ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

&
DISASTER MANAGEMENT

MODULE 2
 CONCEPT OF ECOSYSTEM
• An ecosystem is therefore defined as a natural functional
ecological unit comprising of living organisms and their
nonliving environment that interact to form a stable self
supporting system .
• E.g.. Pond, lake, desert, grassland, forest, etc.
• The living community of plants and animals in any area
together with the nonliving components of the environment
such as soil, air and water, constitute the ecosystem.
• Natural ecosystems include the forests, grasslands, deserts,
and aquatic ecosystems such as ponds, rivers, lakes, and the
sea. Man modified ecosystems include agricultural land and
urban or industrial land use patterns. Each ecosystem has a set
of common features that can be observed in the field
 Types of ecosystem
1. Natural
– Terrestrial ecosystem
– Aquatic ecosystem
• Lentic, the ecosystem of a lake, pond or swamp.
• Lotic, the ecosystem of a river, stream or spring.

2. Artificial
• Ecosystems can be broadly divided into two main categories
as terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
• The biosphere’s major terrestrial or land ecosystems such as
grasslands, forests and deserts are called biomes .
• Major ecosystems that are associated with water such as
ponds, lakes, rivers, estuaries, oceans, coastal and inland
wetlands etc., are collectively termed aquatic ecosystems .
• Some of the aquatic ecosystems contain fresh water, but
others may be saline.
• Examples of natural ecosystems can be found easily if you
look around carefully. Your home garden itself is an
ecosystem. On the other hand, you must remember that all
ecosystems are not natural.
• An aquarium for an example is a man–made system. In fact,
most of us live in highly modified ecosystems such as large
metropolis, farms, and villages
 Biomes
• Biomes are a classification of globally similar areas,
including ecosystems, such as
ecological communities of plants and animals,
soil organisms and climatic conditions.
• A fundamental classification of biomes is:
Terrestrial (land) biomes.
Freshwater biomes.
Marine biomes.
• Ecology is the study of the relationship
between organisms and the environment and
the interrelationships between organisms.
• The response of an organism to the
environment is determined by the effects of
the environment on the processes in the
organism.
• Structure of Ecosystem
• An ecosystem has two major components:
which are abiotic componenets (Non-living)
and biotic component (living component) as
shown in the Figure below
• Abiotic Component:- The abiotic components that
form the physical environment of an ecosystem
include factors such as energy, elements, inorganic
compounds, dead organic matter and climate.
• As you are aware natural ecosystems are fuelled by
the energy of the sun, which includes both heat and
light. The energy of the sun is the driving force for all
the processes within the ecosystem.
• The inorganic elements and compounds found in the
ecosystem consist of all nutrients such as nitrates,
phosphates and sulphates, water, carbon dioxide and
oxygen etc.
• These inorganic substances affect all biological
activities i.e. growth, reproduction etc. of organisms.
• There are about fourty elements that are required in
various processes of living organisms. Some of these
are macronutrients, which the plants need, in
relatively large amounts and others are micronutrients
that are required in trace amounts.
• There are nine macronutrients: carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen (the three elements found in all organic
compounds), and nitrogen, potassium, calcium,
phosphorus, magnesium, and sulphur. Some
examples of micronutrients are: iron, chlorine,
copper, manganese, zinc, molybdenum and boron.
• The organic compounds that form a part of the abiotic
components are largely the by products resulting from the
different activities of organisms or their death and decay.
• All inactive or dead organic matter and dissolved organic
matter are derived either from plants or animals. Such dead
organic matter is critical to the internal cycling of nutrients in
an ecosystem.
• Decomposing organic matter releases nutrients along with the
formation of humus, which is important for the fertility of
soil . New humus is added as old humus gets converted into
mineral elements. Now it should be clear to you that it is in
this abiotic background that organisms interact in, forming a
single interactive system.
• Biotic Component
• The biotic components of ecosystems include
the plants, animals and microbes i.e., total
living community. They can be classified into
two main groups of organisms
(i) The autotrophs (producers)
(ii) The heterotrophs (consumers and
decomposers)
Heterotrophs
• The heterotrophs do not produce their own food.
• They depend on the producers directly or indirectly
to obtain their energy requirements.
• The heterotrophs include two groups of organisms,
namely consumers and decomposers.
• The consumers are those that feed on the living
tissues of plants or animals or both.
• Based on this there are three types of consumers:
1. Herbivores, or primary consumers.
FUNCTION OF AN ECOSYSTEM
•The function of an ecosystem is a broad, vast and often
confused topic. The function of an ecosystem can be best
studied by understanding the history of ecological studies.
•The function of an ecosystem can be studied under the three
heads.
1. Tropic Level Interaction
2. Ecological Succession
3. Biogeochemistry
•Tropic Level Interaction deals with how the members of an
ecosystem are connected based on nutritional needs.

