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MODULE 3: CONCEPTS OF ECOLOGY

Lecture 2: What is studied in Ecology?

Ecosystem:

A. G.Tansley in 1935, coined the term ‘ecosystem’ which refers to a self-regulating group
of biotic communities of species interacting with one another and with their non-living
environment exchanging energy and matter.

Ecosystems are characterized by their structure and function. Structure reflects the way in
which the ecosystem is organized, for example, physical features, species composition,
distribution of energy and matter, and trophic or functional organization in space. Function
reflects exchanges of energy and matter among individuals and between the community
and abiotic pools and biological modification of abiotic conditions, including modification of
soil and climate.

A diversity of ecosystems exist through the world, from tropical mangroves to temperate
alpine lakes, each with a unique set of components and dynamics. Typically, boundaries
between ecosystems are diffuse. An ‘ecotone’ is a transition zone between two distinct
ecosystems.

Structure of the Ecosystem:

Ecosystems are made up of living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) components.

Biotic components include the Autotrophs and the Heterotrophs.

 Autotrophs are organisms that produce new biomass from inorganic resources
(carbon dioxide and mineral nutrients), using either light energy (photoautotrophs)
or energy from reduced molecules in the environment (chemoautotrophs).
 Heterotrophs are organisms that consume biomass, alive (biotrophs) or dead
(saprotrophs).

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Autotrophs:
Photoautotrophs (producers) such as plants make the food they need from
compounds in soil, carbon dioxide in air, and water—using the energy of
sunlight, in the process known as photosynthesis. By harnessing the energy
of light, producers can convert inorganic molecules of carbon dioxide and
water into organic molecules such as glucose. Glucose (C 6H12O6) is an
important building block of many energy-rich carbohydrates that are
necessary for life. The chemical equation for photosynthesis is:
carbon dioxide + water + light energy glucose + oxygen
On land, most producers are green plants such as trees and grasses. In
freshwater and ocean ecosystems, algae and aquatic plants growing near
shorelines are the major producers. In open water, the dominant producers
are phytoplankton—mostly microscopic organisms that float or drift in the
water.
Chemoautotrophs such as bacteria and Archaea live in extreme
environments such as hot springs and hydrothermal vents of the deep sea.
These bacteria and Archaea use compounds such as methane or reduced
sulfur, nitrogen, or metals as an energy source to assimilate carbon and
mineral nutrients.

Heterotrophs
Biotrophs (consumers) are organisms that cannot produce their own food.
They get the food and energy they need by feeding on producers or other
consumers.
Primary consumers, or herbivores, are organisms that eat mostly green
plants or algae. Examples of herbivores are caterpillars, giraffes, and
zooplankton, which are tiny sea animals that feed on phytoplankton.
Secondary consumers are animals that feed on primary consumers. Tertiary
(or higher-order) consumers feed on both primary and secondary consumers.
Among the secondary and tertiary groups are carnivores and omnivores.
Carnivores feed mostly on other animals. Some carnivores, including spiders,
lions, and most small fishes, are secondary consumers. Others, such as
tigers, hawks, and killer whales (orcas), are tertiary consumers. Omnivores,

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such as pigs, rats, and humans, eat both plants and animals. Like carnivores,
omnivores may be secondary or tertiary consumers.
Saprotrophs (decomposers) feed on the wastes and remains of producers
and consumers. Decomposers get their nutrients by breaking down
(decomposing) nonliving organic matter such as leaf litter, fallen trees, and
dead animals. In the process of obtaining their own food, decomposers
release nutrients from the wastes or remains of plants and animals. The
process of decomposition returns nutrients to soil and water, making them
available to the ecosystem. Most decomposers are bacteria and fungi.
Detritivores, or detritus feeders, get their nourishment by consuming detritus,
or freshly dead organisms, before they are fully decomposed. Detritus
feeders include earthworms, some insects, hyenas, and vultures.

Abiotic components include the physical factors such as sunlight, water, soil, wind,
temperature etc.. and chemical factors such as organic, inorganic compounds, minerals,
etc. Many abiotic factors influence where life can exist and the types of organisms found in
different parts of the biosphere. The abiotic factors influence the distribution of climates,
flora, and fauna.

