Environment and Ecosystem

The environment is derived from the French word Environ, which means to encircle
Environment can be defined as a sum total of all the living and non-living elements and their
effects that influence human life. In simple words, we can say that everything that surrounds
us is called the environment
Ecology is “The study of the relation of organisms or groups of organisms to their
environment” or “The science of the interrelations between living organisms and their
environment.”

Ernst Haeckel, a German Zoologist, coined this term in 1866 to describe the “economies” of
living forms.

Environmental Science It is an interdisciplinary field that relates physical, biological and

information sciences (including ecology, physics, chemistry, biology, etc.) to the study of the
environment and the solution of environmental problems.

Environmental engineering: It is a branch of engineering concerned with the application of

engineering principles for the protection of human populations from the effects of adverse
environmental factors, protection of the environment from the dangerous effects of natural and
human activities and improvement of environmental quality.

Environmental management: It refers to the management of an organization’s environmental

programs in a systematic and planned manner. It includes the organizational structure, planning
and resources for developing, implementing and maintaining policy for environmental
protection. It serves as a tool to improve environmental performance.
An Ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well
as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life.
Ecosystems contain biotic or living, parts, as well as abiotic factors, or nonliving parts. Biotic
factors include plants, animals, and other organisms. Abiotic factors
include rocks, temperature, and humidity. Sir Arthur George Tansley, an English Botanist
coined this term ecosystem in 1935.

Figure 1 Biological Cycling of Materials in an Ecosystem

 Functionally, human activities that disturb the natural environment can also be
divided into three similar components (Figure 2).
An ecosystem relies on its decomposers for the complete recycling of its elements, while the
anthroposystem lacks such efficient decomposers and recyclers. As such, manufactured
materials that are no longer needed and waste by-products of industrial activities are largely
disposed into the physical environment.

Figure 2 Human Activities that Disturb the Natural Environment

STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF AN ECOSYSTEM

The structure of an ecosystem is the description of the organisms and physical features of the
environment including the amount and distribution of nutrients in the ecosystem.
From the structure point of view, all ecosystems consist of the following basic components:

A. Abiotic Components
Abiotic components of an ecosystem include basic inorganic elements and compounds, such
as soil, water, oxygen, calcium carbonates, phosphates and a variety of organic compounds.
B. Biotic Components
The biotic components include all living organisms present in the environmental system
which can be further classified into the following three types.
1. Producers (Autotrophic components)
2. Consumers
3. Decomposers
The function of all ecosystems is based on the following operations.
1. Reception of radiant energy of sun and manufacture of organic materials from
inorganic ones by producers.
2. Consumption of producers by consumers and further elaboration of consumed
materials.

Figure 3 Movement of Chemicals and Materials through a Natural Ecosystem

ANTHROPOSYSTEM
Anthroposystem is used to describe the anthropological analogue to the ecosystem. In other words, the
anthroposystem model serves to compare the flow of materials through human systems to those in
naturally occurring systems. As defined by Santos, an anthroposystem is "the orderly combination or
arrangement of physical and biological environments for the purpose of maintaining human
civilization” ...built by man to sustain his kind. This term was coined by Robert Ayres in 1994.
Both the anthroposystem and ecosystem can be divided into three groups: producers,
consumers, and recyclers. In the ecosystem, the producers or autotrophs consist of plants and some
bacteria capable of producing their own food via photosynthesis or chemical synthesis, the consumers
consist of animals that obtain energy from grazing and/or by feeding on other animals and the recyclers
consist of decomposers such as fungi and bacteria.
In the anthroposystem, the producers consist of the energy production through fossil fuels,
manufacturing with non-fuel minerals and growing food; the consumers consist of humans and
domestic animals and the recyclers consist of the decomposing or recycling activities (i.e. wastewater
treatment, metal and solid waste recycling).
The ecosystem is sustainable whereas the anthroposystem is not. The ecosystem is a closed loop in
which nearly everything is recycled whereas the anthroposystem is an open loop where very little is
recycled. In contrast to the ecosystem, the anthroposystem's producers and consumers are significantly
more spatially displaced than those in the ecosystem and thus, more energy is required to transfer the
matter to a producer or recycler. Currently, a large majority of this energy comes from non-renewable
fossil fuels.
Additionally, recycling is a naturally occurring component of the ecosystem and is responsible for
much of the resources used by the system. Under the anthroposystem model, however, recycling
does not naturally occur. Outside input is relied on for material and energy supplies, and recycling
systems that do exist are artificially created. The process of improving the flow of energy, such that
waste can be reused as input resources, is known as industrial ecology.
When viewing the Earth as one large anthroposystem, we are essentially eliminating the uncertainty
in material flow. All goods (i.e. fossil fuels) will still exist in the system but in a new form (i.e.
pollutants). Therefore, the Laws of Conservation of Matter and Conservation of Energy can be
applied to analyze how the material flow will impact the environment

