Ecosystems

Introduction:

The High Peaks Wilderness Area in the Adirondack Park is an example of a diverse ecosystem.

An ecosystem can be defined as 'a structural and functional unit of biosphere or

segment of nature consisting of community of living beings and the physical
environment, both interacting and exchanging materials between them'.

Ecosystems are dynamic entities composed of the biological community and the
abiotic environment. An ecosystem's abiotic and biotic composition and structure is
determined by the state of a number of interrelated environmental factors. Changes in
any of these factors will result in dynamic changes to the nature of these systems. For
example, a fire in the temperate deciduous forest completely changes the structure of
that system. There are no longer any large trees, most of the mosses, herbs, and shrubs
that occupy the forest floor are gone, and the nutrients that were stored in the biomass
are quickly released into the soil, atmosphere and hydrologic system. After a short
time of recovery, the community that was once large mature trees now becomes a
community of grasses, herbaceous species, and tree seedlings.

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Ecology deals with several levels of biological organization, including organisms,

populations, communities, ecosystems, biomes and the biosphere.

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The simplest level of organization in Ecosystem is that of the organism. An

organism refers to a particular organism in an ecosystem, say cat, dog etc. A
population includes all the members of the same organism that live in one place at one
time. All the different populations that live in a particular area make up a community.
The physical location of a Community is called the habitat. Ecosystem is in turn a
level of organization and has one higher level of organization called biosphere. The
photograph on the next page derived from a foreign ecology book would clearly
illustrate the various levels of organization.

The diversity of an ecosystem is a measure of the number of different species

there, and how common each species is. Ecosystems are very complex. They can
contain hundreds or even thousands of interacting species. Each organism or species in
the community has a role or profession in that community and in ecology this is the
organism’s niche.

Classification of Ecosystem:
An ecosystem can be classified as below

ECOSYSTEM

NATURAL ECOSYSTEM ARTIFICIAL ECOSYSTEM

TERRESTRIAL AQUATIC
ECOSYSTEM ECOSYSTEM
Forests Fresh Waters
Grasslands Marine Waters
Deserts

There are further classifications in the above chart, but for a beginner level, it is
enough to concentrate on these areas. Also the study of artificial ecosystem is not the
scope of an environmental scientist. The environmentalists deal with natural creations
and management only. Moreover the system in artificial ecosystem does not offer
much to study. Therefore we are more interested in natural ecosystem and don’t
consider artificial ecosystem
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Approach to Ecosystem:
With an ecosystem comprising of large number of species, it would seem and
is impractical to study the interaction of each organism with another, it is impossible
to approach an ecosystem by studying the individual organism – environment
relationship. Therefore we study an ecosystem following a wholesome approach.

We study the ecosystems by studying the two aspects (attributes) of an

ecosystem. They are

 Structure or Architectural Process

 Function or Working Process

Both processes help to understand the concept of ecosystem in simplified

manner.

The architectural process classifies ecosystem into biotic and abiotic components
while the working process help to understand the interaction of ecosystem
components at different levels. Let us understand more about these approaches to
understand Ecosystem.

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STRUCTURE OF AN ECOSYSTEM

By Architecture or Structure of an Ecosystem, we mean

 The composition of biological community including species, numbers,

biomass, life history and distribution in space, etc.

 The quantity and distribution of non living materials like nutrients, water etc.

 The conditions of existence such as temperature, light etc.

An ecosystem possesses both living components and biotic factors and

nonliving or abiotic factors.

The nonliving factors, called abiotic factors, are physical and chemical
characteristics of the environment. They include solar energy (amount of sun light),
oxygen, CO2, water, temperature, humidity, ph, and availability of nitrogen.

The living components of the environment are called Biotic Factors. They
include all the Living Things that affect an organism. Biotic Components are often
categorized as Producers, Consumers, and Decomposer.

The structure of an ecosystem can be represented as below:

ECOSYSTEM

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS BIOTIC COMPONENTS

CLIMATIC EDAPHIC
FACTORS FACTORS
PRODUCERS CONSUMERS DECOMPOSERS
E.g. Rain E.g. Soil
Light Minerals also known as also known as better known as
Wind Oxygen autotrophs, heterotrophs, reducers or
Temp. Topography they produce they consume saptrotrophs
energy and transfer recycle energy
energy

