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Unit 2 Ecosystem
Unit 2 Ecosystem
Unit 2 Ecosystem
Ecosystem
Structure and Functions, Concept
of Productivity, Restoration
Amit K. Singh
Assistant Professor
Department of Environmental Studies,
Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi,
New Delhi 110067, India
Lesson overview
An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in conjunction with the non living
components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system.
Functions of Ecosystem: and Biogeochemical cycle food 4. Kaushik, Anubha and Kaushik, C.P. (2018)Perspectives in Environmental
Studies
chains, food web, ecological succession),nutrient cycling
5. Bharucha, Erach Textbook of Environmental Studies for Undergraduate
processes. Concepts of productivity, ecological pyramids and
Courses(2018)
homeostasis
6. Sharma, P.D. Fundamentals Of Ecology
7. Biology Book 12th NCERT
Keywords 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_ecosystem
Producers
Carnivores
Omnivores
Decomposers
Detritivores
Detritivores: Decomposers:
• Typically invertebrates like
earthworms, wood lice, slugs, • Generally Fungi &
crabs, etc. Bacteria
• Use enzymes to break down
detritus on tissue scale as • Use enzymes to break down
source of energy, nutrients, detritus on molecular scale
and Carbon. as source of energy,
nutrients, and Carbon.
• increases surface area for
decomposers. • Release inorganic
ions (mineralization)
Producers
• Most important components of ecosystem.
• Producers are organisms which are able to manufacture organic
compounds from inorganic substances from their environment.
• Food is produced both for themselves and for other organisms.
• They depend directly on the abiotic component for their
survival and production of nutrients.
• Producers are also known as autotrophs (derived from Greek
words: “autos” meaning self and “trophe” meaning
nourishment)
• They induce into the ecosystem, the energy required for its
biological processes.
Producers
• Producers extract nutrients from soil or ocean and manufacture their own
food using photosynthesis, in the presence of carbon dioxide and sunlight
and so energy from sun powers the base of food chain. Producers are also,
thus known as primary producers.
• Energy flow:
• Energy is required to transform inorganic nutrients
into organic tissues of an organism.
• Energy is the driving force to the work of
ecosystem. Energy flow
• Structure
• It refers to the particular pattern of inter-
relationships that exists between organisms in an
ecosystem.
Structure
Movement of energy and nutrients
• Food chain
• Food webs
• Trophic level, biomass
Food Chain
• The particular pathway of nutrient and energy movement depends on which
organism feeds on another.
• Every living organism/ thing requires energy to
survive, whether it be plants, animals or humans.
• Energy is required by living beings to grow.
• Plants get their energy from photosynthesis.
• Animals get energy from the food they consume.
Decomposers
Food chain
• A food chain is the sequence of who eats whom in a
biological community (an ecosystem) to obtain
nutrition.
• A food chain shows how each living thing gets food,
and how nutrients and energy are passed from
creature to creature.
• A simple food chain can be seen below:
Food Chain
• A food chain starts with the primary energy source and end with top
predators,animals that have little or no natural enemies.
• When any organism dies, it is eventually eaten by detrivores (like
vultures, worms and crabs) and broken down by decomposers (mostly
bacteria and fungi), and the exchange of energy continues.
Types of Food Chain
All ecosystems require a method to recycle material from dead organisms; all
grazing food webs have an associated detrital food web.
•
Food Chains
Predatory food
chains
Grazing food chains
Parasitic food
chains
Detritus/ saprophytic
food chains
• More energy
Ecological pyramids
Ecological pyramids
• An ecological pyramid is a diagram that shows the
amounts of energy or matter contained within each
trophic level in a food web or food chain.
Ecological pyramids
Primary Secondary
Succession Succession
Primary Succession
• Primary succession is the series of community
changes which occur on an entirely new habitat which
has never been colonized before.
• Primary succession occurs in essentially life-less areas
where no ecosystem existed before.
• It begins on a barren surface.
• For example: on new islands created by volcanic
eruptions, bare rocks, rocks exposed by glacier
retreats, etc.
