Ecosystem

An ecosystem, a term very often used in biology, is a community of plants and

animals interacting with each other in a given area, and also with their non-
living environments. The non-living environments include weather, earth,
sun, soil, climate and atmosphere.
The ecosystem relates to the way that all these different organisms live in
close proximity to each other and how they interact with each other. For
instance, in an ecosystem where there are both rabbits and foxes, these two
creatures are in a relationship where the fox eats the rabbit in order to survive.
This relationship has a knock-on effect with the other creatures and plants
that live in the same or similar areas. For instance, the more rabbits that
foxes eat, the more the plants may start to thrive because there are fewer
rabbits to eat them.

The ecosystem is the structural and functional unit of ecology where the living
organisms interact with each other and the surrounding environment. In
other words, an ecosystem is a chain of interaction between organisms and
their environment. The term “Ecosystem” was first coined by A.G.Tansley, an
English botanist, in 1935.

“An ecosystem is defined as a community of lifeforms in concurrence

with non-living components, interacting with each other.”

Ecosystems can be huge, with many hundreds of different animals and

plants all living in a delicate balance, or they could be relatively small. In
particularly harsh places in the world, such as the North and South Poles,
the ecosystems are relatively simple because there are only a few types of
creatures that can withstand the freezing temperatures and harsh living
conditions.
Some creatures can be found in multiple different ecosystems all over the
world in different relationships with other or similar creatures. Ecosystems
also consist of creatures that mutually benefit from each other.

An ecosystem can be destroyed by a stranger. The stranger could be a rise in

temperature or rise in sea level or climate change. The stranger can affect the
natural balance and can harm or destroy the ecosystem. Its a bit unfortunate
but ecosystems have been destroyed and vanished by man-made activities
like deforestation, urbanization and natural activities like floods, storms, fires
or volcanic eruptions.
Structure of Ecosystem

Each ecosystem has two main components:

1. Abiotic Components
The non-living factors or the physical environment prevailing in an ecosystem
form the abiotic components. These are Climatic Factors that include rain,
temperature, light, wind, humidity etc. and Edaphic Factors including soil,
pH, topography minerals etc.

2. Biotic Components
The living organisms such as plants, animals and micro-organisms (Bacteria
and Fungi) that are present in an ecosystem form the biotic components.

The biotic components can be further grouped into two basic components
from the nutrition point of view:

(i) Autotrophic components, and

(ii) Heterotrophic components
The autotrophic components include all green plants which fix the radiant
energy of the sun and manufacture food from inorganic substances. The
heterotrophic components include non-green plants and all animals which
take food from autotrophs.

Therefore biotic components can be described under following heads.

Producers: Among biotic components, at a basic functional level, ecosystem
generally contains primary producers (plants) capable of harvesting energy
from the sun through the process called photosynthesis. This energy then
flows through the food chain.

Consumers: After producers, next come consumers in the ecosystem. There

are different classes or categories of consumers; these consumers feed on the
captured energy.

(a) Consumers of the first order or primary consumers

(herbivores): herbivorous are animals that are purely dependent for their food
on producers or green plants. Insects, rodents, rabbit, deer, cow, buffalo, goat
are some of the common herbivores in the terrestrial ecosystem and small
crustaceans, mollusks, etc. in the aquatic habitat.

(b) Consumers of the second order or secondary consumers

(carnivores): These are carnivores and omnivores. Carnivores are flesh-eating
animals, and the omnivores are the animals that are adapted to consume
herbivores as well as plants as their food. Secondary consumers are sparrow,
crow, fox, wolves, dogs, cats, snakes, etc.

(c) Consumers of the third order or tertiary consumers: These are the top
carnivores that prey upon other carnivores, omnivores and herbivores. Lions,
tigers, hawk, vulture, etc. are considered as tertiary or top consumers.

(d) Decomposers: Decomposers work at the bottom of the food chain. Dead
tissues and waste products are produced at all levels. Scavengers, detritivores
(animals that live on the detritus of ecosystems) and decomposers not only
feed on this energy but also break organic matter back into its organic
constituents. It is the microbes that finish the job of decomposition and
produce organic constituents that can again be used by producers.

