ECO-SYSTEM

MADE BYONKAR ATHELKAR (101)DYOTAN ENGINEER (111)KAPIL MAGGO (128)BINJAL SHAH (146)SAGAR SANGHANI (144)PRIYANKA VYAS (160)PRIYANKA HINGORANI (163)ASHISH MENON (134)

Definition

“An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the living

organisms or Biotic component, in a particular area, and the non-living,

or Abiotic component such as air, soil, water and sunlight with which the

organisms interact.”

ECOSYSTEM

ABIOTIC FACTOR

S

Sunlight

Water

Soil

BIOTICFACTOR

S

Primary

Herbivourous

Carnivourous

Omnivourous

Types of Ecosystem

Natural

Forest

Grassland

Aquatic

Desert

Artificial

Terrestrial

Microbial

Aquatic

Types of ecosystem

Forest Ecosystem

Features

Types

Functions

• High rainfall • Large number of organisms &

Flora• Highly diverse population• Stability of ecosystem is very

sensitive

• Tropical evergreen forest• Tropical deciduous forest• Temperate evergreen forest• Temperate deciduous forest • Taiga

• Watershed Protection• Atmospheric regulation• Soil Erosion Control• Wind Erosion Control

Grassland Ecosystem

Features

Types

Functions

• Marginal rainfall• Vegetation is dominated

by grasses• Unimproved wild-plant

communities• Densely populated

• Tropical grassland• Temperate grassland• Others

• Grasslands provide food• Grasslands are breeding areas• Human habitat

Aquatic Ecosystem

Features

Types

Functions

• Low temperature and sunlight

• Soil and vegetation is submerged

• Flora and fauna had adapted

• Densely populated

• Ocean• Lotic• Lentic• Wetland

• Recycles nutrients• Purify water• Responsible for proper rainfall

• Attenuate floods• Recharge ground water 

Desert Ecosystems

Features

Types

Functions

• High temperature, intense sunlight and low water

• Flora and fauna are very poorly developed and scarce

• Organisms are xeric adaptive• Scarcely populated

• Sand desert• Stony desert• Rock desert• Plateau desert• Mountain desert• Cold desert

• Solar energy resource• Mineral resource

Functional Attributes• Performs under natural conditions in a systematic way• Energy, various nutrients and water are required for life

processes which are exchanged by biotic components within themselves and with abiotic components

The major functional attributes of an ecosystem are as follows

Food chain, Food webs, trophic structure Energy flow Cycling of nutrients(Biogeochemical cycles) Primary & Secondary production Ecosystem development & regulation

Types of food chains• Two major types of food chains

Grazing food chainIt starts with green plants and culminates in carnivores. Eg: grass-> rabbit-> fox.

Detritus food chainIt starts with dead organic matter which the detritivores and decomposers consume Eg: leaf litter-> algae-> crabs-> small fish-> large fish.

Food chain Food web(just 1 path of energy) (all possible energy

paths)

JHANSIRANI.R AP/ECE

Why food web instead of Food chain • Food webs give greater stability to the ecosystem• In food chain if one species becomes extinct or

one species suffers then the subsequent species in trophic level also affected

• In food web, there are no. of options available at each trophic level so if one species is affected it does not affect other trophic level

Significance of food chain and food webFood chain & food web play a significant role in ecosystem because, the important functions of energy flow & nutrient cycling takes place through them & maintains the ecological balance

Trophic Structure

Ecological pyramids• The standing crop, productivity, number of

organisms, etc. of an ecosystem can be conveniently depicted using “pyramids”, where the size of each compartment represents the amount of the item in each trophic level of a food chain.Pyramid of energy

• A pyramid of energy depicts the energy flow, or productivity, of each trophic level.

• Due to the Laws of Thermodynamics, each higher level must be smaller than lower levels, due to loss of some energy as heat (via respiration) within each level.

producersherbivorescarnivores

JHANSIRANI.R AP/ECE

JHANSIRANI.R AP/ECE

Pyramid of numbers

• A pyramid of numbers indicates the number of individuals in each trophic level

• Since the size of individuals may vary widely and may not indicate the productivity of that individual, pyramids of numbers say little or nothing about the amount of energy moving through the ecosystem

Pyramid of Standing Crop

• A pyramid of standing crop indicates how much biomass is present in each trophic level at any one time.

• As for pyramids of numbers, a pyramid of standing crop may not well reflect the flow of energy through the system, due to different sizes and growth rates of organisms.

Inverted pyramids

• A pyramid of standing crop (or of numbers) may be inverted, i.e., a higher trophic level may have a larger standing crop than a lower trophic level

• This can occur if the lower trophic level has a high rate of turnover of small individuals (and high rate of productivity), such that the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics are not violated

biomass of producersbiomass of herbivoresbiomass of carnivores

(at one point in time)

Pyramid of yearly biomass production

• If the biomass produced by a trophic level is summed over a year (or the appropriate complete cycle period), then the pyramid of total biomass produced must resemble the pyramid of energy flow, since biomass can be equated to energy.

producersherbivorescarnivores

Yearly biomass production(or energy flow) of:

Pyramid of yearly biomass production

• Note that pyramids of energy and yearly biomass production can never be inverted, since this would violate the laws of thermodynamics.

• Pyramids of standing crop and numbers can be inverted, since the amount of organisms at any one time does not indicate the amount of energy flowing through the system.

• E.g., consider the amount of food you eat in a year compared to the amount on hand in your pantry.

Ecosystem Management

• Ecosystem management is a process that aims to conserve

major ecological services and restore natural resources while

meeting the socioeconomic, political and cultural and needs

of current and future generations.

• The principal objective of ecosystem management is the

efficient maintenance and ethical use of natural resources

• Management objective is to ensure that the goods and

services from ecosystems and habitats are available on a

sustainable basis

• Controlling human actions and their impact on the ecosystem

is the focus of ecosystem management

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