Final Countdown For IAS Prelims 2014 Day - 10 - Halfmantr

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Final Countdown for IAS Prelims 2014 Day: 10
July 31, 2014 50 Days Countdown No comments
1. Ecology and Environment
1.1 Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a fundamental functional unit of ecological study. An ecosystem is a system ecological system
in which organisms interact with each other and with their environment in a given unit of area of unit time. In
other words an ecosystem is a biotic community together with its physical environment considered as an
integrated unit. Implied within the definition is the concept of a structural and functional unit, unified through life
processes.
An ecosystem is broadly composed of two components:-
1.) Biome All the plants, animal and microorganisms, in fact all the living beings in a given spatial unit. These
are biotic elements.
2.) Habitat They physical environment i.e abiotic elements such as air, water and land.
Both these components are integrated by the continuous flow of energy and matter between them. We can call
Energy as the third component of the ecosystem.
In other words, each organism (including humans) is affected by and interacts with its environment. That
environment is formed from a combination of interactive non living and living elements. When we consider both
forms of elements and their interactions as a single entity, we have an ecosystem at same level of organization.
Ecosystem can be viewed as an open system in which physical, chemical and biological processes form
interactive subsystems. These processes called as biogeochemical cycles operate in such a way that the system is
kept in relatively stable and dynamic equilibrium. The ecosystem has its own productivity also. As seen in the
definition, as ecosystem has both spatial dimension (well defined area) and temporal dimension (viewed in a
given time period). Thus an ecosystem becomes a functional and structural unit of ecology.
About the size of ecosystem or scale dimension, an ecosystem varies from microscopic size to the larges on
comprising whole biosphere. Ecosystems are hierarchical i.e. there are larger ecosystems comprising smaller
ones. So an ecosystem can be a leaf or a branch of tree, the whole tree or a forest including microorganisms,
insects, birds, etc. living there. It can also be a river and its tributary or even the Western Ghats or Himalayan
ecosystem.
Ecosystems are scale dependent, meaning that their properties and characteristics everything we can describe
about them may be different when we look at them at different scales. So practically however we define the
ecosystem, there is always one unit larger than the existing ecosystem. Thus spatial boundaries of ecosystem too
become imaginary or transitional one, as they all are integrated. It is we humans who impose such boundaries for
the convenience of our study and management.
1.2 Ecology
Ecology is the science which studies the inter-relationships between biotic and abiotic components of natural
ecosystem on one hand and among public biotic components on the other. Thus ecology is the study of
interrelationships and various processes between all organisms and their environment as well as among the
organisms themselves.
Ernst Haeckel coined the term Oekology (Greek oikos house or dwelling as habitat, logos study of). The
concept of ecology evolved from Darwins concept of evolution of species through natural selection involving
interaction between biological species and habitat.
Ecology is studied into two branches. First, autecology is the study of ecological relationship of single species in a
given ecosystem. Second, synecology is the study of group of species living together as communities in relation to
their habitats of a given ecosystem. It can be mentioned here that a group of individual organisms of the same
species in a given area is called a population. While a group of population of different species in a given area is
called a community. Based on this we have population ecology and community ecology.
The basic concepts and the focus areas of ecology are as follows:-
1.) Ecosystem as the fundamental unit of ecological study.
2.) All living organisms and physical environment are mutually reactive i.e. they act and react on each other and
among themselves.
3.) There is unidirectional circulation of energy, while the matter is circulated cyclically, through biogeochemical
cycle in such a way that the total mass remains constant.
4.) The homeostatic mechanisms or self-regulatory mechanisms play an important role in keeping natural
ecosystem stable.
5.) If the changes brought about the external factors exceed the resilience of ecosystem then the ecosystem
unstable creating environmental problems.
6.) Ecology studies the evolution of species through natural selection and adaptation as well as mutation and
reproductive isolation.
7.) There is successional development of ecosystems in a given habitat.
8.) The distribution of biodiversity plays an important role in stability and evolution of species.
1.3 Biosphere
Having defined ecology and ecosystem, the next thing is biosphere. In simple words, biosphere is the largest
ecosystem i.e. earth. Alternatively it is the global sum of all ecosystems on the earth. Biosphere is that part of the
earth which contains living organisms the biologically inhabited soil, air and water. So, biosphere is the global
ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of
lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. Biosphere becomes the largest ecosystems because it (the biospheric
ecosystem) consists of biotic component (plants, animals, man, micro-organisms), abiotic component (land, air
and water) and energy component (solar and geothermal energy) and these are on the scale of earth.
