Ecosystem and Biodiversity

Ecology

The word ecology is derived from Greek word ‘Oekologic’. Oikos means
‘habitation’ or ‘house’ and logos means study.
It was first coined by the German biologist Ernst Hoeckl in 1886, who
defined it as “The comprehensive science of the relationship of the
organism to the environment”.
It can also be defined as “ The scientific study of the relationship of living
organism with each other and with their environment”.
Ecology is essentially the study of living organisms and their
environment. One aspect of this study is the biology and the
chemistry of the organism and their environment. But the other
aspect is from a system dynamics perspective, where we are
interested in how the system distributes energy and nutrients through
it to enable life. We will be looking at the later aspect in more detail in
this class.
 Ecosystem
Definition: The living community of plants and animals (Biotic) in any area
together with the non-living components of the environment such as soil, air
and water (Abiotic) constitute the ecosystem

It is also defined as a Natural unit of living organisms and their non-living

environment that interact to form a stable system.
Here’s the definition of an ecosystem. One thing to notice here is that
the definition does not include a sense of scale. This is very important.
An ecosystem does not have a scale. It could be something as small as
a puddle/small pond to the entire planet. It all depends on what one
is trying to understand. A large ecosystem like a forest or an ocean
where large number of flora and fauna live in their environment is
usually defined as a biome.
STRUCTURE OF AN ECOSYSTEM

theintactone.com
An ecosystem can be broken down to two key components: The biotic
and abiotic components. The biotic components include all the living
things in the ecosystem and the abiotic components include various
aspects of the non-living environment. Both are dynamic components as
they are ever changing.
 Functions of an ecosystem

Major functional attributes of ecosystem are

• Energy Flow
• Nutrients cycling
• Productivity and decomposition
• Development and stabilization
The primary functions of an ecosystem have to do with distribution of
energy and nutrients through it. Those factors combined with climate,
geography, biological productivity (for example, the diversity of flora
growing or the amount of tree cover in an area) of the area and the rate
of decomposition lead to formation of “niches” (pronounced “neeshes”)
which enable development of life in the ecosystem. Once all the niches
of an ecosystem are filled, the degree of diversity stabilizes. We will now
discuss what is an ecological niche.
• To understand how ecosystems function, we need to understand the idea
of an ecological niche. If two forms of life live in the same area, and have
similar needs, then they will compete each other for resources. When two
or more species compete, eventually some of these species will be driven
away, or go extinct. As a result, in any place, only one species occupies a
niche in the ecosystem: Two different forms of life can live in the same
place, but only if they have different roles. e.g. They hunt at different times
of the day or eat different foods. The word niche comes from French term
“nicher” which means to make nest. Life will evolve to take advantages of
niches that it can decipher in an ecosystem. Sharing a niche implies
constant competition which is not ideal for survival. Next, we will look at
some examples of ecological niches.
Ecological Niche- Wading Birds
• Here is an example of various wading birds occupying various
ecological niches. Waders are a type of birds which wade into water
to get food from the mud/sand underneath. You can clearly see that
each wader has specialized to take advantage of its own ecological
niche. If two waders occupy the same niche, they will be directly in
competition with each other, resulting in one of them either being
driven away or going extinct.
Here’s another example
within the same family of
birds. All these birds are in
the warbler family. But they
occupy different ecological
niches to coexist.
Holdridge life zones- Terrestrial Ecosystems
• Ecosystems themselves can be seen a Macro niches. Terrestrial
ecosystems are primarily defined by the amount of sunlight and
water available to them. The Holdridge life zones show how
ecosystems are distributed based on those two factors. The
organisms of one ecosystem usually do not interact with organisms
of the other. In effect, each of these ecosystems are like a very
rough niche (not an exact niche as a niche is usually associated with
one organism) of the organisms that reside in it.
 Energy and Nutrient Flow in an
Ecosystem
• Energy flows through the ecosystem in one direction.

• On the other hand, matter moves through ecosystem in numerous cycles. The nutrients
that organisms needs to grow, live, and reproduce are continuously taken from the
abiotic environment, consumed, and then recycled back to the environment.

• There are several such biogeochemical cycles(with biological, geological and chemical
interaction), powered directly or indirectly by solar energy. They include Water cycle,
Carbon cycle, Oxygen cycle, Nitrogen cycle, Phosphorous cycle.

