UNIT 2

Ecosystem
Introduction

The interaction and interrelationship between the living

community (plants, animals, and organisms) in relation to
each other and the non-living community (soil, air, and
water) is referred to as an ecosystem. Thus, an ecosystem
is a structural and functional unit of biosphere. It is made up
of living and non-living beings and their physical
environment.
In other words, a natural ecosystem is defined as a network
of interactions among the organisms and between organisms
and their environment. Nutrient cycles and energy flows keep
these living and non-living components connected in an
ecosystem.
Ecosystem is a part of natural environment consisting of a
community of living beings and the physical environment
both constantly interchanging materials and energy between
them. It is the sum total of the environment or a part of
nature.

Definition

“ all the plants and animals in a particular area considered together

with their surroundings “
“ An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other
organisms, as well as weather and landscapes, work together to form
a bubble of life. “

Structure of Ecosystem

The structure of an ecosystem is made of two main components:

biotic and abiotic components. The biotic component interacts with the
abiotic components to maintain the flow of energy. The energy is
distributed in the environment. The ecosystem includes 2 main
components for a working ecosystem:
● Biotic Component
● Abiotic Component

Biotic Components
Plants, animals, microorganisms, aquatic plants, and all other living
creatures are the biotic components of the ecosystem. These biotic
components can be classified into:
● Producers: All autotrophs like plants, phytoplankton, etc. that
can produce their food using sources like sun, water, carbon
dioxide, or any other chemical elements belong to this
category.
● Consumers: All heterotrophs, primarily animals, that are
dependent on the producers or other organisms are called
consumers. These consumers are subdivided into the following
groups:
○ Primary consumers: All herbivores that directly
depend on plants, such as cows, goats, rabbits, and
sheep, are considered primary consumers.
○ Secondary consumers: All that depend on primary
consumers for food are considered secondary
consumers. The secondary consumer can be omnivores
or carnivores.
○ Tertiary consumers: All animals that depend on
secondary-level organisms for their food are known as
tertiary consumers.
○ Quaternary consumer: Those animals that depend on
the tertiary level organism for their food and are known
as the quaternary consumer. This level is present in
some food chains only.
● Decomposers: All microorganisms, such as bacteria and
fungi, that depend on decaying and dead matter for food fall
under this category. It contributes to environmental cleanup
and ecosystem nutrient recycling.

Abiotic Components
● It involves all the non-living things present in the environment.
Some of the abiotic components are sun, soil, water, minerals,
climate, rocks, temperature, and humidity.
 ● These components’ functioning together enables the
ecosystem’s energy and nutrition cycles.
● The sun’s rays are the primary energy source. An ecosystem’s
temperature changes have an impact on the types of plants that
may flourish there.
● The availability of nutrients and soil nature determines the type
and abundance of vegetation in an area.
● All the abiotic factors are essential factors that determine the
number and type of organisms present in a region.
●

Functions of Ecosystem
The functions of the ecosystem are as follows:

1. It regulates the essential ecological processes, supports life systems and renders
stability.
2. It is also responsible for the cycling of nutrients between biotic and abiotic
components.
3. It maintains a balance among the various trophic levels in the ecosystem.
4. It cycles the minerals through the biosphere.
5. The abiotic components help in the synthesis of organic components that involve the
exchange of energy.

So the functional units of an ecosystem or functional components that work together in an

ecosystem are:

● Productivity – It refers to the rate of biomass production.

● Energy flow – It is the sequential process through which energy flows from one trophic level
to another. The energy captured from the sun flows from producers to consumers and then
to decomposers and finally back to the environment.
● Decomposition – It is the process of breakdown of dead organic material. The top-soil is the
major site for decomposition.
● Nutrient cycling – In an ecosystem nutrients are consumed and recycled back in various
forms for the utilisation by various organisms.

Producers
In an ecosystem, producers are those organisms that use photosynthesis to capture
energy by using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to create carbohydrates, and then
use that energy to create more complex molecules like proteins, lipids and starches that
are crucial to life processes. Producers, which are mostly green plants, are also called
autotrophs Producers funnel into the ecosystem the energy needed for its biological
processes. The carbohydrates and other organic chemicals formed by the producers
are utilized by the heterotrophs, or consumers; first by the herbivores who eat the
plants--the primary consumers--then by the predators who eat the
herbivores--the secondary, tertiary, and so on consumers. But at each step, much
energy is lost. Lessthan 10 percent of the energy stored in plants is converted to
herbivore mass. The loss from herbivore to predator is similar. Thus energy needs to be
added to the ecosystem continuously.