The energy that flows through the food chain, i.e., from producers to
consumers to decomposers is always inefficient. That means less energy is
available at secondary consumers level than at primary producers level. It’s
not surprising, but the amount of energy produced from place to place varies
a lot due to the amount of solar radiation and the availability of nutrients and
water.
Types of Ecosystem

An ecosystem can be as small as an oasis in a desert, or as big as an ocean,

spanning thousands of miles. There are two types of ecosystem:

 Terrestrial Ecosystem
 Aquatic Ecosystem

Terrestrial Ecosystems
Terrestrial ecosystems are exclusively land-based ecosystems. There are
different types of terrestrial ecosystems distributed around various geological
zones. They are as follows:

1. Forest Ecosystems
2. Grassland Ecosystems
3. Tundra Ecosystems
4. Desert Ecosystem

Forest Ecosystem
A forest ecosystem consists of several plants, animals and microorganisms
that live in coordination with the abiotic factors of the environment. Forests
help in maintaining the temperature of the earth and are the major carbon
sink.
Grassland Ecosystem
In a grassland ecosystem, the vegetation is dominated by grasses and herbs.
Temperate grasslands, savanna grasslands are some of the examples of
grassland ecosystems.
Tundra Ecosystem
Tundra ecosystems are devoid of trees and are found in cold climates or where
rainfall is scarce. These are covered with snow for most of the year. The
ecosystem in the Arctic or mountain tops is tundra type.
Desert Ecosystem
Deserts are found throughout the world. These are regions with very little
rainfall. The days are hot and the nights are cold.

Aquatic Ecosystem
Aquatic ecosystems are ecosystems present in a body of water. These can be
further divided into two types, namely:

1. Freshwater Ecosystem
2. Marine Ecosystem

Freshwater Ecosystem
The freshwater ecosystem is an aquatic ecosystem that includes lakes, ponds,
rivers, streams and wetlands. These have no salt content in contrast with the
marine ecosystem.
Marine Ecosystem
The marine ecosystem includes seas and oceans. These have a more
substantial salt content and greater biodiversity in comparison to the
freshwater ecosystem.

Important Ecological Concepts

1. Food Chain
The sun is the ultimate source of energy on earth. It provides the energy
required for all plant life. The plants utilise this energy for the process of
photosynthesis, which is used to synthesise their food.
During this biological process, light energy is converted into chemical energy
and is passed on through successive levels. The flow of energy from a
producer, to a consumer and eventually, to an apex predator or a detritivore
is called the food chain.
A food chain describes the feeding relationships of different organisms in a
linear fashion. This is the simplest way of showing feeding relationships. The
interaction of eating and eating between living things that we are familiar with
in terms of the food chain.
In the event of eating and eating it, actually there has been a process of energy
transfer between levels of organisms from a low trophic level to a high trophic
level. Therefore, in this case the food chain is often defined as a process of
moving food energy that moves linearly from the producer organism to the top
consumer.

https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/390757705156682546/

2. Food Web
Food web is a network of interconnected food chains. It comprises all the food
chains within a single ecosystem. This a more complicated but more realistic
way of showing feeding relationships, as most organisms consume more than
one species and are consumed by more than one species.
It helps in understanding that plants lay the foundation of all the food chains.
In a marine environment, phytoplankton forms the primary producer.
 https://socratic.org/questions/will-you-define-food-chain-food-web-and-food-pyramid

3. Ecological Pyramids
An ecological pyramid is the graphical representation of the number, energy,
and biomass of the successive trophic levels of an ecosystem. Charles Elton
was the first ecologist to describe the ecological pyramid and its principals in
1927.
The biomass, number, and energy of organisms ranging from the producer
level to the consumer level are represented in the form of a pyramid; hence, it
is known as the ecological pyramid.
The base of the ecological pyramid comprises the producers, followed by
primary and secondary consumers. The tertiary consumers hold the apex. In
some food chains, the quaternary consumers are at the very apex of the food
chain.
The producers generally outnumber the primary consumers and similarly, the
primary consumers outnumber the secondary consumers. And lastly, apex
predators also follow the same trend as the other consumers; wherein, their
numbers are considerably lower than the secondary consumers.
For example, Grasshoppers feed on crops such as cotton and wheat, which
are plentiful. These grasshoppers are then preyed upon by common mice,
which are comparatively less in number. The mice are preyed upon by snakes
such as cobras. Snakes are ultimately preyed on by apex predators such as
the brown snake eagle.
 https://www.vedantu.com/biology/ecological-pyramid-and-its-types

Functions of Ecosystem
The functions of the ecosystem are as follows:
1. It regulates the essential ecological processes, supports life systems and
renders stability.
2. It is also responsible for the cycling of nutrients between biotic and
abiotic components.
3. It maintains a balance among the various trophic levels in the
ecosystem.
4. It cycles the minerals through the biosphere.
5. The abiotic components help in the synthesis of organic components
that involves the exchange of energy.

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