Ecosystems

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❖ In this unit, we will discuss:
➢ Origin and characteristics of life
➢ Ecosystem and Ecology
➢ Structure and functions of ecosystem
• Functional aspects of an ecosystem
• Material/nutrient cycling in ecosystem
• Ecosystem productivity
➢ Ecological succession
➢ Ecosystem-examples
The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else
Barry Commoner, 1971 2
 1. Introduction
➢ Life is a characteristic combination of physical entities having biological
processes (signaling and self-sustaining processes).
➢ Various forms of life exist as - plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and
bacteria.
➢ Human beings stand at the top in the hierarchy of life.
➢ Biology is the primary science concerned with the study of life, although many
other sciences are also involved.
➢ Suppose, imagine a cat sitting on a table in your room and staring at you, or a
flower fresh and fragrant in a gamla. You know that the cat and the flower are
alive where as the table and the gamla aren’t.
➢ But if you examine the cat and the table or the flower and the gamla at atomic
and molecular levels, you will find that the differences between them blur.
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➢ Cats, tables and all other things are made of atoms and molecules which behave
according to the same physical laws.
➢ There is something that differentiates living organisms from non living things
though both are composed of atomic and molecular assemblages.
➢ This something is ‘life’. Cell is the basic unit of life. It is composed of
biochemical molecules.
➢ However, an organism is taken as the first living system.
➢ Living organisms must gather energy and materials from their surroundings to
build new molecules, grow in size, maintain and repair their parts and produce
offsprings.
➢ Some living organisms such as bacteria and protozoan consist of a single cell
(they are unicellular) whereas others such as fungi, plants and animals, consist
of large number of cells (they are multicellular).
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➢ A group of similar organisms (i.e. belonging to the same species) in a particular
area at a particular time is called Population.
➢ Number of populations (organisms of different species taken collectively) in an
area are called a community.
➢ An identical or distinguishable portion of the earth containing several
communities is called a biome.
➢ Entire zone on earth consisting of living organisms is known as Biosphere.
➢ Biosphere along with its environment is called Ecosphere.

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 2. Origin and Characteristics of Life
Extraterrestrial life:

➢ Earth is the only known planet to have life. It is because of its unique
environment which is also known as the life-support-system.
➢ Other locations within our Solar System that may host life include subsurface
Mars, the atmosphere of Venus and subsurface oceans on some of the moons of
the gas giant planets.
➢ Astro ecology experiments with meteorites show that Martian asteroids and
cometary materials are rich in inorganic elements and may be fertile soils for
microbial, algal and plant life, for past and future life in our and other solar
systems.
➢ Some people believe that the life originated somewhere else and then transferred
to Earth in the form of spores via meteorites, comets, or cosmic dust.
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 Origin and Characteristics of Life

➢ Owing to its unique environment, the earth is the only planet to harbor life:
➢ On the earth we can find living organisms from the poles to the equator, from the
bottom of the sea to several miles in the air, from freezing waters to dry valleys.
➢ Over the last 3.7 billion years or so, living organisms on the Earth have diversified
and adopted to diverse environmental conditions.
➢ The diversity of life is truly amazing, but all living organisms do share certain
similarities.
➢ All living organisms can replicate, and the replicator molecule is DNA.
➢ Earlier, living organisms were divided into two kingdoms: animal and vegetable,
or the Animalia and the Plantae.

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➢ Now the most often used scheme divides all living organisms into five
kingdoms:
• Monera (bacteria),
• Protista,
• Fungi,
• Plantae, and
• Animalia.
➢ This coexisted with a scheme dividing life into two main divisions: the
Prokaryotes (bacteria, etc.) and the eukaryotes (animals, plants, fungi, and
protists (euglena)).
➢ Another type of biological entities, the viruses, are not organisms in the same
sense as other living organisms are. However, they are of considerable
biological importance.

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➢ Only about 1.4M species have so far been enlisted and only 2.5 to 12% of the
total number of species on the earth are described.
➢ No one knows the exact number of species present on the earth.
➢ Scientists, however, believe it to be somewhere between 10M to 80M

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Levels of organization:

➢ The entire world around us is made up of

• Space,
• Matter, and
• Energy

➢ Space is expressed in terms of area etc. and is present everywhere around.

➢ Everything around us is made up of some substances or materials called
matter. This matter is expressed in terms of mass.
➢ Energy is present in the universe as an important ingredient that makes
this world functional.
➢ Space, matter and energy are the subject matter of various Physical
Sciences.
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➢ Atom is the lowest level of organization in the living world and non-living world
while biosphere is the highest level of organization in the living world.
➢ Atoms, molecules and chemical compounds are nonliving but are very important
for life.
➢ Life starts at the level of cells which form tissues and organs.
➢ An organism is the first living entity for ecological studies.
➢ Populations, communities, ecosystems and the entire biosphere are the study area
of ecology/environmental studies.
➢ Each level in this hierarchy of biological organization is unique in its structure and
function and shows additional properties than those of its lower level.
➢ At every level there emerge some unique properties, also known as emergent
properties, which are always more than the properties of its constituent parts taken
together.
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Life on the earth: Levels of organization
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 3. Ecosystem
➢ Life does not exist in space or
isolation. It needs a substratum
which provides space, necessary
substances and favourable
conditions for living organisms.
➢ In an area, the community of
living organisms interacts with its
physical environment to form a
definite structural and functional
system.
➢ This structural and functional
unit of life in nature is called an
Ecological System or simply an
Ecosystem.
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➢ The term ecology has been derived from a Greek word
• ‘oikos’ (Oikos=household/habitat; logos=study).
➢ The word “ecology” (“Ökologie”) was coined in 1866 by the German scientist
Ernst Haeckel.
• It relates to the scientific study of organisms or groups of organisms in
their natural habitat.
➢ The science of ecology is often categorized as a branch of biosciences that
studies the interactions among organisms and their environment, such as the
interactions organisms have with each other and with their abiotic environment.
➢ Earlier, two other terms viz. ethology and hexicology were also used for such
studies but the newer term ecology predominated.