• Earth is essentially closed system- matter can not escape from its boundaries.
 Biogeochemical cycle
Now, lets discuss
The
the energy and
nitrogen
nutrient flow in an
cycle is an
ecosystem. Energy
example of
flows only in one
the
direction but
biogeoche
matter (nutrient)
mical
cycles around the
cycle. It
system through
shows the
both abiotic and
cycling of
biotic components
nitrogen
in the ecosystem.
through
We encapsulate the
the abiotic
nutrient flows
and biotic
through
componen
biogeochemical
ts of the
cycles.
ecosystem
 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 how energy is transferred and not who eats
who.
• As nutrient cycling is represented through biogeochemical cycles, the
energy transmission is represented through food chains. Please keep
in mind though that food chains for most cases are hypothetical. In
real life, an ecosystem consists of many food chains which are very
interlinked and its nearly impossible to take them apart.
Example of a Food Chain

Please note here that the plant doesn’t eat the sun. Similarly many decomposers
do not eat the dead. They have a different mechanism to process energy and
nutrients.
 Food Web

Many food chains overlap, since most organisms have more than one item on
their menu. Again an organism can be found on the menus of many other
organisms. Thus we have a complex network of interconnected food chains,
which is called as Food Web.
• Food webs consist of various levels (producers, primary consumers etc.)
in it and show how energy is transferred from one to another in an
ecosystem. A food chain is a single vertical cross-section of a food web.
It is a necessary that the 1st level has more energy than the second and
the second level has more energy than the third for Law of conservation
of energy to be valid. But if you look at the diagram, the energy
possessed in the tertiary consumers (weight of coyote+lion+bobcat) is
more than the combined energy present in the secondary consumers
level. This is similarly true between secondary consumers and primary
consumers. How is this possible? Think about this for a minute. (answer
below)
• Solution: Though the weight of coyote+lion+bobcat in the tertiary
consumers level is more than the individual weight of organisms in the
secondary consumers level, the ecosystem is not composed of only one
of each organism. An ecosystem will carry far bigger population of
organisms in the secondary consumers level than in the tertiary
consumers. The combined weight of population of each organism in
the secondary consumers level will necessarily be larger than the
combined population of organisms in the tertiary consumers level. This
is how ecosystems guide productivity and stabilization. A higher level
organism will necessarily evolve to have fewer offspring and have a
lower population than an organism in the lower levels. And the higher
the amount of energy available in the producers level will dictate the
amount of diversity present in the rest of the levels.
Understanding Food webs-Trophic Levels
• A trophic level is the position occupied by an organism in a food chain.

• Trophic levels can be analyzed on an energy pyramid.

• Producers are found at the base of the pyramid and compromise the first trophic level.

• Primary consumers make up the second trophic level.

• Secondary consumers make up the third trophic level.

• Finally tertiary consumers make up the top trophic level.

• The levels we were referring to in the food webs are called trophic
levels. In a food chain, only one organism is present in one trophic
level. In a food web, multiple organisms exists in a trophic level. Each
organism in any given trophic level does the same function from the
perspective of energy transfer in the ecosystem.
 Biomass
• Energy is sometimes considered in terms of biomass, the mass of all the
organisms and organic material in an area.

• There is more biomass at the trophic level of producers and fewer at the
trophic level of tertiary consumers.

• Bio=life Mass=weight
• Bio + Mass = Weight of living things within an ecosystem.

28
• Biomass is the weight of all living things in an ecosystem. An interesting question
is how does one actually go about calculating this? For example, what is the
biomass of the Western Ghats? Would you go about measuring the weight of
everything in the Ghats? That’s simply not possible. Think about this for a minute.

• Solution: To measure the weight of an entire biome or an ecosystem, we divide

the entire area into a grid of some size (determined through some statistical
tools). We then randomly select required amount of boxes (determined through
statistical analysis) and then go to those actual areas and record the
frequency/area of all life forms and measure the weight of some individuals
(again the number of individuals required is preset through some statistical
analysis) of each organism. Once we finish this for all selected boxes, we get an
idea of rough population of each organism. We then simply multiply the average
measured weight of each organism to the population to get weight of the entire
ecosystem.
Energy/Biomass Pyramids