Different Types of Ecosystems:

An ecosystem may be natural (like forest, lake, ocean etc) or man-made (such as an
aquarium, a crop field etc), temporary (like a rain fed pond) or permanent (like a lake,
forest, etc), aquatic (such as pond, ocean etc) or terrestrial (like grassland, forest, etc).
 Natural Ecosystem: Natural Ecosystem may be terrestrial (like desert, forest, etc)
or aquatic like pond, river, lake etc. A natural ecosystem is a biological environment
that is found in nature (e.g. a forest) rather than created or altered by man (e.g. a
farm).
 Artificial Ecosystem: Humans have modified some ecosystems for their own
benefits and these are Artificial Ecosystem. They can be terrestrial (crop field,
garden etc.) or aquatic (aquarium, dam, manmade pond etc.).

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Terrestrial ecosystems
Terrestrial ecosystems are found everywhere apart from water bodies. They are
broadly classified into:

The Forest Ecosystem

These are the ecosystems where abundance of flora (plants) is seen and they have
a large number of organisms living in relatively small areas. Therefore, the density
of life in forest ecosystems is very high. Any small change in the ecosystem can
affect the whole balance and collapse the ecosystem. They are divided into few
types.
 Tropical evergreen forest: Tropical forests which receive an average
rainfall of 80 to 400 inches in a year. These forests are marked by dense
vegetation comprising of tall trees with different levels. Each level gives
shelter to different kinds of animals.
 Tropical deciduous forest: Dense bushes and shrubs rule here along with
broad levels of trees. This type of forests is found in many parts of the world
and large variety of flora and fauna are found here.
 Temperate evergreen forest: These have very few numbers of trees but
ferns and mosses make up for them. Trees have spiked leaves to minimize
transpiration.
 Temperate deciduous forest: This forest is found in the moist temperate
regions with sufficient rainfall. Winters and summers are well defined and
with trees shedding their leaves during winter.
 Taiga: Situated just south of the arctic regions, Taiga is distinguished by
evergreen conifers. While the temperature is subzero for almost six months,
the rest of the year it is buzzing with insects and migratory birds.

The Desert Ecosystem

Desert ecosystems are found in regions receiving an annual rainfall of less than
25cm. They occupy around 17 percent of all land on the planet. Due to very high
temperature, intense sunlight and low water availability, flora and fauna are very
poorly developed and scarce. Vegetation is mainly bushes, shrubs, few grasses and

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rarely trees. Leaves and stems of these plants are modified to conserve water. The
best known desert plants are the succulents like spiny leaved cacti. Animal life
includes insects, reptiles, birds, camels all of whom are adapted to the xeric (desert)
conditions. There are four major types of deserts:
 Hot and Dry Desert: The seasons are generally warm throughout the year
and very hot in the summer. The winters usually bring little rainfall.
Temperatures exhibit daily extremes because the atmosphere contains little
humidity to block the Sun’s rays.
 Semiarid Desert: The summers are moderately long and dry, and like hot
deserts, the winters normally bring low concentrations of rainfall. Summer
temperatures usually average between 21-27° C. Cool nights help both
plants and animals by reducing moisture loss from transpiration, sweating
and breathing. The average rainfall ranges from 2-4 cm annually.
 Coastal Desert: The cool winters of coastal deserts are followed by
moderately long, warm summers. The average summer temperature ranges
from 13-24° C; winter temperatures are 5° C or below. The average rainfall
measures 8-13 cm in many areas.
 Cold Desert: These deserts are characterized by cold winters with snowfall
and high overall rainfall throughout the winter and occasionally over the
summer. They have short, moist, and moderately warm summers with fairly
long, cold winters. The mean winter temperature is between -2 to 4° C and
the mean summer temperature is between 21-26° C. The winters receive
quite a bit of snow.

The Grassland Ecosystem

Grasslands are found in both temperate and tropical regions of the world but the
ecosystems are slightly varying. This area mainly comprises of grasses with very
little amount of shrubs and trees. Main vegetation is grasses, legumes and plants
belonging to composite family. Many grazing animals, herbivores and insectivores
are found in grasslands. Two main types of grasslands ecosystems are:
 Temperate grasslands: Temperate grasslands are characterized as having
grasses as the dominant vegetation. Trees and large shrubs are absent.
Temperatures vary more from summer to winter, and the amount of rainfall is

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less in temperate grasslands than in tropical grasslands.

 Tropical grasslands: Tropical grasslands have scattered individual trees.
These are always found in warm or hot climates where the annual rainfall is
from about 50.8 to 127 cm per year. The predominant vegetation consists of
grasses and ferns (small broad-leaved plants that grow with grasses).