The components are inter-related through a series of large cyclic mechanisms, collectively called as
biogeochemical cycle. In biospheric ecosystem there is a continuous exchange of energy and matter. While the
circulation of energy is unidirectional, the materials and circulated called as biogeochemical cycle.
Biosphere when referred as one of the geochemical cycle components along side lithosphere, hydrosphere,
atmosphere, it means reference to the biota i.e. total sum of all living beings. These four spheres are the
components of above mentioned biogeochemical cycle. In such a scenario, the term ecosphere is used as
encompassing of both biological and physical components of the planet.
There are some experiments of creating artificial biosphere involving closed ecosystem which are going on. For
example, Biosphere 2 in USA, BIOS-3 in Russia and Biosphere J in Japan. Thus we can say that biospheres
are any closed, self regulating system containing ecosystems including the artificial ones.
Ecosystem Ecology emphasized the movements of energy and nutrients among the biotic and abiotic
components of ecosystems. It examines physical and biological structures and how these characteristics interact
with each other. A major focus of ecosystem ecology is on functional processes, ecological mechanisms that
maintain the structure and services produced by ecosystems. These include production of biomass,
decomposition and trophic interactions. In short, ecosystem ecology studies the interdependent functional
processes behind food chain and web and how all the components of ecosystem are integrated with each other.
This knowledge is then applied to cases such as increased effects of atmospheric CO2 on coral reefs and fishes
or to understand the effects of increased pesticides application on the pests and birds preying on them.
1.4 Ecosystems
Having done with basic concepts we will return to the ecosystems. As said earlier, ecosystem is a fundamental
functional unit characterized by total assemblage of biotic community and abiotic components and their mutual
interactions in a given space-time unit.
Ecosystems can be classified as following:
1.) On the basis of habitats:
a) Terrestrial Uplands or mountain; Lowland; Warm Desert and Cold Desert.
b) Aquatic Fresh Water; Marine.
2.) On the basis of human intervention:
a) Natural ecosystems e.g. tall grass or Amazon rainforest ecosystem.
b) Artificial or cultivated ecosystems e.g. rice field ecosystem.
1.5 Components of the Ecosystem
1.) Abiotic Components the non living factors such as minerals, soil, air, water, light etc.
2.) Biotic Components the living factors. These include plants, animals, microbes, etc. They live within abiotic
components. They are of two types:-
i) Autotrophs: Those plants which synthesis their food themselves either through photosynthesis (phototrophs)
or chemosynthesis (Chemotrophs). They are the primary producers of ecosystem.
ii) Heterotrophs: These are those organisms which obtain their food by eating plants or other animals or their
products. They are the consumers. They depend upon producers, plants, directly or indirectly. Heterotrophs can
be further divided as follows:
a) Herbivores They obtain their food only from living plants.
b) Carnivores - They obtain their food only from animals
c) Omnivores - They obtain their food from both plants and animals.
d) Detrivores They obtain their nutrients by consuming detritus i.e. decomposing plant and animal parts. The
terms detrivores and decomposers are often used interchangeably. But there is a difference while they both get
nutrition from dead organic matter; they detrivores actually eat organic matter (like earthworms eating their way
through soil) and decomposers secrete enzymes to digest the organic matter and then absorb the resulting
molecules like bacteria or fungi do.
1.6 Functioning of an Ecosystem
An ecosystem is driven by the flow of energy and circulation of matter by biogeochemical cycle between the
biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. The solar radiation is the basic input of energy entering the
ecosystem. In the living organisms or biosphere, the energy (chemical energy) and matter (food), collectively
called as food energy, are transferred via food chain and food web through various trophic levels. Thus all the
elements of an ecosystem are interdependent are integrated. An ecosystem itself is integrated with other
ecosystems and thus they all become interdependent. In fact every ecosystem is part of the large ecosystem, until
the large ecosystem of the earth the biosphere is formed. That is why we see climatic changes happening in
one ecosystem affecting the other ecosystems.
1.7 Productivity of Ecosystem
Only a small fraction of sunlight striking the earth is converted to chemical energy by primary producers. The rate
of conversion of solar energy into chemical energy (organic matter) by autotrophs is called productivity of
ecosystem. The productivity of ecosystem depends on two things:-
i) The availability of solar radiation to autotrophic primary producers. The productivity of ecosystems goes on
decreasing from equator to poles. Therefore, plants in tropical areas will have higher productivity than plants in
temperate or tundra region.
ii) The efficiency of plants to convert solar energy into food or chemical energy which is also called as primary
production. It is measured in two ways:
a) Gross Primary Productivity which is total amount of chemical energy assimilated by the autotrophs from
solar energy.
b) Net Primary Productivity is equal to Gross Primary Productivity minus the energy lost through respiration.