• The greatest amount of

energy/biomass is found at the base
of the pyramid.
• The least amount of energy/biomass
is found at top of the pyramid.
• Energy pyramids are very useful. They are not only used for visual
representation of energy transfer in the ecosystem but are also used
to approximate the health of an ecosystem.
Assessing Health of Ecosystems Through
Energy/Biomass Pyramids
• A energy/biomass pyramid can never be inverted for a healthy “closed”
ecosystem
• The slope and the trophic levels of the pyramid can be approximated for a
healthy ecosystem (different ecosystems will have different constituent in
each trophic level and slope in the energy/biomass pyramid).
• A significant deviation from the approximated norm can point to serious
problems in an ecosystem
Health of Ecosystems: A complex systems
perspective

Adapted from Goerner et al., 2009

• Another way to understand the health of an ecosystem is by looking
at it as a complex system. A complex system is defined as a system
that is composed of many components which interact with each other
in often unexpectable ways and in a non-linear fashion to show
emergent behavior (unexpected behavior) and spontaneous order
(they show some unexpected pattern in otherwise what looks like
chaos). These factors make such systems very difficult to model or
simulate on a computer. Ecosystems are a classic example of a
complex system where each component in the system is the
biodiversity it hosts.
• When a complex system has few components, it is known as a
“efficient system” as it can transmit anything through it with very
little loss. But it is also very susceptible to collapse if a few
components fail and hence have very low sustainability ( meaning
Complex systems which are efficient, usually fail more often). On the
flipside, if the system has too many components, it becomes a
“stagnant system” as there is a lot of loss from whatever it is that you
are trying to transmit through the system and hence again have very
low sustainability. But they are very resilient to changes as they can
withstand failure of many components in them.
• As research has shown in the graph above, most stable ecosystems
occupy a space called the “window of vitality” where they have just
the right amount of biodiversity that allows them good sustainability
and also resiliency. Any changes to the biodiversity to the ecosystem
can push it away from this window of vitality and accelerate their
demise. This is another reason why biodiversity of ecosystems need
to be protected.
 BIODIVERSITY

The term biodiversity refers to the totality of species, populations, communities

and ecosystems, both wild and domesticated that constitute the life of any one
area or of the entire plant.

Degree of variety in life in an ecosystem

Relationship between altitude, ecosystem and biodiversity-
Holdrige Life zones
Holdridge life zones generally encapsulates the amount of life
present in various ecosystems. Grasslands and pelagic zone of
the oceans have the most diversity and the diversity, generally
speaking, reduces as you move away from the mean sea level.
INDIA’S BIODIVERSITY
 India is home to 33% of the life forms found
in the world, 2 % of the world landmass 8% of
the biodiversity of the world.
 More than 18000 plants
 1337 birds
 More than 400 mammals
 More than 600 reptiles and amphibians

 60% of this wealth can be found in the

Western Ghats

TNAU
India is home to one of the richest biodiversity in the world. This
biodiversity is crucial to balancing the ecosystems and sustain life on
this sub-continent. Unfortunately, many organisms are being
threatened with extinction due to man-made issues. It is therefore
important to conserve them before they disappear and alter the
balance of crucial ecosystems. For this, we need to be able to prioritize
which parts of the biodiversity need more immediate attention so that
we can conserve them first. We do this with the help of IUCN red list.
Natural systems provide society with many goods and
services: ecosystem services

Pollination Flood control Non-timber forest

products

Raw materials Recreation

Gallai et al, 2009
Natural ecosystems provide us • Ecological Economics), raw
with a variety of services, materials (Timber alone is
including supporting pollination responsible for 200 billion
of our crops, which is thought to globally) and countless other
services.
be worth over 110 billion USD per
year globally. (Gallai et al.
Extinction

Williams, 2013
• Unfortunately, we are slated to lose many of these services due to the
looming extinction threat to many species in our ecosystems. India is
particularly prone to extinction due to extensive habitat loss and
climate change.
Effect of climate change- Trophic Mismatch
Another important factor affecting biodiversity is climate change,
through a phenomenon known as trophic mismatch. The above is an
example of what is known as a temporal trophic mismatch. Here,
climate change is affecting the timing on which many animals rely on to
maximise their productivity. In this example, birds find their mates,
build nests and lay eggs so that they can hatch at the time when
caterpillars are the most abundant in the ecosystem. This ensures that
maximum number of their off springs receive adequate amount of food
to grow well, build stores they might need for migration and succeed in
becoming productive adults. Getting this timing right is very crucial for
the survivability of many species like the bird in this example. Climate
change is causing havoc to this temporal balance. The prevailing
thought in research is that many species are not probably able to keep
pace with this timing mismatch and which will eventually have an effect
on their productivity.
Biodiversity Conservation

