Types of Ecosystem

Dr Aditya Sharma Ghrera

Assistant Professor
INTRODUCTION

TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM
Forest
Grassland
Desert

AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM
Characteristic features of forest ecosystem

Forest ecosystem is a type of terrestrial ecosystem. The word forest is derived from the
word “foris” which means “outside” or large natural terrestrial area outside the human
habitats, but occupied by the wild plants and animals is called forest.

In an ideal ecosystem there should by 33% forest, 33% wild

animals and 33% human beings but due to increase in population
forest is converted to agricultural land and agriculture land to
residential colonies.
Characteristic features of forest ecosystem

Forest has community of plants having trees, shrubs, herbs and climbers. Forest trees
show random growth they do not grow in rows as observed in plantation by man. We
should remember that man can plant trees but he cannot grow a forest because forest is
an ecosystem having its own producers, consumers and decomposers. It means that a
forest is a natural ecosystem. It is pitiable to note that man can destroy a forest but he
cannot grow a forest.
Structure of forest ecosystem

According to Odum each ecosystem has following components:-

Components of Ecosystem
Abiotic or Non-living
(i) Inorganic nutrients (ii) Organic compounds (iii) Climatic factors
Biotic or Living
(i) Producers (ii) Consumers (iii) Decomposers
Abiotic or Non-living component

Amount of aboitic components present in an ecosystem at a given time is called

standing stage while the amount of biotic components is called standing crop.
The amount of biotic components and other abiotic conditions decide the type of
forest. The forest on mountains and hills differ from those along river valleys.
The amount of rainfall and local temperature which varies along latitude and altitude as
well as soil type also decide the type of forest vegetation.
Biotic or Living component

Producers- They include green plants in form of trees, shrubs, herbs and climbers. Trees
like Teak and Sal belonging to flowering plants and Pines, Deodar and Canada Balsam
belong to Gymnosperm.
The common shrubs are Hibiscus tiliaceous, Acacia, Catechu, Pandanus tectorius,
Grewia asiatica, carissa spinarum.
The common herbs are crinum asiaticum, cassiatora, cassia occidentalis and grasses like
Themeda, Cymbopogon, Heteropogon, Sehima & Apluda.
Biotic or Living component

Consumers- Primary consumers are herbivores like Beetles, Ants, Grasshoppers, Rabit,
Deer, Neelgai. Secondary consumers are carnivores like Birds, Snakes, Lizards, Fox,
Jackal. Tertiary consumers are wolves. Quaternary or top most consumers are Tiger and
Lion.
Biotic or Living component

Decomposers- forest is rich in decomposers like bacteria and fungi. The forest floor has
large amount of decaying matter such as fallen leaves, dung and dead animals. They are
decomposed by filamentous bacteria like Actinomycetes. Bactria like Bacillus are
Pseudomonas and Fungi like Aspergilles, Fusarium and Alternaria.
Forest types in India

Depending upon the leaves forest are divided in two types:

1. Coniferous Forests
2. Broad leaved Forests
Coniferous Forests

They grow in Himalayan region & mountain regions where the temperature is very low.
The forests have tall stately trees with needle like leaves and downward sloping
branches so that snow can slip off the branches. They bear cones instead of flowers.
They produce seeds but no fruits that mean their seeds are naked or not enclosed inside
the fruit. Due to naked seeds they are called Gymnosperms. The common trees are
Pines, Deodar, Junipers, Abies, Cryptomeria cupressus and Taxus. The common animals
of this forest are wild goat and sheep. Himalayan black bear. Some rare animals of
coniferous forests are snow leopard, Himalayan brown bear, musk deer, Himalayan wolf.
Broad leaved Forests

The trees have broad leaves.

They are of following types:-
a) Evergreen forests
b) Deciduous forests
c) Thorn forests
d) Mangrove forests
a) Evergreen forests

They grow in high rainfall areas of Western Ghats, North Eastern India and Andaman
Nicobar Islands. In these areas monsoon period is very long. Some places even get two
monsoons as in Southern India. Evergreen does not mean that there is no leaf fall.
Actually its meaning is that leaf fall is gradual so that most of the leaves continue on the
plants through the year. The trees overlap with each other to form continuous canopy.
b) Deciduous forest

Rainfall moderate and for few months. The trees shed their leaves during the winter and
hot summer months. In April they regain their fresh leaves just before monsoon, when
they show rapid growth in response to rains. Thus there are two clear periods of rainfall
and canopy regrowth. Light can penetrate easily till the forest floor therefore they show
undergrowth of shrubs and herbs. The vegetation shows three stories – i) herbs ii)
shrubs iii) trees.
b) Deciduous moist forest