Primary Succession
• In primary succession pioneer species like lichen, algae
and fungus as well as other abiotic factors like wind and
water start to "normalize" the habitat.
• The primary succession is important in pioneering the
area to create conditions favorable for the growth of
other forms of plants and animals.
• Pedogenesis or the formation of soil is the most
important process.
• http://youtu.be/vNHnwHaSolA
Primary Succession
Secondary Succession
• Secondary succession is the series of community
changes which take place on a previously colonized,
but disturbed or damaged habitat.
• For example: after felling trees in a woodland, land
clearance or a fire.
• Secondary succession begins in an area that already
has soil.
Process of secondary succession is much
faster……why????
• Secondary succession is usually faster than primary succession as:
✓Soil is already present, so there is no need for pioneer species;
✓Seeds, roots and underground vegetative organs of plants may still
survive in the soil.
Secondary Succession
Secondary Succession
• The earth obtains energy from the sun which is radiated back as heat, rest all other elements are
present in a closed system. The major elements include: Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen Oxygen,
Phosphorus, Sulphur.
• These elements are recycled through the biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem. The
atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere are the abiotic components of the ecosystem.
Types of Biogeochemical Cycles -Biogeochemical cycles are basically divided into two types:
•Gaseous cycles – Includes Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and the Water cycle.
➢Water Cycle
➢Carbon Cycle
➢Oxygen Cycle
➢Nitrogen Cycle
➢Phosphorus Cycle
➢Sulphur cycle
Two Secrets of Survival: Energy Flow and
Matter Recycle
• An ecosystem survives
by a combination of
energy flow and matter
recycling.
MATTER CYCLING IN ECOSYSTEMS
• Nutrient Cycles: Global Recycling
• Global Cycles recycle nutrients through the earth’s air, land, water, and living organisms.
• Nutrients are the elements and compounds that organisms need to live, grow, and reproduce.
• Biogeochemical cycles move these substances through air, water, soil, rock and living organisms.
• The paths of water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus pass from the nonliving environment to living
organisms; such as trees, and than back to the nonliving environment.
• These paths form closed circuits, or cycles, called biogeochemical cycles.
• In each biogeochemical cycle, a pathway forms when
• a substance enters living organisms such as trees from the atmosphere, water, or soil;
• stays for a time in the living organism, than
• returns to the nonliving environment.
• Ecologists refer to such substances as cycling within an ecosystem between a living reservoir ( an organism
that lives in the ecosystem) and a nonliving reservoir.
• In almost all biogeochemical cycles, there is much less of the substance in the living reservoir than in the
nonliving reservoir
The Water Cycle:
• Of all the nonliving components of an ecosystem, water has
the greatest influence on the ecosystem’s inhabitants.
Transpiration Evaporation
Precipitation Transpiration
to land from plants
Precipitation Precipitation
Evaporation
Surface runoff from land Evaporation
Runoff from ocean Precipitation
(rapid)
to ocean
Fig. 3-26, p. 72
Effects of Human Activities
on Water Cycle
• We alter the water cycle by:
• Withdrawing large amounts of freshwater.
• Clearing vegetation and eroding soils.
• Polluting surface and underground water.
• Contributing to climate change.
Carbon Cycle
• Carbon also cycles between the nonliving environment and
living organisms.
• Carbon dioxide in the air or dissolved in water is used by
photosynthesizing plants, algae, and bacteria as a raw
material to build organic molecules.
• Carbon atoms may return to the pool of carbon dioxide in
the air and water in three ways
• Respiration
• Combustion
• Erosion
Respiration:
• Nearly all living organisms, including plants, engage in
cellular respiration.
• They use oxygen to oxidize organic molecules during
cellular respiration, and carbon dioxide is a product of Carbon cycle
this reaction.
Carbon
Combustion:
Cycle
Carbon cycle
Carbon Cycle and Oxygen Cycle
Carbon cycle in the lithosphere
• Inorganic: coal, oil,
natural gas, oil shale,
limestone
• Created from
organisms (both plant
and animal) that died
a long time ago and
accumulated on the
bottom of oceans or
lakes
Carbon cycle in the soil
• Organic: litter,
humic substances
found in soil
Humans and the Carbon Cycle
• Until recently: none
• Now: 6.5 billion
metric tons of
carbon are
transferred from
fossil fuel storage
pool to the
atmosphere
Effects of Human Activities
on Carbon Cycle
• We alter the carbon cycle
by adding excess CO2 to
the atmosphere through:
• Burning fossil fuels.