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➢ Different ecologists have defined Ecology in different ways:
• Ecology is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of
animals. (Andrewartha,1961)
• Study of interactions of form, function and factors is ecology.
(R. Mishra, 1967)
• Study of structure and function of nature may be defined as ecology.
(Odum, 1971)
• The Scientific study of the interactions that determine the distribution and
abundance of organisms is known as ecology. (Krebs,1985)
• Ecology is the study of the relationships between organisms and the
totality of the physical and biological factors affecting them or influenced
by them. (Pianka, 1988)

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➢ Ecology can be divided into various subdivisions such as:
On the basis of taxonomic affinities
• Plant Ecology- Study of interrelationships of plants with their environment.
• Animal Ecology- Study of interrelationships of animals with their environment
Based on habitat:
Habitat ecology-Study of habitats and their effects upon the organisms.
Based on levels of organization:
Autecology- ecological study of one species of organisms.
Synecology-ecological studies of more than one species of organisms.
Population ecology-Study of interactions between individuals of same species.
Community ecology-Study of interactions between individuals of different species.
Biome ecology-Study of interaction between different communities of a biome.
Ecosystem ecology-Study of interactions between the biotic and abiotic components
of an eco-system. 16
Based on specialized fields of ecology:
Freshwater ecology: Study of interactions among freshwater organisms.
Marine ecology: Study of interactions among marine organisms.
Zoogeography: Geographic distribution of animals.
Phytogeography: Geographic distribution of plants.
Statistical ecology: Statistical studies on population, sampling techniques and
community problem.
Estuarine ecology: Study of interactions among estuarine organisms.
Terrestrial ecology: Study of interactions among terrestrial (land) organisms.

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➢ Now, coming back to the ecosystem.
• An ecosystem is a spatial and organizational unit which is formed by the
interactions of living organisms with each other and with their physical
environment.
• Thus, the community of living organisms (plants, animals and micro-
organisms) in any area taken together with their non-living environmental
components (such as soil, air and water) forms an ecosystem.
➢ A pond, grassland, garden, forest, etc are the common examples of ecosystem.
The earth’s living organisms interacting with their physical environment (i.e.,
biosphere) may be considered as a giant and vast ecosystem.
➢ On the contrary a small pool of water containing certain forms of living
organisms (such as plants, insects, microorganisms, etc) may also be regarded as
an ecosystem.
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➢ The term “ecosystem” was first used by a British ecologist Arthur Tansley in 1935.
He explained the concept of ecosystem which can be summarized as:
• When both, biotic and abiotic components are considered, the basic structural and
functional units of nature are ecosystems.
• There exist varying degrees of positive or negative or even neutral interactions
among organisms at both interspecific and intraspecific levels (within the
members of same species or between the members of different species).
• Energy is the driving force of this system. Energy flow is unidirectional and
noncyclic.
• There operate biogeochemical cycles in the ecosystem. This movement of
nutrients within an ecosystem is always cyclic.
• The limiting factors of environment govern the successful growth of organisms.
Under natural conditions, different kinds of populations undergo succession.
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A. Types of ecosystems:

➢ Biosphere is the largest and an all encompassing ecosystem.

➢ However, it is difficult to handle this huge system for ecological studies.
➢ It is for our convenience that we have divided this big ecosystem into smaller
ecosystems based on our own spatial considerations.
➢ Ellenberg (1973) classified the world into a hierarchy of ecosystems.
➢ After biosphere, next lower level is mega-ecosystem such as marine
ecosystems (seas, oceans, lakes, etc.), limnic ecosystems (fresh water
ecosystems) semi terrestrial (ecosystems of wet soil and air), terrestrial and
urban-industrial ecosystems (cropland, city, etc.).
➢ Lower to mega ecosystems is, macro ecosystems as forest within a mega-
ecosystem.
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➢ Meso-ecosystems (such as a deciduous broad leaved forest), micro
ecosystems and nano-ecosystems are still lower levels of ecosystem.
➢ These lower level ecosystems are spatially contained within another
(higher level) ecosystem but show certain individuality of their own.

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In a simpler way ecosystems can broadly be categorized as under:
I. Terrestrial ecosystems: all the ecosystems on land such as a forest, a
desert, grassland, a cropland, etc.
II. Aquatic ecosystems: all the ecosystems where the dominant factor is
water such as a pond, a lake, a river, a spring, a lake, a sea, an ocean, etc.
III. Natural ecosystems: all the naturally occurring ecosystems where man’s
interruption is thought mainly to be unwarranted such as a forest,
grassland, river, etc.
IV. Artificial ecosystems: all the ecosystems which are created and managed
by man such as a cropland, a garden, a pond, etc.

