Unit II Ecosystem

Various kinds of life supporting systems like the forests, grasslands, oceans, lakes, rivers, mountains,
deserts and estuaries show wide variations in their structural composition and functions. However, they
all are alike in the fact that they consist of living entities interacting with their surroundings exchanging
matter and energy. How do these different units like a hot desert, a dense evergreen forest, the
Antarctic Sea or a shallow pond differ in the type of their flora and fauna, how do they derive their
energy and nutrients to live together, how do they influence each other and regulate their stability are
the questions that are answered by Ecology.
The term Ecology was coined by Earnst Haeckel in 1869. The surroundings or environment consists of
other living organisms (biotic) and physical (abiotic) components. An ecosystem is a self-regulating
group of biotic communities of species interacting with one another and with their non-living
environment exchanging energy and matter. Now ecology is often defined as the study of
ecosystems.
An ecosystem is an integrated unit consisting of interacting plants, animals and micro-organisms whose
survival depends upon the maintenance and regulation of their biotic and abiotic structures and
functions. The ecosystem is thus, a unit or a system which is composed of a number of sub-units that are
all directly or indirectly linked with each other. They may be freely exchanging energy and matter from
outsidean open ecosystem or may be isolated from outside in term of exchange of mattera closed
ecosystem.

Structure and functions of an Ecosystem:

Ecosystems show large variations in their size, structure, composition etc. However, all the ecosystems
are characterized by certain basic structural and functional features which are common.
Composition and organization of biological communities and abiotic components constitute the
structure of an ecosystem. Thus, ecosystems have basically two types of components, the biotic and
abiotic, as described below:
(a) Biotic Components: Different living organisms constitute the biotic component of an ecosystem and
belong to the following categories:
(i) Producers: These are mainly producing food themselves e.g., Green plants produce food by
photosynthesis in the presence of sunlight from raw materials like water and carbon dioxide.
They are known as photo-autotrophs (auto = self, photo = light, troph = food).
There are some chemo-autotrophs, which are a group of bacteria, producing their food from oxidation
of certain chemicals. e.g. sulphur bacteria.
(ii) Consumers: These organisms get their food by feeding on other organisms. They are of the following
types:
Herbivoreswhich feed on plants e.g. rabbit, insect.
Carnivoreswhich feed on herbivores as secondary carnivores (e.g., frog, small fish) or tertiary
carnivores (e.g., snake, big fish), which feed on other consumers.
Omnivoreswhich feed on both plants and animals e.g., humans, rats, many birds.
Detritivoreswhich feed on dead organisms e.g., earth worm, crab, and ants.
(iii) Decomposers: These are micro-organisms which break down organic matter into inorganic
compounds and in this process they derive their nutrition. They play a very important role in converting
the essential nutrients from unavailable organic form to free inorganic form that is available for use by
plants e.g., bacteria, fungi.

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(b) Abiotic Components: Various physical chemical components of the ecosystem constitute the
abiotic structure:
(i) Physical components include sunlight, solar intensity, rainfall, temperature, wind speed and
direction, water availability, soil texture etc.
(ii) Chemical components include major essential nutrients like C, N, P, K, H, O2, S etc. and
micronutrients like Fe, Mo, Zn, Cu etc., salts and toxic substances like pesticides.
These physical chemical factors of water, air and soil play an important role in ecosystem functioning.

Functions of an Ecosystem:
(i) It has different food chains and food webs. Food chain is the sequence of eating and being eaten.
e.g.,
Grass Grasshopper Frog Snake Hawk
Phytoplankton (water algae) water fleas small fish large fish (Tuna)
These are known as grazing food chainwhich start with green plants and culminate with carnivores.
Another type is detritus food chainwhich starts with dead organic matter. e.g.,
Leaf litter in a forest Fungi bacteria
Food chains are generally found to be interlinked and inter woven as a network and known as Food
Web. There are several options of eating and being eaten in a food web. Hence these are more stable.
(ii) There is uni directional flow of energy in an ecosystem. It flows from sun and then after being
captured by primary producers (green plants), flows through the food chain or food web, following the
laws of thermodynamics. At every successive step in the food-chain, there is huge loss of about 90% of
the energy in different processes (respiration, excretion, locomotion etc.) and only 10% moves to next
level (Ten per cent law of energy flow).

(iii) Nutrients (Materials) in an ecosystem move in a cyclic manner. The cycling of nutrients takes place
between the biotic and abiotic components, hence known as biogeochemical cycles (bio = living, geo =
earth, chemical = nutrients).
(iv) Every ecosystem functions to produce and sustain some primary production (plant biomass) and
secondary production (animal biomass).
(v) Every ecosystem regulates and maintains itself and resists any stresses or disturbances up to a
certain limit. This self regulation or control system is known as cybernetic system.