• Clearing vegetation faster
than it is replaced.
Nitrogen Cycle
• The atmosphere is made up of 79% N gas
• This gas is not useable by living things
• It must be converted to form compounds such as
ammonia (NH4) or nitrate (NO3) which can be
taken up by living things
• There is natural and human fixation of N2
Natural: lightning, bacteria
Human: fossil fuel combustion, fertilizer
manufacturing
Nitrogen Cycle
• The atmosphere is about 78 percent nitrogen
gasowever, most organisms are unable to use it in
this form.
mining Fertilizer
excretion Guano
agriculture
uptake by weathering uptake by
autotrophs autotrophs
Marine Dissolved leaching, runoff Dissolved Land
Food in Ocean in Soil Water, Food
Webs Water Lakes, Rivers Webs
death, death,
decomposition decomposition
sedimentation settling out weathering
uplifting over
geologic time
Marine Sediments Rocks
Effects of Human Activities on the
Phosphorous Cycle
• We remove large amounts of phosphate from the earth to
make fertilizer.
• We reduce phosphorous in tropical soils by clearing
forests.
• We add excess phosphates to aquatic systems from runoff
of animal wastes and fertilizers.
Eutrophication: excess nutrients stimulate
plant growth (algal bloom); when these plants die,
decomposers use up the available oxygen during
decomposition
Source: http://serc.carleton.edu
Source: www.algae.info
Sulphur Cycle
Sulfur Water Acidic fog and
Sulfuric acid precipitation
trioxide
Ammonia Ammonium
Oxygen sulfate
Sulfur dioxide Hydrogen sulfide
Plants
Dimethyl Volcano
sulfide Industries
Animals
Ocean
Sulfate salts
➢Natural
1.Terrestrial ecosystems (grasslands, forests, desert ecosystems)
2.Aquatic ecosystem
a.Lentic (Stagnant water) like lake, ponds etc.
b.Lotic (Flowing water) like river, ocean, sea, etc.
➢Artificial
1.A crop land, garden, aquarium, park, kitchen garden.
Types of Ecosystem
Biomes
“the world’s major communities, classified according to the predominant vegetation
and characterized by adaptations of organism to that particular environment”
• Biomes:
• Major life zones characterized by vegetation type (terrestrial biomes) or physical environment (aquatic biomes)
• Climate is very important in determining why terrestrial biomes are found in certain areas
• Climate affects the latitudinal patterns of terrestrial biomes
• Biomes are affected not just by average temperature and precipitation, but also by the pattern of temperature
and precipitation through the year
• Leads to formation of tropical (hot), temperate (moderate) and polar (cold) regions – deserts, grasslands and
forests
• Terrestrial Biomes:
• Often named for major physical or climatic factors and for vegetation
• Characterized by distribution, precipitation, temperature, plants, and animals
• Usually grade into each other, without sharp boundaries which may be wide or narrow
• Climb a tall mountain from its base to the summit, you’ll see changes as you might as you travel from the
equator to the poles
Distribution of vegetation / ecosystem
30°N
Tropic of
Cancer
Equator
Tropic of Capricorn
30°S
• Hot temperature, moisture laden air rises resulting in constant rainfall (200 inches per year)
• Temperature is high year-round (25–29C) with little seasonal variation
• High Biodiversity: home to millions of animal species, including an estimated 5–30 million still
unknown species of insects, spiders, and other arthropods
• 2% of the land but ½ of world’s species; single tree can have several thousand insect species
• Dominated by broadleaf evergreen plants; their dense tops block out most of the sun not
reaching the forest floor
• Ground has little vegetation (those that do have large leaves); vines (lianas) grow on trees to
reach the sun
• Little wind because of the dense vegetation; plants depend on bats, birds, bees and other
species for pollination
• Rapid human population growth is now destroying many tropical forests
Tropical Rain Forests
Temperate Rain Forest
• Tropical Deserts:
• Hot and dry most of the year; few plants and a hard wind blown surface of rocks and some sand
• Temperate Deserts:
• Daytime temperatures are high in the summer and low in winter; more precipitation than in the
topical deserts; drought resistance vegetation - cacti
• Cold Deserts:
