ONLINE ASSIGNMENT

ON
ECOSYSTEM

SUBMITTED TO, SUBMITTED BY:

Dr. JUGINU M S APARNA M PRAKASH
BUDDHA COLLEGE OF FIRST SEM B.Ed
TEACHER EDUCATION NATURAL SCIENCE
MUTHUKULUM BUDDHA COLLEGE OF
TEACHER EDUCATION
MUTHUKULAM
 INDEX

CONTENTS PAGE NUMBER

INTRODUCTION 1

ECOSYSTEM 2

TYPES OF 5
ECOSYTEMS

CONCLUSION 13

REFERENCE 14
 INTRODUCTION

The Environment is our basic life support system and is composed of

living beings, physical surroundings, and climatic conditions. It is derived from
a French word, “Environner”, which means “to surround”. The term
environment includes all biotic and abiotic entities around us. Biotic refers to
the world of living organisms, whereas Abiotic refers to the world of non-living
elements. The Environment provides us with the essential elements – air, water,
food, and land which are essential for life to flourish on the Earth.

Our Environment comprises three components – natural components (air, water,

land & living things), human components (individual, family, community), and
human-made components (roads, monuments, industries), and is a combination
of natural and human-made phenomena. The Natural Environment could be
further classified into four domains- lithosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere, and
Atmosphere. These are also called the domains of the environment.

Humans form an integral part of the environment. They interact with the
environment and modify it as per their needs and requirements, thus forming a
human-made environment. With time, as humans evolved, their interaction with
the environment also revolutionized, resulting in global environmental impact.
Early humans used to adapt to the natural surroundings, however,
contemporarily, as the human needs grew and became varied, the pressure on
the environment also spiked, and more emphasis was given on judiciously using
our environmental resources for meeting the needs of both present and future
generations, to safeguard biodiversity and to protect life on Earth.

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 ECOSYSTEM

According to Woodbury (1954), ecosystem is a complex in which habitat,

plants and animals are considered as one interesting unit, the materials and
energy of one passing in and out of the others.

Organisms and environment are two non-separable factors. Organisms

interact with each other and with the physical conditions that are present in their
habitats.

The concept of ecosystem was first put forth by A.G. Tansley (1935).
Ecosystem is the major ecological unit. It has both structure and functions. The
structure is related to species diversity. The more complex is the structure the
greater is the diversity of the species in the ecosystem. The functions of
ecosystem are related to the flow of energy and cycling of materials through
structural components of the ecosystem. According to E.P. Odum, the
ecosystem is the basic functional unit of organisms and their environment
interacting with each other and with their own components.

Components for Ecosystem

Eco-system is a physically defined environment that comprises of two
inseparable components:

Biotic or biocenosis
Abiotic or biotope

Biotic Components

Biotic components comprise all living organisms in an ecosystem. Biotic

components are also known as ‘biocenosis’ or biotic factors. Biotic components
describe a living component of an ecosystem, for example, organisms, such as
plants and animals.

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Based on the nutrition the biotic components are classified into three. They
include:

Producers: It includes all autotrophic organisms such as plants. They can

produce food through the process of photosynthesis that's why they are known
as producers. All other organisms higher up on the food chain depend on
producers for food.

Consumers: They’re also known as heterotrophs. They’re organisms that

depend on other organisms for food as they take nutrition from the food that is
made by the Producers. They’re further classified into primary, secondary, and
tertiary consumers:

Primary Consumers: Primary consumers are herbivores and vegetarians in

nature as they rely on producers for food.

Secondary Consumers: They depend upon the primary consumers for food, they
can be either Carnivores or omnivores in nature.

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Tertiary Consumers: Tertiary consumers depend upon secondary consumers for
food.

Quaternary consumers: Humans are quaternary consumers, Quaternary

consumers are at the top of the food chain, and they prey on the tertiary
consumers.

Decomposers: These are the organisms that feed on the non-living organic
matter called detritus. They are also known as saprotrophic organisms and
include saprophytes such as fungi and bacteria. They consume the dead and
decaying matters. They recycle the nutrients so they can be used by plants in the
ecosystem.

Abiotic Components

Abiotic components or biotope or Abiotic factors are the non-living components

of an ecosystem. This basically involves inorganic or non-living minerals,
phosphorus, and iron. It includes wind, altitude, turbidity, air, water, soil,
minerals, sunlight, temperature, nutrients, etc. Abiotic factors refer to non-living
chemical and physical elements which ease the creation of an ecosystem.
Abiotic resources are usually obtained from the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and
lithosphere.

