Ecosystem

Introduction
• is a biological environment consisting of all the
organisms living in a particular area
• as well as all the nonliving (abiotic), physical
components of the environment with which the
organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and
sunlight
• The entire array of organisms inhabiting a
particular ecosystem is called a community
• Ecosystems usually form a number of food webs
Types
 Structure/Components
Eco System

Biotic Abiotic

Inorganic
Autotrophic Heterotrophic
Components Components Organic

Climatic
Macro Micro
Consumers Consumers
Primary (Decomposers)
Secondary
Tertiary
Quatemary (Omnivore, Carnivore, Detrivore)
 Biotic Structure

• Comprises of Producers,

Consumers & decomposers

• Autotrophic components – Self

nourishing ( Producers)

• Plants – Photo autotrophs

 Biotic Structure
Heterotrophic components – Other nourishing
(Consumers)
1) Primary Consumers – Herbivores ( feeds directly
on producers)
2) Secondary Consumers – Carnivores

3) Tertiary Consumers – eats other carnivores

4) Omnivores – Eats both plants & animals

5) Detritivores – feeds on Detritus (any disintegrated

material or debris)
 Abiotic Structure

• Climate Regime

• Inorganic – C, N, H, O etc.

• Organic – Carbohydrates,
protiens, lipids
Importance of Ecosystem
• Helps in water retention, thus
facilitating a more evenly
distributed release of water
• Provides air and does its
purification
• Provides recreation via
tourisms
• Provides important materials
Importance of Ecosystem
• Regulates nutrient recycling
and waste
• Helps in erosion control, soil
building and soil renewal
• Helps in seed dispersal
• Gives us renewable and non-
renewable energy
• Maintains biochemical cycles
 The functional attributes

Productivity : The amount of

organic matter or biomass
produced by an individual
organism, population, community
or ecosystem during a given
period of time
Types: Primary production
Secondary production
Energy Flow in the Eco system
• Energy from the sun is
captured by the green plants
and passed on through the
various trophic levels
• flow of energy is unidirectional
• some energy is lost at every
state in the atmosphere.
Energy Flow in the Eco system
The Transformation of Energy
 Food chain
It is a feeding hierarchy in
which organisms in an
ecosystem are grouped into
nutritional (tropic) levels and
are shown in a succession to
represent the flow of food
energy and the feeding
relationship between them.
Examples
 Types
• There are two types of food chains, namely
detritus food chain and grazing food chain. Let’s
look at them more closely:
• Detritus food chain: The detritus food chain
includes different species of organisms and plants
like algae, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, mites,
insects, worms and so on. It begins with dead
organic material. The food energy passes into
decomposers and detritivores, which are further
eaten by smaller organisms like carnivores.
• Grazing food chain: The grazing food chain is a
type of food chain that starts with green plants,
passes through herbivores and then to carnivores.
Example
 Food Web
Network of food chains which are
connected at various tropic
levels so as to form number of
feeding connections among
different organization of biotic
community is called Food Web.
Food web
 ECOLOGICAL PYRAMID
• Graphical representation of the tropic
structure
• The basal, mid and top tiers show the
parameter values for producers, herbivores
and carnivores in the ecosystem
• An ecological pyramid may be upright,
inverted or spindle shaped
• ecological pyramids are of three types.
1. Pyramid of Numbers
2. Pyramid of Biomass
3. Pyramid of Energy
 Pyramid of Numbers
• the graphic representation of number
of individuals per unit area of various
trophic levels stepwise with
producers forming the base and top
carnivores the tip
Pyramid of Numbers
Pyramid of Biomass
• The graphical
representation of
biomass present per unit
area of different tropic
levels, with producers at
the base and top
carnivores at the tip
• Biomass – The amount of
living or organic matter
present in a particular
environment
Pyramid of Energy
• Graphical representation of
the amount of energy
trapped per unit time and
area in different trophic
level of a food chain with
producers forming the base
and the top carnivores at
the tip
• Pyramid of energy is always
upright
 Ecological Succession
• An orderly process of changes in the
community structure & function with time
mediated in the physical environment
culminating stabilized ecosystem.
• is the gradual process by which
ecosystems change and develop over time
• Ecological succession may also occur
when the conditions of an environment
suddenly and drastically change
• The final or stable community in a sere is
the climax community or climatic
vegetation.
 Importance

• Provide information to control

the growth
• Helps in reforestation & forest
mgmt programmes
• Balanced ecosystem
 Types
• Primary Succession
1. The series of community changes which
occur on an entirely new habitat which
has never been colonized before. (lava
sediment, newly formed pond)

• Secondary Succession
1. The series of community changes which
take place on a previously colonized, but
disturbed or damaged habitat (fire,
drought etc.)
On the basis of moisture content
• Hydrach or Hydrosere – the
ecological succession in the newly
formed pond or lake
• Mesarch or Mesosere – It is an
intermediate type with adequate
moisture
• Xerach or Xerosere – It starts in xeric
or dry habitat having minimum
amount of moisture.