MODULE -01

ECOSYSTEM AND SUSTAINBILITY

PREPARED BY
Mr. PRASANNA
DCE, BE, [Link]
 ENVIRONMENT

• Environment -French word - 'environ’ -surroundings.

Hence, everything surrounding us -"ENVIRONMENT".
• Environmental science is a systemic study of our
environment and our place in it - mainly the abiotic and
biotic components.
• World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated annually
on 5 June and encourages awareness and action for the
protection of the environment.
• April 22, more than a billion people celebrate Earth Day
to protect the planet from things like pollution and
deforestation.
 ECOSYSTEM

• Ecology. Ecology is the study of ecosystems.

• Ecosystem. A group of organisms
interacting among themselves and with the
environment is known as ecosystem.
• Example: Animals cannot synthesis their
food directly but depend on the plants either
directly or indirectly
 ECOSYSTEM
• The term ecosystem
was first introduced by
A.G Tansley, an English
botanist in 1935.
 Structure of the Ecosystem

• The structure of an ecosystem can be split into

two main components, namely:
• Biotic components - components
consisting of living organisms
• Abiotic components - consisting of
elements that are not live or non living
organisms
• The biotic and abiotic components are
interrelated in an ecosystem.
Biotic and Abiotic Components
o Biotic components. The living organisms(or)
living members in an ecosystem collectively
forms its community called biotic components
or biotic community.
o Examples: Plants , Animals, Micro organisms
(decomposers)
o Abiotic Components. Abiotic components are
the non living components of an ecosystem.
o It includes air, water, oil, minerals, sunlight,
wind etc
Biotic Components or Living Organisms

Based on nutrition, biotic components can be

categorised into:-
Autotrophs (Producers)
Heterotrophs (Consumers)
 Saprophytes (Decomposers)
• Producers(autotrophs). Producers include all
types plants, shrubs as they can produce food
through the process of photosynthesis.
• Consumers(heterotrophs) are organism that
depend on other organisms for food.
• Decompsers(saprophytes). Decomposers
include fungus such as yeasts rusts, smuts,
mushrooms and bacteria. They directly thrive
on the dead and decaying organic matter.
Biotic Components or Living Organisms
 Biotic Components or Living Organisms

 Consumers are further classified into primary

consumers, secondary consumers and tertiary
consumers.
 Primary consumers are always herbivores
(veg)that they rely on producers for food.
 Secondary consumers depend on primary
consumers for energy. They can either be a
carnivore (non veg) or an omnivore (veg &
non veg).
 Biotic Components or Living Organisms

• Tertiary consumers are organisms that

depend on secondary consumers for food.
Tertiary consumers can also be an omnivore.
 FOOD CHAIN
• Food chains will always start with a producer, a plant or
microorganism that can make its own food through
photosynthesis, the process of creating sugar and oxygen from
water, carbon dioxide gas, and sunlight.
• The next organism on every food chain will be the primary
consumer – a plant-eating animal, also known as an herbivore.
• Following the primary consumer are one or more additional
consumers, called the secondary (2nd) consumer tertiary (3rd)
consumer, quaternary (4th) consumer, etc….
• Secondary and higher consumers will always be omnivores or
carnivores. The final consumer on any food chain is also
known as a top predator, because it has no predators of its own.
• Visually represent food chains with a list of organisms connected by

arrows to show the movement of energy through food.

• Food chains are also sometimes represented as pyramids, because it

takes many producers to feed each primary consumer, many primary

consumers to feed each secondary consumer, and so on.

 FOOD WEBS
• Food chain is just one of the many paths that allow energy to flow
through an ecosystem.
• But ecosystems are more complicated than a single food chain:
every ecosystem includes many food chains that overlap and
connect.
• For example, several different herbivores might all feed on one large
field of grass. One predator might eat several types of prey to get
enough food. The result is a complex network of feeding
relationships between organisms in an ecosystem, called a food
web.
• In addition to the producers and consumers, decomposers are an
important part of any food web.
 The difference between food chain and food
webs
• Food chains are a single path showing how
energy moves from organism to organism
through an ecosystem, while a food web is a
more complex network that maps the multiple
feeding relationships of each organism in an
ecosystem.