The respiration means energy required to keep the metabolism of an organism going on. So highly mobile
organisms as well as higher life forms such as mammals have higher respiratory rate. Complex plants such as
those in tropical rainforests have higher respiratory rate than simple plants like algae or grasslands. Net primary
productivity represents the usable amount of energy at the first trophic level, which is made available to higher
trophic levels.
iii) Other than sunlight, the efficiency of the plants is also limited to nutrient availability. Generally the limiting
nutrients are nitrogen or phosphorus but most often water and temperature, together limit the productivity of an
ecosystem. For example, the polar regions having less sunlight and desert regions having less water have lower
productivity. Besides these there are biological factors like mutualism, parasitism, predation, etc which increase
the productivity of an ecosystem.
Secondary Productivity: The rate at which ecosystems consumers convert the chemical energy of the food
they eat into their own new biomass is called the secondary productivity.
Energy Efficiency: The concept of primary and secondary productivity gives the idea of energy efficiency. Not
all the energy produced at one trophic level is available for transfer to next trophic level (as stored food energy)
but majority is lost in respiration.
Energy efficiency or trophic efficiency refers to the energy transferred to the next level. Tropic efficiencies
generally range from 5 to 20% e.g. plants transfer around 7 10% of total energy produced by them to the
herbivores. Herbivores being mobile, have higher metabolic respiration. As a result relative loss of energy
increases at successively higher trophic levels.
A common way of illustrating ecological efficiency is via pyramids of productivity. There are a few other terms.
Biomass refers to the quantity or weight of living matter per unit area per unit time. it is represented in terms of
dry weight. Biomass is comprised of plants and animals and therefore it is referred to as plant biomass or animal
biomass.
Total plant biomass including above ground and subsurface plants is called standing crop.
On this basis, the productivity or ecosystem refers to the rate of increase of biomass whereas production is the
amount of biomass of given unit area at a given time. Mean net primary productivity for the whole earth is 320
dry gram/m2/year. Also the productivity of continental ecosystems is higher than that of marine ecosystems.
1.8 Food Chain and Food Web
The formation and transfer of food energy in the ecosystem takes place from one level to the next in a
hierarchical manner. The levels through which food energy passes from one group of organisms to the other
group are called tropic levels.
The chain of transformation and transfer of food energy in the ecosystem from one group of organism to the
group through a series of steps or levels (trophic levels) is called food chain.
In other words, the chain of transfer of food energy from one group of organisms to the other group in the
biosphere (ecosystem) is called food chain and the point where food energy is transferred from one group of
organisms to the other group is called trophic level.
On an average there are four trophic levels but they can vary from 2, 3 to even 5, 6 etc depending on the length
of food chain or size and scale of ecosystem we take into account.
Trophic Level 1: This is the base of food chain were autotrophic primary producers like green plants produce
food from nutrients, CO2 and water by the process of photosynthesis. Sunlight is the primary source of energy
entering the ecosystem.
Thus green plants transform solar energy into food energy or chemical energy, which is stored by green plants to
develop their tissue. Some portion of this energy is lost through respiration, while some other portion is
transferred from trophic level one to next trophic levels when herbivores or omnivores eat the plants.
Trophic Level 2: It includes herbivores. These constitute primary consumers. They do not produce food on
their own but depend on autotrophs for food e.g. grazers like goat, rabbit, etc.
Trophic Level 3: The animal which depend on herbivore animals for food are included in trophic level 3.
They are called carnivores as well as secondary consumers.
Trophical Level 4: The animal which derive their food from all the three lower trophic levels are included in
Trophic level 4 e.g. Man. These animals are called as omnivores. Decomposers too derive their energy from all
the trophic levels.
Thus food chain is the sequence of energy transfer from one trophic level to the next one. A food chain may be
linear e.g. crops food grains mouse snake hawk.
A food chain may also be complex involving many interconnected and overlapping food chains. This happens
when greater number of species feed on many kinds of prey. Such complicated food chain is called a food web.
For example, plants produce grains which are eaten by mouse. Mouse is eaten by snakes, cats, mongoose.
