CONCEPT OF THE ECOSYSTEM

Ecology is primarily concerned with interactions between four levels of

organizations.
Organisms: Individual organisms in relation to other organisms.
Populations: Groups of organisms of the same species and how they
interact with each other.
Communities: Natural assemblages of population of different species and
their interections.
Ecosystems: The entire natural systems composed of communities and
their physical environment.
The existence of communities depends on environmental factors and
various processes have to occur for communities to exist as functioning
ecological systems or ecosystems. The emphasis in this lecture is describing
ecosystems and the processes within them.
Meaning of an Ecosystem: In Nature, we find populations of different
organisms living together in a particular area. The group of organisms
occupying and functioning as a unit in a given locality is called a
community. Ecologists regard organisms and their environment that
Fuction together as an ecological system or an ecosystem.
The earlier word used by ecologists to mean a natural community and the
associated physical environment functioning as a system was biocoenose.
The term ecosystem was first suggested in 1935 by an English ecologist
Tansley whose definition included not only the complex of organisms but
the whole complex of physical factors forming the environment.
An ecosystem can be defined in several ways but essentially an ecosystem
is any unit of organisms in a given area interacting with each other and with
the physical environment. An ecosystem can, therefore, be a garden, a
forest, or a pond.
Among the large terrestrial ecosystems, usually known as biomes, are the
forests, savannas, grasslands and deserts, whereas the large aquatic
ecosystems are rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. The boundaries of
ecosystems are arbitrary and are selected for convenience of study.

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Biotic or living component
From the definition it is clear that an ecosystem has the following two basic
components: the biotic component or living component and the abiotic
component or nonliving component.
Biotic or living component
The biotic component of the ecosystem includes the producers, consumers
and decomposers.
• 1- Producers:They are the autotrophic (self-feeding) organisms,
largely green plants that manufacture organic compounds from
simple inorganic substances using sun's energy by photosynthesis.
These vary in size from tiny phytoplankton in water systems to giant
trees.
2-Consumers:Consist of the heterotrophs (other-feeding) or organisms,
mainly animals, that cannot manufacture their own food and must
consume the organic compounds of plants or animals. These are often
divided into following categories:
• Primary consumers: These are plant eating animals or herbivores.
such as grasshoppers, rabbits, cow, goats, wildebeest, buffalo,
elephants and others.
• Secondary consumers: These are meat eaters or carnivores that feed
on the primary consumers or herbivores. Included in this category
are lizards, frogs, cats, lions, some birds and fish or human beings.
• Tertiary or higher level consumers: These are high level carnivores
that feed on the secondary consumers. These may be dogs, cats,
lions, hyenas, birds; fish or human beings.
• Omnivores: These are a special category of animals that feed on both
plants and other animals. Depending on the level and what they feed
on, they may be primary, secondary or tertiary or higher level
consumers. Human beings and certain animals such as pigs are
among the omnivores.

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3-Decomposers: Decomposers are the heterotrophic microorganisms,
chiefly bacteria and fungi that break down complex compounds of dead
organisms. They release mineral nutrients that are reused by producers
thus completing the cycle of nutrients in the ecosystem. Their nutrition
is said to be saprophytic, that is, associated with rotten and decaying
matter.
Note A saprophyte or saprotroph is an organism which gets its energy
from dead and decaying organic matter. This may be decaying pieces of
plants or animals. This means that saprophytes are heterotrophs. They
are consumers in the food chain.
Processes in the biotic component
Light energy from the sun (solar energy) is the source that ultimately
supports (powers) all ecosystems.
Processes in the biotic component
Light energy from the sun (solar energy) is the source that ultimately
supports (powers) all ecosystems.
photosynthesis into chemical energy of food using simple inorganic
substances. the producers are consumed or eaten by primary
consumers, that is, herbivores. The primary consumers are in turn eaten
by secondary consumers or carnivores. Finally, the decomposers which
live on dead and decaying organic material disassemble the organic
material. During this process, decomposers release energy which is lost
but remobilize nutrients that recycle in the ecosystem.
Abiotic or nonliving component
The abiotic component includes the substrate, inorganic substances and
climatic factors.
Substrate: The substrate is either the soil or water in which organisms
are found. The origin of the soil in terms of its geology and mineralogy
will determine the characteristics of the substrate. Similarly, the type of
water and materials in it will create different substrate conditions. For
example, fresh water is different from the ocean or sea water.
Organisms living in the two types of water will experience different
environmental conditions.

