 Term coined by a British Ecologist, A G Tansely in 1935

Literature:
Karl Mobius(1877)- biocoenosis-community of organisms in an oyster reef

S A Forbes(1887)- microcosm-system of a lake

Russian ecologist, Sukachev(1944)- biogeocoenosis- concept expansion

Definition:
 “The basic functional unit of organisms and their environment, interacting
with each other and within their own components. It is a dynamic system
where the biotic and abiotic components are constantly acting and reacting
upon each other bringing forth structural and functional changes”
E P Odum
 Abiotic Components

◦ Inorganic substances (biogeochemical cycles)

◦ Organic substances
◦ Climate regime

 Biotic components
◦ Producers
◦ Consumers

 i Primary consumers-herbivores

 ii Secondary consumers-carnivores and omnivores ( Primary carnivores)

 iii Tertiary consumers- carnivores feeding on consumers(Secondary carnivores)

 iv Quaternary consumers-carnivores feeding on tertiary consumers

◦ Decomposers (Transformers)- bacteria (bacillus, pseudomonas), fungi

(fusarium, mucor,etc)
Based on nutritional point of view
 Biotic Component-
◦ Autotrophic components (Self nourishing components)
◦ Heterotrophic components (“other-nourishing”
components)

Various aspects of an ecosystem

 Trophic structure
 Trophi = food
 Trophic level, Standing crop, standing state,
standing quantity
 Biochemical structure
 Species structure
Based on habitat:
Aquatic ecosystem- Freshwater, Marine
Terrestrial ecosystem- grassland, forest,
desert, polar(arctic), tundra,etc
Based on human intervention:
◦ Natural ecosystem
◦ Artificial ecosystem
I Forest Ecosytem
a. Types and features:

 i Taiga or boreal forest

 ii Temperature forest
 iii Tropical rainforests
 iv Temperature shrub forests
 v Tropical savannah

◦ b. Abiotic components, biotic components and

decomposers
 II Grassland Ecosystem
◦ Features
◦ Abiotic and biotic components

 III Desert Ecosystem

◦ Features
◦ Abiotic and biotic components

 IV Aquatic Ecosystem
◦ Features and types ( freshwater, marine)
◦ Abiotic and biotic components
Transfer of food energy from producers (aututrophs) through a
series of organisms that consume and are being consumed

Shorter the food chain, greater the energy available to that

population

Types:

Grazing or Browsing or Predation food chain ( producers-

herbivore-carnivore)

Detritus or Decay food chain (detritus-microorganisms-

detrivores-predators)

Parasitic chain (herbivores & carnivores- parasites)

 Interlocking of food chains is called as Food
web
 More diverse food habits, more complex food
web
 More consumer diversity, more complexity
 Transfer of energy from one trophic level
to another trophic level is called energy
flow

 Energy flow is unidirectional

 In an ecosystem the trophic structure
(number, biomass and energy) of organisms
gradually decreases from the producer level
to the consumer level.
 The graphic representation of the trophic
structure and trophic function (energy
transformation at each level) is called
Ecological pyramid
 Base= producers, apex = final consumer,
tiers = successive levels between producers
and final consumer
 Pyramid of numbers
 Pyramid of biomass
 Pyramid of energy
 Pyramid in which the number of individual
organism is depicted
 Number of individuals at each trophic level
decreases from producer level to consumer level
 The size of the organisms of this level may be
smaller than that of the upper layer organisms.
 The number of herbivores is lesser than
producers, but their size may be greater than
that of producers.
 As we go to the top most layers, till the
carnivores, the number decreases and size
increases.
Reasons behind reduction in number of the
Individuals towards upper trophic levels
 Difference in the number of population
growth rate at each trophic level
 Predation upon small organisms by larger
ones
 Witnessed in food chains which involve
parasites
 Parasites are more numerous than their host
 Thus from producers to consumers there is a
reverse position in the pyramid considering
the numbers
 Ex: Trees- fruit eating birds-large number of
parasites such as lice, bugs, etc
 Only applicable in simple food chains and not
food webs
 Do not consider the possible presence of the
same species at different trophic levels
 None of the three ecological pyramids
provide any idea related to variations in
seasons and climates
 Other organisms like micro organisms and
fungi are not given specific role in the
pyramids despite their vital roles in
ecosystem
 Process by which an organism occupy a site and
gradually change the environmental conditions
so that other species can replace the original
inhabitants

 Causes:
◦ Initial causes
◦ Continuing causes
◦ Stabilizing changes

 Types:
◦ Primary
◦ Secondary