ECOSYSTEMS

 Ecosystem: Defined area in which a community ECOSYSTEMS SERVICES

lives with interactions taking place among the
• The human economy depends upon the
organisms between the community and its
services performed by ecosystems.
non-living physical environment.
• The ecosystem services supplied annually
 An ecosystem is formed by the interactions are worth many trillions of dollars.
between all living and non-living things
• Economic development that destroys
 System = regularly interacting and habitats and impairs services can create costs to
interdependent components forming a unified humanity over the long term that may greatly
whole exceed the short-term economic benefits of the
development.
 Ecosystem = an ecological system; = a • These costs are generally hidden from
community and its physical environment traditional economic accounting, but are
treated together as a functional system nonetheless real and are usually borne by
society at large.
 An ecosystem is a group of biotic communities
of species interacting with one another and STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEM
with their non-living environment exchanging
energy and matter. Ecology is often defined as There are two components: ABIOTIC AND BIOTIC
the study of ecosystems COMPONENTS

1. ABIOTIC COMPONENTS:

 Sunlight
 Temperature
 Precipitation
 Water or Moisture
 Soil or water chemistry

2. BIOTIC COMPONENTS:

 Primary Producers
 Herbivores
 Carnivores
 Omnivores

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS: Abiotic components are

the physical and chemical factors of an ecosystem
as light, temperature, atmosphere gases (nitrogen,
oxygen, carbon dioxide are the most important),
water, wind, soil. These specific abiotic factors
represent the geological, geographical, hydrological
and climatological features of a particular
ecosystem. :
 • Water, which is at the same time an some beetles, termites are all terrestrial
essential element to life. detritivores.

• Air, which provides oxygen, nitrogen, and Nonphotosynthetic bacteria and fungi, including
carbon dioxide to living species and allows mushrooms, are decomposers that carry out
the dissemination of pollen and spores. decomposition, the breakdown of dead organic
matter, including animal waste. Decomposers
• Soil, at the same time source of nutriment perform a very valuable service by releasing
and physical support. inorganic substances that are taken up by
plants once more.
• Temperature, which should not exceed
certain extremes, even if tolerance to heat
is significant for some species
PRODUCER
• Light, which provides energy to the
ecosystem through photosynthesis. • Autotroph - “self” + “feed”

BIOTIC COMPONENTS: The living organisms are • An organism that obtains organic food
the biotic components of an ecosystem. In molecules without eating other organisms
ecosystems, living things are classified after the way but by using energy from the sun or
they get their food. inorganic molecules to make organic
molecules.
Biotic Components include the following:
• This trophic level supports all of the others
1. Autotrophs produce their own organic
nutrients for themselves and other • The role of producers is to convert energy
members of the community; therefore, they into a form useable for other organisms
are called the producers. There are
• Most producers are photosynthetic(e.g.
basically two kinds of autotrophs,
algae, mosses, diatoms, some bacteria,
"chemoautotrophs and photoautogrophs. "
plants etc.) but some are chemosynthetic
Chemautotrophs are bacteria that obtain energy by (e.g. hydrothermal vent bacteria)
oxidizing inorganic compounds such as ammonia,
nitrites, and use this energy to synthesize CONSUMER
carbohydrates. Photoautotrophs are
• Heterotroph - “other” + “feed”
photosynthesizers such as algae and green plants
that produce most of the organic nutrients for the • An organism that obtains its nutrition by
biosphere. eating other organisms

2. Heterotrophs, as consumers that are • Primary consumer (herbivore) - eats

unable to produce, are constantly looking producers
for source of organic nutrients from
• Secondary consumer (carnivore) - eats
elsewhere. Herbivores are animals that
primary consumers
graze directly on plants or algae. Carnivores
as wolf feed on other animals. Omnivores • Tertiary consumer - eats secondary
are animals that feed both on plants and consumers
animals, as human.
• Quaternary consumer - eats tertiary
3. Detritivores - organisms that rely on consumers
detritus, the decomposing particles of
organic matter, for food. Earthworms and
  The role of the consumer is to transfer • Thus, this cycle goes on and on, leading to
energy from one trophic level to the next. efficient continuous functioning of the
ecosystem.
 consumers have different names,
depending on what they eat: • Food chain, food web and trophic structure

 Herbivores: plant eaters • Energy flow

 Carnivores: meat eaters • Primary and secondary production

Ecosystem development and regulation
 Omnivores: eat plants and animals

DECOMPOSER
ENERGY FLOW IN ECOSYSTEM
• An organism that obtains energy by
breaking down dead organic matter, An “Ecological System?”

including dead plants, dead animals and • In the discipline of ecology, the word
animal waste, into more simple substances Ecosystem is an abbreviation of the term,
• Examples include: bacteria and fungi ecological system – the basic unit in ecology.