Source: Wikimedia

Source: Wikimedia

11/22/2022
• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red list founded in 1964
as a list of flora and fauna whose extinction risk was assessed using set of
defined criteria and categories. Since then, it has become the most
comprehensive list of conservation status of species around the world. The main
purpose of creating this list is to assess the extinction risk of all known species
and sub-species, bring to attention the ones which are in most dire need of
conservation and, influence international and national policy to conserve
biodiversity. The criteria and categories used in the red list have their roots in
robust scientific principles and can be applied anywhere in the world without any
changes. Each species in red list undergoes an evaluation every 5 years, or at
minimum every 10 years to reassess their extinction risk through a peer review
process.

• Full report can be read here:

https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/RL-2001-001-2nd.pdf
 IUCN Red List Categories

Source: IUCN
11/22/2022
This is how the various extinction risk levels are assessed:
According to this report,

Extinct (EX) – A taxon is no longer extant in its known or expected

habitat at appropriate times beyond reasonable doubt.

Extinct in the wild (EW) – A taxon survives only in captivity, cultivation

and/or as naturalized population outside its native range, as
presumed after exhaustive surveys.

Critically endangered (CR) – A taxon is in an extremely critical state if

it meets all set out for this category in the red list and is therefore
facing extremely high probability of extinction in the wild
Endangered (EN) – A taxon is in this state if it meets all set out for this
category in the red list and is therefore facing high probability of extinction in
the wild

Vulnerable (VU) – A taxon is in this state if it meets all set out for this
category in the red list and is therefore facing some degree of threat of
extinction in the wild.

Near threatened (NT) – A taxon is close to being at high risk of extinction in

the near future.

Least concern (LC) – A taxon is unlikely to become extinct in the near future.

Full report can be read here:

https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/RL-2001-001-
2nd.pdf
Biodiversity conservation can be broadly categorized into two; Insitu or on-site
conservation (conservation in their original habitat), and exsitu or off-site
conservation (conservation in a built habitat).
 In situ Conservation Strategies

• It means the conservation of ecosystems, natural habitats and the

maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural
surrounding and in the case of domesticated or cultivated species, in the
surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties.
Protected areas:
These are the areas of land and/or sea, especially dedicated to the
protection and maintenance of biological diversity and of natural and
associated cultural resources.
 Maintaining viable populations of all native species and subspecies.
 Maintaining the number and distribution of communities and habitats and
conserving the genetic diversity of all the existing species.
 Preventing man created introduction of exotic species.
 Making it possible for species to shift in response to environmental
changes.
Ex situ conservation strategies :

•It is defines as the conservation of components of biological diversity

outside their natural habitat.
•Eg:- Botanical gardens, zoos, aquaria, gene banks, seed banks, use of
biotechnology and DNA preservation.
Botanical gardens and zoos:-
There are more than 1500 botanical gardens and arboreta in the world with
more than 80000 species.
Similarly there are more than 800 professionally managed zoos around the
world with about 3000 species.
Biotechnological methods:-
It has provided many new conservation tools in agriculture, animal
husbandry, fisheries, forestry and medicine..

1. Gene banks:- It provides a method of conservation of diverse genetic

resources, particularly of threatened species and those seeds which are
not viable for longer periods under natural conditions.

2. Conservation of DNA:- An emerging and promising technique in

preserving biodiversity is isolation and conservation of DNA. It can be
used for endangered or even extinct species by taking samples of
material from hair, bones and herbarium specimens of the target
species.
 SVALBARD GLOBAL SEED VAULT

Svalbard global seed vault is

an underground secure seed
vault on an isolated island in
Norway. Its primary purpose is
to ensure that there is no
absolute floral diversity loss
due to a national or global
crisis. This is especially
important to maintain crop
seeds which are important to
reboot the agricultural industry
after a disaster.

CROPTRUST.ORG
Chang-la Gene bank, Leh

India commissioned its own seed bank

called the Chang-la Gene Banks for long-
term storage of crops germplasm at a
permanently frozen mountain in Leh. It’s
the second seed bank in the world after
Svalbard.

natureasia.com
Problems in Conservation:-

1. Very little understanding of what is to be conserved, especially with

regard to complex natural ecosystems like tropical rain forests.
2. Limited Financial resources to protect and manage ecosystems.
3. Alienation of people from their natural resources bring in resentment
among local people and no protected area.