ENERGY FLOW THROUGH ECOSYSTEMS

NRM 101
A. Parham-Garbutt
BIODIVERSITY
• A vital part of the earth’s capital
• Sustains life on earth
• Provide genetic raw materials for adaptation to future
environmental conditions
3 TYPES OF BIODIVERSITY
• Genetic diversity – differences in genetic makeup
among individuals in a single species
• Species diversity – variety of species in different
habitats on earth
• Ecological diversity – variety of biological communities
that interact with one another and with their non-living
environments.
WHY IS BIODIVERSITY IMPORTANT?
We are completely dependent on it
It is nature’s insurance policy against disasters
Gives us food, fibres, energy, raw materials,
industrial chemicals & medicines (spills out
hundreds of billions of $ every yr i/o global
economy)
Provide recycling, purification & natural pest
control.
 MAJOR LIVING COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEM

Primary
Consumers Detritivores
Herbivores
Herbivores Carnivores
Carnivores Omnivores
Omnivores Scavengers
Scavengers
Producers
Producers
Secondary Decomposers
Consumers
 Producers

• Are also called autotrophs

• They make their own food from compounds obtained from their environment
On LAND green plants
In FRESHWATER and MARINE systems algae and green plants
In OPEN WATER floating and drifting phytoplankton
• Most producers capture sunlight to make sugars and other complex organic
compounds from inorganic (abiotic) nutrients in the environment ------
photosynthesis
• A few producers, specialized bacteria, can convert simple compounds from
their environment into more complex nutrient compounds without sunlight ----
chemosynthesis
CONSUMERS Herbivores
• Plant eaters
• Feed directly on producers
 Carnivores
• Meat eaters
• Feed on other consumers
• Secondary consumers feed on primary consumers or herbivores
• Tertiary consumers feed on secondary consumers or meet eaters
 Omnivores
• Consumers that eat both plants and animals
• Feed on dead organisms that were killed by other organisms or that Scavengers
died naturally
 DECOMPOSERS
• Bacteria and fungi
• Consumers that complete the final
breakdown and recycling of organic
materials from the remains or wastes of
all types of organisms
• Recycle organic matter
DETRITIVORES
• Detritus feeders and decomposers
• Live off detritus
• Detritus is parts of dead organisms and
cast off fragments and wastes of living
organisms
BIODIVERSTIY
Types of Biodiversity
• Genetic – variability in genetic
makeup among a species
• Species – variety of species in a
habitat
• Ecology – variety of biological
communities that interact with
one another & their non-living
env’t.
• Human cultural – variety of
human cultures allowing us to
adapt and cope
Importance of Biodiversity
• Complete dependence on this
• Nature’s insurance policy against
disasters
• Rich variety of genes, species
and ecosystems provide food,
fibers, energy, raw materials,
industrial chemicals and
medicines (billions of dollars)
• Provide recycling, purification
and pest control
RESPIRATION
Aerobic Respiration
• Oxygen is used to convert
organic nutrients back into
carbon dioxide and water.
Anaerobic Respiration –
Fermentation
• Breakdown of glucose (or other
nutrients) in the absence of
oxygen.
PRODUCTIVITY

• Primary productivity – the rate at which an ecosystem’s producers

capture and store a given amount of chemical energy as biomass in a
given length of time.

• Gross primary productivity (GPP) – rate at which an ecosystem’s

producers convert solar energy into chemical energy as biomass

• Net primary productivity (NPP) – what is left after biomass has been
used to stay alive, grow and reproduce. This is what other
organisms gain as food.
NUMBERS
Pyramid of Energy Pyramid of
Biomass

Pyramid of Numbers Hawk

Warblers
Caterpillars
Leaves
 MAJOR NON-LIVING COMPONENTS OF
ECOSYSTEMS
• Physical factors
• Sunlight, temperature, precipitation, wind, latitude, altitude, frequency of
fire, nature of soil
• Water currents, suspended solid material

• Chemical factors
• Supply of water and air in the soil
• Supply of plant nutrients or toxic substances dissolved in soil moisture
• Salinity, level of dissolved oxygen