• Vegetation is sparse; winters are cold; summers warm or hot and precipitation is low; plants and
animals have adapted to stay cool and get enough water
Fragile Ecosystem: slow plant growth; low species diversity; slow nutrient recycling and lack of water
Deserts
Deserts
Savannah
• Savannah
• Equatorial and subequatorial regions
• Warm temperatures year round with wet and dry seasons
• Precipitation is seasonal
• Temperature averages (24–29C) but is more seasonally variable than in the tropics
• Contains widely scattered clumps of trees (aracia with thorns to prevent being eaten)
• Grasses and make up most of the ground cover; fire-adapted and tolerant of seasonal drought
• Plants have adapted to survive drought and extreme heat
• Grazing animals (grass and herb eating; wildebeest) and browsing animals (twig and leaf
eating; giraffe) along with predators (lion)
Savannah
Chaparral
• Chaparral:
• Occurs in mid-latitude coastal regions on several continents
• Summer is hot (30C+); fall, winter, and spring are cool (10–12C)
• Close to sea provides a slightly longer winter rainy season than nearby temperate deserts
• Precipitation is highly seasonal with rainy winters and dry summers
• Fogs in the spring and fall reducing evaporation
• Consist of dense growth of low growing evergreen shrubs and occasional small trees with
leathery leaves to reduce evaporation
• Dominated by shrubs, small trees, grasses, and herbs; adapted to fire and drought
• Prone to fires in the dry season
• Many plants produce seeds that only germinated after a wildfire
• Animals include amphibians, birds, reptiles, insects, small mammals, and browsing mammals
• People like to live here because of its moderate, sunny climate with mild wet winters and warm dry
summers; risk losing their homes to frequent fires and mud slides
Chaparral
Chaparral
Temperate Grasslands
• Temperate Grassland
• Found on many continents
• Precipitation is highly seasonal
• Winters are cold (often below –10C) and dry; summers are hot (often near 30C) and dry
• Dominant plants are grasses and adapted to droughts and fire
• Little tree growth
• Large grazers such as bison and wild horses and small burrowers such as prairie dogs
• Most grasslands have been converted to farmland (Midwest)
Temperate Grassland
Mountains
• Mountains:
• Some of the world’s most spectacular environments are high on Mountains, steep or high lands that cover ¼ of the Earth’s
surface; dramatic changes in altitude, slope, climate, soil and vegetation occur in a very short distance
• 1.2 bil people (18% of the world’s population) live on them or their edges; 4 bil (59%) depend on mountain systems for all or
some of their water
• Majority of the world’s forests; habitats for biodiversity and contain endemic species found no where on Earth
• Help regulate the earth’s climate: mountains covered in ice and snow help to reflect solar radiation back into space helping
to cool the plant and offset global warming
• Can affect sea levels: storing or releasing water in glaciers; as the earth warms, water can be released in oceans causing
them to rise
• Major storehouses of water
• Despite their significance, mountain ecosystems are not a high priority for governments and/or environmental groups
Mount Rainier National Park
Forests
Northern Coniferous Forest
• Tundra:
• Covers expansive areas of the Arctic; alpine tundra exists on high mountaintops at all latitudes
• Precipitation is low in arctic tundra and higher in alpine tundra
• Winters are cold (below –30C); summers are relatively cool (less than 10C)
• Treeless and bitterly cold
• Swept by cold winds and covered by ice and snow
• Winters are long and dark
• Little precipitation
• Permafrost, a permanently frozen layer of soil, prevents water infiltration
• Vegetation is herbaceous (mosses, grasses, forbs, dwarf shrubs and trees, and lichen) and
supports birds, grazers, and their predators; alpine can be flowers
• Most of the growth occurs in the 7-8 week summer when the sun shines almost 24 hrs
• Mammals include musk oxen, caribou, reindeer, bears, wolves, and foxes; many migratory
bird species nest in the summer
Tundra
Aquatic Biomes
• Aquatic Biomes:
• Account for the largest part of the biosphere in terms of area
• Marine biomes have salt concentrations of about 3%
