Module-1

Ecosystem
Structure and function
Organizational level
in an Environment
 Spheres of environment

• Atmosphere
• Lithosphere
• Hydrosphere
• Biosphere
 Ecosystem
• Structural and functional unit of ecology
• It is defined as a natural functional ecological
unit comprising of biotic and their abiotic
environment that interact to form a stable self
supporting system.
• Examples are Pond, Lake, Grassland, Forest
etc.
Examples of structural components
• Producers: Green plants
• Primary consumers (Herbivores): Rabbit, Deer.
Goat.
• Secondary or primary carnivores: Cats, foxes and
snakes
• Tertiary or secondary carnivores : Wolves
• Quarternary or tertiary carnivores : Lions and
tigers
• Detritivores: Microbes
Estuarine
 Wetland
• Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is
present either at or near the surface of the soil all
year or for varying periods of time during the year,
including during the growing season.
• Water saturation (hydrology) largely determines how the
soil develops and the types of plant and animal
communities living in and on the soil.
• Wetlands may support both aquatic and terrestrial
species.
• The prolonged presence of water creates conditions that
favor the growth of specially adapted plants
(hydrophytes) and promote the development of
characteristic wetland (hydric) soils.
 Function of Ecosystem
• Material flow (Biogeochemical cycle)
• Energy flow (Nutrient energy flow)
 Biogeochemical cycle - Definition
• The cyclic exchange of nutrient material between
the living organisms and their non –living
environment is called biogeochemical or material
cycle.
• As indicated by the name the nutrients
(chemical) circulate through life (bio) and through
earth (geo) repeatedly (cycle).
• Conserve the limited source of raw materials in the
environment.
 Cycling elements
• Macronutrients which are required in large
amounts like C,H, O, N, P,
• Other Macronutrients : S, K, Ca, Fe, Mg
• Micronutrients which are required in very
small amounts, but still necessary, like
Boron, Copper, Molybdenum
 Types of BGC
• 1. Gaseous cycle : Transformation of gases between
various biogeochemical reservoirs like Hydrosphere,
Atmosphere and Biosphere.
• Important gaseous cycle are nitrogen cycle, Oxygen
cycle, Carbon cycle, Water cycle.
• 2. Sedimentary cycle: it includes leaching of
minerals and salt from the earth crust which then
settle as sediment
• Ex: Phosphorus cycle, S cycle, Fe cycle, Ca cycle
• Each cycle consists of solution and sediment phase
Energy flow in ecosystem
 Energy and nutrient flow

Dark arrow showing energy flow

Light arrow showing mineral flow
 Energetics

• Energy is the ability or capacity to do work

• The existence of flora and fauna in
ecosystem depends on Material cycling
and energy flow
• The only source of energy is the sun
• The entrance, transformation and diffusion
of energy in ecosystem is governed by
laws of thermodynamics
 Law of thermodynamics

• First Law
• Energy can be transformed from one form to
another, it can neither be created nor be
destroyed
• Second law
• During the process of transformation of energy,
some of the transformed energy is diffused from
the ecosystem in dispersed form
Ten Percent Law (Lindeman's trophic
efficiency rule)

Ten percent law of energy transfer in food chains was

given by Reymond Lindeman. It is also called as
Lindeman's trophic efficiency rule. According to this
rule, the 10% of transfer of energy is transferred from
one trophic level to the next successive trophic level. The
rest of the energy is lost during transfer of energy and
during respiration. The first trophic level has the
maximum energy.
Pyramid of energy
Photosynthesis equation
Respiration
 Ecological Pyramids
• This relationship between the various trophic levels of a
food chain (Producers - herbivores - carnivores) can be
shown diagrammatically by ‘Ecological pyramids’.
• Ecological pyramids was first proposed by British
Ecologist, Charles Elton (1927), and can also be called as
‘Eltonian pyramids’.