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Inorganic substances:These include the gases particularly oxygen and
carbon dioxide, and various essential elements or chemicals such as
potassium, nitrogen, phosphorous, sodium and calcium. These are
critical chemicals that are fixed and incorporated into organic matter
through photosynthesis by plants. These chemicals have, therefore, to
be recycled again and again in any ecosystem.
Climatic factors: These factors are temperature, Precipitation,
atmospheric humidity, wind and light. These greatly influence organisms
and delimit the conditions of their existence. In addition, the climatic
conditions have a major role on the processes that take place in
ecosystems. For example, photosynthesis vary with temperature and
light intensity. Similarly, the rate of decomposition varies with
temperature and humidity, being higher in warm and humid tropical
areas than in cold temperate areas.
Limiting Factors in Ecosystems
A particular combination of plants and animals in a given ecosystem is
primarily a function of temperature, light, humidity, precipitation, and
soil factors. Thus a single factor such as rainfall, humidity, temperature,
or concentration of an element like manganese, iron or phosphorous in
the soil can determine the presence or absence of a species in an area
and therefore determine the type of ecosystem.
This generalization is usually known as the law of the minimum, or the
limiting factor principle. The single factor that is most deficient in an
ecosystem or biome determines the presence or absence of particular
plant and animal species. For example, regardless of how suitable the
conditions of temperature, sunlight, and mineral concentration in the
soil, the resulting ecosystem can still be a desert if precipitation is very
low.
Thus as a general rule, climate determines which plants can live in an
area, whereas the types and distribution of animals are determined
together by climate, plants and the soil.

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Functioning of Ecosystems
In an ecosystem the processes that take place are transformation,
accumulation and circulation of materials or flow of energy. The solar
energy is transformed into chemical energy and accumulated by plants.
This energy is passed on from plants to the secondary and higher level
consumers.
On the other hand, the non-energy materials circulate, for example,
nitrogen, carbon, water and other materials which organisms are
composed of, may circulate many times between the living and
nonliving components of the ecosystem.
In contrast, energy is used only once by a given organism or population
by being converted into heat. It can no longer power the life processes
and it is lost from the ecosystem. Therefore in any ecosystem there is
energy flow, nutrients cycling and water cycling (hydrological cycle).
These processes are discussed in the chapters that follow.
Basic Features of Ecosystems
• From previous sections, it is now clear that an ecosystem is an area
with a boundary through which the there is an input and output of
energy and materials. However, the boundaries around ecosystems
are usually arbitrary and they are selected for convenience of study.
• As a generalization, all ecosystems have the following attributes or
features:
• Each ecosystem is a complex functional entity within which there is a
constant exchange of matter and energy between different
components. It is therefore difficult to predict anything without
considerable knowledge of the structure and functional processes in
the system.
• Ecosystems are not isolated entities but they are interconnected,
interdependent and interact. Because of this, a change in any one
will result in a subsequent change in almost all others.
• Because of the complexity in organization, interaction,
interdependency and functioning of these systems. It may not be