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 e.g. Garden, crops,
aquarium, Farmland etc.,

Various types of ecosystems

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 4. Structure and functions Ecosystem

➢ A system is a collection of interdependent parts and/or events that make up a

whole.
➢ A computer for example has its constituent parts such as CPU, monitor, input
devices, etc. which together make it a system.
➢ Similarly, a radio set, a mobile phone, a watch, a car or any other machine
are examples of system.
➢ A computer works only when all of its constituent parts are in proper order
and function appropriately. Every part has its specific functioning but all
parts function together in the system, say a computer, radio or car to make it
a functional system.
➢ The whole system fails to function unless there is some kind of input from
the outside.
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➢ System having received some input acts to produce some output. For the
computer, radio or car inputs are electric power and petrol and output are a
printout, sound and speed.
➢ Like any other system, ecosystem too has its structural and functional
attributes. It too requires input and produces output.
➢ Energy from the sun forms the input for an ecosystem. It works and
produces output called ecosystem productivity.

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A. Structural aspects of an ecosystem

➢ The physical components of an ecosystem, their inter-relationships and the

resultant configuration constitute the structure of an ecosystem.
➢ This structural framework can be expressed in simple categorization
(abiotic, biotic, producers, consumers, etc) of various components or in
graphical representations such as food chains, food web, ecological
pyramids, etc.
❖ As an ecosystem is not only a biological entity. It is composed of
following types of general components
• Abiotic Component
• Biotic Component

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Schematic representation - Structural aspects of an ecosystem 27
I. Abiotic Components

➢ It is the portion of an ecosystem that is non living. Rocks, soil, gases,

water, temperatures, winds, other forces, etc. are abiotic component of
ecosystem.
➢ It is, thus, also said to be the aggregate of environmental factors and
includes:

• Climatic factors such as rainfall, humidity, temperature, light.

• Topographic factors such as altitude, slope, direction of mountain
ranges etc.
• Edaphic factors such as soil composition, soil texture, soil biota etc.

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➢ These abiotic components/environmental factors in an ecosystem are capable
of bringing marked distributional, structural and functional changes in
organisms.
➢ An organism requires harmonious relationship with its immediate
environment for its proper growth, reproduction, etc.
➢ The difference between the types of vegetation or consumers of a desert and a
rain forest indicates the role of environmental factors on the distribution
and survival of organisms in different ecosystems.
➢ These environmental factors exhibit diurnal, seasonal, annual and cyclic
variations to which the organisms are subjected.

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II. Biotic Components

➢ Biotic components are the living entities in an ecosystem. They include all the
microbes, animals, plants and their products. They can be categorized as:
a) Producers or Autotrophic components:
These are the producers which convert simple inorganic substances into
complex organic substances with the help of solar energy. They are of two
types:
(i) Photosynthetic: They manufacture food with the help of chlorophyll in
presence of sunlight so energy utilized is radiant energy. These constitute
the major proportion of autotrophic components. It includes green plants,
green algae and photosynthetic bacteria.
(ii) Chemosynthetic: They manufacture food with the help of chemical
energy evolved during chemical reactions. They contribute to lesser extent
to the production of food in an ecosystem.
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 ➢ In ecosystems we generally consider only green plants as producers as they
manufacture their food by using energy from the sun. In the sea these include
tiny algal forms to large seaweeds.
b) Consumers or Heterotrophic components: They consume the food produced
by the producers. They are of following types.
(i) Macro consumers: These are the consumer organisms which are of larger size
and feed upon the producers. Based upon their position in the food chain they
can be categorized in primary, secondary and tertiary consumers.
• Primary consumers (Herbivores): Eat producers such as green plants eg.
Deer, goat, grasshopper, etc.
• Secondary consumer (Smaller carnivores): eats herbivores (animals) eg.
Snake, eagle, lizard, large fish, etc.
• Tertiary consumers (Larger carnivores): Eats smaller carnivores eg.
Lion, hawk, tiger, man, etc. 31
(ii) Micro-consumers or Decomposers:
• Decomposers are a group of organisms consisting of small animals like
worms, insects, bacteria and fungi, which break down dead organic
material into smaller particles and finally into simpler substances that
are used by plants as nutrition.
• Decomposition thus is a vital function in nature, as without this, all the
nutrients would be tied up in dead matter and no new life could be
produced.
➢ In simpler terms biotic component of ecosystem consists of producers
(green plants), consumers (herbivore and carnivore animals) and
decomposers (microorganisms).

