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Lecture 2 Ecosystem

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Lecture 2 Ecosystem

Uploaded by

adityagupta98397
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Subject: Environmental Studies

Department: BBA

JIMS Engineering Management Technical Campus


Affiliated to GGSIPU, New Delhi Approved by AICTE, NCTE & BAR Council of India
48/4, Knowledge Park III, Greater Noida
Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as
weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life.
Ecosystem
Ecology

Ecology- Hans Reiter

Deals with study of animal and plant interrelationship and also there
relation with environment.

The term Ecosystem was first proposed by British ecologist A.G. Tansely.
Ecosystem

An ecosystem can be visualized as a functional unit of nature, where living


organisms interact among themselves and also with the surrounding
physical environment.
Ecosystem varies greatly in size from a small pond to a large forest or a sea.
Many ecologists regard the entire biosphere as a global ecosystem, as a
composite of all local ecosystems on Earth.
Since this system is too much big and complex to be studied at one time, it is
convenient to divide it into two basic categories, namely the terrestrial and
the aquatic.
Types of Environment & Ecosystems

 Terrestrial Ecosystems -Forest, grassland and desert are some examples of


terrestrial ecosystems;
 Aquatic Ecosystems- pond, lake, wetland, river and estuary are some
examples of aquatic ecosystems.
 Crop fields and an aquarium may also be considered as man-made
ecosystems.
 Terrestrial Ecosystems: Forest, Grassland and Desert Ecosystems
 Aquatic Ecosystems: Divided into three categories
 Fresh Water: Lake, Ponds.
ECOSYSTEM – STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
ECOSYSTEM – STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

Biotic Components
Biotic components refer to all living components in an
ecosystem. Based on nutrition, biotic components can be
categorized into :
Autotrophs, or Producers
Heterotrophs or Consumers
Saprotrophs (or Decomposers).
ECOSYSTEM – STRUCTURE

Producers include all autotrophs such as plants. They are called autotrophs as they
can produce food through the process of photosynthesis.

Consumers or heterotrophs are organisms that depend on other organisms for food.

Primary consumers are always herbivores as they rely on producers for food.
Secondary consumers depend on primary consumers for energy. They can either
be carnivores or omnivores.
Tertiary consumers are organisms that depend on secondary consumers for food.
Tertiary consumers can also be carnivores or omnivores.
ECOSYSTEM – STRUCTURE
ECOSYSTEM – STRUCTURE

Abiotic Components
Abiotic components are the non-living component of an
ecosystem. It includes air, water, soil, minerals, sunlight,
temperature, nutrients, wind, etc.
ECOSYSTEM – FUNCTION

The components of the ecosystem are seen to function as a unit when


you consider the following aspects:
Productivity;
Decomposition;
Energy flow; and
Nutrient cycling.
PRODUCTIVITY
Primary production is defined as the amount of biomass or organic matter produced per
unit area over a time period by plants during photosynthesis.
The rate of biomass production is called productivity.
It can be divided into gross primary productivity (GPP) and net primary productivity
(NPP). Gross primary productivity of an ecosystem is the rate of production of organic
matter during photosynthesis.
DECOMPOSITION
You may have heard of the earthworm being referred to as the farmer’s
‘friend’. This is so because they help in the breakdown of complex organic
matter as well as in loosening of the soil. Similarly, decomposers break
down complex organic matter into inorganic substances like carbon
dioxide, water and nutrients and the process is called decomposition.
Dead plant remains such as leaves, bark, flowers and dead remains of
animals, including fecal matter, constitute detritus, which is the raw
material for decomposition.
ENERGY FLOW

 Except for the deep sea hydro-thermal ecosystem, sun is the only source
of energy for all ecosystems on Earth.
 Of the incident solar radiation less than 50 per cent of it is
photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).
 We know that plants and photosynthetic bacteria (autotrophs), fix suns’
radiant energy to make food from simple inorganic materials.
 Plants capture only 2-10 per cent of the PAR and this small amount of
energy sustains the entire living world.
Food Chain

Grass --------------------Goat------------------------ Man


(Producer) (Primary Consumer) (Secondary consumer)
Food web

A food web consists of all the food chains in a single ecosystem. Each
living thing in an ecosystem is part of multiple food chains. Each food
chain is one possible path that energy and nutrients may take as they
move through the ecosystem.
Food web

A food web consists of all the food chains in a single ecosystem. Each
living thing in an ecosystem is part of multiple food chains. Each food
chain is one possible path that energy and nutrients may take as they
move through the ecosystem.
ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
You must be familiar with the shape of a pyramid. The base of a pyramid is broad and it
narrows down at the apex. One gets a similar shape, whether you express the food or
energy relationship between organisms at different trophic level. Thus, relationship is
expressed in terms of number, biomass or energy. The base of each pyramid represents
the producers or the first trophic level while the apex represents tertiary or top level
consumer. The three ecological pyramids that are usually studied are
 Pyramid of number;
 Pyramid of biomass and
 Pyramid of energy.
x

Pyramid of Number

Pyramid of Biomass
Pyramid of Energy
The movement of nutrient elements through the various components of an
ecosystem is called nutrient cycling. Another name of nutrient cycling is
biogeochemical cycles (bio: living organism, geo: rocks, air, water). Nutrient
cycles are of two types:
 Gaseous (Nitrogen, Carbon)
 Sedimentary (Sulphur, Phosphorus)
Carbon Cycle
Nitrogen Cycle
Phosphorus Cycle
Sulphur Cycle
Topic for Next Lecture

Controversial Environmental Issues


Thank You !!

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