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 easy to delimit the geographical boundaries of one ecosystem from
another.
• Ecosystems are not static, that is, unchanging systems. Apart from
the continuous exchanges of matter and energy, the entire structure
and function of an ecosystem undergoes change after sometime.
• Ecosystems are never entirely stable but are in most cases delicate
and can very easily be disrupted.
Stability and Disruption of Ecosystems
Ecosystems maintain their overall stability by three major mechanisms:
• Controlling the energy flow through the system.
• Controlling the rate of nutrients cycling within the system.
• Maintaining a diversity of species and food webs so that the stability
is not affected seriously by the loss of species or food web links.
Some of the major problems that occur in ecosystems are:
• Disruption of essential nutrients cycles by breaking the cycle,
changing the rate of nutrients cycling, and introducing human-made
chemicals into the cycles.
• Disruption of energy. Flow by decreasing or increasing solar energy
input due to changing properties of the atmosphere.
• Disruption of the ecosystem by reducing the diversity of species and
food webs.
All these problems are discussed in detail in the chapters that follow.
FLOW OF ENERGY IN ECOSYSTEMS
Introduction. In the last lecture it was pointed out that in an ecosystem
the processes that take place are transformation, accumulation and
circulation of materials or flow of energy. The solar energy is
transformed into chemical energy and accumulated by plants. This
energy is passed on from plants to the secondary and higher level
consumers. This lecture discusses how this energy flows in an
ecosystem.

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Food Chain. The transfer of energy fixed by plants from solar energy to
herbivores, carnivores to higher level consumers is through a series of
organisms eating and being eaten. This sequence of eating and being
eaten is known as food chain. Thus, the process of food energy flow in
ecosystems is through food chains. For example, a plant may be eaten
by an animal which in turn is eaten by another animal. This animal again
may be eaten by another animal. The sequence of a food chain is
depicted by arrows connecting the organism being eaten to the
organism eating it as indicated below:
Plant ------ Herbivore ------- Carnivore------ Second carnivore
Example: Grass ------- - Grasshopper -------- Bird---Human
or: Dead grass ---- Termite ------ Aardvark ----- Lion
In ecosystems there· are two major food chains, that is, the grazing
food chain and the detritus or Decomposer food chain.
Grazing food chain. The grazing food chain is where energy is passed
through living organisms and is represented as:
Plant ----- animal -------- animal

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Detritus or decomposer food chain. The detritus food chain is where
energy is passed from dead organisms or organic matter to
decomposers and is represented as.:
Dead organic matter -------- decomposer

One important feature of a food chain is that the transfer of energy

from one step to another is not complete. This is in accordance with the
second law of energy or thermodynamics which states that no
conversion of energy from one form to another is 100% efficient, that is,
in any energy conversion, some energy's wasted. In food chains, quite a
considerable portion of energy (approximately 90%) is lost through
respiration, waste products (faeces and urine), and heat is lost to the
environment.
Therefore, organisms at each step pass on less energy to the organisms
in the next step than the energy obtained from organisms fed upon in
the earlier stage. This limits the number of steps in the food chain to
four or five. Thus, the longer the food chain the less energy is available
for the final consumers.

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Food Webs Ecosystems are complex and the transfer of energy along a
single food chain does not provide an adequate understanding of energy
relationships of the whole ecosystem. Organisms usually share food
sources particularly at the beginning of the food chain. For example, a
plant species may be eaten by a variety of herbivores and a herbivore
species may also be eaten by several or many carnivores. As a result,
food chair become interlinked to form a complex network known as the
food web
Food chains are components of this intricate network or food web which
shows the pattern of energy or nutrient flow in the ecosystem. The
complexity of food webs varies within ecosystems and between
ecosystems and this depends on the complexity of ecosystems.

Trophic levels. In ecosystems, organisms that obtain food from plants by

the same number of steps are said to belong to the same trophic level
(nourishment level). The food web can be represented in a general form
by grouping organisms into deferent trophic levels of the ecosystem.
Thus green plants occupy the first trophic level, herbivores are in the
second trophic level, carnivores are in the third trophic level, the fourth
level is of tertiary consumers and perhaps higher trophic levels of
higher level consumers. Decomposers can belong to the any trophic
level depending on their food sources.
This trophic levels classification is based on function and not based on
species because a given species may occupy one or more trophic levels

