Unit 2: Ecosystems

What is an ecosystem?
Structure and function of ecosystem;
Energy flow in an ecosystem: food chains, food webs
Ecological succession.
Case studies of the following ecosystems :
a) Forest ecosystem
b) Grassland ecosystem
c) Desert ecosystem
d) Aquatic ecosystems (ponds, streams, lakes, rivers,
oceans, estuaries)
What is an ecosystem?
• A dynamic complex of plants, animals and micro-organisms
inhabiting in a particular area with their non-living
environment interacting as a functional unit- Arthur
Tanseley, 1935
• The living community of plants and animals in any area
together with the non-living components of the environment
such as soil, air and water, constitute the ecosystem.
• ‘Ecosystem’ is a region with a specific and recognizable
landscape such as forest, grassland, desert, wetland or coastal
area

 self-sustaining and dynamic.

 Biosphere
 Biome
 Natural vs Man-made ecosystem
 Terrestrial vs Aquatic ecosystem
 STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS OF AN
ECOSYSTEM
Components that make up the structural aspects of an ecosystem include:
Abiotic Components
• Light & Topography. Soil, Water, Minerals, Rocks, Climate (Temperature,
Rainfall, Moisture)
• Inorganic aspects – C, N, CO2, H2O.
• Organic compounds – Protein, Carbohydrates, Lipids – link abiotic to
biotic aspects.

Biotic Components
• Producer – Plants. Autotrophs
• Consumer – Animals. Heterotrophs
• Decomposer– Saprotrophs, absorbers – fungi, bacteria
 Functional aspects
• 1) Energy cycles. (trapping of solar energy in the
form of chemical energy)
• 2) Food chains. (Transfer of food)
• 3) Diversity-inter-linkages between organisms.
• 4) Nutrient cycles-biogeochemical cycles.
(cycling of minerals)
• 5) Evolution.
• 6) Regulates and maintains natural processes,
keeps balance in nature
• Energy cycle is based on the flow of energy through the
ecosystem
• Plants can grow by converting the sun’s energy directly into
their tissues- Producers
• The plants are used by herbivorous animals as herbivorous
animals food, which gives them energy
• The carnivores in turn depend on herbivorous animals on
which they feed.
• Different plant and animal species are linked to one
another through food chains.
PRODUCERS, CONSUMERS
AND DECOMPOSERS

• Herbivorous animals or
primary consumers
• Carnivorous animals, or
animals secondary
consumers
• Decomposers or
detrivores
ENERGY FLOW IN THE
ECOSYSTEM

water cycle
carbon cycle
oxygen cycle,
nitrogen cycle
energy cycle.
All ecosystem are controlled by these
cycles where abiotic and biotic
features are distinct from each other
 Food chain
Different plant and animal
species are linked to one
another through food chains.
Plants can grow by converting
the sun’s energy directly into
their tissues- Producers
The plants are used by
herbivorous animals as
herbivorous animals food,
which gives them energy
The carnivores in turn depend
on herbivorous animals on
which they feed.
Thus the different plant and animal species are linked to one another through
food chains. Each food chain has three or four links.

However as each plant or animal can be linked to several other plants or

animals through many different linkages, these inter-linked chains can be
depicted as a complex food web. food web This is thus called the ‘web of life’
that shows that there are thousands of interrelationships in nature.

If the linkages in the chains that make up the web of life are disrupted due to
human activities that lead to the loss or extinction of species, the web breaks
down.

Grass--->Insects-Frogs--snake--Hawk (Grassland)
Plants--deers--Lion (Forest)
Phytoplankton--Zooplankton-Fish---Seal
Ecological pyramid
The energy in the ecosystem can be depicted in
the form of a food pyramid or energy pyramid.
The food pyramid has a large base of plants called
‘producers’.
The pyramid has a narrower middle section that
depicts the number and biomass of herbivorous
animals, which are called ‘first order consumers’.
The apex depicts the small biomass of carnivorous
animals called ‘second order consumers’.
On average only 10 percent of
energy available at one
trophic level is passed on to
the next. This is known as the
10 percent rule, and it limits
the number of trophic levels
an ecosystem can support.
 Ecological Succession