• Largest marine biome is made of oceans, which cover about 75% of Earth’s surface and have
an enormous impact on the biosphere
• Freshwater biomes have salt concentrations of less than 0.1%
• Freshwater biomes are closely linked to soils and the biotic components of the surrounding
terrestrial biome
• Stratified into Zones or layers defined by light penetration, temperature, and depth:
• Pelagic Zone:
• Photic Zone has sufficient light for photosynthesis; most animals live here
• Aphotic Zone receives little light; extensive with little life
• Deep in the Aphotic Zone lies the Abyssal Zone with a depth of 2,000 to 6,000 m
• Benthic Zone:
• Organic and inorganic sediment at the bottom of all aquatic zones
• Communities of organisms are collectively called the Benthos
• Detritus:
• Dead organic matter, falls from the productive surface water; important source of food
Aquatic Biomes
Figure 52.15
30°N
Tropic of
Cancer
Equator
Tropic of
Capricorn
30°S
• Natural bodies of freshwater formed from precipitation, runoff or groundwater that fill in depressions in
the surface caused by glaciers (Bear Mountain), volcanoes (Crater Lake) or other ways such as
supplied with water from rain (precipitation) or streams
• Size varies from small ponds to very large lakes
• Oligotrophic Lakes:
• Eutrophic Lakes:
• Nutrient-rich and often depleted of oxygen if ice covered in winter
• Rooted and floating aquatic plants live in shallow and well-lighted area close to shore
• Water is too deep to support rooted aquatic plants; small drifting animals called zooplankton graze on
the phytoplankton
• Invertebrates live in the benthic zone; Fishes live in all zones with sufficient oxygen
Lakes
Lakes
Wetlands
• Surface Water: precipitation that does not sink into the ground or evaporate
• Watershed, Drainage Basin: land that delivers runoff, sediment and dissolved substances into a stream;
small streams form rivers and rivers flow downhill to the ocean
• Dams and Canals on rivers fragment about 40% of the world’s 237 large rivers
• Alter or destroy aquatic wildlife habitats by reducing water flow and increasing damage from coastal storms
• Pollutants from cities and farms add excess nutrients causing algal explosions (blooms) and depleting the oxygen
• Wetlands have been drained or filled to grow crops or covered to build buildings or roads
Wetlands
Wetlands
• Wetlands
• Habitat that is inundated by water at least some of the time and that supports plants adapted
to water-saturated soil
• High organic production and decomposition and have low dissolved oxygen content
• Can develop in shallow basins, along flooded river banks, or on coasts of large lakes and seas
• Wetlands are among the most productive biomes on Earth
• Plants include lilies, cattails, sedges, tamarack, and black spruce
• Wetlands are home to diverse invertebrates and birds, as well as otters, frogs, and alligators
• Humans have destroyed up to 90% of wetlands; wetlands purify water and reduce flooding
Wetlands
Restoration of Wetlands
Streams and Rivers
• Coastal Wetlands:
• Coastal land areas covered with water all or part of the year
• Combined with Estuaries, they are some of the Earth’s most productive ecosystems because of nutrients, rapid flow of water and
ample sunlight:
• Estuaries and Coastal Wetlands: include river mouths, inlets, bays, sounds, salt marshes and mangrove forests
• Seagrass Beds:
• Species of plants that grow underwater in shallow marine and estuaries along the coastline
• Highly productive and support a variety of marine species
• Stabilize shorelines and reduce wave impact
• Life is harsh; adapt to daily and seasonal changes in tidal and river flow; water temperatures and salinity; and runoff from the land including
soil sediment and pollutants; because of this, they may have low plant diversity but high productivity
Coastal Wetlands
• Mangrove Forests:
• Found along 70% of gently sloping sandy and silt coastlines in the tropics and sub-tropics
• Grow in salt water and have extensive root systems that can support during changes in water levels
• Maintain water quality by filtering toxic pollutants, excess plant nutrients, sediments and absorb other
pollutants
• Provide food, habitats and nursery sites
• Reduce storm damage and coast erosion by absorbing waves and storing excess water produced by