• Pyramid of numbers- are of two types- upright and

inverted
• Pyramid of biomass- are of two types- upright and
inverted
• Pyramid of energy – Always upright
• Pyramid of numbers- It shows the relationship between
the producers, herbivores and carnivores in terms of their
numbers. This indicates the number of organisms at every
trophic level
• Pyramid of biomass- The amount of living material in an
organism is called biomass. Pyramid of biomass shows
quantitative relationship existing at various trophic levels
• Pyramid of energy- In an ecosystem the pyramid of energy
shows the amount of total energy trapped by the organism at
each trophic level in a unit area and time and expressed as
kcal/m2/year. Energy pyramids provide the best picture of
overall nature of the ecosystem. Energy pyramid is always
upright in all ecosystems
Pyramid of numbers

Upright Inverted
Pyramid of Biomass
Pyramid of energy
 Significance of Ecological pyramid
➢They show the feeding of different organisms
in different ecosystems.
➢ It shows the efficiency of energy transfer.
➢ The condition of the ecosystem can be
monitored, and any further damage can be
prevented
 Food chain
• 1. Grazing food chain
• 2. Detritus food chain
Detritus food chain
Food web
Food web
Snakes are carnivores, so they do eat other
animals. They would not eat an eagle
though, because they wouldn't be able to
catch one. Eagles are apex predators, at
the top of the food chain
eagles have the capacity to hunt wolves.
They can eat wolves as carrion
(decomposed/rotten food) and eagles
can be taught to hunt wolves.
 Productivity of Ecosystem
• It refers to the rate of production i.e. the amount of
organic matter accumulated in any unit time
• Primary productivity : It is defined as the rate at which
radiant energy is stored by photosynthetic activity of
producers
• Gross primary productivity (GPP) Total rate of
photosynthesis including the organic matter used
up in respiration during the measurement period. It
is measured in terms of amount of CO2 fixed/gchl/hour. GPP
depends on the chlorophyll content.
• Net primary productivity (NPP) It is the rate of storage
of organic matter in plant tissues in excess of the respiratory
utilisation by plants during the measurement period.
 Secondary productivity
• It is the rate of energy storage at consumer’s
levels- herbivores, carnivores and decomposers.
• Consumers tend to utilise already produced food
materials in their respiration and also convert the
food matter to different tissues by an overall
process.
• Net productivity : It is the rate of storage of organic
matter not used by the heterotrophs or consumers
i.e. equivalent to net primary production minus
consumption by the heterotrophs during the unit
period as a season or year, etc.
Y-shaped Energy model
 Ecological interaction in the
environment
• Species interactions within ecological webs
include four main types of two-way
interactions: mutualism, commensalism,
Amensalism, competition and predation
• It may be divided as under
Intraspecific interaction
Interspecific interaction
 Competition and predation
• When one entity hunts another animal to suffice its
nutritional requirements, it is referred to as predation.
A predator is an entity that hunts its prey.
• For example, a snake eats a frog. Here snake is the
predator and the frog is its prey.
• Competition, on the other hand, is when populations
or even an individual compete for food resources. It is
often referred to as exploitative or consumptive
competition.
• When there is a competition for territory it is
interference competition and preemptive competition
is when they compete for a new piece of territory and
have arrived first.
 Commensalism
• It is an imbalanced type of interaction wherein one
entity benefits while the other is neither harmed nor
benefited. There are four types of commensal
associations.
• Inquilinism – An entity occupies living habitat of
another species(burrow, nest)
• Chemical commensalism – A bacteria produces a
chemical which nurtures another bacteria
• Phoresy – An organism tentatively attaches itself to
another entity for transportation requirements.
• Metabiosis – One entity is dependant on the other for
survival
 Parasitism
• One entity benefits from other entities and is harmed,
but not necessarily killed. The entity that is harmed is
the host and the one benefited is the parasite. When
the host is killed, this type of behaviour is referred to
as parasitoidism.
• These parasites can be living on the surface of the host,
often addressed as ectoparasites (fleas, leeches) while
endoparasites live inside the host.
• Endoparasites can be subdivided into intracellular
parasites(live inside cells) and intercellular
