ECOSYSTEM

Presented By: Neha Rinkal Megha

ECOSYSTEM
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the non living, physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact such as soil, water, and sunlight.

ECOSYSTEM CHART
ECOSYSTEM ABIOTIC COMPONENTS CLIMATIC EDAPHIC PRODUCERS BIOTIC COMPONENTS CONSUMERS DECOMPOSERS

RAIN

SOIL

PRIMARY

LIGHT

pH

SECONDARY

WIND

MINERALS

TERTIARY

TEMPERATURE

TOPOGRAPHY

QUATERNARY

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS
The non living factors or the physical environment prevailing in the ecosystem form the abiotic components.

BIOTIC COMPONENTS
The living organism including plants, animals and micro-organisms that are present in an ecosystem form the biotic components.

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS
Abiotic components are of 2 types: CLIMATIC FACTOR: Include rain, temperature, light, ind, humidity. EDAPHIC FACTOR: Include soil Ph, topography, minerals.

BIOTIC COMPONENTS
Biotic components are of three groups: PRODUCERS CONSUMERS DECOMPOSERS

PRODUCERS
The green plants have chlorophyll with the help of which they trap solar energy and change it into chemical energy of carbohydrates using simple inorganic compounds namely water and carbon dioxide. This process is known as photosynthesis. As the green plants manufacture their own food they are known as autotrophs.

CONSUMERS
The animals lack chlorophyll and are unable to synthesis their own food. The depend on the producers for their food. They are known as heterotrophs. The consumers are of four types: Primary consumers Secondary consumers Tertiary consumers Quaternary consumers

DECOMPOSERS
Bacteria and fungi belong to this category. they break down the dead organic materials of producers and consumers for their food and release to the environment the simple inorganic and organic substances produced as byproducts of their metabolism.

ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
The phenomenon of transition from one Biotic community to another is called ecological or natural succession. Succession occurs because the physical environment may be gradually modified by the growth of the Biotic community itself, such that the area becomes more favourable to another group of species and less favourable to the present occupants.

 A stage of development is reached during which there appears to be a dynamic balance between all species and the physical environment. This final stage is referred to as a CLIMAX ECOSYSTEM. Natural succession may be seen as a progression towards a relatively more stable climax.

ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION

TYPES OF SUCCESSION
Succession

Primary Succession

Secondary Succession

Aquatic Succession

PRIMARY SUCCESSION
The process of initial invasion and then the progression from one Biotic community, to the next is termed Primary Succession. Example: The gradual invasion of a bare rock surface by what eventually becomes a climax forest ecosystem.

PRIMARY SUCCESSION

SECONDARY SUCCESSION
When area has been cleared by fire or by humans and then left alone, the surronding ecosystem may gradually reinvade the areanot at once, but through a series of distinct stages termed secondary succession.The major difference between primary and secondary succession is that secondary succession starts with the pre-existing soil substrate.

SECONDARY SUCCESSION

ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
Ecological pyramids is a unique concept in the ecosystem. Each system has a specific trophic level structure in terms of its producers and consumers. The number of organisms at one trophic level is higher than the next successive level. This phenomenon results because smaller animals have a higher productive potential than the larger animals. Consequently, size of food, amount of food, availability of food, structural and feeding adjustments, methods of locomotion, breeding requirements and shift in the population between strata and community are involved in the formation of Ecological Pyramid.

TYPES OF PYRAMID
ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS

Pyramid of Numbers

Pyramid of Biomass

Pyramid of Energy

PYRAMID OF NUMBERS
British ecologist Charles Elton (1927) used a proverb to explain this concept, one hill cannot shelter two lions. In other words, a carnivore sits at the top of the food chain. There is not enough energy to support more than a few carnivores. The food chain accompanied by energy losses at each step can be visualized as a static pyramid.

PYRAMID OF NUMBERS

PYRAMID OF BIOMASS
Total dry weight, calorie value or the other suitable measurement of total living material at one time in a food chain forms a pyramid of biomass. In a grassland or forest ecosystem, there is gradual decrese in biomass of organisms at successive levels from producers to consumers. However, in a pond, producers are small organisms, so their biomass is also less. But the primary and secondary consumers are bigger, so their biomass is more.