• Ecological succession is a process through which ecosystems tend to change

over a period of time.
• If a forest is cleared, it will gradually be converted into a grassland, a
shrubland and finally a woodland and a forest if permitted to do so without
human interference.
• There is a tendency for succession to produce a more or less stable state at
the end of the successional stages. Developmental stages in the ecosystem
thus consist of a pioneer stage, a series of changes known as serel stages,
and finally a climax stage. The successive stages are related to the way in
which energy flows through the biological system.
• The most frequent example of successional changes occur in a pond
ecosystem where it fluctuates from a dry terrestrial habitat to the early
colonization stage by small aquatic species after the monsoon, which
gradually passes through to a mature aquatic ecosystem, and then reverts
back to its dry stage in summer where its aquatic life remains dormant
Types of Ecosystems
 Forest ecosystem
• Forest types in India
 Forest Ecosystems
• What are the threats to the forest ecosystem?
– unsustainable way of misusing our limited forest resources.
– Developmental activities
• What if the forests disappear?
– Tribal people who depend directly on them -find it very difficult
to survive.
– Insects that live and breed in the forest such as decrease in
abundance once forests are degraded- affect agriculture
productivity.
– Water cycle- rivers- carbon cycle- soil erosion gets affected
– extinction of plants and wild animals
• How can forest ecosystems be conserved?
 Grassland ecosystems
• Grassland occurs in a wide range of landscapes where
vegetation is mainly formed by grasses and small annual plants
are adapted to India’s various climatic conditions
• rainfall is usually low (so no large trees)
• soil depth and quality is poor.
• Above ground parts of grass the dies during the summer
months and grows in next monsoon
• Grassland Types in India
– Himalayan pasture belt
– Terai grassland
– Semi arid grassland of western India
– Shola grasslands
Grassland ecosystems
 Desert Ecosystem

• Desert and semi arid lands are highly specialized and sensitive ecosystems that are
easily destroyed by human activities. The species of these dry areas can live only in
this specialised habitat.
• Deserts and semi arid areas are located in Western India and the Deccan Plateau.
The climate in these vast tracts is extremely dry. There are also cold deserts such
as in Ladakh, which are located in the high plateaus of the Himalayas.
• The most typical desert landscape that is seen in Rajasthan is in the Thar Desert.
This has sand dunes. There are also areas covered with sparse grasses and a few
shrubs, which grow if it rains. In most areas of the Thar the rainfall is scanty and
sporadic. In an area it may rain only once every few years. In the adjoining semi
arid tract the vegetation consists of a few shrubs and thorny trees such as kher and
babul.
• The Great and Little Rann of Kutch are highly specialised arid ecosystems. In the
summers they are similar to a desert landscape. However, these low-lying areas
near the sea, they get converted to salt marshes during the monsoons. During this
period they attract an enormous number of aquatic birds such as ducks, geese,
cranes, storks, etc. The Great Rann is famous, as it is the only known breeding
colony of the Greater and Lesser Flamingos in our country.
• The Little Rann of Kutch is the only home of the wild ass in India. Desert and semi
arid regions have a number of highly specialized insects and reptiles. The rare
animals include the Indian wolf, desert cat, desert fox and birds such as the Great
Indian Bustard and the Florican. Some of the commoner birds include partridges,
Aquatic Ecosystems
In aquatic ecosystems, plants and animals live in water. These species are adapted to
live in different types of aquatic habitats.
The special abiotic features are its physical aspects such as the quality of the water,
which includes its clarity, salinity, oxygen content and rate of flow.
• Aquatic ecosystems may be classified as being stagnant ecosystems, or running
water ecosystems.
• The mud gravel or rocks that form the bed of the aquatic ecosystem alter its
characteristics and influence its plant and animal species composition.
• The aquatic ecosystems are classified into freshwater, brackish and marine
ecosystems, which are based on the salinity levels. The fresh water ecosystems
that have running water are streams and rivers. Ponds, tanks and lakes are
ecosystems where water does not flow.
• Wetlands are special ecosystems in which the water level fluctuates dramatically in
different seasons. They have expanses of shallow water with aquatic vegetation,
which forms an ideal habitat for fish, crustacea and water birds.
• Marine ecosystems are highly saline, while brackish areas have less saline water
such as in river deltas.
• Coral reefs are very rich in species and are found in only a few shallow
tropical seas. The richest coral reefs in India are around the Andaman and
Nicobar islands and in the gulf of Kutch.
• Brackish water ecosystems in river deltas are covered by mangrove forests
and are among the world’s most productive ecosystems in terms of biomass
production. The largest mangrove swamps are in the Sunderbans in the delta
of the Ganges

• Pulak Kumar Patra