Mongoose itself eats snakes. Similarly insects feeding on animals blood are eaten by frogs while frogs
themselves are eaten by snakes and mongoose. The prey birds like hawk, eagles and vultures too are dependent
on population of these small animals. On the other hand grass and plants are eaten by goats which are eaten by
wolves, leopards and tigers and man. Plants in turn are dependent on birds, butterflies, squirrel, man etc for seed
dispersal. Thus in a food web large number of organisms are dependent on a multitude of organisms for their
survival. If population of any one of the species is increased or decreased with respect to carrying capacity of the
region, then survival of the whole food chain is risked. When an ecosystem has large number of species and prey
base, it becomes resilient to changes in population of a particular species, as alternative food is also available. A
complex food chain is an indicator of large and well developed biodiversity.
1.9 Ecological Pyramid
This concept is often associated with description of food chains and food web. An ecological pyramid is an
illustration of the reduction in energy as we move through each feeding (trophic) level in the ecosystem. The base
of the pyramid is large since ecosystems energy factories (the plant producers) are converting solar energy into
chemical energy through photosynthesis. A food chain can also depict a reduction in energy at each tropic level if
the arrows drawn at different levels, continue to be reduced in size.
Ecological pyramid can be represented in three ways:
1.) Pyramid of numbers:- It can be generated by counting all the organisms at different feeding levels. This is
difficult task as we are not just identifying each species in the ecosystem but also counting how many of each
species are present.
Sometimes this may not work. For example, one tree (a producer) can represent an ecosystem and harbor
numerous population of herbivores and carnivores. Thus, the bottom of pyramid would be very small and not
broad.
2.) Pyramid of Biomass: This is generated when organisms from each trophic level are collected, dried and
then weighted. This dry weight (biomass) represents the amount of organic matter (available energy) of the
organisms. Please note that there are alternate, non lethal ways to determine biomass. While using this approach
can generate a pyramid that illustrates energy flows but its use can also generate an inverted pyramid. For
example, in aquatic ecosystems, phytoplankton could reproduce and then be eaten by rapidly reproducing
zooplankton. Therefore, it would be possible to have few herbivores and a lot of carnivores when a collection is
taken.
3.) Pyramid of Energy Flow: This pyramid tands to resolves the above mentioned problems. This approach
necessitates measuring the caloric value of the different organisms that make up the community. It nicely shows
how energy is continually decreasing along the food chain from producers to top level carnivores.
In summer there are three models used in ecology food chains, food webs, and ecological pyramids that can
illustrate how energy moves through an ecosystem.
Energy Flow: Solar radiation is the basic input of energy which enters the ecosystem. This solar energy passes
step through each trophic level and ultimately becomes output from ecosystem as energy lost through respiration
from each trophic level.
Biosynthesis is the process of the formation of organic tissue which represent the transformation of solar energy
into chemical or food energy.
Biodegradation is the process of breakdown decomposition of organic matter and thus this process refers to
release of nutrients and food (chemical) energy it the form of heat. The energy flow in the ecosystem is
unidirectional and is non-cyclic i.e. not available for reuse.
1.10 Biogeochemical Cycles
One of the important manifestations of disturbances in the biogeochemical cycles is climatic extremes, recovery
of ecosystems after extreme events or the climate change induced global warming itself. This gives the idea of
importance of biogeochemical cycles. The circulation of matter (nutrients) in the biospheric ecosystem is
accomplished in a series of cyclic pathways which are collectively known as biogeochemical cycle. A
biogeochemical cycle is the cycling of chemical elements through the earths atmosphere, oceans and sediments
as it is affected by the geological and biological cycles. It can be described as a series of compartments of
storage reservoirs and pathways between these reservoirs. Biogeochemical cycles can be studied as cycles of
individual elements such as Carbon cycles, Hydrogen or water cycle, nitrogen cycle etc. or broadly as
Hydrological cycle, mineral cycle, etc.
1.11 Ecological Stability
Ecosystem or ecological refers to the capability of a natural ecosystem to apply self-regulating mechanisms so as
to return to a steady state after an outside disturbance. Ecosystem stability means there is a balance between
production and consumption of each element in the ecosystem. The number of each species in a mature
ecosystem generally remains constant.
Ecological stability implies diversity of species. A mature ecological system or an ecosystem has enough capacity
to withstand changes brought by external factors and even if such changes are brought in, then ecosystem returns
to its normal state of dynamic equilibrium through self regulatory mechanisms.
The self regulatory mechanisms are also called homeostatic mechanisms. These are mainly negative and positive
feedback mechanisms. For example, if the population of insects in a small ecosystem area increase greatly due to
favorable climate, then food supply falls short of demand due to increased competition. Eventually some insects
die of starvation and slowly the ecosystem returns to its original size.