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depending upon the source of energy. In ecosystems, organisms at one
trophic level are physically dispersed and intermixed with organisms of
other trophic levels.
The comparison of food webs in different ecosystems would be difficult
because of:
 the complexity of food webs;
 The different species involved at each trophic level; and that food
webs are non-quantitative.
To overcome this the trophic levels are represented by three ecological
pyramids.
Ecological pyramids
There are three types of ecological pyramids. namely: pyramid of
numbers, pyramid of biomass and pyramid of energy.
Pyramid of numbers
This ecological pyramid is a pile of rectangles representing successive
trophic levels in the food web, the area of each rectangle being
proportional to the number of organisms in the corresponding trophic
level. The resulting figure may be pyramid-shaped if the body size of the
organisms either remains constant or increases up the pyramid (Figure
4a). If this is not the case, for example, where the primary and
secondary consumers are successively smaller in body size, the pyramid
may have an inverted shape.
The pyramid of numbers, however, gives no indication of the biomass or
weight (usually dry weight) of organisms and is not a very good
appropriate way of comparing food relations. For example, a tree
cannot be equated with a small plant or an elephant with an insect like a
grasshopper. To overcome this problem, the pyramid of biomass is used
in anticipation to account for the differences in organisms body size.

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Pyramid of biomass.
this pyramid differs from the pyramid of numbers in that the area of the
rectangles is proportional to the biomass of the organisms in each
trophic level (Figure 4c-d). The pyramid of biomass gives a better picture
of the distribution of energy through the ecosystem facilitating the
comparison of different trophic levels and in different ecosystems.
However, this pyramid is not much better than the pyramid of numbers
for representation of the energy dynamics in the ecosystem. This is
because organisms with low biomass may have high energy productivity
or value being able to support organisms high or large biomass. For
example, plant food usually contains less energy per unit weight than
does herbivore tissue. The pyramid of biomass tells us little about the
energy flow and therefore the pyramid of energy is adopted.

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Pyramid of energy
In this pyramid the area of each rectangle is proportional to the flow of
energy in that trophic level (Figure 4e). In other words, the pyramid of
energy shows the flow of energy in the trophic levels. This is different
from the pyramid of numbers or pyramid of biomass. The pyramid of
energy is always upright, that is, it can never be inverted.
This is because of the second law of thermodynamics about
transformation or transfer of energy; There is a loss of energy as it is
transferred from one trophic level to the next. This implies that there
can never be the same amount or more energy flowing or being passed
from a lower trophic level to the next upper trophic level.

Production in Ecosystems
Production in ecosystems involves the fixation and transfer of energy
through the trophic levels. However, as stated earlier that there is loss
of energy along the food chain because all organisms dissipate energy
through respiration. As a result production at one trophic level is always
less than that of the preceding level. In ecosystems there are two
categories of production and these are primary production and
secondary production.

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Primary production
The amount of energy accumulated by plants as biomass is primary
production since it is the first and basic form of energy storage. The total
amount of organic matter fixed by plants is called gross primary
production. It is the total sun's energy fixed including" energy that is
used up by plants for respiration. The energy remaining in excess of
respiration is the net primary production. This is the energy that is
potentially available to consumers (heterotrophs) in the ecosystem.
Secondary production
The energy that is consumed by primary consumers is not all
assimilated because some of the energy is lost through respiration,
faeces and urine. The net energy remaining for production of organic
matter in the heterotrophs is the secondary production. Secondary
production, like primary production, can be described by energy transfer
efficiencies between the trophic levels. The three major efficiencies are
consumption efficiency, assimilation efficiency and production efficiency.
Consumption efficiency
This is a measure of the amount of energy transferred from one trophic
level to the next. This can be estimated from the food intake of
individual animals and the consumption be estimated for the
population. For example, the consumption efficiency of a herbivore
population in an area can be estimated as the total annual consumption
of all herbivore populations and expressed as a percentage of the annual
net production. Generally, the consumption efficiency between trophic
levels is given as:
Energy consumed by trophic level n
Energy consumed by trophic level n - 1
The consumption efficiency depends on the food availability, and with
regard to herbivores, food is low during the dry season and high during
the rain season.

