PGDEOH, MEV-001
Environment and
Ecology, Block-1
Unit 2: Ecosystems
(Biogeochemical Cycles-I)
2.12.2021 lalitaskumar@[Link]
Components of
OutlineEnvironment
What is an Ecosystem
Ecosystem: Structure and Function
Ecosystem: Aspects
Energy flow and material Cycling
What are biogeochemical cycles
Hydrologic Cycle
Carbon Cycle
Components of Environment
(Gases around the Earth)
(All Life forms)
(Upper mantle,
Crust of Earth)
(Oceans, Rivers,
other Water Bodies)
Anthrosphere–Technology i.e., the development
Components
What is an of Environment
Ecosystem
Ecology 'Oikos’ for home or estate 'logos’
for study i.e., the study of the home or
household of nature
A.G. Tansley in 1935 ‘The ecosystem was
the system resulting from the integration of
all living and non-living factors of the
environment ’
‘Scientific study of the relationship of the
living organisms with one another and the
environment'
Components of Environment
Ecosystem Facts
Energy and carbon enter ecosystems through
photosynthesis and are incorporated into living
tissues
Transferred to other organisms that feed on the
living and dead plant matter, and are released
through respiration.
Most of the mineral nutrients are recycled within
the ecosystems.
Ecosystem-Structure
Components of Environment
and Functions
Structure
Biotic: All the living organisms
Abiotic: Physical and chemical characteristics of
the environment.
Functions
Dependent on the sun’s energy for the functions
and it is this energy that flows in the system
Food chains, webs, trophic levels, along with the
flow of energy in the ecosystem, productivity,
biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem regulation
Food Chain: Food Web: All the trophic
Who eats what? interactions (all food chains)
Linear
Components
Ecosystem
of Aspects
Environment
Energy Flow
Dependent on the sun’s energy for the functions
and it is this energy that flows in the system
Food chains, webs, trophic levels, productivity,
biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem regulation
Nutrient Cycles
Cyclic process that involves the movement of
nutrients from the physical environment to living
organisms and back to the environment
Components
EnergyofFlow
Environment
The energy stored in organic molecules can be
passed to other organisms in the ecosystem
When the organisms eat plants or other
organisms that have previously eaten plants
The consumers—or heterotrophs, other-feeding
organisms—of an ecosystem rely on the
ecosystem's producers for energy
Consumers include herbivores, carnivores and
decomposers.
Energy Flow and Material Cycling
• Yellow and red arrows
show the energy flow
• Yellow is usable energy
• Red is energy lost in the
unusable form of heat.
• Green arrows show the
continuous recycling of
chemical nutrients.
Components
EcologicalofEfficiency
Environment
Producers absorb energy from the sun, Only
~ 50% of energy becomes part of plant’s body
Rest 50% is used for living or lost as heat
At each trophic level, the energy stored in an
organism is about 1/10
As energy decreases at each trophic level, few
ecosystems contain > 4 or 5 trophic levels
The energy flow is a consequence of two
fundamental laws of thermodynamics
Laws of Thermodynamics Governing
the Energy Flow
First Law of Thermodynamics: It states that
“Energy can neither be created nor
destroyed; it can only be changed from one
form of energy to another.
Second Law of Thermodynamics: It states that
“When energy is transformed from one from
to another, there is always some loss of
energy from the system, usually as low-grade
heat”.
Ecological Efficiency
It follows the 10% rule:
Roughly 10% of the energy
at one level will be available
to be used by the next level
There is an obvious energy
loss: the farther up the
trophic levels that is roughly
10% efficiency (or a 90%
loss in energy) for each level
Trophic levels and Ecological Efficiency
The ratio between the energy assimilated and
the energy used with trophic levels of food
chain is known as ecological efficiency
Components of Environment
Ecosystem and Biogeochemical Cycles
Ecosystem components include Chemicals
and Geologic processes
For the sustenance of the ecosystem the
chemicals or the compounds must be
recycled
This is explained by the biogeochemical
cycles that exist in nature
These cycles show how the energy is used
in conserving the biomass
Components
What of Environment
are Biogeochemical Cycles
It is the movement of nutrients and other
elements between biotic and abiotic factors
i.e., mineral nutrients get recycled in the
ecosystem to maintain a dynamic system
Involve geologic processes in the cycle
Geologic processes—weathering of rocks,
erosion, water drainage, subduction of
continental plates—play a role in the recycling of
materials
Components
Nutrient of Environment
Re-cycle
Movement of nutrients from the physical
environment to living organisms and back
to the environment
Out of the 103 only 24 are required by
organisms known as macronutrients and
micronutrients
The fundamental macronutrients include:
carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen,
phosphorus and sulphur (CHNOPS)
Nutrient Recycle:
Components Benefit
of Environment
It reduces the accumulation of waste that can
cause pollution
The ecosystem will not be exhausted of
essential elements.
