The Ecosystem: Interrelationships

between organisms and the

environment
1. Should we care about the survival of
organisms other than human beings?
2. Can we humans live alone and survive on the
planet?
3. Does the way nature operates offer solutions
to our environmental problems?
 Definition of Terms …1
 Ecology: A study of the interrelationships
between living organisms and the non-living
components and processes that make up the
global environment.
 Biosphere: The worldwide system within which
all life functions. It includes the atmosphere
(air), hydrosphere (water) and the lithosphere
(soils, rocks)
 Biome: A major ecological region within which
plant and animal species are similar in general
characteristics and in their relationships to the
physical environment. E.g.. Tundra, Deserts,
Forests Grasslands etc.
 Definition of terms…2
 Ecosystem: A collection of living organisms in a
geographic area, together with the non-living things with
which they interact.
• Aquatic Ecosystems (water-based systems)
• Terrestrial Ecosystems (land-based systems).
 Population: A group of organisms of the same kind living
in a given area.
 Natural Community: Populations of different species
living together and interacting in a given area.
 Habitat: The environment in which a particular organism
lives in the community
 Definitions…3

 Ecological Niche: An organism’s role

within a community.
 Environment: Comprises all the
surrounding things that affect an
organism or a community of
organisms in a given area.
The Structure of Ecosystems…1
Components of an Ecosystem:

 Biota or Biotic component: the

living organisms comprising all plants
& animals
 Abiotic component: the non-living
physical and chemical components
consisting of wind, temperature,
water, soil, precipitation which the
biotic elements need to survive.
Structure of an Ecosystem…2
 A single abiotic factor most lacking
in a particular environment is
termed, a Limiting Factor. E.g.
water-desert, temperature-tundra
 The variation in physical factors that
an organism can withstand and
continue to thrive in an environment
is termed - Range of Tolerance
Producers in an Ecosystem
Categories of Organism in an
ecosystem
 Autotrophs – self-nourished species

(e.g. plants)
 Heterotrophs – other-nourished

species (humans and animals)

1. Producers: Green Plants responsible

for photosynthesis and the release of
energy into an ecosystem.
 Consumers and Decomposers
2. Consumers
a) Primary Consumers - Herbivores
b) Secondary Consumers – Carnivores
c) Tertiary Consumers - Carnivores
d) Multiple-level Consumers - Omnivores

3. a) Detritivores –e.g. crab, vulture, termites

b) Decomposers – e.g. fungi and bacteria
 The Food Chain
 A food chain or food web is represented by a sequence of
organisms through which energy and nutrients flow from
one organism to another.
 A major step in the transfer of energy through the food
chain is termed as a Trophic level
• Primary consumers – First trophic level
• Secondary consumers - Second trophic level
• Tertiary Consumers - Third trophic level
 The amount of usable energy in the food chain decreases
as we move down the trophic level
An example of a marine food chain

Phytoplankton is the first

level of marine food chain
Zooplanktons are eaten by
krill and other Small fish
which are all eaten in turn
by Big fish, including
penguins, seals and
whales. The marine food
chain continues when these
big fishes are eaten by
Mammals like polar bears
A marine food chain
A marine food
chain
 Polar bear - 5
 Seal - 4
 Cod - 3
 Krill - 2
 Algae - 1
A terrestrial-based food chain

A Terrestrial food
chain
 Hawk …
 Snake eaten by hawk
 Frog eaten by snake
 Grasshopper eaten by
frog
Impact of pesticides (i.e., DDT) on the
species of an ecosystem
 Interactions among species in an
Ecosystem
Plants compete amongst themselves for:
1. water, 2. nutrients 3. sunlight and 4. space
Animals compete over
1. food, 2. water, 3. mating and 4. territory

2 main types of relationships

• Predation – one species (the predator)
feeds on the other (prey) e.g. cat and
mouse
• Symbiosis – species live in an intimate
association with each other
 Types of symbiotic relations
 Parasitism - one species feeds on
another (the host) and may kill it.
 Mutualism – both parties benefit
equally from the relationship (flowers
and butterflies)
 Commensalism – the relationship
benefits one species but neither helps
nor harms the other
 Principles of Ecology
 First Law of Energy: “energy can be
converted from one form to another but
cannot be created or destroyed”
 Second Law of Energy: “whenever energy
is converted from one form to another, a
certain amount is lost in the form of heat”.

The Law of Conservation of Matter

 “Although matter can be changed from one

form to another it can neither be created nor

destroyed by ordinary physical and chemical
changes”.
 Biogeochemical Cycles
Comprise processes through which
elements that sustain life (water,
carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen) are
continuously made available to living
organisms.
 Nitrogen cycle
 Hydrological cycle
 Carbon cycle
 Phosphorus cycle
The Hydrological Cycle
The Carbon Cycle
Interruptions in an Ecosystem
Causes:
a) Natural causes – volcanic eruptions
b) Human causes – e.g. construction,
agriculture, mining, etc.
List some of the consequences that
can result from an abrupt
interruption in the smooth
functioning of an ecosystem?
 What lessons can we learn from the
way a natural ecosystem operates?
 Natural ecosystems gain resources, use it and dispose of
wastes through recycling.
 Ecosystems sustain themselves by running on Solar Energy
which is exceedingly abundant, nonpolluting, constant and
long lasting.
 Far less of Carnivores can be supported by each ecosystem.
Many would soon face extinction
 Every species in a community play an important role in the
sustenance of the ecosystem