•Ecological Succession deals with the changes in

features/members of an ecosystem over a period of time.

•Biogeochemistry is focused upon the cycling of essential

materials in an ecosystem.
 Tropic level interaction
• Tropic level interaction was developed by zoologist
Charles Elton.
• It deals with who eats who and is eaten by whom in
an ecosystem.
• The study of tropic level interaction in an ecosystem
gives us an idea about the energy flow through the
ecosystem.
• The tropic level interaction involves three concepts
namely
1. Food Chain
2. Food Web
3. Ecological Pyramids
Energy flow through a food chain
FOOD CHAIN
•In an ecosystem one can observe the transfer or
flow of energy from one tropic level to other in
succession.

•A tropic level can be defined as the number of

links by which it is separated from the producer, or
as the position of the organism in the food chain.

•The patterns of eating and being eaten forms a

linear chain called food chain which can always be
traced back to the producers.
Kinds of food chain

1. Grazing food chain

• The grazing food chain begins with green
plants at its base as producers.
• Therefore, plants act as the source of energy
for the primary consumers.
• In this case, the primary consumer is
essentially a herbivore.
Eg:- Grass  Rabbit Fox
2. Detritus food chain
•The detritus food chains start from dead and decaying
organic matter of animal and plant bodies known as
detritus.
•Here, the detritus act as the source of energy for the
primary consumers termed as detritus consumers.
• Such food chains are present in all ecosystems but
dominate in forest ecosystems and shallow water
communities.
•Detritus food chains are located mainly in the soil or in
the sediments of aquatic ecosystems.
• They form an essential component of natural
ecosystems and are necessary for self-sustenance and for
maintaining ecological balance.
Significance of food chain

•The food chain studies/help understand the

feeding relationships and the interaction
between organisms in an ecosystem.

•They also help us to appreciate the energy flow

mechanism and matter circulation in ecosystem,
and understand the movement of toxic
substances in the ecosystem and the problem of
biological magnification.
FOOD WEB
•In nature simple food chains occur rarely .
•The same organism may operate in the ecosystem at more than one
trophic level i.e. it may derive its food from more than one source.
• Even the same organism may be eaten by several organisms of a
higher trophic level or an organism may feed upon several different
organisms of a lower trophic level.
• Usually the kind of food changes with the age of the organism and
the food availability.
•Thus in a given ecosystem various food chains are linked together
and interested each other to form a complex network called food
Web.
•Generally food webs are not too complex.
•As more and more species are involved in a web the continuance
falls.
•Except in insect communities, omnivores are scarce and when they
occur they usually feed on species in adjacent trophic levels. Within
habitats, food webs are rarely broken up into discrete compartments.
Food Web
• Trophic Levels :We are now aware that a food web
indicates a picture of a very complex network of
cross connections between different feeding levels of
organisms.
• This complex organization of the food web
undoubtedly makes it difficult for us to study the
feeding relationships among living organisms.
• The problem is simplified by grouping the organisms
into different feeding levels based on their energy
source.
• These feeding levels are called tropic levels of an
ecosystem.
3. ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
•The tropic levels of an ecosystem can be expressed in a
diagrammatic way in the form of ecological pyramids. The
ecological pyramid basically consists of three parts; the base,
body and the apex.
•The producers form the base; the body consists of successive
tropic levels and the top carnivores form the apex. Ecological
pyramids could be worked out and represented in three different
ways, based on the number of organisms or the total living matter
or the energy content of tropic levels. They can be named as,