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NUTRIENT AND HYDROLOGICAL CYCLES IN ECOSYSTEMS
Introduction. Nutrients are substance that provides nourishment
essential for growth and the maintenance of life. Nutrients and water
are essential for ecosystems to continue functioning. These must cycle
within and between the components of the ecosystems. In this lecture
the cycle of some nutrients and water are examined.
Nutrient Cycles: The chemical elements or nutrients from the inorganic
sources in the physical environment (mainly the atmosphere, soil and
water) are incorporated into bodies of organisms. When organisms die,
decomposition releases nutrients into the environment that may be
available for uptake by autotrophs, the green plants. Contrary to the
flow of energy which is linear, most of these materials cycle through
ecosystems so that they can be used over and over again.
Nutrientsthat are required by organisms, primarily autotrophs,
may be classified into macronutrients and micronutrients. The
macronutrients are required in relatively large amounts and they
include: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, potassium, calcium
magnesium, sulphur and phosphorous. The micronutrients are those
which are required in small quantities.
Among them are iron, manganese, copper, zinc, boron sodium and so
on. These nutrients have to cycle or circulate in ecosystems because the
continued functioning and maintenance of an ecosystem depends on
the supply and circulation of these nutrients.
Hence the efficiency of transfer and circulation of macronutrients and
micronutrients is most critical in all ecosystems. Some of the nutrient
cycles are the carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle and phosphorous cycle.
The carbon cycle:Carbon is the basic building block element of large
molecules necessary for life.The source of carbon for plants is the
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and dissolved carbon dioxide in
water. Carbon also occurs in the earth's crust as carbonate rocks such
as limestone. Volcanos can return carbon dioxide to the air and water
during eruptions.

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The carbon is converted from carbon dioxide into sugars by green plants
and into organic molecules by photosynthesis. From there the carbon is
transferred through ingestion along the food chains to herbivores and
carnivores.
At each stage part of the carbon stored in the complex food molecules is
broken down through respiration to release energy and carbon is cycled
back as carbon dioxide to the air and water. The remaining carbon in
returned to air and water when anorganisms die and decay through
decomposers.
Through millions of years a fraction of the carbon from decayed plants
and animals has been incorporated into the earth's crust by geological
processes and converted into form fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas).
The fossil fuels represent a sink for carbon and the carbon in fossil fuels
can be returned to the carbon cycle by burning which is also similar with
plants.
The carbon cycle is unusual among nutrient cycles in that it does not
necessarily to depend on decomposers. This is because take their carbon
from the atmosphere in the same form, carbon dioxide, as carbon
released by all organisms in respiration. Therefore even if decomposers
were removed, carbon would still be able to cycle in ecosystems.
The nitrogen cycle:Nitrogen is an important element because it a
constituent of some biological molecules, for example, proteins, nucleic
acids, chlorophyll, enzymes and hormones. Most of the nitrogen in living
organisms does not enter directly from the atmosphere.
Instead, the nitrogen fixing bacteria in the soil, algae in water (especially
bltue-green algae in aquatic ecosystems) and in roots of leguminous
plants convert the gaseous nitrogen into nitrates. Also some nitrogen is
fixed into nitrates by lightning. These nitrate salts dissolve in soil water
and are absorbed by plants and converted into nucleic acids and
proteins.