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 TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS
The ecosystems are capable of operating and maintaining themselves without
any major interference by man.

A classification based on their habitat:

• Terrestrial ecosystems • Aquatic ecosystems

Terrestrial Ecosystem
Terrestrial ecosystems are many because there are so many different sorts of
places on Earth.

There are different types of terrestrial ecosystems distributed around various

geological zones. They are as follows:

1. Forest Ecosystems 3. Tundra Ecosystems

2. Grassland Ecosystems 4. Desert Ecosystem

FOREST ECOSYSTEM
A forest ecosystem consists of several plants, animals and microorganisms that
live in coordination with the abiotic factors of the environment. Forests help in
maintaining the temperature of the earth and are the major carbon sink.

Forest types in India

The forest type depends upon the abiotic factors such as climate and soil
characteristics of a region. Forests in India can be broadly divided into
Coniferous forests and Broadleaved forests. They can also be classified
according to the nature of their tree species – evergreen, deciduous, xerophytic
or thorn trees, mangroves, etc.

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Coniferous forests grow in the Himalayan Mountain region, where the
temperatures are low. These forests have tall stately trees with needle like leaves
and downward sloping branches so that the snow can slip off the branches. They
have cones instead of seeds and are called gymnosperms.

Broadleaved forests have several types, such as evergreen forests, deciduous

forests, thorn forests, and mangrove forests. Broadleaved forests have large
leaves of various shapes.

Evergreen forests grow in the high rainfall areas of the Western Ghats, North-
eastern India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These forests grow in areas
where the monsoon lasts for several months. Some even get two monsoons,
such as in Southern India.

Evergreen plants shed a few of their leaves throughout the year. There is
no dry leafless phase as in a deciduous forest. An evergreen forest thus looks
green throughout the year.

Deciduous forests are found in regions with a moderate amount of seasonal

rainfall that lasts for only a few months. Most of the forests in which Teak trees
grow are of this type.

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 The deciduous trees shed their leaves during the winter and hot summer
months. In March or April they regain their fresh leaves just before the monsoon
when they grow vigorously in response to the rains.

Thorn forest trees have long or fibrous roots to reach water at great depths.
Many of these plants have thorns, which reduce water loss and protect them
from herbivores.

Mangrove forests grow along the coast especially in the river deltas. These
plants can grow in a mix of saline and fresh water. They grow luxuriantly in
muddy areas covered with silt that the rivers have brought down. The mangrove
trees have breathing roots that emerge from the mudbanks.

GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM

Grasslands are the areas that are dominated by a nearly continuous cover
of grasses. It is one of the most widespread of all major vegetation in the world.
They occupy about 20% of the land on the surface of the earth. Grasslands are
found in both tropical and temperate regions where rainfall is not enough to
support the growth of trees. They are also found in areas consisting of well-
defined hot, dry, warm, and rainy seasons.

These are known by different names in different regions of the world like
steppes in Europe and Asia, pampas in South America, Veldt in South Africa,
and Downs in Australia. Grassland is found where rainfall is about 15-75 cm
per year not enough to support a forest, but more than that of a true desert.

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In India, they are found mainly high Himalayas. The rest of India’s grasslands
are mainly composed of the Steppes and Savana. Steppe formations occupy
large areas of sandy and saline soils.

Grassland Ecosystem is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses

and other herbaceous (non-woody) plants. It is also called transitional landscape
because grassland ecosystems are dominated by the grass with few or no trees
in the area where there is not enough for a forest and too much of a forest.

TUNDRA BIOME

Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes. Tundra comes from the Finnish
word tunturi, meaning treeless plain. It is noted for its frost-molded landscapes,
extremely low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short
growing seasons. Dead organic material functions as a nutrient pool.

Characteristics of tundra include:

 Extremely cold climate

 Low biotic diversity
 Simple vegetation structure
 Limitation of drainage
 Short season of growth and reproduction
 Energy and nutrients in the form of dead organic material
 Large population oscillations
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Tundra is separated into two types:

o Arctic tundra
o Alpine tundra

Arctic tundra

Arctic tundra is in the northern hemisphere, encircling the north pole and
extending south to the coniferous forests of the taiga. The arctic is known for its
cold, desert-like conditions. Rainfall may vary in different regions of the arctic.

Alpine tundra

Alpine tundra is located on mountains throughout the world at high

altitude where trees cannot grow. The growing season is approximately 180
days. The night-time temperature is usually below freezing. Unlike the arctic
tundra, the soil in the alpine is well drained.