• [Link]
EEDeQCV
 Abiotic Components or Non living Oranisms

• Abiotic components are the non-living

component of an ecosystem. It includes air,
water, soil, minerals, sunlight, temperature,
nutrients, wind, altitude, turbidity, etc.
 Types of Ecosystem

Mainly there are two types of ecosystems.

Terrestrial Ecosystem - Land based

 Aquatic Ecosystem - Water based
 Terrestrial Ecosystem

Terrestrial ecosystems are exclusively

land based ecosystems. There are different
types of terrestrial ecosystems around
various ecological zones.
 TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM
A terrestrial ecosystem
includes :-
 Forest Ecosystem
 Desert Ecosystem
 FOREST ECOSYSTEM
A forest ecosystem consists of several
plants, animals, and micro organisms that
live in coordination with the abiotic actors
of the environment. Forest help in
maintaining the temperature of the earth
and absorbs carbon dioxide
 1. CONIFEROUS FOREST
• As the name suggests,
the trees found in these
forests mainly consists
of cone-bearing trees
like the spruce, pine, fir,
and hemlock. These are
found mostly in the
northern parts of North
America, Asia, and
Europe.
 2. DECIDUOUS FOREST
• The trees of these forests
are broadleaved and are
shed between late summer
to early autumn. The leaves
are usually green but later
acquires yellow, red and
orange colours gradually.
• These forests are found in
America, Western and
Central Europe, and
Northeastern Asia where
the winters are cold and
summers are warm.
 3. MIXED FORESTS
• Deciduous and
Coniferous trees as
both types constitute
mixed forests, which
are mostly found in
mountainous areas.
• These are found
almost every part of
the world.
4. MEDITERRANEAN FORESTS
• They are also called
scrublands as its
temperature is suitable
for short oaks and pines
to grow.
• The Mediterranean
forest contains a wide
variety of wildflowers
and insect-eating birds.
This forest is also
termed as “maquis”.
 5. TROPICAL RAINFOREST
• These forests are situated in
the areas with hot
temperatures like South
America, Africa, Asia and
Australia.
• Thus they are called
Tropical and due to
continuous rainfall
throughout the year, they
are called Rainforests.
• It is a habitat for various
insects, colourful birds and
mammals.
 Desert Ecosystem
• Desert ecology is the sum of the interactions
between both biotic and abiotic processes in
arid regions, it includes the interactions of
plant, animal and bacterial populations in a
desert habitat, ecosystem and community.
Characteristics of desert environment:
• Scarcity of water
• High temperature
• Dust storms
• Lack of vegetation
 Geomorphology of deserts
• Deserts are created by changes in climate and
accumulation of sand and other rocky wastes.
• Sand covers about 10 to 20 % of the deserts.
• The rest of the land consists mostly of gravels,
boulders, mountains and various types of
soils.
 Geomorphology of deserts
• Dunes are large piles of wind-borne sands
reaching a maximum height of 250 m above the
surface.
• Dunes show many shapes and patterns that
change continually due to the highly active winds.
• Dunes are characterized by two-sided slopes one
along the windward direction and the other along
the leeward side.
• Soils in desert regions are generally fertile but
lacks soil moisture encourage plant growth.
 Rainfall over deserts
• Characteristics that are common to all desert
include:
• Irregular rainfall of less than 250 mm per year
• Very high evaporation rates often 20 times the
annual precipitation.
 Oasis
• Oasis is a wet and fertile zone in a desert with
vegetation. Underground water comes nearer
to the ground surface.
 Types of deserts on the basis of locations

• North American desert

• South American desert
• European desert
• Asian desert
• African desert
• Australian desert
DESERT FOOD CHAIN
 Desert community
• Producers
– Ephemerals
– Drought resisting plant (can store water,
succulent plants)
– Spiny or thorny bushes
• Consumers
• Decomposers
 Ephemeral plants
• Ephemeral plants are those plants that are
born only after occasional rains and reproduce
and die before a new drought comes, and they
typically have therefore an extremely short life
cycle.
Drought resisting plant or succulent plants