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FUNCTION OF AN ECOSYSTEM

The function of an ecosystem is a broad, vast and often confused topic. The
function of an ecosystem can be best studied by understanding the history of
ecological studies. The function of an ecosystem can be studied under the three heads.
1. Trophic Level Interaction
2. Ecological Succession
3. Biogeochemistry
Trophic Level Interaction deals with how the members of an ecosystem are
connected based on nutritional needs. Ecological Succession deals with the changes in
features/members of an ecosystem over a period of time. Biogeochemistry is focused
upon the cycling of essential materials in an ecosystem.
Trophic Level Interaction was developed by zoologist Charles Elton. It deals
with who eats who and is eaten by whom in an ecosystem. The study of trophic level
interaction in an ecosystem gives us an idea about the energy flow through the
ecosystem.
The trophic level interaction involves three concepts namely
1. Food Chain
2. Food Web
3. Ecological Pyramids

Food Chain:
In an ecosystem one can observe the transfer or flow of energy from one trophic
level to other in succession. A trophic level can be defined as the number of links by
which it is separated from the producer, or as the position of the organism in the food
chain. The patterns of eating and being eaten forms a linear chain called food chain
which can always be traced back to the producers. Thus, primary producers trap
radiant energy of sun and transfer that to chemical or potential energy of organic
compounds such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

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A food chain always begins with the producer and follows the flow of energy through several
levels of consumers. The first order consumers are herbivores who consume producers.
The second order consumer feed on the first order consumers, etc.

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When an herbivore animal eats a plant (or when bacteria decompose it) and these
organic compounds are oxidized, the energy liberated is just equal to the amount of
energy used in synthesizing the substances (first law of thermodynamics), but some of
the energy is heat and not useful energy (second law of thermodynamics). If this
animal, in rum, is eaten by another one, along with transfer of energy from a herbivore
to carnivore a further decrease in useful energy occurs as the second animal
(carnivore) oxidizes the organic substances of the first (herbivore or omnivore) to
liberate energy to synthesize its own cellular constituents. Such transfer of energy
from organism to organism sustains the ecosystem and when energy is transferred
from individual to individual in a particular community, as in a pond or a lake or a
river, we come across the food chains. The number of steps in a food chain is always
restricted to four or five, since the energy available decreases with each step. Many
direct or indirect methods are employed to study food chain relationships in nature.
They include gut content analysis, use of radioactive isotopes, precipitin test, etc.
In nature, basically two types of food chains arc recognized — grazing food
chain and detritus food chain.
Grazing food chain: This type of food chain starts from the living green plants
goes to grazing herbivores and on to the carnivores. Ecosystems with such type of
food chain are directly dependent on an influx of solar radiation. Most of the
ecosystems in nature follow this type of food chain.
Detritus food chain: The organic wastes, exudates and dead matter derived from
the grazing food chain are generally termed detritus. The energy contained in this
detritus in not lost to the ecosystem as a whole; rather it serves as the source of energy
for a group of organisms (Detritivores) that are separate from the grazing food chain,
and generally termed as the detritus food chain
Significance of food chain: The food chain studies/help under stand the feeding
relationships and the interaction between organisms in any ecosystem. They also help
us to appreciate the energy flow mechanism and matter circulation in eco- system, and
understand the movement of toxic substances in the eco-system and the problem of
biological magnification

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Food Web:

In nature simple food chains occur rarely the same organism may operate in the
ecosystem at more than one trophic level i.e it may derive its food from more than one
source. Even the same organism may be eaten by several organisms of a higher trophic
level or an organism may feed upon several different organisms of a lower trophic
level. Usually the kind of food changes with the age of the organism and the food
availability. Thus in a given ecosystem various food chains are linked together and
interested each other to form a complex network called food Web. Generally food
webs are not too complex. Expect in insect communities, omnivores are scare and
when they occur they usually feed on species in adjacent trophic levels. Within
habitats, food webs arc rarely broken up into discrete compartments. The number of
species of predators in a food web typically exceeds the number of species of prey by
an average of 1.3 predator species per prey species.

A more complex food web. Notice that all organisms have arrows connecting to the decomposers.
Ecological Pyramids:
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Another model, of energy flow through an ecosystem is the trophic pyramid.

The purpose of a trophic pyramid is to graphically represent the distribution of
biomass or energy among the different trophic levels of the ecosystem. A trophic level
is the position of an organism in an ecosystem (producer, first order consumer, etc). A
pyramid is used as the model because it shows the decrease in energy available as you
go through a food web. The availability of energy decreases as you travel up the
pyramid because only 10% of energy absorbed becomes stored energy (available to
transfer). The other 90% of energy is mostly lost as heat from metabolic processes and
maintenance of daily life functions.

A typical trophic pyramid showing the decrease in energy available as move

from one level to the next.

In the successive steps of food chain the number and mass of the organisms in
each step is limited by the amount of energy available. Since some energy is lost as
heat, in each transformation the steps become progressively smaller near the top. This
relationship is sometimes called ecological pyramid. The ecological pyramids
represent the trophic structure and also trophic function of the ecosystem. In many
ecological pyramids, the producer form the base and the successive trophic levels
make up the apex.