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When animals, especially herbivores, feed on these plants, some of the
nitrogen is passed to the animals and eventually to other animals, that
is, carnivores. When the organisms excrete the nitrogenous waste or die
their nitrogen is converted to ammonia gas and soluble ammonium salts
saprotrophic fungi and bacteria. These are converted by nitrifying
bacteria either into nitrite then to nitrate.
Plants can absorb the dissolved ammonium or the nitrate to begin the
nitrogen cycle again. Some of the nitrate is converted to nitrogen by
denitrification of bacteria. A small amount of nitrogen in the form of
soluble nitrates is lost from the cycle through leaching and run off into
rivers and streams, and eventually to oceans.
The phosphorous cycle:In living organisms phosphorous is an important
component of nucleic acids, cell membranes, teeth and bones. The
phosphorous cycle is interesting because unlike the carbon and
nitrogen cycles, it lacks an atmospheric component. Phosphorous is
absorbed by plants from the soil as dihydrogenphosphate or
hydrogenphosphate.
It is then passed to animals, that is herbivores and then carnivores. It is
eventually returned to the soil, rivers and oceans as animal excretion or
through decomposition after death. The major reservoirs of phosphors
are rocks in the earth's crust. Its release through weathering and erosion
is slow, thus in most soils and waters, phosphorous is in short supply.
Most of it is deposited on the bottom of shallow ocean areas which may
build up and may be raised as mountains by geological uplift starting the
cycle again. Some of the phosphorous is deposited in deep ocean
sediments. Therefore a phosphorous atom, unless deep in the earth or
ocean, is likely to spend much of its time in organisms.
2-Hydrological or Water Cycle:All life require water since it is a
constituent of all living organisms. Therefore terrestrial ecosystems are
directly dependent upon water as a determining factor in the their
functioning. Water has been called the "web of life" implying the
interdependence and complex nature of life and water. Moreover, all
life processes involve chemical reactions in aqueous solutions.

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1-Pattern of water movement: The movement of water therefore is a
crucial factor in ecological systems. The water cycle is driven by inputs of
the solar energy and the basic pattern of the water cycle has four major
divisions.
 Water evaporates into the atmosphere from water bodies, that is,
rivers, ponds, lakes and oceans.
 From the atmosphere, water vapour condenses and falls on land as
rain, snow or hail.
 On land, water percolates through the soil or runs over the ground
(runoff), moving toward the lowest point of the watershed in
question to form the ground water system.
 The water eventually returns to the oceans from where most of it
had evaporated from.
2-Forms of water from air to land: The moisture or water in the air may
fall on land in various forms, the most obvious are rain and snow. Under
certain low temperature conditions, rain forms ice particles or hail
rather than snow. Hail can reach several centimeters in diameter which
can damage vegetation and even kill animals.
Other forms of water from the air are dew and fog drip. Dew is the
condensation of water vapour on cold soil, cold plant surfaces or snow.
It usually occurs on clear nights when surfaces cool by radiation loss.
When the dew is heavy, water may run down stems or drip to the
ground where it can be used by plants especially by dry land species.
Fog drip is water that results from fog and mist particles coming in
contact with vegetation surfaces. Fog drip is important especially in
forests at high elevations or in humid coastal or foggy areas. The effects
of these forms of water in ecosystems are determined not only by the
total quantity per year but also the their seasonal distribution. Water
being an important factor for life, water falling on land determines the
type of community that develop on the area.
3-Water movement in the soil:In terrestrial ecosystems, water reaching
the ground can either flow laterally over the surface (water run off) or
penetrate the soil in the process known as infiltration. Once in the soil,

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the movement of water is called percolation. The movement of water
into and through the soil is affected by soil characteristics which include
organic matter, soil texture and structure. The last two parameters
define the size and arrangement of pores in the soil.
The water percolates slowly down into cracks in the underlying
material, moves laterally (seepage water) until it joins either surface
water or a subterranean body of water. As some of the water percolates
through the soil it is taken up by plants and is later lost through
transpiration to the atmosphere.
It is estimated that streams and rivers hold about ten times more water
at any one instant than does the atmosphere. Ponds and lakes hold
about ten times more water than streams and rivers. Water in streams
and rivers is more rapidly renewed than ponds and lakes but the water
in oceans is almost never renewed.
It is important to emphasize that the cycling of water through the
biosphere is essentially balanced and there is no net gain or loss over a
period of several thousand years. Finally, the natural recycling of water
is "free" but constitutes a vast use of solar energy that drives (pumps)
water up, that is, water evaporation from rivers, ponds lakes and
oceans.

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