Consumers
Consumers are organisms (including humans) that get their energy from producers,
regarding the flow of energy through an ecosystem. For example, producers, (such as
plants), make their own food by the process of photosynthesis. An organism ate this
plant, than it would be a primary consumer. The animal that eats this animal is known
as the second order consumer. Scientifically, all consumers are either herbivores,
carnivores, omnivores

Decomposers
Decomposers eventually convert all organic matter into carbon dioxide (which they
respire) and nutrients. This releases raw nutrients (such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and
magnesium) in a a form usable to plants and algae, which incorporate the chemicals
into their own cells. This process resupplies nutrients to the ecosystem, in turn allowing
for greater primary production. Although decomposers are generally located on the
bottom of ecosystem diagrams such as food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids,
decomposers in the biosphere are crucial to the environment. By breaking down dead
material, they provide the nutrients that other organisms need to survive.

Food Chain

Food Chain: Introduction

A food chain explains which organism eats another organism in the environment. The food chain is a
linear sequence of organisms where nutrients and energy is transferred from one organism to the
other. This occurs when one organism consumes another organism. It begins with the producer
organism, follows the chain and ends with the decomposer organism. After understanding the food
chain, we realise how one organism is dependent upon another organism for survival.

A food chain refers to the order of events in an ecosystem, where one living organism eats another
organism, and later that organism is consumed by another larger organism. The flow of nutrients and
energy from one organism to another at different trophic levels forms a food chain.

The food chain consists of four major parts, namely:

● The Sun: The sun is the initial source of energy, which provides energy for everything on the
planet.
● Producers: The producers in a food chain include all autotrophs such as phytoplankton,
cyanobacteria, algae, and green plants. This is the first stage in a food chain. The producers
make up the first level of a food chain. The producers utilise the energy from the sun to make
food. Producers are also known as autotrophs as they make their own food.
● Consumers: Consumers are all organisms that are dependent on plants or other organisms
for food. This is the largest part of a food web, as it contains almost all living organisms. It
includes herbivores which are animals that eat plants, carnivores which are animals that eat
other animals, parasites that live on other organisms by harming them and lastly the
scavengers, which are animals that eat dead animals’ carcasses.
● Decomposers: Decomposers are organisms that get energy from dead or waste organic
material. This is the last stage in a food chain. Decomposers are an integral part of a food
chain, as they convert organic waste materials into inorganic materials, which enriches the
soil or land with nutrients.
Food Web:

Several interconnected food chains form a food web. A food web is similar to a food chain but the
food web is comparatively larger than a food chain. Occasionally, a single organism is consumed by
many predators or it consumes several other organisms. Due to this, many trophic levels get
interconnected. The food chain fails to showcase the flow of energy in the right way. But, the food
web is able to show the proper representation of energy flow, as it displays the interactions between
different organisms.

Food Web Trophic Levels

Autotrophs
Autotrophs in a food web are organisms that produce their own food by utilizing energy from the sun.
Also known as producers, they convert sunlight energy through photosynthesis or utilize inorganic
compounds via chemosynthesis to produce organic molecules, mainly glucose. These organisms
form the base of food chains and food webs, that provides energy and nutrients for other trophic
levels. Examples of autotrophs include algae and plants.

Heterotrophs
Heterotrophs in a food web are organisms that cannot produce their own food and depends on
autotrophs or other organisms for the food. Also known as consumers, they are divided into various
trophic levels based on their food behaviour in the food web as follows:

● Primary consumers: These are also known as herbivores, directly feed on the
autotrophs,
● Secondary consumers: These are also known as carnivores. They feed on primary
consumers. For example snakes, wolves, fox, etc.
● Tertiary consumers: These are also known as carnivores. They feed on primary
consumers. For example snakes, wolves, fox, etc.
● Quaternary Consumers: In some ecosystems, a higher trophic level is present that preys
on tertiary consumers. These are known as the apex predators, often with no natural
predators of their own. For example human being.

Decomposers

In a food web decomposers break down dead organic matter and recycle nutrients back into the
ecosystem. This process is known as decomposition. For examples fungi, and some bacteria.

