ECOSYSTEM

An ecosystem is formed by the

interactions between all living and
non-living things

What is an ecosystem?
Ecosystem is a system of living
things that interact with each
other and with the physical world.
A Biome is a collection of related
ecosystems.

What is Ecology?
Ecology is the study of
relationships between living
things and between living
things and their environment.

Ecosystems:
Fundamental Characteristics
Structure:
Living (biotic)
Nonliving (abiotic)

Process:
Energy flow
Cycling of matter

BIOTIC components
Living things (plants, animals, bacteria)
Producers ( Plants)
Consumers (Animals)
Decomposers ( Micro-organisms)

Abiotic Components
Abiotoic Factors include
Non living things (air, water, soil, climate
)

How does an ecosystem work ?

Plants use sunlight, water and nutrients
from the soil to produce their own food
(producers)
The animals feed on the plants, or each
other (consumer)
Fungi and Bacteria feed on dead waste
material and make things break down and
rot. (decomposers)

Autotrophs/Producers
A groups of organisms that can use the energy
in sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide
into Glucose (food)
Autotrophs are also called Producers because
they produce all of the food that heterotrophs
use
Without autotrophs, there would be no life on
this planet
Ex. Plants and Algae

Autotrophs/Producers

Heterotrophs/Consumers
Organisms that do not make their own food
Another term for Heterotroph is consumer
because they consume other organisms in order
to live
Ex. Rabbits, Deer, Mushrooms

TYPES OF CONSUMERS

Primary Consumers eat autotrophs (producers)

Secondary Consumers eat the primary consumers
Tertiary Consumers eat the secondary consumers
Decomposers bacteria and fungi that break down
dead organisms and recycle the material back into
the environment

Heterotrophs/Consumers
Primary Consumers
1. Herbivores eat ONLY plants
Ex. Cows, Elephants, Giraffes

Heterotrophs
Secondary Consumers
2. Carnivores eat ONLY meat
Ex. Lions, Tigers, Sharks

Heterotrophs
Tertiary Consumers
3. Omnivores Eat BOTH plants and animals
Ex. Bears and Humans

Heterotrophs
Consumers
4. Decomposers absorb any dead material and
break it down into simple nutrients or fertilizers
Ex. Bacteria and Mushrooms

FUNCTION OF AN
ECOSYSTEM

Energy & Material flow

Food chains
Food webs
Food pyramids

FLOW OF ENERGY IN AN
ECOSYSTEM

Transfer of Energy
When a zebra eats the grass, it does not obtain
all of the energy the grass has (much of it is not
eaten)
When a lion eats a zebra, it does not get all of
the energy from the zebra (much of it is lost as
heat)

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.

Trophiclevel:Alltheorganismsthat
arethesamenumberoffoodchainsteps
fromtheprimarysourceofenergy

Modifiedfrom:GeneralEcology,byDavidT.Krome

ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
Progressive replacement of one
community by another till the development
of stable community
TYPES
Primary
Secondary

Food Chains
The energy flow from one trophic level to the
other is know as a food chain

Example of a Food Chain

Food Webs

The interlocking pattern of various food chains in an ecosystem.

Food web of a hot spring

2003 John Wiley and Sons Publishers

Marine Food Webs

ECOLOGICAL PYRAMID
Graphical representation of structure &
function of tropic levels of an ecosystem

TYPES
Pyramid of numbers
Pyramid of energy
Pyramid of biomass

Trophic Levels Found on an

Energy Pyramid
The greatest amount of energy is found at the base of
the pyramid.
The least amount of energy is found at top of the
pyramid.

Pyramid of numbers
Number of individuals per species

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. (There are more plants on
Earth than there are animals.)
Bio=life
Mass=weight
Bio + Mass = Weight of living things within an
ecosystem.

Pyramid of Biomass

Express tropic structure as energy transfer

Energy pyramids can never be inverted