The Mountain Ecosystem

Mountain lands provide a scattered but diverse array of habitats in which a large
range of plants and animals are found. At higher altitudes harsh environmental
conditions generally prevail, and only treeless alpine vegetation is found. Lower
slopes commonly are covered by coniferous forests The animals living here have
thick fur coats for prevention from cold and hibernate in winter months. Grazing
mammals such as the large herds of elk, moose and mule, smaller mountain goats
and bighorn sheep, predators like black bear, grizzly bear, wolves, and coyote are
some of the animals found in the mountain ranges.

Aquatic ecosystem
An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem located in a body of water. It comprises
aquatic fauna, flora and the properties of water too. There are two types of aquatic
ecosystems, marine and freshwater.

The Marine Ecosystem

Marine ecosystems are the largest ecosystems with coverage of nearly 71% of the
Earth's surface and containing 97% of the planet's water. The water in Marine
ecosystems has salts and minerals dissolved in them in high amounts. Marine
algae supply much of the world’s oxygen supply and take in a huge amount of
atmospheric carbon dioxide. The evaporation of the seawater provides rainwater for
the land. Many types of organisms are found in marine ecosystems including corals,
cephalopods, echinoderms, and sharks. Different divisions of marine ecosystems
are:
 Oceans
The largest of all the ecosystems, oceans are very large bodies of water that
dominate the Earth’s surface. Oceans are separated into separate zones:

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intertidal, pelagic, abyssal, and benthic. The oceans are very rich in a variety
of flora and fauna such as seaweeds, clams, predatory crustaceans, crabs,
many species of fish and some mammals, such as whales and dolphins, all
sorts of bacteria, fungi, sponges, sea anemones, worms, sea stars.

 CoralReefs
Coral reefs are widely distributed in warm shallow waters, fringing islands,
and atolls. Naturally, the dominant organisms in coral reefs are corals. Corals
are interesting since they consist of both algae and tissues of animal polyp.
Since reef waters tend to be nutritionally poor, corals obtain nutrients through
the algae via photosynthesis and also by extending tentacles to obtain
plankton from the water. Besides corals, the fauna include several species of
microorganisms, invertebrates, fishes, sea urchins, octopuses, and sea
stars.

 Estuaries
Estuaries are areas where freshwater streams or rivers merge with the
ocean. This mixing of waters with such different salt concentrations creates a
very interesting and unique ecosystem. Microflora like algae, and macroflora,
such as seaweeds, marsh grasses, and mangrove trees (only in the tropics),
can be found here. Estuaries support a diverse fauna, including a variety of
worms, oysters, crabs, and waterfowl.

The Freshwater Ecosystem

In contrast to the Marine ecosystem, freshwater ecosystems only cover 0.8% of the
Earth's surface and contain 0.009% of its total water. Freshwater is defined as
having a low salt concentration—usually less than 1%. Plants and animals in
freshwater regions are adjusted to the low salt content and would not be able to
survive in areas of high salt concentration (i.e, ocean). These ecosystems are home
to amphibians, reptiles and almost 41% of world’s fish species. Faster moving
turbulent water typically contains greater concentrations of dissolved oxygen, which
supports greater biodiversity than the slow moving water of pools.
There are different types of freshwater regions: ponds and lakes, streams and
rivers, and wetlands. There are three basic types of freshwater ecosystems:
 Lentic (Still or slow-moving water): These regions range in size from just a

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few square meters to thousands of square kilometers. Many ponds are

seasonal, lasting just a couple of months while lakes may exist for hundreds
of years or more.
 Lotic (Fast-moving water): These are bodies of flowing water moving in one
direction. Streams and rivers can be found everywhere—they get their starts
at headwaters, which may be springs, snowmelt or even lakes, and then
travel all the way to their mouths, usually another water channel or the ocean.
 Wetlands: Wetlands are areas of standing water that support aquatic plants.
Marshes, swamps, and bogs are all considered wetlands. Plant species
adapted to the very moist and humid conditions include pond lilies, cattails,
sedges, tamarack, and black spruce. Marsh flora also include such species
as cypress and gum. Many species of amphibians, reptiles, birds (such as
ducks and waders), and furbearers can be found in the wetlands.

Review Questions:
1. What are the biotic and abiotic components of the ecosysytem? Discuss the role of
decomposers in the ecosystem.
2. Explain in brief the different ecosystems on Earth.