These forest occur along coast of Western Ghats, Terrai region of U.P. and Bihar, Orissa
and Eastern M.P. These area receive heavy rainfall upto 100 to 200 cms. The rainfall is
restricted to few months and dry season is long and intense. By April-May most of trees
shed their leaves. The common plants are Pterocapus, Terminalia bilata, salmalia, Albizia
and Bamboo in patches. Cane palm is a common climber.
c) Thorn and scrub forest

These are common in Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan and Western Gujrat. The temperature
is high and rainfall is low. The common plants are Bamboo, Babool, Ber, Neem and
Carrissa. The common animals are Chinkara, Blackbuck, 4 horned antelopes, Patridge,
Monitor lizard.Some of rare animals are Bustard and Florican.
d) Mangrove delta forest

These forests grow along river deltas especially along the rivers like Krishna, Godavari
and Ganges. In Bengal Sundarban Delta is named of Sundari tree – heritiera fomes.
The common plants are Avicinea, Pandanus, Nipa fruticans, and Sundari tree. This
vegetation is halophytic hence it is called mangrove vegetation. Rhizophora conjugate,
Sonneratia apetala, Aegiceros and Acanthus also common in this forest.
Threats to forest ecosystem

Population growth
Urbanization and industrialization
Agriculture expansion
Mining
Dam construction
DESERT ECOSYSTEM

The word Desert is derived from the word ‘desertaire’ which means abandoned.
Deserts
are of two types:
(a) Hot deserts such as Sahara in Africa and Thar in India.
(b) Cold deserts such as Laddakh and Antarctica.
It is therefore difficult to have a uniform definition of desert.
DESERT ECOSYSTEM

On the basis of climate as well as vegetation, a desert is an area in which the annual
potential evapotranspiration is greatly in excess of the annual rainfall, where the
development of biota is over a substantial part of the year largely limited by the
availability of water and where vegetation is sparse.
Desert habitat is scorched, wind scoured, waterless, endless and with wide gaps without
shelter and still plants. Animal and human population continues to thrive inspite of
hostility.
Location

In the world, deserts are located in two discontinuous belts, one in the northern and
the other in the southern hemisphere roughly centered along the tropic of cancer and
tropic of Capricorn between 15° and 35° latitudes with their greatest development
being on the polar side. Deserts are spread over 17% part of land. Areas with less than
25 cm rainfall per year are called hot deserts while those covered with snow are called
cold deserts or Tundra.
Desert regions of Northern hemisphere

Some of the important desert regions of the Northern hemisphere are:

(1) North American Desert: This includes Western Colorado and Arizona. Main plants of this region are
Yucca and Carnegia .
(2) Sahara Desert: It is the largest desert on the earth, located in Africa. It is spread over an area of 48
million km to 5.6 million km covering almost the entire northern Africa. There are mountains and sandy
areas. Ephemeral herbs like Argemone and Solanum are commonly found.
(3) Iranian Desert: It includes some areas of Iran, Afghanistan and Baluchistan. The winters are cold and
the summers are hot. Artemissia herba-alba is the common herb.
Desert regions of Northern hemisphere:

(5) Turkistan Desert: It is located in Russia. It has very harsh climate where the temperature in
summers goes as high as 46°c and in winters it may drop to -40°c. Poa bulbosa and Aristida are the
common grasses.
(6) Thar Desert: It is located in Rajasthan (India) and popularly known as the Indian desert. Sand dunes
are the common feature. Common plants are Haloxylon, Euphorbia caducifolia and Aaristida.
(7) Takla-Makan Desert: Located in Central Asia in the territory of Tibet. Halophytic vegetation occurs in
old valleys.
(8) Gobi Desert: This is also located in Central Asia. Mountains and sand dunes are the common
features.
Desert regions of Southern Hemisphere

Some of the main deserts of southern hemisphere are:

(1) Australian Desert: About half of the Australian continent is arid having desert conditions. Some
deserts are sandy and some are stony. The most common plant is the grass known as Spinifex and small
trees & shrubs like Acacia.
(2) Kalahari Namib Desert: It extends from Angola to St. Halena Bay in South Africa. Average rainfall is
less than 5 cm per year but it remains covered with sea fog and dew. The vegetation includes leafless
plants and succulents.
Desert regions of Southern Hemisphere

(3) Potagonian Desert: It is spread between Argentina and the eastern base of Andes. It experiences low
rainfall from 15 to 30 cm per year. The vegetation is dominated by xerophytic grasses and low cushion type
shrubs.
(4) Atacama Peruvian Desert: It is located between Chile and Peru. The annual rainfall is less than 1 cm. It is
the driest coastal desert of the world. The common plant is tillandsia. A few lichens are also observed.
Deserts in Indian subcontinent: Apart from the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, Indian continent has arid and
semi-arid regions in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Maharashtra, Punjab,
Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
Structure of Dry desert ecosystem

The chief controlling climatic factor for the formation of deserts is low rainfall. The

rainfall is usually less than 25 cm per year and not uniform. The temperature in the

days is very high and the nights are cold. Only 10% of the land area is occupied by

trees, plants, shrubs and herbs.

