Crystal Academy

VENGARA, Malappuram

BTNY-MM: XII 14. ECOSYSTEM

 An ecosystem is a functional unit of nature, where living DECOMPOSITION
organisms interact among themselves and also with the  Decomposition: It is the breakdown of complex organic
surrounding environment. matter by decomposers into inorganic substances like CO2,
Classification: water and nutrients.
ECOSYSTEM Steps of decomposition
(Step-1) Fragmentation: It is the breakdown of detritus (dead
Natural Man-made remnants of plants and animals) into smaller particles by
Eg: Crop fields detritivores (e.g. earthworm).
Terrestrial Aquatic and aquarium. (Step-2) Leaching: Water soluble inorganic nutrients go down into the
Eg: Forest, Eg: Pond, lake, soil horizon and get precipitated as unavailable salts.
grassland, desert wetland, river (Step-3) Catabolism: Degradation of detritus into simple inorganic
& estuary substances by bacterial and fungal enzymes.
(Step-4) Humification: Conversion of detritus to dark amorphous
ECOSYSTEM – STRUCTURE AND substance called humus.
FUNCTION Properties of Humus:-
- It is resistant to microbial action and so decomposes slowly.
 An ecosystem has 2 structural features:- - Being colloidal in nature it serves as a reservoir of nutrients.
1. Species composition: Identification and enumeration of plant
(Step-5) Mineralization: The degradation of humus to release inorganic
and animal species of an ecosystem.
substances by the action of some microbes.
2. Stratification-Vertical distribution of different species
occupying different levels.
For ex.:- Layers of a forest

Factors that favour decomposition Factors that inhibit decomposition

 An ecosystem has 4 functional features:-  Detritus which is rich in  Detritus which is rich in
1. Productivity 2. Decomposition 3. Energy flow & 4. nitrogen and sugars lignin & chitin
Nutrient cycling  Warm and moist environment  Low temperature and dry
environment
PRODUCTIVITY  Oxygen abundant condition  Anaerobic condition
 Productivity: The rate of biomass production over a time
period. ENERGY FLOW
Productivity is of 2 types:-  Energy Flow: It is the unidirectional flow of solar energy
A. Primary productivity: Productivity at the producer level. through different trophic levels of ecosytem.
It is expressed in terms of weight (g–2) or energy (kcal m–2).  Of the incident solar radiation less than 50% of it is
Primary productivity depends on- Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR).
o Topography- Altitude, latitude etc. Plants capture only 2-10% of the PAR and this energy is
o Environmental factors (temp., sunlight intensity, transferred in an ecosystem in the form of food.
rainfall, wind, humidity, nature of soil etc.)  Producers: These are the green plants which convert solar
o Availability of nutrients (water, minerals, O2 etc.) energy into food.
o Photosynthetic capacity of plants Terrestrial - herbaceous and woody plant.
 It can be divided into gross primary productivity and net ecosystem
primary productivity. Producers in
(i) Gross Primary Productivity (GPP): It is the rate of total Aquatic - phytoplankton, algae and higher plants
production of organic matter during photosynthesis. ecosystem
(ii) Net Primary Productivity (NPP): It is the balance biomass
remaining after meeting the cost of respiration (R) of the  The energy trapped by the producer is either passed on to a
producers. consumer or the organism dies.
i.e., NPP = GPP – R Death of organism is the beginning of the detritus food chain.
B. Secondary productivity: Productivity at the consumer level.  Consumers (heterotrophs): These are all animals that depend
on plants (directly or indirectly) for their food.

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 They include:-
(a) Primary consumers / herbivores- Animals which feed directly
on producers.
(b) Secondary consumers / primary carnivores- Consumers that
feed on herbivores.
(c) Tertiary consumers / secondary carnivores- Consumers that
feed on primary carnivores.
FOOD CHAIN & FOOD WEB
Food chain: The transfer of food from the producers through a b) Pyramid of biomass: Ecological pyramid showing biomass of
series of organisms with repeated eating and being eaten. organisms
2 types of food chains can be recognised in an ecosystem,  Usually upright- Biomass of producers > herbivores > carnivores
I. Grazing Food Chain (GFC): It begins with a producer which  It is inverted in sea ecosystem.
is eaten by grazing herbivores which are then eaten by
carnivores.
Producers Herbivores Carnivores
(e.g. Green plants) (e.g. Deer) (e.g. Tiger)
II. Detritus food chain (DFC): It begins with detritus (dead
organic matter) which is taken by decomposers (saprotrophs).
Detritus Decomposers
(E.g. fungi, bacteria)
DFC may be connected with the GFC at some levels: some of c) Pyramid of energy: Ecological pyramid showing energy used by
the organisms of DFC are prey to the GFC animals organisms
 Always upright because energy is lost as heat at successive
GFC Producers Herbivores Carnivores Decomposers
trophic level.