• Pyramid of numbers

• Pyramid of biomass, and

• Pyramid of energy or productivity

Pyramid of number
•The pyramid of numbers shows the relationship
between producers, herbivores and carnivores
at successive trophic levels in terms of their
numbers.
•Ecologists noted that the consumers at the
lower trophic levels or in the food chain are the
most abundant.
•In successive levels, organisms decrease rapidly
in number and increase in size. This gives rise to
an upright pyramid .
 Pyramid of number

Hyperparasites (microbes)
Hawks

Parasites (Lice, bugs)

Frogs

Birds
Insects

Trees
Grasses
Standard Ecological pyramid
Pyramid of biomass
•The pyramid of biomass is comparatively more
realistic than the pyramid of numbers.
•If the numbers of consumers at each tropic
level are multiplied by their weight, then, what
we obtain is the pyramid of biomass.
•It indicates by weight or other measurement
the total living material in each feeding level at
any one time.
Pyramid of energy
•Of the ecological pyramids, the energy pyramid gives
the best picture of the overall nature of an ecosystem.
The pyramid of energy is based on the total energy
content of each trophic level. The total energy content
of each trophic level depends on the following factors.
•They are the amount of energy that
a) Individuals take in (or quantity of energy fixed)
b) Burn up during metabolism(or quantity of energy
used)
c) Remains in their waste product (or quantity of
energy passed) and
d) Individuals store in bodies (or quantity of energy
stored)
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
•Over the course of years it is observed that in nature
one biotic community gradually gives way to a second,
the second perhaps to a third, and even the third to a
fourth.
•This phenomenon of transaction from one biotic
community to another is called ecological or natural
succession.
•Succession occurs because the physical may be
gradually modified by the growth of the biotic
community itself, such that the area becomes more
favourable to another group of species and less
favourable to the present occupants.
Primary succession
•If the area has not been occupied previously,
the process of initial invasion and then the
progression from one biotic community, to the
next is termed "Primary Succession".
• An example is the gradual invasion of a bare
rock surface by what eventually becomes a
climax forest ecosystem.
Secondary Succession
•When an area has been cleared by fire or by humans
and then left alone, the surrounding ecosystem may
gradually reinvade the area- not at once, but through a
series of distinct stages termed secondary succession.
•The major difference between primary and secondary
succession is that secondary succession starts with the
preexisting soil substance.
•Therefore, the early prolonged stages of soil building
are bypassed.
Aquatic Succession
•Another example of natural succession is seen as lakes
or ponds are gradually filled and taken over by the
surrounding terrestrial ecosystem. This process occurs
because a certain quantity of soil particles inevitably
erodes from the land and settled out in ponds or lakes,
gradually filling them. Aquatic vegetation produces
detritus that also contributes the filling process.
• As the buildup occurs, terrestrial species can advance,
and aquatic species move further out into the lake. In
short, the shoreline gradually advances towards the
centre of the lake until, finally the lake disappears
altogether.
• FOREST ECOSYSTEM
• Forests are formed by a community of plants by which is
predominantly structurally defined by its trees, shrubs,
climbers and ground cover. Natural vegetation looks vastly
different from a group of planted trees, which are in orderly
rows. Each forest type forms a habitat for a specific
community of animals that are adapted to live in it.
• A forest is more than just the trees. A single forest is a
complete, functioning ecosystem that supports innumerable
plant and animal species as well as earth, water, and air
subsystems. The sub systems provide the essence of life of the
forest and are in themselves a byproduct of forest systems, all
of which are reciprocal and interdependent.
• A forest ecosystem is a complex of living and non-living
elements which interrelate. An ecosystem can be small (like
your backyard) or large (like the planet earth). It depends on
the range of individual species or group of species being
discussed (e.g.: a salmonstock or a forest type), geology (e.g.:
a mountain range or watershed),and other issues.
• Types of Forest ecosystem
• The forest biomes of the world have been
classified into the three major categories:
• Coniferous forest
• Tropical forest and
• Temperate forest.
• All these forest biomes are generally arranged
on a gradient from north to south or from