Ecological Pyramid

An ecological pyramid is a graphical representation of the relationship that every living

creature present at different levels of the ecosystem shares with each other. Ecological
Pyramids represent the different forms of bio-productivity of an ecosystem . The
pyramid is framed based on the number of individuals, energy, and biomass, and very
much like the name recommends, these are shaped as a pyramid. The various kinds of
ecological pyramids depend on how much energy or biomass or individuals are
accessible to each trophic level.
The bottom of the pyramid, usually the broadest part is occupied by the producers
followed by the primary consumers at the next level, then the secondary consumers,
and then tertiary consumers or the organisms placed at the top of the food chain at the
topmost level. The ecological pyramid is additionally used to make sense of how
different living beings in an environment are connected with each other. Also, it shows
who is consumed by whom, while likewise showing the flow of the energy.

Features of the Ecological Pyramid

● The ecological pyramid comprises two to four layers.
 ● Organisms that are dependent on the same type of food sources are placed at
the same level.
● The producers are situated at the lowest level of an ecological pyramid with a
huge population.
● The apex predators exist at the topmost level of an ecological pyramid with a
relatively smaller population.
● The pointed shape of the pyramid is due to the fact that the supply of energy or
biomass becomes lesser with each passing level of the pyramid.
● In the case of the pyramid of numbers, the topmost level will have a lesser
number of individuals but their relative body size and volume increase.

Ecological Pyramid Types

The ecological pyramid is of three types; the pyramid of numbers, the pyramid of
biomass, and the pyramid of energy.

Pyramid of Number
The Pyramid of Number denotes the total number of living individuals at various trophic
levels in an ecological system. The producers are at the base and top carnivores at the
topmost level in this pyramid.

● The upright pyramid has the largest number of producers at the base and their
numbers keep on declining with each passing level like pond or grassland
ecosystem.
● In the inverted pyramid, the base pointed with a lesser number of producers
whereas the topmost level will have the largest number of individuals as the
size and food consumption of organisms in each level will decrease

Pyramid of Biomass
The ecological pyramid that is made by considering the amount of biomass that is
produced by the living system of each trophic level is represented by the pyramid of
biomass. The pyramid that demonstrates the total weight of every trophic level in a
specific food chain in an ecosystem is the biomass pyramid.

● Forests and grasslands ecological systems are instances of upstanding

biomass pyramids as the number of producers is more in number.
● The ocean ecosystem is an example of an inverted pyramid as a large number
of zooplankton are dependent on a lesser number of phytoplankton.
Dependent on the trophic level of an ecosystem, only 15% to 20% of biomass
per level goes to the following level.
Pyramid of Energy
The ecological pyramid which is formed by determining the flow of energy from one
trophic level to another is known as the pyramid of energy. The producers situated at
the base of the pyramid of energy have the highest amount of energy and the topmost
consumer at the top has the least amount of energy.

● The base of this pyramid i.e. producers has the most amount of energy
acquired from the sun fixed by the help of photosynthesis.
● The flow of energy in this pyramid proves that energy can neither be created
nor can be destroyed given by the law of thermodynamics.
● However, as indicated by Lindeman’s 10% regulation law, only 10% of the
energy gets transferred from one level to another as almost the 90% is lost as
heat energy is used in breathing, some are utilized in physiological cycles, and
the rest is utilized by decomposers.

Importance Ecological Pyramid

The ecological pyramid is important in a biological system due to the following reasons:

● An ecological pyramid takes into account the dietary patterns of various living
organisms.
● The ecological pyramids take into account the number of living creatures in an
ecosystem.
● It gives clarity of how much energy moved to start with one trophic level and
then onto the next level of the ecosystem.
● It gives data about the biodiversity of a region.
● The ecological pyramid is framed based on the food-consumer relationship.
● If the food chain order is disturbed, the biological pyramid will be disturbed and
the entire environment will be seriously harmed.
● It helps in keeping up with equilibrium and helps in checking the entire state of
a biological ecosystem.
Limitations of Ecological Pyramid
Following are the limitations that the system of ecological pyramid possesses;

● The ecological pyramid does not take into account the saprophytes and treats
them as non-living components of the environment, despite the fact that they
have a significant part in maintaining the equilibrium of the environment.
● There is no inclusion of diurnal or occasional varieties in this pyramid, the idea
of environment or seasons is totally unassumed here.
● The ecological pyramid is just relevant in the event of straightforward food
chains not considering the complex food webs.
● This pyramid specifies nothing about the pace or speed by which energy
moves from one trophic level to the next trophic level.
● Significant sources of energy like litter and humus are totally overlooked in the
ecological pyramid despite the fact that their significance in the environment is
unrivaled.
● Similar species existing at various levels in a pyramid are not considered.