Figure 4 Movement of Chemical Materials through a System Resulting from Human Activities (Anthroposystem)

TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS
A. Natural Ecosystems: Self-operating under natural conditions; no interference by man
a. Terrestrial ecosystems
e.g. forests, grassland
b. Aquatic ecosystems
e.g. Running water e.g. river, stream, spring etc.
Standing water e. g., lake, pond, well swamp etc.
B. Artificial Ecosystems
Managed and maintained by man.
E.g. cropland
TROPHIC STRUCTURE

The structure and functions of ecosystems are very closely related and influence each other so
intimately that they need to be studied together. The flow of energy is mediated through a
series of feeding relationships in a definite sequence or pattern which is known as the food
chain. Nutrients too move along the food chain. The producers and consumers are arranged in
the ecosystem in a definite manner and their interaction along with population size are
expressed together as a trophic structure.
 Figure 5 Grassland and Pond ecosystem

FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS

a. Food Chain:
The transfer of food energy from the producers (plants) through a series of organisms (herbivores,
carnivores) successively with the repeated activity of eating and being eaten is known as the food
chain.
or in easy words
“The sequence of eating and being eaten in an ecosystem is known as the food chain.”
All organisms, living or dead, are potential food for some other organism and thus, there is essentially
no waste in the functioning of a natural ecosystem. A caterpillar eats a plant leaf, a sparrow eats the
caterpillar, a cat or a hawk eats the sparrow and when they all die, they are all consumed by
microorganisms like bacteria or fungi (decomposers) which break down the organic matter and convert
it into simple inorganic substances that can again be used by the plants: the primary producers.
Examples: grass- grasshopper- frog- snake- hawk, grass- goat- lion, plant leaf- caterpillar- sparrow-
hawk
Each organism in the ecosystem is assigned a feeding level or trophic level depending on its nutritional
status. Thus, in the grassland food chain, grasshopper occupies the Ist trophic level, frog the IInd and
snake and hawk occupy the IIIrd and the IVth trophic levels, respectively. The decomposers consume
the dead matter of all these trophic levels. In nature, we come across two major types of food chains:

I. Grazing food chain: It starts with green plants (primary producers) and culminates in
carnivores. All the examples cited above show this type of food chain. Another example could
be
Grass →Rabbit →Fox
 Figure 6 A grazing food chain in a pond ecosystem.

II. Detritus food chain: It starts with dead organic matter which the detritivores and
decomposers consume. Partially decomposed dead organic matter and even the
decomposers are consumed by detritivores and their predators. An example of the
detritus food chain is seen in a Mangrove (estuary)

Figure 7 A detritus food chain in an estuary based on dead

b. Food web:
Food chains in ecosystems are rarely found to operate as isolated linear sequences. Rather, they are
found to be interconnected and usually form a complex network with several linkages and are known
as food webs.
Thus, food web is a network of food chains where different types of organisms are connected at
different trophic levels, so that there are a number of options of eating and being eaten at each trophic
level.
Why nature has evolved food webs in ecosystems instead of simple linear food chains? This is because
food webs give greater stability to the ecosystem. In a linear food chain, if one species becomes extinct
or one species suffers then the species in the subsequent trophic levels are also affected. In a food web,
on the other hand, there are a number of options available at each trophic level. So if one species is
affected, it does not affect other trophic levels so seriously
 Figure 8 Foodweb in a desert ecosystem Figure 9 Foodweb in an aquatic ecosystem

Figure 10 Foodweb in a grassland ecosystem

FOOD CHAIN FOOD WEB

The transfer of food energy from the It is a network of food chains where
producers (plants) through a series of different types of organisms are connected
organisms (herbivores, carnivores) at different trophic levels
successively with the repeated activity of
eating and being eaten is known as food
chain
Limited option of eating and being eaten Unlimited options of eating and being
eaten
If any organism at any trophic level is If any organism at any trophic level is
extinct, the entire food chain collapses extinct, the food web remains as it is.
A single chain of organisms Multiple chains of organisms
Lesser number of organisms Greater number of organisms
In food chains, usually members of high In the food web members of higher trophic
trophic level feed upon a single type of level feed upon many organisms of lower
organism of lower trophic level trophic level
In food chains, separate and isolated food In the food web, the stability of the
increase the instability of the ecosystem. ecosystem increases by the presence of
complex food webs.
Food chains have no effect on improving Complex food webs improve the
the adaptability and competitiveness of the adaptability and competitiveness of
organisms organisms.
Significance of food chains and food webs
Food chains and food webs play a very significant role in the ecosystem because the two most
important functions of energy flow and nutrient cycling take place through them.
The food chains also help in maintaining and regulating the population size of different animals and
thus, help maintain the ecological balance.
Food chains show a unique property of biological magnification of some chemicals. There are several
pesticides, heavy metals and other chemicals which are non-biodegradable in nature. Such chemicals
are not decomposed by microorganisms and they keep on passing from one trophic level to another.
And, at each successive trophic level, they keep on increasing in concentration. This phenomenon is
known as biomagnification or biological magnification.

ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
An ecological pyramid (also trophic pyramid or energy pyramid) is a graphical representation designed
to show the biomass or biomass productivity at each trophic level in a given ecosystem.
The ecological pyramids are of three types. They are:
1. The pyramid of Numbers (showing population).
2. The pyramid of Biomass (showing total mass of organisms).
3. The pyramid of energy (showing energy flow).
1. Pyramids of numbers
It shows the relationships among the producers, herbivores and carnivores at successive trophic levels
in terms of their number. Mostly the pyramid of number is straight (or) upright with number of
individuals in successive higher trophic levels goes on decreasing from base to apex. The maximum
number of individuals occurs at the producers’ level. They support a small number of herbivores. The
herbivores, in turn, support a fewer number of primary carnivores and so on. Top carnivores are very
few in number.
For Example:
(1) In a grassland ecosystem: Grass→ Grasshoppers→ Frogs→ Snakes→ Peacock / Hawk.
(2) In a pond ecosystem: Phytoplankton→ Zooplankton→ Fish→ Crane

Figure 11 Pyramid of numbers (a) grassland (b) forest (c) Parasitic food chain.
 2. Pyramids of biomass
The amount of organic matter present in the environment is called biomass. In pyramids of biomass,
the relationship between different trophic levels is mentioned in terms of the weight of organisms. The
pyramid may be upright for the grassland ecosystem and inverted for the pond ecosystem.
Example: Vegetation produces biomass of 1000 [Link] of this 100 kgs of biomass for
herbivores, which in turn only 10 kg of biomass for primary carnivores that gives rise 1 kg of biomass
for second-order carnivores and so on…
For example
1000 kgs 100 kgs 10 kgs 1 kg
Vegetation Herbivores primary carnivores Secondary carnivores

Figure 12 Pyramid of biomass (a) Grassland (b) Pond.

3. Pyramids of energy
The amount of energy trapped per unit time and area at different trophic levels of a food chain with
producers forming the base and the top carnivores at the apex is called the pyramid of energy. The
energy content is generally expressed as K cal /m / year or KJ /m 2 / year. The amount of energy present
at each trophic level is considered for this type of pyramid. The pyramid of energy gives the best
representation of the trophic relationships and it is always upright. At every successive trophic level,
there is a huge loss of energy (about 90%) in the form of heat, respiration etc. Thus, at each next higher
level only 10% of the energy passes on. Hence, there is a sharp decline in the energy level of each
successive trophic level as we move from producers to top carnivores. Therefore, the pyramid of
energy is always upright.

Figure 13 Pyramid of energy

ENERGY FLOW IN THE ECOSYSTEM
The movement of energy or transfer of energy through a series of organisms in an ecosystem from the
external environment and back to the external environment again is known as energy flow. In the
universe, the main source of energy is the sun that produces energy in the form of light or solar
radiation. Different ecosystems in the world receive variable quantities of solar energy depending upon
their location on the globe. The other chief factors that control the amount of solar energy received by
an ecosystem are Latitude and Longitude; Slope; Cloud formation; Pollutants in the atmosphere.
The transformation of energy in an ecosystem begin first with the input of energy from the sun by the
process of photosynthesis.
Flow of energy in an ecosystem takes place through the food chain and it is this energy flow that keeps
the ecosystem going. The most important feature of this energy flow is that it is a unidirectional or
one-way flow. Unlike the nutrients (like carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus etc.) which move in a cyclic
manner and are reused by the producers after flowing through the food chain, energy is not reused in
the food chain. Also, the flow of energy follows the two laws of Thermodynamics:
Ist law of Thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor be destroyed but it can be
transformed from one form to another. The solar energy captured by the green plants (producers) gets
converted into the biochemical energy of plants and later into that of consumers.
IInd law of Thermodynamics states that energy dissipates as it is used or in other words, its gets
converted from a more concentrated to dispersed form. As energy flows through the food chain, there
occurs dissipation of energy at every trophic level. The loss of energy takes place through respiration,
loss of energy in locomotion, running, hunting and other activities. At every level there is about 90%
loss of energy and the energy transferred from one trophic level to the other is only about 10%.

NUTRIENT CYCLING
Besides energy flow, the other important functional attribute of an ecosystem is nutrient cycling.
Nutrients like carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorus etc. move in circular paths
through biotic and abiotic components and are therefore known as biogeochemical cycles. Water also
moves in a cycle, known as the hydrological cycle. The nutrients too move through the food chain and
ultimately reach the detritus compartment (containing dead organic matter) where various micro-
organisms carry out decomposition. Various organically bound nutrients of dead plants and animals
are converted into inorganic substances by microbial decomposition that is readily used up by plants
(primary producers) and the cycle starts afresh.