• Those are plants with parts that are thickened,

fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in
arid climates or soil conditions.
• Succulent plants may store water in various
structures, such as leaves and stems.
• Some definitions also include roots, thus
geophytes that survive unfavorable periods by
dying back to underground storage organs
may be regarded as succulents.
 AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM
• Ecosystems present in a body of water. These
can be further divided into two types :-
– Freshwater Ecosystem
- Marine Ecosystem
 AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM
• Freshwater Ecosystem Fresh water ecosystem includes that
includes lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and wetlands. These have
no salt content.
• Ocean Ecosystems
Our planet earth is gifted with the five major oceans, namely
Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and the Atlantic Ocean. Among all these
five oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic are the largest and
deepest ocean. These oceans serve as a home to more than five
lakh aquatic species. Few creatures of these ecosystems
include shellfish, shark, tube worms, crab small and large
ocean fishes, turtles, blue whale, marine mammals, seabirds,
plankton and other ocean plants.
• Wetlands: Wetlands are marshy areas and are
sometimes covered in water which has a wide diversity
of plants and animals. The animal life of this ecosystem
consists of dragonflies and damselflies, birds such as
Green Heron and fishes such as Northern Pike.

• Lotic and Lentic eco system. A lotic ecosystem are

flowing (running) waters. Examples include streams,
rivers, springs, brooks and channels.
• A lentic ecosystem has still waters. Examples include
ponds, basin marshals, ditches, reservoirs ,lakes pools
etc.
 THE FOUR SPHERES
• Hydrosphere (water portion)
• Atmosphere (gaseous envelope)
• Geosphere (solid component)
• Biosphere (living component)
 HYDROSPHERE
• Earth is called the “blue planet” or the “blue
marble” because of its water component.
• Water in Earth is unique because it naturally
exists in three phases.
• Our planet Earth comprises land and water of which water is present
in the majority. The distribution of land and water on Earth in
percentage is – water covers approximately 70.8 % of the area while
land covers 29.2 %. Water distribution on Earth’s surface is highly
unequal. Only 3 % of the water on the surface is clean; the other 97
% is in the ocean.
• Freshwater is found in glaciers 69 % of the time, underground 30 %
of the time, and in lakes, rivers, and swamps less than 1 % of the
time. In other words, just 1 % of the water on Earth's surface is
consumable for people, while 99 % of the useful quantity is
underground.
 The Atmosphere
• The Atmosphere is the gaseous layer that surrounds Earth,
held by gravity. It is composed mainly of nitrogen (78%),
oxygen (21%), and trace gases such as argon and carbon
dioxide.
• The atmosphere protects life by blocking harmful solar
radiation, regulating temperature, and enabling weather and
climate systems.
• It is divided into layers: Troposphere, Stratosphere,
Mesosphere, Thermosphere, and Exosphere. Examples
include air we breathe, clouds, storms, and winds.
• The troposphere is the layer closest to Earth. Humans,
animals and plants live in this layer. Birds and aeroplanes
also fly in this layer of the atmosphere. In the layers above
the troposphere, the air becomes thinner. Beyond the
exosphere is space.
 The Lithosphere
• The Lithosphere refers to the solid, outer part of the
Earth, which includes rocks, minerals, soil, and
landforms.
• It extends to the uppermost part of the mantle and is
responsible for the formation of mountains, valleys,
and plains.
• Processes such as plate tectonics, volcanic activity,
erosion, and weathering occur in the lithosphere.
Examples include the Himalayas, volcanoes of the
Pacific Ring of Fire, and river valleys shaped by
erosion.
 The Biosphere
• The Biosphere includes all living organisms—
plants, animals, and microorganisms—on
Earth. It overlaps with parts of the lithosphere,
hydrosphere, and atmosphere, where life
exists.
• The biosphere plays a critical role in
maintaining ecological balance through food
chains, energy flow, and nutrient cycles.
Examples include tropical rainforests,
grasslands, and coral reefs.
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