parasites(live in spaces between cells).
 Mutualism
• Both species involved in the interaction are benefited.
These interactions take place in three patterns:
• Facultative mutualism – Species survive on their own
under favourable conditions
• Obligate mutualism – One species is dependent for survival
on the other
• Diffusive mutualism – One entity can live with multiple
partners
• These relationships have three purposes:
Defensive mutualism
Trophic mutualism
Dispersive mutualism
 Amensalism
• In this type of interaction, when one
population finds itself in danger the other
population is not majorly affected.
• For instance, Tall and wide plants hinder the
growth of comparatively smaller plants. Some
plants even secrete substances that suppress
the growth of nearby plants in order to
remove competition.
 BioDiversity-Definition
• Biodiversity is the variety and variability among
all groups of living organism and the ecosystem
in which they occur
• Biodiversity refers to the variety of organisms,
number of organisms and complex ecological
relationships between organisms or group of
organisms and their environment.
• It includes plants from grasses to giant trees and
animals from insects to mammals.
• Word coined by Walter [Link] in 1986.
 Types of Biodiversity
• Species diversity
• Genetic diversity
• Ecosystem diversity
Measurements of biodiversity is done as under
• Alpha diversity
• Beta diversity
• Gamma diversity
 Significance of Biodiversity
• Values associated with the biodiversity
– Productive use
– Consumptive use
– Indirect use
 Threats to Biodiversity
• Land and sea use change including habitat loss and
degradation
ex: agricultural land use which is responsible for 80% of
the global deforestation
• Pollution ex: Make the environment unsuitable for
survival directly and indirectly.
• Species Overexploitation ex: Overfishing
• Climate Change ex: forcing the animal to shift
• Invasive species and disease ex: compete with native
species for space, food and other resources,
sometimes spread disease that native species have no
immunity of.
 Ecosystem management
• Ecosystem management is a process that aims to
conserve major ecological services and restore
natural resources while meeting the socio-
economic, political and cultural needs of current
and future generations.
• The principle objective is efficient maintenance
and ethical use of natural resources.
• It acknowledges the inter-relation of socio-
cultural, economic and ecological systems, and
understanding of the situations which affect
environmental goals and outcomes.
• Environmental stewardship refers to the
responsible use and protection of the natural
environment through active participation in
conservation efforts and sustainable practices by
individuals, small groups, nonprofit
organizations, federal agencies, and other
collective networks
• Social and economic factors, such as income,
education, employment, community safety, and
social supports can significantly affect how well
and how long we live. These factors affect our
ability to make healthy choices, afford medical
care and housing, manage stress, and more
• Socio-environmental Relating to society and the
natural environment.
• Eco-efficiency is a management strategy of doing
more with less (Glavič et al., 2012). It is based on
the concept of creating more goods and services
while using fewer resources and creating less
waste and pollution (Glavič et al., 2012).
• Reduce material intensity/quantity; reduce
energy intensity; increase recyclability; maximize
the use of renewable resources; increase
product durability; and increase service
intensity.
 Economic growth
• An increase in the amount of goods and services
produced per head of the population over a period
of time.
• Economic growth – measured as an increase of
people's real income – means that the ratio
between people's income and the prices of what
they can buy is increasing: goods and services
become more affordable, people become less
poor.
 Social progress
• Social progress is defined as the capacity of a
society to meet the basic human needs of its
citizens, establish the building blocks that allow
citizens and communities to enhance and sustain
the quality of their lives, and create the
conditions for all individuals to reach their full
potential.
 Sustainability
• The principles of sustainability refer to the three
core concepts of environmental, social, and
economic sustainability–sometimes broken down
as "people, planet, and profits." This means that in
order to be considered sustainable, a business must
be able to conserve natural resources, support a
healthy community and workforce, and earn
enough revenue to remain financially viable for the
long-term.
SDGs
Thank You