• Interconnects all trophic levels since the • It first appeared in a 1935 publication by the
organic material making up all living British ecologist Arthur Tansley (Tansley, 1935).
organisms is eventually broken down • However, the term had been coined already
• Role of decomposers is to return valuable in 1930 by Tansley’s colleague Roy Clapham,
nutrients to the system so they can be used who was asked if he could think of a suitable
again word to denote the physical and biological
components of an environment considered in
relation to each other as a unit.

FUNCTIONS OF AN ECOSYSTEM
• Ecosystems have some functional attributes ENERGY AND THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS
which keep the component parts running
Energy exists in many forms, such as heat, light,
together.
chemical energy, and electrical energy. Energy is
• For example – green leaves prepare food & the ability to bring about change or to do work.
roots absorb nutrients from the soil. Herbivores Thermodynamics is the study of energy.
feed on part of the plant production, and in
turn serve as food for carnivores.

• Decomposers carry out the function of

braking down complex organic materials into
simple inorganic product which can be used by
the producers.

• All these functions in an ecosystem occur

through delicately balanced and controlled
processes.
The 1st Law of Thermodynamics: Energy can be
changed from one form to another, but it cannot be
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
created or destroyed. The total amount of energy
and matter in the Universe remains constant, • Gradual process of change and replacement
merely changing from one form to another. of the types of species in a community.

The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics: "in all energy • May take hundreds or thousands of years.
exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves the system,
the potential energy of the state will always be less • Newer communities make it harder for the
than that of the initial state." In energy transfer, older ones to survive.
some energy will dissipate as heat. The flow of
PRIMARY SUCCESSION
energy maintains order of life.
• Type of succession that occurs where there
was no ecosystem before.

• Occurs on rocks, cliffs, and sand dunes.

• Primary succession is very slow.

• Begins where there is no soil.

• Takes several hundred years to produce

fertile soil naturally.

• First species to colonize bare rock would be

bacteria and lichens.

Second Law of Thermodynamics - 10% LAW.. !!

• Scientists have studied many ecosystems

and have concluded that this energy loss is a
constant pattern. In fact, scientists have
calculated that the percentage (%) of usable
energy transferred from one organism to LICHENS
another is 10%.
• Do not require soil.
• That means that 90% of energy is lost as
heat. • Colorful, flaky patches.

• So if producers captured 10,000 calories • Composed of two species, fungi and algae.
from the sun, then only about 1,000 calories
• The algae photosynthesize and the fungi
will be available to support primary consumers
absorb nutrients from rocks and holds
(herbivores), and only about 100 calories to
water.
support secondary consumers (carnivores or
omnivores). • Over time, they break down the rock.
PRIMARY SUCCESSION

• As the rocks breaks apart, water freezes and

thaws on the cracks, this breaks up the rocks OLD-FIELD SUCCESSION
further.
• Occurs in farmland that has been
• When the lichens die, they accumulate in abandoned.
the cracks.
• Grasses and weeds grow quickly, and
• Then mosses begin to grow and die, leading produce many seeds that cover large areas.
to the creation of fertile soil.
• Over time, taller plants grow in the area,
• Fertile soil is made up of the broken rocks, shading the light and keeping the pioneer
decayed organisms, water, and air. species from receiving any light.

• The longer roots of the taller plants deprive

the pioneer species from water.

• The pioneer species die.

• Taller trees begin to grow and deprive the

SECONDARY SUCCESSION taller plants of water and light.

• Followed by slow growing trees (oaks,

• More common
maples) takeover the area.
• Occurs on a surface where an ecosystem
• After about a century, the land returns to a
has previously existed.
climax community.
• Occurs on ecosystems that have been
disturbed or disrupted by humans, animals, or
by natural processes such as storms, floods,
earthquakes, and volcanoes.