Energy Flow in the Ecosystem:

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Energy flows through an ecosystem and is ultimately lost to the environment.

Matter, on the other hand, is recycled. Matter is finite. If matter was not cycled
through the ecosystem, the supply would have been exhausted a long time ago. A
simple matter cycle consists of an exchange of matter between living and non-living
components of an ecosystem. Organisms incorporate various elements (compounds)
from the environment into their bodies. When these organisms die, their bodies are
broken down by decomposers and the compounds are released into the environment.

Water Cycle:

The Water Cycle

The water cycle, also called the hydrologic cycle, follows the continuous path of
water. Water enters the vapor phase through evaporation and transpiration (the release
of water vapor from plants and animals). The sun is the main source of energy that
allows the water to undergo a phase change. The water vapor raises, cools, and
condenses forming clouds. The water droplets become heavier and eventually fall as
precipitation. A small portion of the precipitation will be taken up by the plants and
animals more will infiltrate the soil, entering the water table, with the largest portion
of the precipitation forming runoff on the surface of the land to drain into streams,
rivers, lakes, and ultimately the ocean. The hydrologic cycle is a continuous process
that recycles all the water on the planet.

Carbon Cycle:

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The Carbon Cycle

Carbon dioxide makes up only 0.03% of the atmosphere but is the major source
of carbon for additional biomass. Carbon dioxide is converted to organic carbon by
photosynthesis in green plants. Organic carbon is then available to travel through the
food web to eventually be released back to the atmosphere by cellular respiration and
decomposition. Fossil Fuels are another link in the carbon cycle. Organic carbon has
been trapped underground for millions of years in the form of coal, oil, and natural
gas. This carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide, is released back to the atmosphere by
the burning of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide that is dissolved in the ocean can be absorb
by animals and temporarily trapped in their skeletons and shells. It should be noted
that humans are altering the carbon cycle with the increased use of fossil fuels.

Nitrogen Cycle:

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The Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen comprises approximately 80% of the atmosphere but is not accessible

to most life forms. It must be “fixed” before it can be absorbed. Nitrogen-fixing
bacteria are responsible for converting atmospheric nitrogen into its ionic form,
ammonium. Ammonium is converted to nitrites and nitrates. Plants can access this
nitrate. However, animals must get their nitrogen from the food that they eat. Thus,
nitrogen flows through the food web much like carbon. Nitrogen is returned back to
the atmosphere through decomposers and then denitrifying bacteria.

Oxygen Cycle:

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The Oxygen Cycle

The oxygen cycle is very similar to the carbon cycle, but in reverse. Oxygen
comprises approximately 20% of the atmosphere. Oxygen is removed from the
atmosphere through cellular respiration and returned to the atmosphere by
photosynthesis. Large amounts of oxygen are dissolved in large bodies of water.

Ecological Imbalance - Imperiling the Ecosystem:

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Industrialization exploiting Ecological Balance

With the increased industrialization and scientific approach to our life, the
natural resources and rich natural heritage which were being preserved for centuries
have begun dwindling greatly. Any kind of imbalance in nature results into severe
danger to our ecosystem.

Its treatment with nature has posed today many serious challenges and problems
like climate change, vector-borne disease, decay in wildlife and its resources and food
and water shortage. Exploitation of natural resources prevalent all over the world has
erupted into severe ecological degradation, which is definitely the biggest threat to
proper functioning of our ecosystem.

Biodiversity & Ecosystem Conservation:

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Biodiversity and Ecosystem

Biodiversity and ecosystems sustain each other. They are the living natural
capital on which human beings, as one species among others, depend for existence and
well-being. Biodiversity and ecosystems are the natural basis for the development of
sustainable resource uses, including forestry, farms, renewable energy, urban land use,
fisheries and other coastal & marine uses.

Proactive programs to conserve biodiversity include research and management

for wild populations and habitats, protected areas, large ecosystems such as Great
Lakes, grasslands, forests, wetlands, deserts, major rivers and estuaries, oceans, and
more sustainable resource practices. They also include planning, monitoring and
enforcement related to land, sea and resource uses, environmental assessment,
pollution and species at risk.

The need for conservation action is urgent, nationally and globally. The last two
centuries have seen increasing rates of depletion of natural capital, with resulting
changes increasingly evident even at global levels, such as climate change, large
ecosystem fragmentation and degradation, and species extinctions. There is now a
higher level of multilateral and national fora and talk for conservation, but the
negative momentum is as yet only barely affected.

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