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Types of Ecosystems

Aquatic ecosystem

Marine ecosystem

Large marine ecosystem

Freshwater ecosystem
Lake ecosystem
River ecosystem
Wetland
Terrestrial ecosystem
o Forest
o Littoral zone
o Riparian zone
o Subsurface lithoautotrophic microbial ecosystem
o Urban ecosystem
o Desert

Marine Ecosystem
Marine ecosystems are among the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems. They include oceans, salt
marshes, intertidal zones, estuaries, lagoons, mangroves, coral reefs, the deep sea, and the sea floor.
They can be contrasted with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters
cover two-thirds of the surface of the Earth. Such places are considered ecosystems because the plant
life supports the animal life and vice versa. See food chains.
Marine ecosystems are very important for the overall health of both marine and terrestrial
environments. According to the World Resource Centre, coastal habitats alone account for
approximately 1/3 of all marine biological productivity, and estuarine ecosystems (i.e., salt marshes,
seagrasses, mangrove forests) are among the most productive regions on the planet. In addition, other
marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, provide food and shelter to the highest levels of marine diversity
in the world.
Marine ecosystems usually have a large biodiversity and are therefore thought to have a good resistance
against invasive species. However, exceptions have been observed, and the mechanisms responsible in
determining the success of an invasion are not yet clear.

Lake Ecosystem
A lake ecosystem includes biotic (living) plants, animals and micro-organisms, as well as abiotic
(nonliving) physical and chemical interactions.
Lake ecosystems are a prime example of lentic ecosystems. Lentic refers to stationary or relatively still
water, from the Latin lentus, which means sluggish. Lentic waters range from ponds to lakes to
wetlands, and much of this article applies to lentic ecosystems in general. Lentic ecosystems can be
compared with lotic ecosystems, which involve flowing terrestrial waters such as rivers and streams.
Together, these two fields form the more general study area of freshwater or aquatic ecology.
Lentic systems are diverse, ranging from a small, temporary rainwater pool a few inches deep. In
addition, some lakes become seasonally stratified (discussed in more detail below. Ponds and pools
have two regions: the pelagic open water zone, and the benthic zone, which comprises the bottom and
shore regions. Since lakes have deep bottom regions not exposed to light, these systems have an
additional zone, the profundal. These three areas can have very different abiotic conditions and, hence,
host species that are specifically adapted to live there.
Important abiotic factors
1 Light
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2 Temperature
3 Wind
4 Chemistry
Human impacts
1 Acidification
2 Eutrophication
3 Invasive species

River Ecosystem
The ecosystem of a river is the river viewed as a system operating in its natural environment, and
includes biotic (living) interactions amongst plants, animals and micro-organisms, as well as abiotic
(nonliving) physical and chemical interactions.
River ecosystems are prime examples of lotic ecosystems. Lotic refers to flowing water, from the Latin
lotus, washed. Lotic waters range from springs only a few centimeters wide to major rivers kilometers in
width. Much of this article applies to lotic ecosystems in general, including related lotic systems such as
streams and springs. Lotic ecosystems can be contrasted with lentic ecosystems, which involve relatively
still terrestrial waters such as lakes and ponds. Together, these two fields form the more general study
area of freshwater or aquatic ecology.
The following unifying characteristics make the ecology of running waters unique from that of other
aquatic habitats.

Flow is unidirectional.
There is a state of continuous physical change.
There is a high degree of spatial and temporal heterogeneity at all scales (microhabitats).
Variability between lotic systems is quite high.
The biota is specialized to live with flow conditions.

Forest Ecosystem
A forest is a large area of land covered with trees or other woody vegetation. Hundreds of more precise
definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree
height, land use, legal standing and ecological function.
Forests are the dominant terrestrial ecosystem of Earth, and are distributed across the globe. Forests
account for 75% of the gross primary productivity of the Earth's biosphere, and contain 80% of the
Earth's plant biomass.
Forests at different latitudes form distinctly different ecozones: boreal forests near the poles tend to
consist of evergreens, while tropical forests near the equator tend to be distinct from the temperate
forests at mid-latitude. The amount of precipitation and the elevation of the forest also affects forest
composition.
Human society and forests influence each other in both positive and negative ways. Forests provide
ecosystem services to humans and serve as tourist attractions. Forests can also impose costs, affect
people's health, and interfere with tourist enjoyment. Human activities, including harvesting forest
resources, can negatively affect forest ecosystems.