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Trophic structure:

➢ The assemblage of various living components of an ecosystem organized in an

orderly manner is called its Trophic Structure.
➢ In a trophic structure, the producers and consumers are arranged together in
various levels in accordance with their inter-relationships (or simply their food-
relationship) in an ecosystem. Each level in this structure is known as a trophic
level.
➢ The structure and functions of an ecosystem are closely related and influence
each other so intimately that they need to be studied together.
➢ The flow of energy takes place through a series of feeding relationships in a
definite sequence, known as Food Chain.
➢ Nutrients too, move along the food chains only. Usually an ecosystem may have
two to six trophic levels through which energy and nutrients flow.
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➢ Simply, all the green plants which are the primary producers of organic
substances constitute one trophic level in an ecosystem.
➢ Similarly, all animals which obtain food or in other words energy by
consuming green plants, such as grasshoppers, cattle, rodents, etc (ie.
Primary consumers or herbivores) shall be at the same trophic level.
➢ And all those animals or predators which live on primary consumers or
herbivores (i.e secondary consumers or carnivores) are said to be at a
higher but same trophic level.

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A. Food Chain:

➢ The sequence of eating and being eaten in an ecosystem is known as

food chain.
➢ All organisms, living or dead, are potential food for some other organism
and thus, there is essentially no waste in the functioning of a natural
ecosystem.
➢ A caterpillar eats a plant leaf, a sparrow eats the caterpillar, a hawk eats
the sparrow, and when they all die, they are all consumed by
microorganisms like bacteria or fungi.
➢ Food chains usually have two to six links (or trophic levels in an
ecosystem).
➢ In nature, we come across two major types of food chains as below:

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(i) Grazing food chain:
➢ It starts with green plants and culminates in carnivores.
➢ Some examples are
• grass → grasshopper → frog → snake → hawk(grassland ecosystem)
• grass → rabbit → fox
• phytoplanktons → waterfleas → small fish → tuna (pond ecosystem)
• phytoplanktons → zooplanktons → fish
• lichen → riendeer → man (Arctic region)

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(ii) Detritus food chain:
➢ It starts with dead organic matter which the detritivore and decomposers
consume.
➢ Partially decomposed organic matter and even the decomposers are fed upon
by the detritivores.
A detritivore is an organism that eats dead or decaying plants or animals as
food. Detritivores include microorganisms such as bacteria and larger
organisms such as fungi, insects, worms, and some crustaceans.
➢ Some examples are:
• Leaf litter → algae → crabs → small carnivorous fish → large fish
(mangrove ecosystem)
• Dead organic matter → fungi → bacteria (forest ecosystem)
• Dead grass → termite → aardvark (grassland)
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(iii) Parasitic food chain:
➢ Parasites which derive nutrition from other plants and animals also
constitute a link in yet another type of food chain which may be
designated as Parasitic food chain.
➢ It may commence at any level in a trophic structure and may at
times result in heavy losses of energy.

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B. Food web:

➢ In natural ecosystems food chains rarely operate as isolated linear

sequences. They are found to be interconnected and forming a complex
network of several food chains together at the same time.
➢ Food web is, thus, a network of food chains where different types of
organisms are connected at different trophic levels, so that there are a
number of options of eating and being eaten at each trophic level.
✓ For example, in grazing food chain of a grassland, in the absence of
rabbit, grass may be eaten by mouse.
The mouse in turn may be eaten directly by hawk or by snake which is
then eaten by hawk.
• In such a food web there may be seen as many as five linear food
chains.
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• grass → grasshopper → hawk
• grass → grasshopper → lizard → hawk
• grass → rabbit → hawk(or vulture or fox or even man , if
present)
• grass → mouse → hawk
• grass → mouse → snake → hawk

✓ Food webs are very important in

maintaining the stability of an
ecosystem in nature.

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C. Ecological pyramids:
➢ Graphic representation of trophic structure and function of an ecosystem,
starting with producers at the base and successive trophic levels forming the
apex is known as an ecological pyramid.
➢ The concept of ecological pyramid was developed by Charles Elton after
whose name these pyramids are also known as Eltonian pyramids.
✓ There are three types of ecological pyramids

i. Pyramid of Numbers:
➢ It represents the number of individuals at each trophic level.
➢ We may have upright or inverted pyramid depending upon the type of
ecosystem and food chain considered.
• Ecosystems like a grassland or a pond show an upright pyramid of
numbers.
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• The producers in a grassland are the grasses and that in a pond are
phytoplanktons (algae etc.) which are small in size but very large in
number. So they (producers) form a broad base.

• The herbivores in grassland are

insects while tertiary carnivores
are hawk or other birds which are
lesser and lesser in number and
hence the pyramid apex becomes
narrower and form an upright
pyramid.
• Similarly in a pond ecosystem,
herbivores, carnivores and top
carnivores decrease in number at
higher trophic levels.
Upright pyramid of number
as in a grassland or pond 42
 Upright pyramid of number
as in a pond/aquatic ecosystem
Upright pyramid of number
as in a grassland ecosystem
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• In a forest ecosystem, big trees are producers, which are less in
number and hence form a narrow base.
• A large number of herbivores including birds, insects and several
species of animals feed upon the trees (on leaves, fruits, flowers, bark
etc) and form a much broader middle level.