high to lower altitude.
 Types of Forest ecosystem
• Coniferous:- e.g. Himalayan region -needle
–like leave forests.
• Tropical rain forests :-e.g. Western Ghats –
broad–leaved forest.
• Deciduous forests:– e.g. Teak trees
• Thorn forests:– e.g. Semi – arid.
• Mangrove forests :– e.g. River deltas
• Coniferous forest :
• Cold regions with high rainfall and strongly
seasonal climates with long winters and fairly
short summers are characterised by boreal
coniferous forest which is transcontinental.
• For example, adjacent to Tundra regions
either at latitude or high altitude is the
northern coniferous forest, which stretches
across both north America and Eurasia just
south of Tundra (i.e. Canada, Sweden, Finland
and Siberia).
• Temperate deciduous forest
• The temperate forests are characterised by a
moderate climate and broad-leafed deciduous
trees, which shed their leaves in fall, are bare
over winter and grow new foliage in the
spring.
• These forests are characteristic of north
America, Europe, Eastern Asia, Chile, part of
Australia and Japan, with a cold winter and an
annual rainfall of 75-150 cm. and a 56
temperature of 10-20°C.
• The precipitation may be fairly uniform
throughout year.
• TEMPERATE EVERGREEN FOREST
• Many parts of the world have a Mediterranean
type of climate which is characterized by warm,
dry summers and cool, moist winters.
• These are commonly inhabitant by low evergreen
trees having broad leaves.
• In a woodland, trees are essentially lacking
although shrubs may range up to 3-4m in height.
Fire is an important hazardous factor in this
‘ecosystem and the adaptation of the plants
enable them to regenerate quickly after being
burnt.
• The characteristic animals of temperate
evergreen woodland chaparral are mule, deer,
orush rabbit, wood rat, chipmunk, lizard, etc
• TEMPERATE RAIN FORESTS
• The temperate rain forests are colder than any other
rain forest and exhibit a marked seasonality with
regard to temperature and rainfall.
• Rainfall is high, but fog may be very heavy which may
actually represent a more important source of water
than rainfall itself.
• The biotic diversity of temperate rain forests is high
as compared to temperate forest
• However, the diversity of plant and animals is much
low as compared to their warmer counterparts. The
temperate of rain forests are similar to those of
deciduous forests, but show a somewhat high
diversity.
• TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS
• Tropical rain forests occur near the equator.
• Tropical rain forests are among the most
diverse communities on the earth.
• Both temperature and humidity remain high
and more or less uniform.
• The annual rainfall exceeds 200-225 cm and is
generally distributed throughout the year.
• TROPICAL SEASONAL FORESTS
• Tropical seasonal forests occur in regions where total
annual rainfall is very high but segregated into
pronounced wet and dry periods.
• This kind of forests is found in South East Asia,
central and south America, northern Australia,
western Africa and tropical islands of the pacific as
well as India.
• In exceedingly wet tropical seasonal forests,
commonly known as monsoon forests, the annual
precipitation may be several times that of the
tropical rain forests.
• SUBTROPICAL RAIN FORESTS
• In regions of fairly high rainfall but less
temperature differences between winter and
summer and broad-leaved evergreen
subtropical biome is found.
• The vegetation includes mahogany, gumbo-
limbo, bays, palms, oaks, magnolias, tamarind,
all laden with epiphytes (of pineapple and
orchid families), ferns, vines .
• Animal life of subtropical forest is very similar
to that of tropical rainforests
• Structure and functions of Forest Ecosystem
• Different organisms exist within the forest layers.
• These organisms interact with each other and their
surrounds.
• Each organism has a role or niche in sustaining the
ecosystem.
• Some provide food for other organisms, other
provide shelter or control populations through
predation. It consists of two parts:
• 1. Abiotic and
• 2. Biotic component.
The nonliving or abiotic aspects of the forest
All inorganic, organic substances present in the environment and
minerals present in the forest constitute the abiotic components.
The type of forest depends upon the abiotic conditions at the site.
Forests on mountains and hills differ from those along river
valleys. Vegetation is specific to the amount of rainfall and the
local temperature which varies according to latitude and altitude.
Forests also vary in their plant communities in response to the type
of soil. In short abiotic components are as follows:
These include basic inorganic & organic compounds present in the
soil & atmosphere.
In addition dead organic debris is also found littered in forests.