Desert Ecosystem
A desert is a barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and consequently living conditions are
hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground
to the processes of denudation. About one third of the land surface of the world is arid or semi-arid. This
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includes much of the polar regions where little precipitation occurs and which are sometimes called
"cold deserts". Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation that falls, by the temperature
that prevails, by the causes of desertification or by their geographical location.

Food Chains
The sequence of eating and being eaten in an ecosystem is known as food chain. All organisms, living or
dead, are potential food for some other organism and thus, there is essentially no waste in the
functioning of a natural ecosystem. A caterpillar eats a plant leaf, a sparrow eats the caterpillar , a cat or
a hawk eats the sparrow and when they all die, they are all consumed by microorganisms like bacteria or
fungi (decomposers) which break down the organic matter and convert it into simple inorganic
substances that can again be used by the plants the primary producers.
Some common examples of simple food chains are:
Grass grasshopper Frog Snake Hawk (Grassland ecosystem)
Phytoplanktons water fleas small fish Tuna (Pond ecosystem)
Lichens reindeer Man (Arctic tundra ecosystem)
Each organism in the ecosystem is assigned a feeding level or trophic level depending on its nutritional
status. Thus, in the grassland food chain, grasshopper occupies the 1st trophic level, frog the 2nd and
snake and hawk occupy the 3rd and the 4th trophic levels, respectively.
The decomposers consume the dead matter of all these trophic levels. In nature, we come across two
major types of food chains:
(i ) Grazing Food Chain
It starts with green plants (primary producers) and culminates in carnivores. All the examples cited
above show this type of food chain.
Grazing food chain of a shallow pond ecosystem shows that floating small plants (Phytoplanktons) are
the primary producers, which are eaten by floating small animals (zooplanktons), which are the
herbivores. These are in turn, consumed by small fish and then big fish which are carnivores.
Phytoplanktons Zooplanktons Small fish Large carnivorous fish
(ii ) Detritus Food Chain
It starts with dead organic matter which the Detritivores and decomposers consume. Partially
decomposed dead organic matter and even the decomposers are consumed by Detritivores and their
predators. An example of the detritus food chain is seen in a Mangrove (estuary) ecosystem.
Here, a large quantity of leaf material falls in the form of litter into the water. The leaf fragments are
eaten by saprotrophsor detritus feeders. (Saprotrophs are those organisms which feed on dead organic
matter). These fallen leaves are colonized by small algae, which are also consumed by the Saprotrophs
or Detritivores consisting of crabs, mollusks, shrimps, insect larvae, nematodes and fishes. The
Detritivores are eaten by small carnivorous fishes, which in turn are eaten by large carnivorous fishes.
Leaf litter algae crabs small carnivorous fish large carnivorous fish (Mangrove ecosystem)
Dead organic matter fungi bacteria (Forest ecosystem)
Thus, the grazing food chain derives its energy basically from plant energy while in the detritus food
chain it is obtained primarily from plant biomass, secondarily from microbial biomass and tertiarily from
carnivores. Both the food chains occur together in natural ecosystems, but grazing food chain usually
predominates.

Food Web: A Network of Food Chains

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Food chains in ecosystems are rarely found to operate as isolated linear sequences. Rather, they are
found to be interconnected and usually form a complex network with several linkages and are known as
food webs. Thus, food web is a network of food chains where different types of organisms are
connected at different trophic levels, so that there are a number of options of eating and being eaten at
each trophic level.

Food webs give greater stability to the ecosystem. In a linear food chain, if one species becomes extinct
or one species suffers then the species in the subsequent trophic levels are also affected. In a food web,
on the other hand, there are a number of options available at each trophic level. So if one species is
affected, it does not affect other trophic levels so seriously.

Significance of food chains and food webs

Food chains and food webs play a very significant role in the ecosystem because the two most
important functions of energy flow and nutrient cycling take place through them.
The food chains also help in maintaining and regulating the population size of different animals
and thus, help maintain the ecological balance.
Food chains show a unique property of biological magnification of some chemicals. There are
several pesticides, heavy metals and other chemicals which are non-biodegradable in nature.
Such chemicals are not decomposed by microorganisms and they keep on passing from one
trophic level to another. And, at each successive trophic level, they keep on increasing in
concentration. This phenomenon is known as bio magnification or biological magnification.