DESERT ECOSYSTEM

The desert ecosystem is the driest terrestrial ecosystem in the world, therefore, it
has less biodiversity. The plants in this desert ecosystem are usually short-lived
in nature. They grow, germinate, and perish in a very short time.

Desert plants are capable of photosynthesis because their stems are green and
succulent and covered with a waxy substance. Different types of animals such

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as locusts, camels, rats, etc. are seen in the desert ecosystem. The animals of
this ecosystem adapt to the different conditions prevailing in the desert
ecosystem.

The desert ecosystem has less density of plants due to low rainfall. These
regions are characterized by less than 255 mm of rainfall and high or low
temperatures. The evaporation rate of this ecosystem is very high. Dates, cotton,
millet, etc. are cultivated in different places depending on the availability of
water.

AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM

A water-based habitat of an ecosystem in which all living species interact

with the environment's physical and chemical properties. The aquatic ecosystem
plays a significant role in striking a balance between the atmosphere,
lithosphere, and biosphere. Oceans, lakes, and rivers are examples of aquatic
ecosystems.

The aquatic ecosystem is the basic functional unit facilitating the sustenance of
aquatic organisms.

Nekton, plankton, and benthos are some of the most prevalent aquatic creatures.
Lakes, oceans, ponds, rivers, swamps, coral reefs, wetlands, and popular

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examples of freshwater aquatic ecosystems. While marine habitats include
oceans, intertidal zones, reefs, and the seabed

The different types of ecosystems are as follows:

Freshwater Ecosystem

Freshwater ecosystems only cover about 1 percent of the earth's surface.

Lakes, ponds, rivers and streams, marshes, swamps, bogs, and ephemeral pools
are all examples of freshwater.

Freshwater ecosystems are divided into three types: lotic, lentic, wetlands, and
swamps.

Lentic habitats are bodies of standing water such as lakes, ponds, pools, bogs,
and other reservoirs. Flowing water bodies such as rivers and streams are
represented by lotic ecosystems.

Lotic Ecosystems

Lotic ecosystems primarily refer to unidirectionally flowing, quickly

flowing waterways such as rivers and streams. Several insect species, such as
beetles, mayflies and stoneflies, as well as several fish species, such as trout,
eel, and minnow, live in these settings. These ecosystems also include mammals
such as beavers, river dolphins, and otters, in addition to aquatic species.

Lentic Ecosystems

They encompass all ecosystems with standing water. The principal

examples of the Lentic Ecosystem are lakes and ponds. The term lentic is used
to describe water that is stationary or relatively still. Algae, crabs, shrimps,
amphibians like frogs and salamanders, rooted and floating-leaved plants and
reptiles like alligators and other water snakes can all be found in these habitats.

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Marine Ecosystem

The marine environment spans most of the earth’s surface area. Oceans,
seas, the intertidal zone, reefs, the seabed, estuaries, hydrothermal vents, and
rock pools make up two-thirds of the earth's surface. Aquatic animals cannot
exist outside of water. Salt concentrations are higher in the marine habitat,
making it difficult for freshwater creatures to survive. In addition, marine
species are unable to survive in freshwater.

Their bodies are designed to survive in saltwater and will swell if placed in less
salty water (osmosis).

They can be further classified as ocean ecosystems, estuaries, coral reefs, and
coastal ecosystems.

Ocean Ecosystems

The Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Atlantic Oceans are the five primary oceans on
earth.

The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are the largest and deepest of these five oceans.

More than five lakh aquatic species call these oceans home.

Shellfish, sharks, tube worms, crabs, turtles, crustaceans, blue whales, reptiles,
marine mammals, seagulls, plankton, corals, and other ocean plants are just a
few of the organisms that live in these environments.

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 CONCLUSION

The ecosystem is extremely important for sustainable life. A healthy

ecosystem keeps our environment strong and contributes significantly to
maintaining the health of all living beings. A sustainable ecosystem means that
whatever the natural phenomena of nature, human intervention should be
minimized, and humans should learn to live in balance with nature. Our
Environmental resources are finite, living in harmony, and maintaining a perfect
balance between the natural and human environment is of utmost importance
and is the only way forward to a sustainable future.

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 REFERENCE

 https://www.deshbandhucollege.ac.in/pdf/resources/
1587401626_BA(H)-Psc-Eco-Eng-BA(P)-II-
Ecosystem.pdf
 https://www.ugc.ac.in/oldpdf/modelcurriculum/
Chapter3.pdf
 https://gacbe.ac.in/pdf/ematerial/18BZO63C-U2.pdf
 https://www.javatpoint.com/types-of-ecosystem

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