1. Example of Abiotic Component
Amount of rainfall and local temperature varies according to
latitude, and altitude.
• The living or the biotic aspects of the forest
• The biotic component consists of all living things of
the environment which constitute producers,
consumers and decomposers.
• The plants and animals form communities that are
specific to each forest type.
• Example of Biotic Component
• Plants – trees, shrubs, climbers and ground cover.
• Animals – mammals, birds, reptiles amphibians, fish
insects and microscopic animals.
• .
• Producers of Forest ecosystem
• All living organisms intake energy in order to survive.
• In a forest ecosystem, trees and other plants get
their energy from sunlight.
• Plants produce their own food, in the form of
carbohydrates.
• Plants are, therefore, called the primary producers,
since they produce the basic food stuffs for other
organisms within food chains and foodwebs.
• Photosynthesis is the chemical reaction that allows
plants to produce their own food.
• Consumers of Forest ecosystem
• Animals cannot produce their own food.
• They must consume food sources for the energy they need to
survive.
• All animas,including mammals, insects, and birds are called
consumers.
• Consumers rely on plants and other animals as a food source.
• Primary consumes only eat plants and are referred to as
herbivores.
• Second consumers are referred to as carnivores and feed on
herbivores.
• Tertiary consumers are carnivores that feed on other
carnivores.
• Omnivores eat both plant and animal matter.
• In other words in a forest there are three types of consumers
as follows:
i) Primary Consumers
These are Herbivores which feed directly on producers.
Eg ; Ants, Beetles, Bugs, spiders etc. feeding on tree
leaves.
Larger animals such as Elephants, Deer, giraffe etc.
grazing on shoots and/or fruits of trees.
(ii) Secondary Consumers
These are carnivores and feed on primary consumers.
Eg: Birds, Lizards, Frogs, Snakes and Foxes.
iii) Tertiary Consumers
These are secondary carnivores and feed on secondary
consumers.
These include top carnivores like Lion, Tiger.
iv) Decomposers
• Leaves, needless, and old branches fall to the
forest floor as trees grow. Eventuality all
plants and animals die. These materials are
decomposed by worms, microbes, fungi, ants,
and other bugs. Decomposers break these
items down into their smallest primary
elements to be used again. Decomposers are
important in they sustain the nutrient cycle of
ecosystems.
These include wide variety of saprotrophic
micro- organism like;
i)Bacteria ii)Fungi iii) Actinomycetes
(Streptomyces).
• Characteristics of a forest ecosystem
1. Forest has warm climate with adequate rain fall.
2. Forest have well defined seasons of about equal
length.
3. Forest protect biodiversity.
4. Forest has tall and dense trees with many wild
animals within ecosystem.
5. The soil of forest is rich in organic matter and
nutrients.
6. Forest grow very slowly.
7. Forests provide various resources for human life.
 Grassland Ecosystems
• Grasslands cover areas where rainfall is usually low
and/or the soil depth and quality is poor.
• The low rainfall prevents the growth of a large number
of trees and shrubs, but is sufficient to support the
growth of grass cover during the monsoon.
• Many of the grasses and other small herbs become dry
and the part above the ground dies during the summer
months.
• In the next monsoon the grass cover grows back from
the root stock and the seeds of the previous year.
• This change gives grasslands a highly seasonal
appearance with periods of increased growth followed
by a dormant phase.
• Grassland ecosystem has the following features:
Grasslands (also called Greenswards) are areas where
the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous
 (non-woody) plants.
Grasslands occupy about 24% of the earth’s surface.
Grasslands occur in regions too dry for forests and too moist for
deserts
The annual rainfall ranges between 25- 75 cm, Usually seasonal
The principal grasslands include:
• Prairies (Canada, USA),Pampas (South America),Steppes
(Europe & Asia ) Veldts (Africa)
• The highest abundance & greatest diversity of large mammals
are found in these ecosystems.
• The dominant animal species include Wild horses, asses &
antelope of Eurasia,
• Herds of Bison of America; and
• The antelope & other large herbivores of Africa
• Types of Grasslands
1.Xerophilous grasslands :-These are found in the
dry regions of North- West India under semi-
desert conditions.
2. Mesophilous grasslands:- It is termed as
Savannas, include the extensive grassy banks
typical moist deciduous forest of Utter Pradesh
3. Hygrophilous grass lands:- It is termed as wet
Savannas and are found in marshy areas
 The Grassland ecosystem