Just like the other ecosystems, the desert ecosystem also has three components:

Producers, Consumers and Decomposers.

The Producers

The producers of dry desert ecosystem are green plants popularly designated as
Xerophytes. The Xerophytes are of four types:
(a) Drought escaping or Ephemerals: They have a very short life span of 4 to 6 weeks.
Their seeds germinate during the rains, produce roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and
seeds within 1 to 2 months and disappear before the onset of the dry conditions. For
example: scilla.
The Producers

(b) Drought evading: These plants are very small in size. They have a restricted
growth and require very low amount of water for their growth and development. In
view of their small size, they conserve whatever little moisture they get and thus
avoid droughts. Their life span is 4 to 6 months or hardly 1 year. For example:
Argemone and Solanum.
The Producers

(c) Drought enduring: These are slow growing shrubs or small trees. They grow
extremely restricted and their leaves are reduced to leaflets. For example, Aacacia
nilotica and Acacia leucophloea. Capparis deciduas is a leafless shrub. Australian
acacia shows petiole modified to phyllode. Those plants which bear leaves
become leafless during dry weather. They resume growth when the water is again
available to their roots during the rainfall. Thus they endure droughts by some
adaptations to overcome unfavorable seasons.
The Producers

(d) Drought resisting: They are succulent plants with thick and fleshy stems and
leaves. They are actually hoarders with plenty of water during rainy season in their
stems which becomes modified to phylloclade e.g. opuntia and cactus. In
Bryophyllum, Aloe and Agave, the leaves are fleshy.
The Consumers

The consumers are different categories such as the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary

consumers.

The primary consumers or herbivores are Camels, Sheep and Wild ass.

Secondary consumers are Toads, Frogs, Desert cats, Desert fox and the birds like

great Indian bustard, florican and quail.

Tertiary consumers are lizard, snake, wolf etc.

Structure of Cold desert ecosystem or Tundra
ecosystem
Tundra means marshy plains. Tundra occurs on soil that is disturbed by periodic
freezing and thawing of water. The soil is almost permanently frozen up to 10-20 cm
deep down the surface. The surface of the soil is spongy and uneven. In some tundra
regions of the Arctic, the permanently frozen soil is called as ‘premafrost’ a short
distance below the surface of the ground.
Biotic components of Cold desert ecosystem or
Tundra ecosystem
The producers are lichen like cladonia (popularly known as reindeer moss), mosses,
grasses and dwarf Betula and Salix. The cause of dwarfism is the snow-storms
throughout the year.
Primary consumers or herbivores are Reindeer, Yak, Polar deer, Musk deer and
Antelope. Penguin the flightless bird is common herbivore.
Secondary consumers are carnivores like Polar beer and Polar wolf.
All animals are covered with thick fur for protection from snow.
Decomposers are fungi and bacteria.
Uses of Desert ecosystem

Areas of scarce vegetation with semiarid, scrubland are used for ‘browsing’ by camel
and grazing by goat and sheep in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Areas with little moisture are used for growing crops like Sorghum (Jawar) and pearl
millet (Bajra). The natural grasses and local variety of crops adapted to low moisture
conditions can be used for Genetic engineering and dry farming.
Threats to Desert ecosystem

Human activities are destroying the authenticity of desert ecosystem. Nuclear test in
Pokharan desert has disturbed the producers and consumers of this area. Several
desert areas have been brought under cultivation through expansion of irrigation.
Canal water evaporates rapidly and leaves behind the salt which results in Saline or
oosar soil (unproductive). Too meet out the demand of water, deep tube wells are
dug which lowers the water table creating more drier atmosphere. The special
species which evolved here over millions of years have the risk of becoming extinct.
How Desert ecosystem can be conserved

Desert ecosystem is extremely sensitive. Their ecological balance that forms the
habitat for their flora and fauna is very easily disturbed. Desert people have
traditionally protected their meager water resources. The Bishnoi tribe of Rajasthan
is known to have protected their Khejdi trees (acacia leucophloea) and the blackbuck
antelope for several generations through the movement of hugging with tree-trunks
and even by sacrificing their lives. This movement has now been revived under the
name ‘Chipko movement’.
GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM

Grasslands, also called rangelands provide forage and habitat to the grazing animals
and wildlife. In the rural areas, dried hay is collected from grasslands especially the
tall grasses are used as fuel, fodder and thatching material. Grasses are very good
soil binders due to extensive fibrous roots and thereby significantly reducing the soil
erosion.
GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM

In India, the area under various kinds of grass cover is estimated to be 18 to 19

percent of the total land. The annual production of dry grass or hay is about 250
million tons.
Growing grasses along with forest trees like Teak and Sal is called agroforestry in
which the ground floor of soil is used for growing grasses.
In grassland ecosystem, the rainfall is from 25 to 75 cm per year. In such a low
amount of rainfall the big trees can’t survive.
Grasslands in temperate regions

Grasslands in temperate regions are pure grasslands without trees. They have been
given different names such as:
(a) Prairies in North America
(b) Steppes in Eurasia
(c) Pampas in Argentina
(d) Tussock in New Zealand
Grasslands in temperate regions

Grasslands in temperate regions are pure grasslands without trees. They have been
given different names such as:
(a) Prairies in North America
(b) Steppes in Eurasia
(c) Pampas in Argentina
(d) Tussock in New Zealand
Biotic Components: Producers

Green plants are always producers because they have the capacity to produce foods
like carbohydrates by combining simple substances like carbon dioxide and water in
the presence of the sunlight, the process is called Photosynthesis. The
common producers ‘Grasses’ of Indian grasslands are Dicanthium, Sehima,
Phrqgmites, Saccharum, Cynodon, Cymbopogon etc. The common shrubs and trees
of Savanna grasslands as observed in India are Prosopis, Zizyphus, Capparis, Acacia
and Butea.
Biotic Components: Consumers

Primary consumers are the herbivores like rabbit, goat, sheep, dear, horse, cow,
buffalo, nilgai etc. Several insects like grasshoppers, leafhoppers are also common.
Spiders are also found in plenty. Burrowing herbivores like rats are also found in
plenty.
Secondary consumers are carnivores like snakes, fox, jackals and wild dogs.
Tertiary consumers are wolf, panther and birds like kite, vulture and peacock.
Biotic Components:Decomposers

These include bacteria and fungi which act upon the dead bodies of producers and
consumers and return minerals locked in them to the soil.
Grasslands of India

Grasslands form a variety of Ecosystem which is located in different climatic

conditions ranging from near desert conditions to the patches of Shola grassland
that occur on hill slopes alongside the extremely moist evergreen forests in south
India.
Grasslands of India

The Himalayan forests show grasses mixed with conifers. There are tracts of tall
elephants grass in the low lying Terai belt of Himalayan foothills. The animals migrate
up to the high altitude grasslands in summers and move downwards in the forests
when the snow covers the grasslands. This Ecosystem supports several endangered
species of animals such as tigers, elephants, rhino etc. Other common animals are
wild ass, hangul, Kashmir stag, langur and pigmy hog.
Functions of Grassland Ecosystem

Grasslands are the grazing areas for many rural communities. Farmers who keep
cattle and goats as well as shepherds who keep sheep are highly dependent on
grasslands. Domestic animals are grazed on the common land of the village. Dry
grasses are collected as fodder and stored to feed the cattle in the summers when
there is no grass left for them in grasslands. Grass is also used to thatch houses and
farm sheds. Thorny bushes and trees in Savanna grasslands of India are used as fuel
wood.
Functions of Grassland Ecosystem

Most of the grasses in tropical countries like India are C4 plants. They can use even
the minimum amount of Carbon dioxide present in air. They start photosynthesis
even when the Carbon dioxide in air is 1-10 ppm where as C3 plants like Soybean
requires 50-150 ppm. The production of C4 plants is more and most of the grasses
occupy this category. Cynodon, popularly known as Bermuda grass or Dub grass is
the common plant observed throughout the world. In India, it has some religious
value also as it is offered to some Gods.
Threats to Grassland ecosystem

Why are our grassland species disappearing?

Several grasslands species have disappeared from several parts of India in which
they were found 50 to 60 years ago. The wolf is now highly threatened. The black
buck and chinkara are poached for their meat. Birds such as great Indian bustard are
vanishing due to degradation of grasslands ecosystem.
Threats to Grassland ecosystem

Due to disappearance of grasses, several wild grasses will also disappear. Our
present day wheat ‘Triticum aestivum’ has originated by cross between two wild
grasses:-
Triticum monococcum and Aegilops squarrosa. Grasses are important for developing
new varieties of crop plants. Genes from wild herbivores like wild sheep; wild goat
may be used for developing new strains of domestic animals.
How can grassland ecosystem be conserved?

1. Different grasslands to be declared as National parks and Sanctuaries where not

only grasses shall be protected by animals like wolf, animals like Chinkara and birds
like Bustard and Floricous will be conserved.
2. Awareness should be created in the common man about the long term
advantages of grassland ecosystem.
3. Keeping grasslands alive should be a National priority.
4. Grasslands shouldn’t be converted to Industrial areas.
5. Grazing should be allowed by rotation.
6. Fires should be controlled.
THANKS