Negative feedback occurs when the result of a process influences the operation of the process in such a way
as to reduce changes. Negative feedback tends to make a system self-regulating. It can act as a stabilizing force
and reduce the effect of fluctuations. Negative feedback loops were just the right amount of correction is applied
in most timely manner can be very stable, accurate and responsive. Negative feedback controls the rate of a
process to avoid accumulation of the product. Negative feedback controls the rate of a process to avoid
accumulation of the product. Negative feedback is widely observed in biogeochemical processes of nature as
well as in economics and social behavior. In contrast, positive feedback is a feedback in which the system
responds so as to increase the magnitude of any particular perturbation, resulting in the amplification of the
original signal instead of stabilization. Any system where there is positive feedback together with gain greater than
one will result in an out of control, runaway situation. Both positive and negative feedbacks require a feedback
loop to operate. The relative stability is achieved in a system either directions. It must be noted that in nature
biogeochemical processes achieve equilibrium, either transiently or hypothetically. They are at the most in a near
equilibrium state. This self regulatory process is often referred to as homeostasis in biological sciences.
Some of the important characteristics of a stable ecosystem are-
a) They are in dynamic equilibrium
b) These are mature ecosystem i.e. they have attained the stage of climax community.
c) These ecosystems have high inertia i.e. resistance to change.
d) Stable ecosystems have high resilience i.e. ability of ecosystem to return to normal state after a disturbance or
the ability to recover from change.
e) Sometimes ecosystem attain stability by succession i.e. replacement of one species by another species.
f) These ecosystems have high species diversity.
g) As a result they have diversity of food web. This increase the resilience of the system to outside invasion of
exotic organisms and reduces the fluctuations in the population within a given ecosystem.
1.12 Ecosystem Instability
Ecosystem instability refers to that state when an ecosystem is unable to adjust with environmental changes. This
happens when the changes the continuous and enormous and these changes exceed the resilience or capacity of
the ecosystem. The factors responsible for ecosystem stability or instability are always viewed in terms of
ecosystem resilience. If the environmental changes exceed the ecosystem resilience, ecosystem instability is
caused by when ecosystem is such that if can withstand environmental changes, ecosystem stability is maintained.
The ecosystem instability can occur due to natural factors such as massive volcanic eruption or climatic changes
like ice age. Ecosystem instability is also induced due to manmade activities. For example,
1.) Destruction of Himalayan ecosystem due to deforestation, overgrazing etc. leading to increased weathering
and erosion of soil.
2.) Replacement of natural vegetation and animal species by cultivation or urban land use.
3.) Introduction of exotic plant species such as water hyacinth.
4.) Changing the proportion of atmospheric gases, etc.
1.13 Ecological Niche
Ecological niche refers to the functional role and position of a species in relation to other species in the given
ecosystem. In a natural ecosystem, several species of plant and animal communities perform different roles in
getting food and thus each community is confined to certain locality having certain functions. Such locality having
ideal environmental conditions for the survival of a species is called niche. The species of given niche may not
survive in other niches. The ecosystem stability depends upon diversity of a niche. Greater the niche diversity,
greater the stability ecosystem. The ecosystem becomes unstable if one or more species are eliminated because
then niche becomes empty and other species which were dependent on the eliminated species for food, now
become vulnerable to elimination.
1.14 Biotic Succession / Ecological Succession
The progressive replacement of one vegetation community in a given habitat the other is called ecological
succession. Succession implies sequential replacement one plant community or the ecosystem by the other. A
plant community is group plants which are already adapted to a given habitat. In other words ecological
succession is an evolutionary sequence of development of ecological community or ecosystem. The biotic
succession continues through different called as sere, until a mature and equilibrium community called as climax
community is formed.
Features of ecological succession
1.) It has a particular direction.
2.) It results from modification of physical environment by the community. Thus it is community controlled even
though the environment sets the pattern and rate of change and often sets the limits as to how far development
can go.
3.) It ends in a stabilized ecosystem in which maximum biomass and symbiotic function between organisms are
maintained per unit of available energy flow.
4.) With succession following changes occur
Diversity of species increase
Complex food chains develop
Biomass increases
Energy flow increases
New habitat niche are created
The climax or stable community controls or becomes buffer against physical forces like temperature,
moisture, wind, light, etc.
The first organisms to become established in an ecosystem undergoing succession are known as pioneers. The
stable community that is formed at the end of succession is called as climax community. The intermediate stages
such as grassland, scrub, shrubs are called sere.
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