1. Abiotic Components –C, H, O, N, P, S. are supplied

by Carbon dioxide, Nitrate, Phosphates and
Sulphates..
2.Biotic Components
Producers – grasses, few herbs and shrubs.
Primary consumers – grassing animals-
cows,deers, rabbit.
Secondary consumers – snake, lizard, birds, Jackels.
Tertiary consumers – hawks.
Decomposers – bacteria.
• Characteristics of Grassland ecosystem
1. Grassland ecosystem exists where rainfall is low and
uneven.
2. The soil of grassland ecosystem is rich in nutrients
and organic matter.
3. Grassland ecosystem provides largest biomass and is
used for grazing animals.
4. The grassland ecosystem exists in moderate
climates.
5. Grassland ecosystem is characterized by seasonal
flowering plants and savannas (Scattered trees.).
Grassland ecosystem
Desert ecosystem
• One can find at least one desert on every continent except Europe and
Antarctica.
• Each desert is different in some way, but they all have one thing in
common.
• In order for and area of land to be considered a desert, it must receive less
than 10 inches of water a year. How come deserts get such little water?
• Clouds are scarce in these regions and we all know that without clouds,
there can’t be rain, snow or any other precipitation.
• But clouds also serve another purpose – they block out some of the Sun.
• The desert gets mighty hot during the day because the sun beats down on
the sand.
• At night, the deserts gets very cold, because there aren’t clouds around to
keep the heat from escaping to the atmosphere.
• There are plenty of differences between the deserts of the world. Some
deserts are made of very fine, red sand, others consist of sand mixed with
pebbles and rocks.
• The desert sand started out as rock, but years of weathering by wind and
water has created dunes in the deserts.
• These sands are mostly minerals, and sometimes oil can be found hidden
deep within the rocks.
 Desert ecosystem
1.Abiotic components – High temperature, low rainfall
dry climate.
• Producers – Shrubs, bushes, grasses, few trees.
• Consumers –Insects, reptiles, birds, camels.
• Decomposers – Fungi, bacteria.
• General characteristics of Desert
1. Deserts are subjected to high wind velocity
2. There is low annual rain fall.
3. The desert air is dry and climate is hot.
4. Temperature variations is large (days are hot and
nights are cold)
5. It doesn't have vegetation or rare vegetation and the
animals face shortage of food. .
6. Soil is loose, sandy, devoid of organic carbon,
nitrogen and moisture etc.
7. Biological soil, which is the soil penetrates the plant
roots is absent in most deserts, though the soil in a
geological sense exists everywhere.
8.Low humidity during the day and high in
night.
9.Solar radiation very intense.
10.Absence of water vapour in air.
11.Scarcity of water in hot deserts.
12. Human population is very small.
13.The number of sunshine hours are very large.
14.Drought in other words, the effective aridity,
is long in the extreme arid zone.
15.Precipitation deficiency is the main feature of
deserts.
 AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM
• Aquatic ecosystems deal with biotic community
present in water bodies.
• In terrestrial ecosystem, carbon dioxide & oxygen are
present in gaseous form whereas in aquatic
ecosystem, these are available in dissolved state.
• Depending upon the quality and nature of water, the
aquatic ecosystem are categorized into
• Freshwater Ecosystem and
• Marine Ecosystem.
• Freshwater Ecosystems
• Freshwater ecosystems cover 0.8% of the Earth’s
surface and contain 0.009% of its total water.
• Freshwater ecosystems contain 41% of the world’s
known fish species.
• Aquatic ecosystems perform many important
environmental functions. For example:
• They recycle nutrients, purify water, attenuate
floods, recharge ground water and provide habitats
for wildlife.
• Aquatic ecosystems are also used for human
recreation, and are very important to
the tourism industry, especially in coastal region.
 Three basic types of freshwater ecosystems:

