ECOSYSTEMS

What is ecosystem ?

An ecosystem is a biotic assemblage of

plants, animals and microbes taken
together with their physico-chemical
environment.
 Abiotic components:
• provides practically all the energy for ecosystems.

• Inorganic substances, e.g., sulfur, nitrogen, boron, tend

to cycle through biogeochemical cycles.

• Organic compounds, such as proteins, carbohydrates,

lipids, and other complex molecules, form a link
between biotic and Abiotic components of the system
Example: Nitrogen Cycle
 Function
Major functional attributes of ecosystem are
a. Productivity and decomposition
b. Energy Flow
c. Nutrients cycling
d. Development and stabilization
Food Chains

• The producers, consumers, and decomposers

of each ecosystem make up a food chain.
• There are many food chains in an ecosystem.
• Food chains show where energy is transferred
and not who eats who.
Example of a Food Chain
Food Webs
• All the food chains in an area make up the
food web of the area.
Types of Ecosystems
Holdridge life zones- Terrestrial Ecosystems

wikipedia
 Aquatic Ecosystems –Lentic
Systems
Based on depth and sunlight availability
 Lentic Ecosystem
Based on thermal Stratification
EUTROPHICATION
• Occurs in slow moving/standstill water systems
• Happens due to nutrient deposition either from human
sources like pesticides from farms, Industrial effluents,
sewage and poorly managed solid waste from urban
areas, or from natural sources like erosion of nutrient rich
soil and deposition of nitrogen from the atmosphere.
• Leads to disproportionate accumulation of few nutrients
in the water system which, in turn, favors growth of few
specific lifeforms
• Subsequently other life-forms die out leading to an
ecological imbalance and death of the water system
• Part of the natural cycle of lake systems-takes thousands
of years to happen
• Accelerated by human interference
 River (lotic) Ecosystem

Deeper Part: flowing water zone

Shallow Part: riffle zone
Rapids: Areas where water is fast enough to keep the
bed clean of sediments
Pools: Deeper areas in the river where water is slow
which leads to sedimentation
 Ocean Ecosystem
Stratification based on depth
 Ocean Ecosystem
Based on temperature stratification
BIODIVERSITY
 BIODIVERSITY
The term biodiversity refers to the totality of
species, populations, communities and
ecosystems, both wild and domesticated that
constitute the life of any one area or of the
entire plant.

Degree of variety in life in an ecosystem

Relationship between altitude, ecosystem and biodiversity-
Holdrige Life zones

12/8/2019
The Value of Biodiversity

Why is biodiversity important?

• Biodiversity’s benefits to society include contributions
to medicine and agriculture, and the provision of
ecosystem goods and services.
• It is the source of food for man. Man occupies the
apex of the tropic levels and gets his food from all
other organisms.
• Several important drugs and medicines are prepared
from plant-based substances. About 25% of the drugs
in pharmacy are derived from only 120 species of
plants.
• It has great aesthetic value. Landscapes are
the delightful sites of nature in their pure
form.
• It need to be preserved for a valid cause, as
genetic material is the end product of millions
of years of evolution.
ASSESSING HEALTH OF ECOSYSTEMS
THROUGH ITS BIODIVERSITY

Understanding Trophic Levels, Biomass

and Energy Pyramids
 WHAT IS A TROPHIC LEVEL?

A trophic level is the position occupied by

an organism in a food chain.
• Producers are found at the base of the pyramid and
compromise the first trophic level.

• Primary consumers make up the second trophic

level.

• Secondary consumers make up the third trophic

level.

• tertiary consumers make up the top trophic level.

 Biomass
• Energy is sometimes considered in terms of biomass, the
mass of all the organisms and organic material in an area.

• There is more biomass at the trophic level of producers

and fewer at the trophic level of tertiary consumers.

• Bio=life Mass=weight
• Bio + Mass = Weight of living things within an
ecosystem.

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 Energy/Biomass Pyramids
• The greatest amount of energy/biomass is
found at the base of the pyramid.
• The least amount of energy/biomass is found
at top of the pyramid.
 Energy/Biomass Pyramids
• A energy/biomass pyramid can never be inverted for
a healthy ecosystem
• The slope and the trophic levels of the pyramid can
be approximated for a healthy ecosystem (different
ecosystems will have different trophic levels and
slope in the energy/biomass pyramid).
• A significant deviation from the approximated norm
can point to serious problems in an ecosystem
 INDIA’S BIODIVERSITY
 India is home to 33% of the life forms found in the
world, 2 % of the world landmass 8% of the
biodiversity of the world.
 It can be divided into 10 biogeographic zones and 26
biotic provinces, 33 botanical gardens, 89 national
parks 275 zoos, 504 sanctuaries, 47000 species of
plants and 81000 species of animals identified in the
country.
 60% of this wealth can be found in the Western
Ghats
Biodiversity Conservation
In situ Conservation Strategies
• It means the conservation of ecosystems,
natural habitats and the maintenance and
recovery of viable populations of species in
their natural surrounding and in the case of
domesticated or cultivated species, in the
surroundings where they have developed
their distinctive properties.
(i) Protected areas:
These are the areas of land and/or sea, especially
dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological
diversity and of natural and associated cultural resources.
 Maintaining viable populations of all native species and
subspecies.
 Maintaining the number and distribution of communities
and habitats and conserving the genetic diversity of all the
existing species.
 Preventing man created introduction of exotic species.
 Making it possible for species to shift in response to
environmental changes
EX SITU CONSERVATION STRATEGIES:-
• It is defines as the conservation of components of
biological diversity outside their natural habitat.
• Eq:- Botanical gardens, zoos, aquaria, gene banks,
seed banks, use of biotechnology and DNA
preservation.
(i) Botanical gardens and zoos:-
 There are more than 1500 botanical gardens and
arboreta in the world with more than 80000
species.
 Similarly there are more than 800 professionally
managed zoos around the world with about 3000
species .
(ii) Biotechnological methods:-
It has provided many new conservation tools in
agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry
and medicine.
(iii) Gene banks:-
It provides a method of conservation of diverse
genetic resources, particularly of threatened
species and those seeds which are not viable for
longer periods under natural conditions
(iv) Conservation of DNA:-
An emerging and promising technique in
preserving biodiversity is isolation and
conservation of DNA. It can be used for
endangered or even extinct species by taking
samples of material from hair, bones and
herbarium specimens of the target species.
SVALBARD GLOBAL SEED VAULT

CROPTRUST.ORG
SVALBARD GLOBAL SEED VAULT

THORNEWS.COM
Problems in Conservation:-
(1) Very little understanding of what is to be
conserved, especially with regard to complex
natural ecosystems like tropical rain forests.
(2) Limited Financial resources to protect and
manage ecosystems.
(3) Alienation of people from their natural
resources bring in resentment among local
people and no protected area.
(4) Wildlife needs to be protected with the
people rather than from the people.
Thank You