storms and tsunamis
• Provide timber and wood for fuel
• UN estimates that between 1980 and 2005 at least 1/5 of the mangrove forests were lost due mainly to
human coastal development
• Loss of mangroves can lead to polluted drinking water caused by inland intrusion of saltwater into fresh water
aquifers used to supply drinking water
River Delta
Estuaries
Mangrove Trees
Life in Coastal Wetlands
Coastal Shoreline
• Intertidal Zone:
• Area between high and low tides (gravitational pull of the moon and sun)
• Organisms must adapt to movement of water; high tides to drying out at low tides
• Oxygen and nutrient levels are high
• Deal with daily salinity and moisture changes
• Organisms need to “hold on”:
• Rocky Shores:
• Pounded daily by waves
• Numerous pools and other habitats with a great variety of species; marine algae
• Animals have adapted to attach themselves to the hard surface
• Sandy Shores:
• Barrier beaches
• Many organisms are hidden from view by burrowing, digging or tunneling in the sand;
home to shore birds that feed on crustaceans – sea grass and algae
• Barrier Islands:
• Narrow islands that form offshore parallel to the coast
Intertidal Zones
Life Along the Coast
Importance of Sand Dunes
• Coral Reefs:
• World’s oldest, most diverse and most productive ecosystem
• Known as “Natural Wonders”
• Biodiversity – marine equivalent of Tropical Rain Forests
• Formed by tiny animals known as polyps – jellyfish; calcium carbonate
• Occupy only 0.2% of the ocean’s floor
• 15% have been destroyed and another 20% damaged
• They provide important ecological and economic services;
• Moderate atmospheric temperatures
• Act as natural barriers protecting coasts from erosion
• Provide habitats
• Support fishing and tourism businesses
• Provide jobs and building materials
Coral Reefs
Life on a Coral Reef
Death of a Coral Reef
Marine Benthic Zone
• Chemical pollution can have devastating effects of the health of ecosystems (as well as
humans) and the release of aerosols into the atmosphere (through activities such as burning
fossil fuels) damages ecosystems in numerous ways.
• The release of aerosols (among other things) can also lead to the depletion of the ozone layer
which threatens to allow harmful solar radiation to cause damage to organisms and
ecosystems.
• Another potential threat to global ecosystems that is the acidification of the oceans due to
increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which can have serious knock-on effects on
important aspects of ocean chemistry.
• There are generally considered to be nine major threats to the stability of ecosystems on Earth.
Climate change and loss of biodiversity are often the most publicised, although there are seven
other factors that may be equally threatening.
Threats to the ecosystem
1.Loss of crop & grazing land
2.Depletion of world's tropical forests
3.Extinction of species
4.Rapid population growth
5.Shortage of fresh water resources
6.Overfishing, habitat destruction, & pollution in the marine
environment
7.Climate change
8.Acid rain
9.Pressures on energy resources
ECOSYSTEM CONSERVATION
• Forests are important components of our environment. Rapid destruction of this important resource is a
cause of concern.
• Afforestation, preventing reckless cutting of trees and making everyone aware of the need to conserve it will
help forest conservation.
• Nature enjoys ecological balance only if the relative number of species is not disturbed. So, conservation of
wildlife is important for the future.
• National parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves are established to protect and conserve wildlife.
• Such measures would ensure that the wildlife does not become extinct.
• Conservation of aquatic life would be ensured by removal of industries near water bodies.
By Creating Awareness
Awareness about ecosystem conservation can be done by quiz posters,
competitions and by arranging other programmes
If all mankind were to disappear,
The world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium
That existed ten thousand years ago.
If insects were to vanish,
The environment would collapse into chaos.
- Edward O Wilson
Thank You!!
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