• Lentic: Slow-moving water,

including Pools, Ponds, and Lakes.
• Lotic: Rapidly-moving water, for
example Streams and Rivers.
• Wetlands: Areas where the soil is saturated
with water or inundated for at least part of
the time
 Aquatic ecosystem

1.Abiotic components –Temperature, light, pH,

organic and inorganic matter.
2.Biotic components
• Producers – Macrophytes, Phytoplankton.

• Consumers– Zooplankton (insects, fish),

Herbivores.
• Decomposers – Bacteria, Fungi.
• Pond Ecosystem
• A pond as a whole serve as a good example of an aquatic and
fresh water ecosystem. In fact, it represents a self-sufficient
and self-regulating system.
• A pond is a quiet body of water that is too small for wave
action and too shallow for major temperature differences
from top to bottom.
• It usually has a muddy or silty bottom with aquatic plants
around the edges and throughout.
• However, it is often difficult to classify the differences
between a pond and a lake, since the two terms are artificial
and the ecosystems really exist on a continuum. Generally, in
a pond, the temperature changes with the air temperature
and is relatively uniform.
• Lakes are similar to ponds, but because they are larger,
temperature layering or stratification takes place in summer
and winter, and these layers turnover in spring and fall.
• Ponds get their energy from the sun.
 Pond Ecosystem
1. Abiotic components:- The chief nonliving or abiotic
components are heat, light, PH value of water, and
the basic inorganic and organic compounds, such as
water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, calcium, nitrogen,
phosphates, amino acids, humic acid, etc. Inorganic
salts occur in the form of phosphates, nitrates and
chlorides of sodium, potassium and calcium.
Some proportion of nutrients exists in solution
state but most of them are present as stored in
particulate matter as well as in living organisms.
• 2. Biotic Components of Pond Ecosystem
• It include various organisms which are classified into the
following types.
(a) Producers: These are photoautotrophic green plants and
photosynthetic bacteria. The producers fix radiant energy of
sun and with the help of minerals derived from water and
mud, they manufacture complex organic substances as
carbohydrates, proteins and lipids.
(b) Consumers-These all are Zooplankton are microscopic
animals that eat phytoplankton or smaller zooplankton. Some
are single-celled animals, tiny crustaceans, or tiny immature
stages of larger animals.
(c) Decomposers:- Animal waste and dead and decaying plants
and animals form detritus on the bottom of the pond.
Decomposers, also known as detritovores, are bacteria and
other organisms that break down detritus into material that
can be used by primary producers. Thus returning the detritus
to the ecosystem.
Lakes
• A lake is bigger than a pond, and is too deep to support
rooted plants except near the shore.
• Some lakes are big enough for waves to be produced.
• A lake is a body of water completely surrounded by land.
Lakes can either be salty or fresh water.
• Most lakes are in places where glaciers used to exist. When a
glacier moves forward, it carves away a deep valley and when
the ice melts it forms a lake in the valley.
• Other lakes are formed in craters or when a river changes its
course. Lakes are short-lived surface features because the
water can sink into the ground or evaporate into the sky.
• In order for a lake to remain, it must be constantly fed by a
river or rainfall.
• Important abiotic factors of Lake are:- The abiotic
factors do include acidity, turbidity (clarity), nitrogen
nutrient concentrations plus dissolved oxygen
concentration.
• These are affected by the catchments or volume of the
pond or lake.
• Size of the input flow, the type of bedrock impact the
pH, that in turn alters the nutrient composition.
• Nitrogen may enter by runoff, precipitation or be a
result of a biotic process by fixation from the
atmosphere by cyano bacteria.
• Temperature, light and wind turbulence are other
abiotic factors but they are independent of the size of
the drainage system since they can affect a larger region
• Important biotic factors of Lake are :-
Bacteria,. Algae, Invertebrates:, Fishes and
other vertebrates.:Distinct stratification and
zoning are characteristic features of lakes.
• Typically a littoral zone containing rooted
vegetation, a limnetic zone of open water
dominated by plankton, and a deep water
profundal zone containing heterotrophs. Also
the lakes become thermally stratified in
winters and summers.
 Types of Lakes

