Unit 2

Ecosystems
 Definition and Concept of Ecosystem
• The term ‘ecosystem’ was first proposed by the British
ecologist Arthur G. Tansley in 1935.
• ‘Any unit that includes all the organisms (i.e., the
‘community’) in a given area interacting with the physical
environment so that a flow of energy leads to a clearly
defined trophic structure, biotic diversity and material
cycles (i.e., exchange of materials between living and non-
living parts) within the system is an ecological system or
ecosystem’ (Odum ,1971) .
• Organism > Population > Community > Ecosystem
• Ecosystem is considered the structural and functional unit of
the environment.
• They can range in size from large, for example, a forest or
the ocean, to very small, for instance, a puddle or a
treehole.
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 Different Levels of Organization in Nature

Levels from ecosystem

upwards comprise
both living (biotic) and
non-living (abiotic)
components

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 Ecosystem Structure and Function

Structural components include abiotic (non-living) and biotic

(living) components.
Abiotic Components
• Inorganic substances: These are not of biological origin,
such as: carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, potassium,
many trace elements in smaller quantities such as zinc,
copper, iron, among others.
• Organic substances: Organic substances are non-living,
though of biological origin, such as carbohydrates, proteins,
lipids or fats, nucleic acids, among others.
• Climate regime: Temperature, humidity, rainfall, sunshine
and so on, greatly influence other abiotic as well as biotic
components.
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Biotic Components
• Autotrophs or producers: Synthesize their own food in the
presence of sunlight by the process of photosynthesis.
These include higher plants, pteridophytes, bryophytes,
algae and some bacteria.
• Heterotrophs or consumers: Can not produce their own
food, but have to depend on other organisms—either
autotrophs or other heterotrophs—to meet their
nutritional requirements. There are two major types of
heterotrophs:
o Phagotrophs or macroconsumers (phago = to eat; macro
= large): Animals that ingest whole or pieces of plant or
animal matter. Phagotrophs or macroconsumers are of the
following types:
 Herbivores or primary consumers: Animals that derive
their nutrition by feeding on the autotrophs or primary
producers.
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 Carnivores or secondary consumers: Animals that prey
upon the primary consumers.
 Tertiary consumers: Larger carnivores that feed on smaller
carnivores.
 Detritivores or scavengers: Consumers that feed on dead
plants and animals.
o Saprotrophs (sapro = to decompose) or osmotrophs
(osmo = to pass through a membrane) or microconsumers
(micro = small) or decomposers: Comprises of the
microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and
actinomycetes.

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 Movement of Energy through Ecosystems

• Sun is the ultimate source of energy for ecosystems and the

biosphere as a whole.
• A part of the solar radiation is absorbed by chlorophyll, the green
pigment present in lower and higher plants and some bacteria.
• The absorbed solar energy is converted to chemical energy in the
form of carbohydrates.
• The green plants are fed upon by herbivores or primary
consumers—chemical energy along with a host of nutrients are
transferred to the herbivores.
• Herbivores are consumed by carnivores (or secondary
consumers/tertiary consumers)—energy and nutrients are
transferred to the carnivores.
• Thus, the primary producers, the herbivores and the carnivores
belong to different trophic levels.
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 Concept of Productivity
• The rate at which solar energy is stored as chemical energy by
photosynthetic activity over time in a given ecosystem is termed the
‘primary productivity’ of that ecosystem.
• Gross primary productivity (GPP) is the total rate of photosynthesis,
including the energy used up in respiration.
• Net primary productivity (NPP)= GPP – amount of energy used in
respiration.
• The two cardinal principles of energy flow through ecosystems are: it is
unidirectional, that is, non-cyclic, and there is loss of energy at each
transfer.
• Both conform to the First and Second laws of thermodynamics.
• The First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created
nor destroyed but can be transformed from one form to another.
• The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that no energy exchange or
transfer is completely efficient, and some energy is lost as low-temperature
heat at each transfer.
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 Food Chains and Food Webs
• The sequence of organisms through which food energy is transferred in an
ecosystem is referred to as the ‘food chain’. For example:
Grass Sheep  Leopard
Primary producer Primary consumer Secondary consumer
(Herbivore) (Carnivore)
• However, the chain may be longer, such as:
Grass  Grasshopper  Frog  Snake  Owl
• When food energy is transferred through successive levels, a large
proportion of the potential energy is lost as heat.
• Grazing food chains: A grazing food chain starts from a green plant base,
proceeds to grazing herbivores (animals that eat live/fresh plants) and then
to carnivores.
• Detritus food chains: A detrital food chain, on the contrary, starts from a
dead organic matter (detritus) base to microorganisms and detritivores
(detritus-eating organisms) and then to carnivores.
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A Simplified Food Web in a Grassland

• The term ‘chain’ gives the

impression of a simple, linear
and isolated relationship of
eating and being eaten.
• In most ecosystems, food
chains rarely occur singly but
are interlinked with each
other, forming an
interlocking pattern, which is
called a ‘food web’.

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 Ecological Pyramids
The trophic structure of an ecosystem as well as the trophic function
in terms of energy losses at each transfer in a food chain could be
graphically represented in the form of ecological pyramids.

Numbe Upright Dry Upright

rs/100 pyramid of weight pyramid of
sq. m numbers in g/sq. m biomass in
a grassland a forest

Partly
inverted Inverted
pyramid of pyramid of
numbers in a biomass in
forest a lake

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A pyramid of energy depicts the amount of energy
contained at each trophic level. While the pyramids of
number and biomass represent the standing state, that is,
the condition at a given moment, the pyramid of energy
reflects the rate of energy flow through an ecosystem.

Upright Upright
pyramid of kcal/sq.
pyramid of
energy in a m/year
grassland
energy in a
lake

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Movement of Nutrients through Ecosystems:
Nutrient or Biogeochemical Cycles

A simplified model of energy and nutrient movements through

ecosystems
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• Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus,
calcium, potassium, magnesium and sulphur are the
macronutrients required by plants.
• Elements like boron, chlorine, copper, iron, manganese,
molybdenum, nickel and zinc are needed in small or even
trace amounts. These are the major micronutrients for
plants.
• Nutrient movement in ecosystems is cyclic. There are
two pools: a large, slow-moving reservoir pool and an
exchange or cycling pool.
• Biogeochemical cycles belong to two basic categories: (a)
gaseous types, where the reservoir pool is in the
atmosphere or ocean (hydrosphere) and (b) sedimentary
types, where the reservoir pool is in the earth's crust
(lithosphere).
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 Carbon Cycle

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 Water Cycle

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 Nitrogen Cycle

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 Ecological Succession and the Concept of
the Climax
The development and evolution of ecosystems is termed as
ecological succession. Succession is a process during which
ecosystems and their communities evolve over time.

Different stages of
primary succession
on bare rock.

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• Primary succession: When organisms start growing on a
previously uninhabited area, such as a newly exposed
rock or sand surface, or a stretch of lava flow, this process
is called ‘primary succession’.
Each of these transitory stages are called the seral stages
or developmental stages or pioneer stages.
The final stabilized community is called the climax
community.
• Secondary succession: This takes place after a complete
or partial removal or destruction of an earlier community.

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