THE WORLD OF BIOLOGY

All the organisms in this wonderful world, from Plants,

Animals, Humans to Microorganisms form a perfect
natural balance and harmony in nature.
When you go deep into studying biology – you will
realise one thing – out of the trillion species of organisms
in the world, all of them have a god–given purpose.
If anything was not in favour of a particular species, it
adapts to the change beautifully, by evolution.
If one succumbed to extinction, it would affect the
entirety of the other organisms and humans are no
different, they depend directly or indirectly on each of
the organisms in an ecosystem.
Look at what this famous biologist had to say about
nature:
OUR ECOSYSTEM
All the interacting organisms such as plants, animals, humans
and microorganisms in an area together with the non-living
constituents of the environment form an ecosystem.
From gardens to crop-fields, from forests to biomes, all are
ecosystems, whether artificial or natural. In fact, the whole
world can be described as an ecosystem.
As discussed before, the organisms of an ecosystem and
their physical surroundings interact with each other and
maintain a balance in nature. This balance is called
Ecological Balance.
Thus, an ecosystem consists of:
(i) Biotic components, comprising of all the living
organisms in that ecosystem.
(ii) Abiotic components, comprising physical factors
like temperature, rainfall, wind, soil & minerals.
In this project, we will be discussing the crucial importance
of food in an ecosystem – about food chains & food webs.
THE FLOW OF ENERGY IN AN ECOSYSTEM
All Organisms in an ecosystem obtain energy from one
vital resource – food.
A food chain shows the transfer of energy from one
organism to another in an ecosystem.
Each step of the food chain at which transfer of energy
takes place is called as a trophic level.
- 1st Trophic Level: Producers/Autotrophs:
All green plants and certain bacteria can produce
food by themselves by taking in water and minerals
from the soil and converting it into food with the help
of sunlight by a process called Photosynthesis. They fix
up solar energy and make it available for the next
trophic levels, the consumers.
- 2nd Trophic Level: Primary Consumers/Herbivores:
The organisms which obtain their nutrition directly from
plants are the primary consumers, thus, they are
called Herbivores. For example, Cow, Giraffe,
Grasshopper, Deer, etc. are herbivores.
- 3rd Trophic Level: Secondary Consumers/Carnivores:
The organisms which obtain their nutrition indirectly
from plants, by eating the primary consumers are
called Carnivores. Snakes, Frogs, Small Cats, Dogs,
etc. are said to be Carnivores.
- Higher Trophic Levels: Tertiary Consumers or Top
Carnivores:
The organisms which obtain their nutrition by preying on
other carnivores make up the higher trophic levels and
are called Top Carnivores. The King of the Jungle – the
Lion, lives here, along with the Eagle, Tiger, Human, etc.
- The Decomposers:
These organisms are not a part of any one trophic
level as they act at every trophic level, to ensure that
the food chain continues. Decomposers are vital
elements of the ecosystem.
They help in decomposing the remains of dead
animals and plants and hence act as cleaning agents
of the environment, providing space for new
organisms to grow.
After decomposition of these remains, the nutrients in
these remains are recycled along with the water and
air (nitrogen fixation), this helps the new plants to
grow and ensures continuity of food chains.
Examples of Decomposers are Bacteria, Fungi, etc.

10%

10% THE FLOW OF

ENERGY IN AN
10% ECOSYSTEM

1% of energy
HOW DOES ENERGY FLOW IN AN ECOSYSTEM?
The flow of energy between various components of
the environment has been extensively studied and it
has been found that:
- The green plants in a terrestrial ecosystem capture
about 1% of the energy of sunlight that falls on
their leaves and convert it into food energy.
- When green plants are eaten by primary
consumers, a great deal of energy is lost as heat to
the environment, some amount goes into digestion
and in doing work and the rest goes towards
growth and reproduction.
- An average of 10% of the food eaten is turned into
its own body and made available for the next level
of consumers.
- 10% is thus the average value for the amount of
organic matter that is present at each step that
reaches the next level of consumers.
- Since so little energy is available for the next level
of consumers that food chains generally consist of
only three or four steps.
- Thus, there are generally a greater number of
individuals at the lower trophic levels and the
greatest number is of the producers.
Thus, two things can be concluded. One, energy flow
is unidirectional, meaning the energy captured by the
organisms can’t be reverted back to the solar output.
Two, more the trophic levels, more the loss of energy.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF EVERY TROPHIC LEVEL IN
A FOOD CHAIN?
Let us assume that you have been given the power to
make all the organisms of a specific trophic level in the
food chain extinct. Who would you make extinct? Well,
don’t do anything – because all the animals are
interrelated in an ecosystem and making one extinct
would lead to doomsday. Here’s why:
- On removing plants, the herbivores would not be
able to survive and die and due to the death of
herbivores, the carnivores too would starve and die.
- On removing herbivores, plants would grow
unchecked and carnivores would still starve and die.
- On removing carnivores, herbivores would grow
unchecked and destroy the plants.
- On removing decomposers, nutrition recycling in the
soil would stop and soil will lose fertility, therefore
not allowing plants to grow, killing all the animals –
whether herbivore or carnivore.
FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS
Food Chains show the transfer of energy from one
organism to another in an ecosystem.
In a forest, the ideal food chain can be:
Trees → Deer → Tiger
Similarly, in grasslands, it is:
Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake → Eagle
And in a pond ecosystem, it is:
Seaweed → Lobster → Fish → Crane
Food Webs are a series of interrelated food chains.
Food Webs combine many ecosystems and reflects the
very nature of ecological balance.