Ecology and Ecosystem I

Environment
• Physical, social and cultural conditions
affecting physiological activities of organisms
like growth, environment etc
• Lotic (flowing)
• Lentic static water
 Ecology

• “Ecology” word comes from Greek word Oikos (house) and

Logos(study).
• It is the branch of science dealing with inter-relationship
between the living organism and their environment.
• German zoologist E.Haeckel (1869) fully defined the term
Ecology as “the study of natural environments including the
relations of organisms to one another and to their
surrounding”.
 Types of Ecology-

A. Autecology-
• Concerned with study of individual species in relation to the
environment.
• Term coined by Schroter(1896)
• It is also called Species Ecology.
• eg – study of Pinus plant in relation to its environment.
B. Synecology-
• Study of group of organisms taken together as an unit in
relation to the environment.
• Term coined by Kirchner(1902)
• Also called Ecology of Communities
• eg- study of Pinus forest in relation to the environment.
• It has 3 branches:
1) Ecological community
2) Ecosystem community
3) Population community
 Ecosystem
• Basic functional unit of ecology
• Living and non-living members exhibit close interaction
• Term coined by Tansley (1935)
• 2 basic components of ecosystem are-
• Abiotic component (non-living) and
• biotic component (living).
a) Abiotic-
• Physical or climatic factors
pressure, sunlight, humidity, temperature etc.
• Chemical factors
Inorganic factors like C, H, O, P, Ca, Mg etc present in soil
biogeochemical cycles like C Cycles, N cycle etc.
b) Biotic-
• Autotrophs- prepare their own food
• Heterotrophs- can not prepare their own food
1) Producers/Autotrophs-
• Prepare their own foods utilizing CO2, water and mineral
salts from the atmosphere
• Photosynthetic bacteria
( Green sulphur bacteria)
• Chemosynthetic bacteria
(Nitrosomonas)
• Phytoplanktons
(Volvox, Lemna)
• Land plants
2) Consumers/Heterotrophs-
• Cannot prepare their own food
• Depend on producers for their nourishment
• Primary consumers- directly feed on green plants, thus referred
as Herbivores
eg.- zooplanktons, snails, grasshoppers, rabbit, cow etc
• Secondary consumers- feed on primary consumers, thus referred
as Carnivores
eg.-fishes, tigers, wolves etc.
• Tertiary consumers- feed on secondary consumers
eg. Snakes, Eagles etc.
• Quaternary consumers- feed on tertiary consumers
eg. Peacock etc
3) Decomposers-
• Break down complex organic molecules of dead organisms
into simpler inorganic substances
• Also called Reducers or Microconsumers
• Thereby helps in recycling of nutrients by mineralizaton od
dead organic tissues
• eg,. Fungi and becteria
 Natural ecosystem
• Also called Macro Ecosystem
• Capable of operating and maintaining itself without any
interference by man.
• Terrestrial ecosystem- Grassland, Forest, Desert
• Aquatic ecosystem- Fresh water, Marine
 Artificial Ecosystem
• Maintained and manipulated by man, for different purpose
• Also called Micro Ecosystem
• Includes Croplands, artificial lakes, townships etc
Terrestrial ecosystem
Marine Ecosystem
 Trophic levels
• Producer-consumer arrangement
• Producers are at 1st trophic levels
• tertiary consumers on 4th level
 Food chain
• Linear food-predator relationship exhibited by a series of
organism in an ecosystem
• Food chain in an ecosystem can be traced
• Food chain in a Pond Ecosystem
Zooplankton
Phytoplankton Insects Fishes
(primary
(producers) (secondary) (tertiary)
consumers)

• Food chain in a Grassland Ecosystem

Grass Insects Amphibians Snakes

Peacock
1. Grazing Food Chain-
2. Detritus Food Chain-
• Food chain comprises of detritus organisms growing on dead
organic waste
• Organisms feeding on detritus( organic matter) are
Detrivores
• Algae, fungi, bacteria, protozoa, insects, molluscs, all
constitute detritus food chain
• They ingest decomposed organic matter, digest them
partially and excrete the undigested remains as Humus, that
makes the soil fertile.
 Food web
• Food chains remain inter-connected, forming a
complex, branched state, called Food Web.
 Ecological Pyramid

• Pyramidal representation of an ecosystem

• Denoted by Charles Elton(1927)
• Represents position of producers and successive consumers in
an ecosystem
• Producers remain at base
• Tertiary consumers remain
on top
 Types

1) Pyramid of numbers:-

• Number of producers is maximum

• Number of herbivores and carnivores reduce gradually
2) Pyramid of Biomass:-
2) Pyramid of Biomass:-
3) Pyramid of Energy:-
 10% law of Energy flow:-
• Proposed by Raymond Lindeman
• The 10% Rule means that when energy is passed in an ecosystem from
one trophic level to the next, only 10% percent of the energy will be
passed on.
• As you move from the sun through each trophic level, only 10 percent of
the energy will be carried to the next level.
 Parasitic Food Chain-
Pyramid is inverted in nature
 Biosphere
• Term coined by geologist- Eduard Suess (1875)
• Defined as place on Earth’s surface where life dwells.
• Composed of 3 main component- Air, Water, Soil
• Divided into 3 subdivisions-
a) Atmosphere (air)
b) Lithosphere (soil)
c) Hydrosphere(water)
• Thus, the biosphere is the global ecosystem
• Conservation of Biosphere is brought about by Biosphere
Reserve (Eg. Sundarbans)
 Ecotone and edge effect
• The zone of transition or tension where intermingling of
species of 2 communities occur is called Ecotone.
• The potential of the ecotone to serve as the habitat for
species found in major communities is called edge effect.

• Eg- owls living in ecotones between forests and grassland

exhibit edge effect.
• A number of ecotone exists. Eg- between coastal community
and forest, between grassland and forest etc.