Example of bio - magnification

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GPP and NPP (Gross and Net Primary Production)

Total primary production is known as gross primary production (GPP).
This is the amount of light energy that is converted into chemical energy.
The net primary production (NPP) is equal to gross primary production minus the energy used by the
primary producers for respiration (R):
NPP = GPP R

Balanced Ecosystem
Ecosystems have a unique property of self-regulation. The ecosystem comprising various sub
components of biotic and abiotic nature, which are inter-linked and inter-dependent, have an inherent
property to resist change. It means that the ecosystems have a property to tolerate external disturbance
or stress. This property is known as homeostasis.
The ecosystems have a definite structure comprised of certain types of living organisms, which have a
definite place and role in the ecosystem, as defined by their position in the food-web.
Together, in interaction with the abiotic components, these ecosystems perform the functions of energy
flow and material cycling, and finally give a desired output in the form of productivity.
Every ecosystem can operate within a range of conditions, depending upon its homeostasis (capacity to
resist change).
Within its homeostatic plateau, the ecosystem has the potential to trigger certain feedback
mechanisms which help in maintaining the ecosystem functioning by countering the disturbances.
Such deviation counteracting feedbacks are known as negative feedback mechanisms.
Such feedback loops help in maintaining the ecological balance of the ecosystem.

A balanced ecosystem has basic biotic components which have evolved with time to suit the
environmental conditions. The flow of energy and cycling of nutrients take place in a definite pattern in
such an ecosystem, under a set of physical environment.
However, as the outside disturbance or stress increases beyond certain limit (exceeding the homeostatic
plateau of the ecosystem), the balance of the ecosystem is disrupted. This is because now another type
of feedback mechanisms, which are deviation accelerating mechanisms start operating.
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Such feedbacks are called positive feedback mechanisms, which further increase the disturbances
caused by the external stress and thus take the ecosystem away from its optimal conditions, finally
leading to collapse of the system.
To understand the concept we can consider the following example.
Carbon dioxide is required by green plants to manufacture their food during photosynthesis and the
food produced by green plants is actually the base of food chains, energy flow and material cycles.
The ecosystems have an excellent balance of regulating the levels of carbon dioxide through carbon
cycle, where all living organisms produce CO2 during respiration and the green plants use them up
during photosynthesis, liberating oxygen. Up to certain limits, increase in CO2 concentrations can help in
improving production by green plants. But beyond a limit, the increased CO2 will cause an imbalance in
the ecosystem triggering various harmful positive feedbacks. As a result, several adverse environmental
impacts occur including global warming, changing rainfall patterns, crop insecurity, storms, flooding, and
emergence of new types of pests all leading to degradation of the ecosystem.

Ecological Cycles (Bio Geochemical Cycles)

Besides energy flow, the other important functional attribute of an ecosystem is nutrient cycling.
Nutrients like carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorus etc. move in circular paths
through biotic and abiotic components and are therefore known as biogeochemical cycles.
Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen is present in the atmosphere as N2 in large amount (78%) and it is fixed either by the physical
process of lightening or biologically by some bacteria and/or cyanobacteria (blue green algae). The
nitrogen is taken up by plants and used in metabolism for biosynthesis of amino acids, proteins, vitamins
etc. and passes through the food chain. After death of the plants and animals, the organic nitrogen in
dead tissues is decomposed by several groups of ammonifying bacteria converting organic -N into
ammonia and nitrifying bacteria like Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter which convert them into nitrites and
nitrates respectively, which are again used by plants. Some bacteria like Pseudomonas convert nitrates,
into molecular nitrogen or N2 by denitrification which is released back into the atmosphere and the
cycle goes on.

Carbon Cycle
Sometimes human interferences disturb the normal cycling of nutrients and create ecosystem
imbalance. For example, nature has a very balanced carbon cycle. Carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide
is taken up by green plants as a raw material for photosynthesis, through which a variety of
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carbohydrates and other organic substances are produced. It moves through the food chain and
ultimately organic carbon present in the dead matter is returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide
by microorganisms. Respiration by all organisms produces carbon dioxide, while the latter is used up by
plants.

Phosphorous Cycle
Phosphorous cycle is another important nutrient cycle. The reservoir of phosphorus (P) lies in rocks,
fossils etc. which is excavated by man for using it as a fertilizer. Farmers use the phosphate fertilizers
indiscriminately and as a result excess phosphates are lost as run-off, which causes the problem of
eutrophication i.e., over-nourishment of lakes leading to algal blooms.

Ecological Succession
Ecological succession is the observed process of change in the species structure of an ecological
community over time. The time scale can be decades (for example, after a wildfire), or even millions of
years after a mass extinction.
The community begins with relatively few pioneering plants and animals and develops through
increasing complexity until it becomes stable or self-perpetuating as a climax community. The engine
of succession, the cause of ecosystem change, is the impact of established species upon their own
environments. A consequence of living is the sometimes subtle and sometimes overt alteration of one's
own environment.