1. Glacial lakes:-A glacier, a large river of ice which flows very

slowly down a valley.
2. Tectonic lakes: The term Tectonic is used to include all lake
basins which are formed by the movement of the deeper
parts of the earth crust, either due to differential earth
movements or due to fracture of underlying strata.
3. Oxbow lake :- These are created by S-shaped meandering
streams or rivers in the floor of a valley.
4. Lakes formed by volcanic activity
5. lakes formed by wind action
• Characteristics of Ponds and lakes
• Lakes and ponds typically contain a diversity of organisms
that perform different ecological functions.
• Lakes and ponds are an important source of fresh water for
human consumption and are inhabited by a diverse suite of
organisms. It supplies us [humans] with drinking water and
water for crop growing.
• Water has a high capacity for heat and earth is mostly covered
with water, so the temperature of the atmosphere is kept fairly
constant and able to support life.
• Plankton which account for most of the photosynthesis on
earth found in lakes, ponds and oceans. Without, there might
not be enough oxygen to support such a large world
population and complex animal life.
• We fish from the ponds and we often eat the fish we catch.
Most of the time our water comes from the lakes and ponds,
but purified
Rivers and Streams
• Rivers are very important to earth because they
are major forces that shape the landscape.
• Also, they provide transportation and water for
drinking washing and farming. Rivers can flow
on land or underground in deserts and seas.
• Rivers may come from mountain springs,
melting glaciers or lakes. A river’s contribution
to the cycle is that it collects water from the
ground and returns it to the ocean.
• The water we drink is bout 3 billion years old
because it has been recycled over and over
since the first rainfall.
• A delta is where a river meets the sea. Usually
the river flows more slowly at the delta than at
its start because it deposits sediment.
Sediment can be anything from mud, sand and
every rock fragments.
• A special environment is created when the
fresh water from the river mixes with the salty
ocean water.
• This environment is called estuary.
• The longest river is the Nile River in Africa, and
the Amazon River in South America carries the
most water.
• The muddiest river is the Yellow River in China.
• Characteristics of River Systems
• The basic function of the rivers is to convey surplus
rain water from land to sea.
• Annually the rivers carry fresh water, equivalent to
25 cm of rain, evenly distributed over the whole land
surface.
• The point of origin of the river is the ‘source’; the
path it takes, is the ‘course’; the streams which pin it
along the course are the ‘tribu taries’; and the
channel within which it flows is the ‘bed’.
• Its point of entry into the sea or lake or estuary is
called its mouth.
• Marine or Ocean Ecosystem
• Marine ecosystems are among the Earth’s aquatic ecosystems.
• It include: Oceans,
Estuaries and Lagoons, Mangroves and Coral reefs, the Deep
sea and the Sea floor.
These are the gigantic reservoirs of water covering approximately
71% of the Earth’s surface (an area of some 361 million square
kilometers).
These ecosystems are different from freshwater ecosystem
mainly because of its salty water.
The salt concentration in an open sea is usually 3.5% (35 parts
per thousand (ppt)).
Dominant ions are sodium & chloride.
Average temperature of Marine ecosystem is 2-3 degree
centigrade, devoid of light
Estuaries
• An estuary is an unique environment where fresh water and
saltwater come together.
• Estuaries are found on the coast where a river or bay or other
sources of fresh water has access to the open sea. A good
example of an estuary is a salt marsh that can be found close
to the coast.
• Another example is when a river feeds directly into the ocean.
• The largest estuary in the United States is the Chesapeake bay
estuary on the east coast of the U.S. Estuaries are affected by
the tides.
• So, there can be changes of salinity, temperature and other
physical properties in an estuarial system which means the
organisms there must be very tolerant to change.
• Even with that consideration, estuaries are among the most
fertile places in the world. All kinds of plants and animals live
there.