of a disturbance.

Some common mechanisms of disturbances are fires, wind

storms, volcanic eruptions, logging, climate change, severe
flooding, disease and pest infection.