E.g., O2 is an output of the plant photosynthesis
which is important for respiration in higher
animals and food for the consumers, whereas
CO2 released by the consumer is a nutrient for
green plants
Components of Environment
Biogeochemical Cycles
Hydrologic cycle
Carbon cycle
H
Oxygen cycle
Nitrogen cycle y
Sulphur cycle d
Phosphorous cycle
r
Include a variety of biological, geological, and chemical processes
ol
Hydrologic Cycle
Components of Environment
Hydrologic Cycle
Also called the Water cycle: Continuous
movement of water from the ground to the
atmosphere and back again
Defined as the cyclic process of:
Evaporation, Cloud formation, Rainfall,
Snowfall and Refilling of water bodies
Components of Environment
Hydrologic Cycle
The cycle involves movement of water from:
Oceans to atmosphere by evaporation
Atmosphere to oceans to land by
precipitation
Land to oceans by runoff from streams and
rivers and subsurface groundwater flow
Components
Process of Environment
of Hydrologic Cycle
The cycle is driven by solar energy and
wind as these are the main causes of
evaporation
During the hydrological cycle, there is
transfer of heat around the earth
moderating extreme conditions of
temperatures
Components of Environment
Stages in Hydrologic Cycle
Evaporation
Transpiration
Interception
Precipitation
Run off
Infiltration
Evaporation
Components of Environment
Water from soil surface, ponds,
lakes, rivers and oceans gets
transferred as moisture
factors affecting evaporation are:
temperature, relative humidity, wind velocity,
amount of rainfall or snowfall, quality of water,
surface area of the water source, sunshine etc.
Components of Environment
Transpiration
Refers to loss of water
in vapour form from
plant leaves.
Water taken into the
roots of the plants from
the soil replaces the
transpired water
Components of Environment
Evapotranspiration
It is like the action of a pump
absorbing water from the soil and
leaving the vapour into the
atmosphere.
Water loss from a vegetated area
takes place both by evaporation
and transpiration and it is termed
evapotranspiration
Components of Environment
Interception
The retention of precipitation by thick
vegetation (of trees and plants) or by shrubs
that is evaporated back to atmosphere
Very less rain reaches the soil
directly
Seen in low rain areas
Components of Environment
Precipitation
Process of conversion of
water vapour into liquid state
Signifies rainfall and snowfall
Water returns to the land and
sea from the atmosphere by
means of condensation and
deposition
Components of
Condensation Environment
and Deposition
Condensation is the process of
conversion of water vapour into
liquid state (dew droplets)
Deposition is the process by
which water vapour changes into
ice crystals.
In the atmosphere, tiny droplets
of water and ice crystals form
clouds
Components
Runofoff
Environment
Some of the rainfall is soaked
into the soil as ground water
Run off: Excess water that
flows over the land surface
along the natural slope of the
area
It is the main source of water for lakes,
streams and rivers
Components
Runofoff
Environment
The rainwater ultimately drains into the sea
Soil characteristics that influence the rate and
the magnitude of the run off are:
smoothness and
steepness of the slope
Components of Environment
Infiltration
The absorption of part of the
precipitation by the surface
layers of soil
During infiltration, water
moves downward vertically
through various layers finally
forming groundwater
Components of Environment
Infiltration
It depends on:
the intensity of rainfall
surface conditions of the soil
vegetation cover
available storage capacity
Hydrologic Cycle
Components of Environment
Hydrologic Cycle: Impact
Water cycle affects all life processes on earth
During precipitation water vapours and
droplets take dust, bacteria, industrial soot
particles and smoke help in pollution
reduction
Without the evaporative cooling effect of the
water cycle, the temperature on earth would
rise drastically
The water cycle is also an integral part of
other biogeochemical cycles
Carbon Cycle
Components ofFacts
Carbon: Environment
All living organisms contain carbon atoms
because of its unique chemical ability to
form bonds with other four atoms
It is the building block of life and anchors
all the organic substances
The carbon compounds exist in solid,
liquid and gaseous forms
Carbon in Nature: Storage Reservoirs
Carbon sink: when more carbon is absorbed
than released: more carbon is accumulated
and stored (plants, oceans and soil)
Carbon source: when more carbon in emitted
than stored: burning of fossil fuels, organic
matter, weathering of limestone rocks, volcanic
eruptions and other human activities
Components
CarbonofCycle
Environment
The movement of carbon atoms in different
forms through the reservoirs, is grouped into:
Biosphere (living and dead organisms)
Geosphere (solid part of Earth: rocks/minerals)
Pedosphere (outermost layer of Earth)
Hydrosphere (total water on Earth)
Atmosphere (layers of gases around planet)
Carbon
Components
Cycle of
Components
Environment
Carbon cycle has two components:
Fast carbon cycle: involves biological
processes, such as photosynthesis and
decomposition
Slow carbon cycle: involves transitions
of inorganic carbon, such as the
weathering of rocks and soils
Components of Environment
Processes of Carbon Cycle
Atm. C (CO2 and CH4) absorbed by plants
Plants consumed by animals and humans
Animals and Humans die and Decompose
Carbon is released back into the atmosphere
Remaining carbon becomes fossil fuels
Fossil fuels are used for man-made activities
Carbon released back into the atmosphere
Carbon Cycle
Components of Environment
Carbon Cycle in Marine Ecosystem
Starts with the absorption of CO2 from inorganic
carbonates of sea water by phytoplankton and
macro algae
The sea plants carry out photosynthesis and
enter the marine food web
Respiration by plants and Decomposition takes
CO2 to atmosphere and back to the ocean as
carbonates
Components
Carbon Cycle:ofSignificance
Environment
All life forms on earth are based on carbon
Carbon is an integral component of every
important biomolecule
e.g., carbohydrates, proteins and lipids and
most importantly DNA
Plays a vital role in balancing the energy and
traps the long-wave radiations from the sun
If the carbon cycle is disturbed it may lead to
climatic changes and global warming.
Components
Summary
of Environment
Ecosystem is the interaction of biotic,
nonbiotic components with the surroundings
The ecosystem uses energy from the sun
which flows within the system
The ecosystem is sustained by the
biogeochemical cycles
The hydrologic cycle is continuous flow of
water from ground to atmosphere and back
The carbon cycle is the flow of carbon atoms
in different forms through the reservoirs
Components of Environment