• The secondary consumers like fox,

snakes, lizards, etc. are less in number
than herbivores while top carnivores
(like lion, tiger, etc) are still lesser in
number.
• So the pyramid is narrow at base,
broader at middle and again narrower
upwards. Pyramid of number in a forest ecosystem

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• Parasitic food chains show inverted
pyramids.
• The producers like a few big trees
harbor fruit eater birds which are
large in number.
• A much higher number of lice, bugs
etc grow as parasite on these birds
while a still greater number of
hyperparasites like bugs, fleas,
microbes, etc feed upon them thus
making an inverted pyramid.
Inverted pyramid as shown in
parasitic food chains

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Inverted pyramid of number
in a parasitic food chain
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47
ii. Pyramid of Biomass:

• It is based upon the total biomass at each trophic level in a food

chain.
• The pyramid of biomass can also be upright or inverted.
• The pyramid of biomass in a forest ecosystem is upright in contrast
to its pyramid of numbers where it is Dimond shape.
• This is because the producers accumulate a huge biomass while the
consumer’s total biomass declines at higher trophic levels.
• The pond on the other hand shows an inverted pyramid of biomass.
The total biomass of producers is much less than that of herbivores
and it goes on increasing towards higher trophic levels.

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Pyramid of Biomass (up right) 49
 Inverted pyramid of
Biomass
for marine ecosystem

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51
52
iii. Pyramid of Energy:
• The amount of energy present at each trophic level is considered for this type of
pyramid.
• This type of pyramid gives the best
representation of the trophic
relationship and it is always
upright.
• At every successive level there is a
huge loss of energy (about 90%) in
the form of heat, respiration, etc.
thus at each next higher level only
10% of the energy passes on.
Hence there is a sharp decline in
energy level of each successive
trophic level as we move from
producers to top carnivores.
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Upright pyramid of Energy
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D. Functional aspects of an ecosystem:

• An ecosystem works as a unit in an efficient and organized way. It receives

energy from the sun and passes it on through its components and, in fact, all life
depends on this flow of energy.
• Green plants (including phytoplanktons) alone are able to trap the solar energy
in an ecosystem. They make use of this energy for their growth and
maintenance. Energy gets stored as chemical bonds of large organic molecules
in green plants.
• Heterotrophs or consumers obtain their energy requirements from this stored
energy (in green plants) as food and use it for their development, growth,
maintenance or other life activities.
• All life forms in an ecosystem are linked together by the flow of energy.
Besides energy, various nutrients and water, which are also required for life
processes, are exchanged by the biotic components within themselves and with
their abiotic components.
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 • The flow of energy and nutrients in an ecosystem keeps it going on. This
mechanism can be studied in a simplified manner as under.
Ecosystem Energetics
• As stated above an ecosystem needs energy inputs from outside. Materials are
used from within an ecosystem.
• Flow of energy in an ecosystem takes place through food chains and it is this
energy flow which keeps the ecosystem going on. Most important feature of
this flow is that it is unidirectional.
• Unlike the nutrients which move in a cyclic manner and are reused by the
producers after flowing through the food chain, energy is not reused in the
food chain. Flow of energy follows the laws of thermodynamics.
i. First law of thermodynamics states that the energy can neither be created
nor be destroyed but it can be transformed from one form to another. The
solar energy captured by the green plants is converted into biochemical
energy of plants and latter into that of consumers.
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 ii. Second law of thermodynamics states that energy dissipates as it is used or
in other words, it gets converted from concentrated to dispersed form. As
energy flows through the food chains, there occurs dissipation of energy at
every trophic level. At each trophic level, about 90% of energy gets lost and
only 10% of it gets transferred to the next level.

Energy Flow in Ecosystem

• As I mentioned above the sun is the only source of energy for the entire biosphere.
Solar energy travels in electromagnetic waves form. It consists of a wide range of
wavelengths and various types of radiations (infra red, visible, ultra violet, etc.).
• Only a specific portion of sun’s electromagnetic spectrum is utilized by the
producers. The amount of solar energy reaching a surface perpendicular to the sun
rays at outer atmosphere is called solar constant. This is 2.00 calories per per sq cm
per minute. Of this quantity about 1.00cal/sq.cm/min reaches the earth’s surface.
• The flow of energy through various trophic levels in an ecosystem can be explained
with the help of various energy flow models.
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Universal energy-flow-model:
• As the energy enters and flows through the ecosystem there is a gradual loss of
it at every level, thereby resulting in less energy available at every next trophic
level. Universal Energy Flow Model
• This is indicated by narrower (E.P. Odum)
pipes(energy flow) and smaller
boxes(stored energy in biomass)
in Figure beside.
• The loss of energy is the energy
not utilized (NU). This is the
energy lost in locomotion,
excretion, other life activities
etc. or it is the energy lost in
respiration(R). The rest of
energy is used for production
(P).
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a) Single channel energy-flow-model:
• This model depicts the flow of energy in ecosystem an ecosystem through a single
channel or linear sequence.
• Energy enters as sunlight in an ecosystem and flows from green plants or producers
to herbivores and carnivores.

• During this energy flow,

there is a gradual decline in
energy level due to loss of
energy at each successive
trophic level in a grazing
food chain.

Single channel Energy Flow Model 59

60
61
b) Double channel or Y-shaped energy-flow-model:
• This model is more realistic as it considers both types of food chains found in
natural ecosystems. In nature both grazing food chain and detritus food chains
operate in the same ecosystem.
• In a forest ecosystem a huge quantity of biomass produced cannot be all
consumed by herbivores. A large proportion of the live biomass enters into the
detritus (dead) component of ecosystem in the form of litter. Hence the detritus
food chain is equally important.
• In marine ecosystems, however, a major portion primary production is eaten
by the herbivorous marine animals. Therefore, very little primary production is
left to be passed on to the dead or detritus component. The Y-shaped model of
energy flow shows the passage of energy through ecosystem where both
grazing and detritus food chains operate together.