DFC Detritus Detritivores

Food Web: Interconnections of food chains.

TROPHIC LEVEL
 Trophic level: The place of organisms in the food chain.
Producer 10 consumer 20 consumer 30 consumer Limitations of ecological pyramids:
1st trophic level 2nd 3rd 4th o It does not take into account the same species belonging to two
or more trophic levels.
 Standing crop: The total amount of living material present in o It assumes a simple food chain that never exists in nature; it
different trophic at a particular time. does not accommodate a food web.
- It is measured as the fresh or dry weight of living organisms o Saprophytes are not included in ecological pyramids.
(biomass) or the number in a unit area.
 Law of 10%: It states that ‘Only 10% of the energy is
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
 Ecological succession: It is the gradual and predictable
transferred to each trophic level from the lower trophic level’.
change in the species composition of an area.
Proposed by Lindeman (1942)
 The entire sequences of communities that successively change in
ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS a given area are called sere. The individual transitional
 Ecological pyramid: The graphical representation of the communities are termed seral stages (seral communities).
successive tropic levels of an ecosystem in the form of a 1st Stage The species that invade a bare area are called pioneer
pyramid. community.
The base of pyramid represents the producers (first trophic level) 2nd Stage During succession some seres colonize the area and become
while the apex represents top level consumer. more numerous, whereas populations of other species
decline and disappear.
Shape of pyramid 3rd Stage The stable community that is in equilibrium with the
 Upright: The base of the pyramid is broad as compared to apex. environment is called climax community.
 Inverted: The base of the pyramid is narrow as compared to
apex. Succession is 2 types: Primary & Secondary
(a) Primary: The succession taking place in areas where no living
 Ecological pyramids are 3 types: organisms ever existed.
(a) Pyramid of number E.g. newly cooled lava, bare rock, new pond or reservoir.
(b) Pyramid of biomass  It is a slow process since there must be formation of fertile soil
(c) Pyramid of energy before a biotic community is established.
a) Pyramid of number: Ecological pyramid showing number of Primary succession of Plants
organisms. Plant succession is of 2 types:-
 Usually upright.
Hydrarch
No. of producers > No. of 10 consumers > No. of 20 Wetter area succession
consumers > No. of 30 consumers (Hydric condition)
 It is inverted in case of tree dominant ecosystem. Medium water area
(Mesic condition)
Dry area Xerarch
(Xeric condition) succession

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 1. Hydrarch succession: It takes place in wetter areas. The Carbon Cycle
successional progress from hydric to the mesic conditions.
Phytoplankton (pioneers) → rooted-submerged plants →
rooted-floating angiosperms → reed-swamp → marsh-meadow
→ scrub → trees → forest (climax).

Phosphorus Cycle
Significance of phosphorus:
- Constituent of biological membranes
2. Xerarch succession: It takes place in dry areas. The series - Constituent of nucleic acids & cellular energy molecules.
progress from xeric to mesic conditions. - Shells, bones and teeth of animals use composed of phosphorus.
Lichens (pioneer- secrete acids to dissolve rock which help in
soil formation) → bryophytes (need only small amount of
soil) → bigger plants →forest (climax).

Differences between Carbon cycle & Phosphorus cycle

Phosphorus
(b) Secondary: The succession taking place in an area after the Carbon cycle
cycle
existed organisms are lost. Atmospheric inputs of carbon
E.g. abandoned farm lands, burned or cut forests, flooded lands. Smaller
through rainfall is large.
 Since some soil or sediment is present, succession is faster than Exchanges of carbon
primary. between organism and Negligible
environment is high.

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
 Ecosystem services: The products of ecosystem
processes.
Price tag put by Robert
Nature’s life- support
Constanza out of total cost
services
of all ecosystem services
Generate fertile soils 50%
The species that invade in secondary succession depend on- Cycle nutrients <10%
 The condition of the soil Provide aesthetic, cultural &
<10%
 Availability of water spiritual values
 The presence of seeds or other propagules. Provide wildlife habitat <6%
Climate regulation <6%
NUTRIENT CYCLING Purification of air and water
 Nutrient cycling (biogeochemical cycles): The Mitigate droughts and floods
Rest
movement of nutrients through components of an ecosystem. Maintain biodiversity
 The amount of nutrients present in the soil at a given time is Pollinate crops
referred to as the standing state. It varies with kinds of
ecosystems and season.
Nutrient cycles are 2 types:
(i) Gaseous cycle: The reservoir exists in the atmosphere
E.g. Nitrogen, carbon cycle etc.
(ii) Sedimentary cycle: The reservoir is located in Earth’s crust.
E.g. Sulphur and phosphorus cycle
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