FIRE and SECONDARY SUCCESSION

TROPHIC LEVELS
• Natural fire caused by lightening are a
• Producers – autotrophs
necessary part of secondary succession.
• Photosynthesis
• Some species of trees (ex: Jack pine) can
only release their seeds after they have been • Consumers – heterotrophs
exposed to the intense heat of a fire.
• Primary
• Minor forest fires remove brush and • Secondary
deadwood. • Third-level
• Some animals depend on fires because they  Omnivores
feed on the newly sprouted vegetation.  Detritus feeders / Decomposers

• Foresters allow natural fires to burn unless

they are a threat to human life or property.
 give one a sense of the overall form of the trophic
structure of an ecosystem.

PYRAMID OF ENERGY

• A pyramid of energy depicts the energy

flow, or productivity, of each trophic level.

• Due to the Laws of Thermodynamics, each

higher level must be smaller than lower levels,
due to loss of some energy as heat (via
respiration) within each level.

Pyramids of Energy Suggests:

• The numbers of trophic levels are limited.

At each trophic level, there is a dramatic
reduction in energy.

• Eating at lower trophic levels means more

resources available.

• Movement up the pyramid explains the

problems of Biological Magnification (DDT,
PCBs, etc.)

ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS

• The standing crop, productivity, number of

organisms, etc. of an ecosystem can be
conveniently depicted using “pyramids”, where
the size of each compartment represents the Food Chains and Food Webs
amount of the item in each trophic level of a How energy moves in an ecosystem OR who eats who!?

food chain.
• Food Chain: A food chain shows one path
of how energy moves through an ecosystem

• Food Web: A food web shows many paths

of how energy moves through an ecosystem. A
food web is made up of many different food
Note that the complexities of the interactions in a
chains.
food web are not shown in a pyramid; but,
pyramids are often useful conceptual devices--they FOOD CHAINS
• The producers, consumers, and
decomposers of each ecosystem make up a
food chain.

• There are many food chains in an

ecosystem.

• Food chains show where energy is

transferred and not who eats who.

TYPES OF ECOSYSTEM

FOOD WEBS
FOREST ECOSYSTEM
• All the food chains in an area make up the
food web of the area.  High rainfall
 Large number of organism and flora
 Highly diverse population
 Stability of ecosystem is very sensitive

Types of Forest

 Tropical evergreen forest

 Tropical deciduous forest
 Temperate evergreen forest
 Temperate deciduous forest
 Taiga

Function of forest ecosystem

 Watershed Protection
 Atmospheric regulation
 Soil Erosion Control
 Wind Erosion Control

DESERT ECOSYSTEM
  High temperature, intense sunlight and low
water
 Flora and fauna are very poorly developed
and scarce
 Organisms are xeric adaptive
 Scarcely populated
Features of desert ecosystem
Types of desert
 Rainfall
 Sand desert  Temperature
 Stony desert  Soil
 Rock desert  light
 Plateau desert  Plants and animals are adapted to live in
 Mountain desert extremities
 Cold desert
Function of desert ecosystem
Sand desert- Australia
 Solar energy resource
 Mineral resource

Rock desert - Greece GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM

 Marginal rainfall
 Vegetation is dominated by grasses
 Unimproved wild-plant communities
Stony desert - Australia  Densely populated

Types of Grassland Ecosystem

 Tropical grassland
 Temperate grassland
 Others

Plateau desert – South America Features of grassland ecosystem

 Temperature
 Precipitation
 Humidity
 Topography
 Non - adaptive plants and animals
Mountain desert - Mexico
Function of grassland ecosystem

 Grassland provide food

 Grasslands Are Breeding Areas
 Human habitat

Cold desert - Antarctic

AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM
 Low temperature and sunlight
 Soil and vegetation is submerged
 Flora and fauna had adapted
 Densely populated.

Types of Aquatic ecosystem

 Ocean
 Lotic
 Lentic
 Wetland

Features of aquatic ecosystem

 Light and temperature

 Current
 Chemistry
 Competitive organism

Function of Aquatic Ecosystem

 Recycles nutrients
 Purify water
 Responsible for proper rainfall
 Attenuate floods
 Recharge ground water