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64
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Material/Nutrient Cycling in Ecosystem:

• Besides energy flow the other important functional attribute of an ecosystem is

nutrient cycling.
• All organisms require two types of nutrients: Macro-nutrients and Micro-nutrients
(Macro-nutrients: Required in large amounts e.g. C, N, O, H, S, P, Ca, Mg etc.;
Micronutrients: required in small amounts e.g. Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, B, Co, Cl, Na, etc.).
• Nutrients like carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorus, etc. move
in circular paths through biotic and abiotic components and are therefore known as
biogeochemical cycles.
• There are two types of biogeochemical cycles - (i) gaseous; and (ii) sedimentary
Gaseous-Reservoir lies in atmosphere e.g. C, N, O cycle etc.; and, Sedimentary-
Reservoir lies in the earth’s crust e.g. P, S, Ca, etc. Water also moves in a cycle
known as hydrological cycle.

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• The term “biogeochemical” indicates that in these cycling of nutrients biological,
geological and chemical factors are all involved in the process. The circulation of
chemical nutrients and water takes place through the biological as well as physical
world.
• In effect, the elements are recycled, although in some cycles there may be places
(called reservoirs) where the elements are accumulated or held for a long period of
time (such as an ocean or lake for water)
• The nutrients move through the food chains and ultimately reach the detritus
component (containing dead organic matter) where various microorganisms carry out
the process of decomposition.
• Various organically bound nutrients of dead animal and plants are converted into
inorganic substances by microbial decomposition and are again used up by plants and
the cycles start afresh.
• Some of the important biogeochemical cycles we will discuss briefly here.
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Nitrogen cycle:

• Nitrogen is present in the atmosphere as N2 in large amount (78%) and it is fixed

either by the physical process of lightening or biologically by some bacteria
and/or cyanobacteria (blue green algae).
• The nitrogen is taken up by plants and used in metabolism for biosynthesis of
amino acids, proteins, vitamins etc. and passes through the food chain.
• After death of the plants and animals, the organic nitrogen the organic nitrogen
in dead tissues is decomposed by several groups of ammonifying and nitrifying
bacteria which convert them into ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, which are again
used by plants.
• Some bacteria convert nitrates, into molecular nitrogen or N2 which is released
back into the atmosphere and the cycle goes on.

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Nitrogen cycle 70
Nitrogen cycle 71
Carbon cycle:
• Carbon is taken up by green plants in the form of carbon dioxide as a raw material for
photosynthesis.
• In the process a variety of carbohydrates and other organic substances are produced.
• So it moves through the food chains and ultimately organic carbon present in the dead
matter is returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide by microorganisms.
• Respiration by all organisms produces carbon dioxide which is released in the
atmosphere from where is used up by plants.
• In the recent years carbon dioxide levels have increased in the atmosphere due to
burning of fossil fuels etc.
• It has caused an imbalance in the natural cycle and the world today is facing the
serious problem of global warming due to enhanced carbon dioxide emissions in the
atmosphere.
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Carbon cycle
73
74
Phosphorus Cycle:

• Reservoir of phosphorus lies in the rocks, fossils etc. which is excavated by man
for using it as a fertilizer.
• Farmers use the phosphate fertilizers indiscriminately and as a result excess
phosphates are lost as run-off, which causes the problem of eutrophication of lakes
leading to algal blooms.
• A good proportion of phosphates moving with surface runoff reaches the oceans
and lost into the deep sediments.
• Our limited supply of phosphorus lying in the phosphate rocks of this earth are thus
over-exploited by man and a large part is taken out of the normal cycle due to loss
into oceans.
• So human beings are making the phosphorous cycle acyclic.

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• Sea birds, on the other hand, are playing an important role in phosphorus cycling.
They eat sea-fishes which are phosphorus rich and the droppings or excreta of the
birds return the phosphorus on the land.
• The Guano deposits on the coasts of Peru are very rich sources of phosphorus.
Phosphorus Cycle

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77
Oxygen Cycle:
• Oxygen is taken up by plants and animals from the air during respiration. The plants
return oxygen to the atmosphere during photosynthesis. The main source of atmospheric
free oxygen is photosynthesis, which produces sugars and free oxygen from carbon
dioxide and water:

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• Photosynthesizing organisms include the plant life of the land areas as well as the
phytoplankton of the oceans. The tiny marine Cyanobacterium prochlorococcus
accounts for more than half of the photosynthesis of the open ocean.
• An additional source of atmospheric free oxygen comes from photolysis, whereby
high-energy ultraviolet radiation breaks down atmospheric water and nitrous oxide
into component atoms. The free H and N atoms escape into space, leaving O2 in the
atmosphere:

• The main way free oxygen is lost from the atmosphere is via respiration and decay,
mechanisms in which animal life and bacteria consume oxygen and release carbon
dioxide.
• The lithosphere also consumes free oxygen by chemical weathering and surface
reactions. An example of surface weathering chemistry is formation of iron oxides
(rust):
79
• Oxygen is also cycled between the biosphere and lithosphere.
• Marine organisms in the biosphere create calcium carbonate shell material (CaCO3)
that is rich in oxygen.
• When the organism dies, its shell is deposited on the shallow sea floor and buried
over time to create the limestone sedimentary rock of the lithosphere.
• Weathering processes initiated by organisms can also free oxygen from the
lithosphere. Plants and animals extract nutrient minerals from rocks and release
oxygen in the process.