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Factors affecting ecological succession

The trajectory of successional change can be influenced by site conditions, by the character of
the events initiating succession (perturbations), by the interactions of the species present, and
by more stochastic factors such as availability of colonists or seeds or weather conditions at the
time of disturbance.
Distribution of species
Net Primary Productivity, biomass, and trophic properties all show variable patterns over
succession, depending on the particular system and site.
The development of some ecosystem attributes, such as soil properties and nutrient cycles, are
both influenced by community properties, and, in turn, influence further successional
development.

Primary, secondary and cyclic succession

Successional dynamics beginning with colonization of an area that has not been previously occupied
by an ecological community, such as newly exposed rock or sand surfaces, lava flows, newly exposed
glacial tills, etc., are referred to as primary succession.
The stages of primary succession include pioneer plants (lichens and mosses), grassy stage, smaller
shrubs, and trees. Animals begin to return when there is food there for them to eat. When it is a fully
functioning ecosystem, it has reached the climax community stage.
Successional dynamics following severe disturbance or removal of a pre-existing community are called
secondary succession. Dynamics in secondary succession are strongly influenced by pre-disturbance
conditions, including soil development, seed banks, remaining organic matter, and residual living
organisms.
Secondary succession is much more commonly observed and studied than primary succession.
Particularly common types of secondary succession include responses to natural disturbances such as
fire, flood, and severe winds, and to human-caused disturbances such as logging and agriculture.
Cyclic succession is a pattern of vegetation change in which in a small number of species tend to
replace each other over time in the absence of large-scale disturbance.
Mechanism of Succession
According to Frederic Clements, succession is a process involving several phases:
Nudation: Succession begins with the development of a bare site, called Nudation (disturbance).
Migration: It refers to arrival of propagules.
Ecesis: It involves establishment and initial growth of vegetation.
Competition: As vegetation becomes well established, grow, and spread, various species begin to
compete for space, light and nutrients.
Reaction: During this phase autogenic changes such as the buildup of humus affect the habitat, and
one plant community replaces another.
Stabilization: A supposedly stable climax community forms.
Seral community
A seral community is an intermediate stage found in an ecosystem advancing towards its climax
community. In many cases more than one seral stage evolves until climax conditions are attained. A
prisere is a collection of seres making up the development of an area from non-vegetated surfaces to a
climax community. Depending on the substratum and climate, different seres are found.

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Climax Community
The final or stable community in a sere is the climax community or climatic vegetation. It is selfperpetuating and in equilibrium with the physical habitat. There is no net annual accumulation of
organic matter in a climax community mostly. The annual production and use of energy is balanced in
such a community.
Characteristics of Climax Community

The vegetation is tolerant of environmental conditions.

It has a wide diversity of species, a well-drained spatial structure, and complex food chains.
The climax ecosystem is balanced. There is equilibrium between gross primary production and
total respiration, between energy used from sunlight and energy released by decomposition,
between uptake of nutrients from the soil and the return of nutrient by litter fall to the soil.
Individuals in the climax stage are replaced by others of the same kind. Thus the species
composition maintains equilibrium.
It is an index of the climate of the area. The life or growth forms indicate the climatic type.

Payment for Ecosystem Services

Payments for ecosystem services (PES), also known as payments for environmental services (or
benefits), are incentives offered to farmers or landowners in exchange for managing their land to
provide some sort of ecological service. They have been defined as "a transparent system for the
additional provision of environmental services through conditional payments to voluntary providers."
These programmes promote the conservation of natural resources in the marketplace.
Ecosystem services have no standardized definition but might broadly be called the benefits of nature
to households, communities, and economies or, more simply, the good things nature does." The broad
categories of ecosystem services include food production (in the form of crops, livestock, capture
fisheries, aquaculture, and wild foods), fiber (in the form of timber, cotton, hemp, and silk), genetic
resources (biochemicals, natural medicines, and pharmaceuticals), fresh water, air quality regulation,
climate regulation, water regulation, erosion regulation, water purification and waste treatment,
disease regulation, pest regulation, pollination, natural hazard regulation, and cultural services
(including spiritual, religious, and aesthetic values, recreation and ecotourism). Notably, however, there
is a big three among these 24 services which are currently receiving the most money and interest
worldwide. These are climate change mitigation, watershed services and biodiversity conservation, and
demand for these services in particular is predicted to continue to grow as time goes on. One seminal
1997 Nature magazine article estimated the annual value of global ecological benefits at $33 trillion, a
number nearly twice the then global gross product.

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