Lecture No.

5
AGRICULTURAL ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT BASIC PRINCIPLES
ECOSYSTEM AND HOW THEY WORK
Ecology was created by Ellen swallow, 100 years ago.
Ecology , from the Greek Oikos (house or place to live) and logos (study of ) , is
the study of how organisms interact with one another and with their physical and
chemical environment.
Ecology involves examining various ecosystems.

Communities of species

interacting with one another and with their non living environment of matter and
energy.
Key concepts and definitions
Spheres of the environment

the hydrosphere (water), the atmosphere (air), the

geosphere (earth), the biosphere (life) + anthrosphere (dealing with human activities and
technology).
Ecology
Ecology is the science that deals with the relationships between living organisms
with their physical environment and with each other.
Ecosystem consists of an assemblage of mutually interacting organism and their
environment, in which materials are interchanged in a largely cyclical manner.
Ecosystem has physical, chemical and biological components along with energy
sources and pathways of energy and materials interchange.
Ecosystem and Energy flow in Ecosystem
Ecosystem

Eco means the environment and system means a set of inter-

acting and inter-dependent living and non living components.

Eco-system is a complex, in which living organisms and environment form an

interacting unit, out of others.
Eg. pond, desert, ocean, biosphere
Kinds of ecosystems
Terrestrial / Aquatic
(Grassland, forest)
Running water
Fresh water
Aquatic ecosystem

Standing water
Sea
Marine
Ocean

Natural / Artificial

An eco-system has both structure and function.

The structure of an eco-system describes the composition of biological

community and physical features of environment (nutrients, climate).

From structural view- point, each eco-system has 2 components :

1. Biotic components
2. Abiotic component.

From functional point of view, each eco-system has two basic components ;
1. Autotrophic component
2. Heterotrophic components
The function of an eco-system is related to the flow of energy and cycling of materials
through the structural components.
BIOTIC COMPONENTS OF AN ECO-SYSTEM

Biotic components include all the living organisms present in the environment
system.

A. Autotropic components (Auto- self; troph-nourishing)

Autotrophs are known as producers Eg. Green plants, photo-synthetic bacteria

etc.

Producers absorb solar energy and prepare complex organic compounds with the
help of inorganic substances like Co2 and water from environment. This process
is photo-synthesis, carbon assimilation or primary biological productivity.

6 Co2 + 6 H2o chlorophyll

C6H12O6 + 6 O2

Thus solar energy is converted into chemical energy.

Based on size of producers, there are two types:

a) Micro producers

: Phytoplanktons, algae etc

b) Macro-producers

: Green plants.

HETEROTROPHIC COMPONENTS
(Hetero different : troph nourishing).

These are living organisms which are unable to prepare their own food but these
consume, rearrange and decompose the complex food material prepared by the
producers.

Heterotrophs are of 2 types :

a) Consumers
b) Decomposers and transformers.
A. Consumers Based on dependency, classified into:
i) Primary consumers, ii) Secondary c , iii) Tertiary c, iv) Parasites, Scavengers
and Saprobes.
Primary consumers

purely herbivorous animals

Eg. Cow, rabbit, insects etc.

Secondary consumers

may be carnivorous and omnivorous.

Eg. fox, snakes, dogs, etc.

Tertiary consumers

Top carnivores.

Eg. Lions, hawks, vultures etc.

Parasites, scavengers and saprobes
o Parasitic plants and animals feed on living tissues of different plants and animals.
o Scavengers and saprobes consume dead animals and plants as their food.

DECOMPOSERS AND TRANSFORMERS

o These are living organisms which constantly decompose organic substances in
dead organism and derive food and energy from them.
Dead plants and animals decomposers simpler organic
Compounds transformers inorganic forms.
ABIOTIC COMPONENTS
This components includes non-living part of the eco-system.
The non-living substances enter the body of living organisms, participate in
different physiological activities and finally return to the environment.
Abiotic components can be divided into :
A) Inorganic components

O2, CO2, Water, Phosphate etc.

b) Organic components proteins, carbohydrates, lipids etc.

c) Physical components

light, temperature, humidity etc.

there is a direct link between biotic and abiotic components (thro metabolic
bio-geo-chemical cycle and energy flow
Pont as an eco-system
Grassland as an eco-system.
FOOD CHAIN

 A food chain may be defined as the transfer of energy and nutrients from the
source in plants, through a series of organism with repeated processes of eating
and being eaten.
Food chain of different eco-system:
Grassland Eco-system
Green
Grass
Grass

Grasshopper
Rat
Goat

Toad

Snake

Hawk

Man

Tiger

Snake

Pond Eco-system
Phytoplankton

zooplankton

small fish

big fish.

The shorten the food chain, the more is the amount of energy available to the last
trophic levels.
FUNDAMENTALS OF ENVIRONMENT
Environment is defined as a holistic view of the world as it functions at any
point of time, with a multitude of spatial, elemental and socio-economic
systems, distinguished by quality and attributes of space and mode of
behaviour of abiotic and biotic forms.
Types and components of environment

Environment may be divided into two basic types- physical or abiotic

environment and biological or biotic environment

The physical environment is subdivided into : i) lithosphere (solid

earth). ii) Hydrosphere (water component) and iii) atmosphere (gas).

The biological environment is subdivided into : floral environment,

faunal environment and microbial environment.

Need for Environment studies

There is urgent need to protect the environment

awareness (environmental

education)

It helps in the maintenance of life and health and in the preservation of the
human, plant and animal race.

It helps to understand different food chains and ecological balance in nature.

It helps in appreciating and enjoying nature and society.

It generates concern for the changing environment for the welfare of mankind.

It directs attention towards the problems of population explosion, exhaustion of

natural resources and pollution of the environment and throws light on the
methods of solution.

Environmental problems of India

1. About 50 percent of the land is degraded and the situation continues to worsen.
2. There is need for more food production.
3. Each year 6 billion tons of rich top soil is being lost.
4. In many areas, subterranean water levels have declined almost five to ten times
below the surface, during the lat 50 years.
5. At least 35% of the people get their cooking fuel from the firewood they collect
by cutting down forest trees.
6. Each year, the country is loosing nearly 1.7 million hectares of life-sustaining
forests, in spite of many afforestation programmes.
7. The country has been adding annually 20 million people.

Environment means conditions of life. All flora (plants) and fauna (animals) needs
suitable condition for survival. The environment of earth is combination of two
things,
1. Physical environment non living elements viz., land, water and air.
2. Biological environment (living elements viz., plants, animals and
micro organisms.

 The ever changing surroundings or conditions under which a person or things

exists and develop referred as Dynamic Environment
Environmental planning means optimum utilization of earths resources for
sustainable growth.
Environmental management means rational adjustment of and with nature called
eco-friend ship by way of explanting and utilizing natural resources without
distributing ecological equilibrium