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Hydrological cycle:
• The mass of water on Earth remains fairly constant over time but the partitioning of the
water into the major reservoirs of ice, fresh water, saline water and atmospheric water
is variable depending on a wide range of climatic variables.
• The water moves from one reservoir to another, such as from river to ocean, or from
the ocean to the atmosphere, by the physical processes of evaporation, condensation,
precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and subsurface flow.
• In doing so, the water goes through different phases: liquid, solid (ice), and gas (vapor).
• The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous
movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth.
• The sun, which drives the water cycle, heats water in oceans and seas. Water evaporates
as water vapour into the air.
• Ice, rain and snow can sublimate directly into water vapour. Evapotranspiration is water
transpired from plants and evaporated from the soil. 81
• Rising air currents take the vapour up into the atmosphere where cooler
temperatures cause it to condense into clouds.
• Air currents move water vapour around the globe, cloud particles collide, grow, and
fall out of the upper atmospheric layers as precipitation.
• Some precipitation falls as snow or hail, sleet, and can accumulate as ice caps and
glaciers, which can store frozen water for thousands of years.
• Most water falls back into the oceans or onto land as rain, where the water flows
over the ground as surface runoff.
• A portion of runoff enters rivers in valleys in the landscape, with stream flow
moving water towards the oceans.
• Runoff and water emerging from the ground (groundwater) may be stored as
freshwater in lakes. Not all runoff flows into rivers, much of it soaks into the ground
as infiltration.
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• Some water infiltrates deep into the ground and replenishes aquifers, which can
store freshwater for long periods of time.
• Some infiltration stays close to the land surface and can seep back into surface-
water bodies (and the ocean) as groundwater discharge.
• Some groundwater finds openings in the land surface and comes out as freshwater
springs.
• In river valleys and flood-plains there is often continuous water exchange between
surface water and ground water in the hydrospheric zone. Over time, the water
returns to the ocean, to continue the water cycle.
• The water cycle involves the exchange of energy, which leads to temperature
changes. For instance, when water evaporates, it takes up energy from its
surroundings and cools the environment. When it condenses, it releases energy and
warms the environment. These heat exchanges influence climate.
83
Hydrological cycle 84
• The evaporative phase of the cycle purifies water which then replenishes the land with
freshwater.
• The flow of liquid water and ice transports minerals across the globe. It is also involved
in reshaping the geological features of the Earth, through processes including erosion
and sedimentation.
• The water cycle is also essential for the maintenance of most life and ecosystems on the
planet.
• Biogeochemical cycles are also the links between different components of the
environment such as lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. They portray
the movements of substances on the entire globe.
• Together in a systematic manner these cycles are responsible for maintaining life on
earth.
• If man, through his excessive interference, disturbs these cycles beyond the limits that
nature can sustain, they will eventually break down and lead to a degraded earth on
which man will not be able to survive.
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E. Ecosystem Productivity:
• Production, in ecology, is related with the generation of biomass in an ecosystem.
• The productivity of an ecosystem thus refers to the rate of production i.e. the
amount of organic matter, which is accumulated in any unit time. It is usually
expressed in units of mass per unit surface (or volume) per unit time, for instance
grams per square metre per day (g m–2 d–1).
• Productivity of autotrophs such as plants is called primary productivity, while that
of heterotrophs such as animals is called secondary productivity.
❖ Primary production:
• Primary production is the synthesis of new organic material from inorganic
molecules such as H2O and CO2.
• It is dominated by the process of photosynthesis which uses sunlight to synthesise
organic molecules such as sugars, although chemosynthesis represents a small
fraction of primary production.
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• These are the green plants, higher saprophytes as well as lower forms, the
phytoplanktons and some photosynthetic bacteria.
• We can define Primary productivity as “the rate at which radiant energy is stored by
photosynthetic and chemosynthetic activity of producers.”
• Primary production of an ecosystem depends upon the solar radiations, availability of
water and nutrients and upon the type of the plants and their chlorophyll content.
• Productivity of tropical forests and estuaries are the highest. This is because tropical
forests have abundant rainfall, warm temperature congenial for growth, abundant
sunlight and a rich diversity of species. Primary productivity is of two types.

A. Gross primary productivity:

✓ it is the total rate of photosynthesis including the organic matter used up in

respiration. It is also called as Total assimilation. Primary productivity is
estimated either in terms of chlorophyll content as Chl/g dry weight per unit
area or amount of CO2 fixed /g Chl/hour.
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 B. Net primary productivity:

✓ is the rate of storage of organic matter in plant tissues in excess of the

respiratory utilization by plants during the measurement period. This is, thus, the
rate of increases of biomass and is also known as Net Assimilation. In this way,
net primary productivity refers to balance between gross photosynthesis and
respiration and other plant losses as death etc.