PYRAMID OF BIOMASS

PYRAMID OF ENERGY
When the production of a commodity is measured in terms of energy, we find that a pyramid is formed starting from the producer to tertiary consumers. It indicates that less energy is transferred fron each trophical level than that was put into it. Energy pyramid gives the best information on the nature of ecosystem. The pyramid of energy is a picture of states of passage of food mass through the food chain. There is always a gradual decrease in the energy content at successive levels from the producers to consumers.

PYRAMID OF ENERGY

FOOD CHAIN
A food chain shows how each living thing gets its food. Some animals eat plants and some animals eat other animals. A food chain always starts with a plant life an ends with a animal life. The animals that eat only plant are called herbivores. Animals that eat another animals are called carnivores . Plants are called producers because they are able to use light energy from the Sun to produce food (sugar) from carbon dioxide and water.

Animals cannot make their own food so they must eat plants and/or other animals. They are consumers. There are three groups of consumers. In a food chain energy is passed from one link to another. Organisms along a food called chain pass on much less energy than they receive . In food chain there are only four or five links. There cannot be so many links in a single food chain because at the end of the food chain the animal would not get enough food to stay alive.

Most animals are part of more than one food chain and eat more than one kind of food in order to meet their food and energy requirements. A change in the size of one populations will affect other populations. This interdependence of the populations within a food chain helps to maintain the balance of plant and animal populations within a community. Food chain follows a single path .

FOOD WEB
Food web show how plants and animals are connected in many ways to help them all survive. A true food web that considers all the plants and animals in a system is bound to be unwieldy and confusing . They all are connected. One doesnt find simple independent food chain in an ecosystem. A food web shows transformations in an ecosystem.

TYPES & CHARACTERISTICS

One qaurter of Earths surface is covered with grasslands. They are found every continent except ANTARTICA. They develop where there isnt enough rain for forests but too much rain for deserts. They are filled with grass. The annual rainfall ranges between 25 to 75cm and is usually seasonal. Temperatures are moderate. The dominant plant species are short and tall grasses and other flowering plants. The soil of these grasslands are often have a deep organic layer.

STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

The different components of a grassland ecosystem are: Abiotic Component These are the nutrients present in the soil and other components present in the air. The basic elements are supplied by carbon dioxide,water,nitrogen,sulphates etc.All these are present in atmosphere and soil of that location.

 Biotic Components

The producers are mainly grasses,herbs and shrubs. Primary consumers feed directly on grass. All the grazing animals as well as termites & insects come under this category. The secondary consumers feed on these primary consumers and includes snakes, lizards etc. The tertiary consumers feed on the secondary consumers like:eagles and vultures. The micro organisms consume the dead bodies and bring nutrients back to the soil.

TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS

Except Antartica and Europe every continent has atleast one desert. Clouds scarce in these regions. The deserts gets mighty hot during the day because the sun beats down on the sand. At night, the desert gets very cold there arent any clouds around to keep the heat from escaping to the atmosphere. There are many different types of deserts some made of very fine, red sand, other consists of sand mixed with pebbles and rocks. These sands are mostly minerals, and sometimes oil can be found hidden deep within the rocks.

STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

The different components of desert ecosystem are: Abiotic Component The abiotic components includes the nutrients present in the soil and the aerial environment.The characteristic feature of the abiotic component is lack of organic matter in the soil and scarcity of water.

 Biotic Components The various biotic components representing three functional groups are: Producer Organisms The producers are mainly shrubs or bushes, some grasses and a few trees. Many species of plants are succulents ie: they store water. The most famous plant is saguaro cactus. It has a thick, waxy layer that protects stored water from the sun. Others succulents are the desert rose and the living rock.

 Consumers These include animals such as insects and reptiles. Besides them, some rodents,birds and some mammalian vertebrates are also found. Locust is also found in the desert and is like a grasshopper and is a destructive pest. Yucca moth carries pollen from flower to the stigma. Frilled lizards and Rattle snakes are found in the deserts. Roadrunner is the most well known desert bird. Galahs are also found in the desert and they lat eggs depending upon the climate. Camels are the cars of the desert.

 Decomposers
Due to poor vegetation the amount of dead organic matter is very less. As a result the decomposers are very few. The common decomposers are bacteria and fungi, most of which are thermophillic.