❖ Secondary production
• Secondary production is the generation of biomass of heterotrophic (consumer)
organisms in a system.
• This is driven by the transfer of organic material between trophic levels, and
represents the quantity of new tissue created through the use of assimilated food.
• Organisms responsible for secondary production include animals, protists, fungi
and many bacteria.
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• Secondary productivity is thus rate of energy storage at consumers’ level.
• Since consumers only utilize food materials (already produced) in their respiration,
simply covering the food matters to different tissues by an overall process.
• The secondary productivity is not divided into ‘gross’ and ‘net’ amount.

Net Productivity:
• Net productivity refers to the rate of storage of organic matter not used by the
heterotrophs (consumer) i.e. equivalent to net primary production minus
consumption by the heterotrophs during the unit period.
• It is thus the rate of increase of biomass of the primary producers, which has been
left over by the consumers.

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 5. Ecological Succession
• Succession is a gradual process in which structure of an ecosystem gets changed
over time.
• Ecosystems are not static in nature. They are always in a state of change and
dynamism.
• It is actually the structure of biotic community that evolves in the process. They
change themselves in accordance with the prevalent environmental conditions.
These changes are very orderly and predictable.
• It is seen that at a particular place a particular community of organisms is totally
replaced by another over a period of time.
✓ Ecological succession can be defined as an orderly process of changes in the
structure and function of a community in ecosystem with time mediated by
modifications in environmental complex.

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✓ Succession takes place because through the processes of living, growing and reproducing,
the organisms interact with and affect their environment and gradually change it.
✓ Each species is adapted to thrive and compete best against other species under a very
specific set of environmental conditions. If these conditions change, then the existing
species will be outcompeted by a different set of species which are better adapted to the
new conditions.
✓ Change in the plant species present in an area is one of the driving forces behind changes
in animal species. This is because each plant species will have associated animal species
which feed on it.
✓ The presence of these herbivore species will then dictate which particular carnivores
should be present. Likewise, the microbial communities are also influenced by the plant
and animal communities present at a particular place.
✓ So the ºengineº of succession, the cause of ecosystem change, is the impact of established
species upon their own environments. Hence the process of ecological succession is
mediated by the interaction between the biotic communities and their environment.
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 ✓ In very simple terms ecological succession is a natural process by which different
groups or biological communities colonize the same area over a period of time in a
sequence.
✓ The first ever living organisms that colonize a place and start the process of
succession are known as pioneers.
✓ The communities which follow pioneers are known as the seres or seral communities
and the final community of plants and animals that establishes itself after the process
of succession is known as climax community.

5.1. Types of succession:

A. Primary succession:
✓ It occurs in essentially lifeless areas—regions in which the soil is incapable
of sustaining life as a result of such factors as lava flows, newly formed
sand dunes, or rocks left from a retreating glacier.
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B. Secondary succession:
✓ It occurs in areas where a community that previously existed has been
removed; it is typified by smaller-scale disturbances that do not eliminate all
life and nutrients from the environment.
C. Autogenic Succession:
✓ If the existing community itself causes its replacement by some other
community it is said to be autogenic succession.
D. Allogenic succession:
✓ If the existing community is replaced by another community due to some
external force it is called allogenic succession.
E. Autotrophic succession:

✓ Here the early and continued dominants are autotrophs. There is gradual
increase in the organic matter content supported by energy flow.
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 F. Heterotrophic succession:

✓ Here early dominants are heterotrophs. There is progressive decline in

energy content.

➢ Depending upon the environment where the process of succession takes place, it
is denoted with different terms such as:

a) Hydrosere: Succession takes place in water such as in ponds, lakes and

stream.
b) Xerosere: Process of succession begins in xerophytic or desert like
conditions.
c) Lihosere: Succession starts on rocks or rocky background.
d) Halosere: Succession takes place in saline water or soil
e ) Psammosere: Succession, here, takes place in sand.
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5.2. Causes of Succession:
➢ There are three major causes of succession:
A. Initial or initiating causes:
These are climatic as well as biotic. Climatic factors include erosion and deposits,
wind, fire etc caused by lightening or volcanic activity and biotic include various
activities of organisms. These causes produce bare areas or destroy the existing
populations in an area.
B. Ecesis (continuing) causes:
These are the processes as migration, ecesis, aggregation, competition reaction etc
which cause successive waves of populations as a result of changes chiefly in the
edaphic features of the area.
C. Stabilizing causes:
These cause the stabilization of the community. Climate of the area is the chief
cause of stabilization. 95
5.3. General Mechanism of succession:
➢ The whole process of a primary succession is completed through a number of
sequential steps, which follow one another. These steps in sequence are as follows:
A. Nudation:
• This is the development of a bare area without any form of life due to several
causes such as landslide, erosion, deposition etc. The cause of nudation may be:
i. Topographic:
✓ Due to soil erosion by gravity, water or wind, the existing vegetation
may disappear. Other causes may be deposition of sand etc., landslide,
volcanic activity and other factors.
ii. Climatic:
✓ Glaciers, dry period, hails and storm, frost, fire etc may also destroy the
vegetation.
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 iii. Biotic:
✓ Man is responsible for destruction of forests, grasslands etc. for industry,
agriculture, housing etc. Other factors are disease epidemics due to fungi,
viruses etc which destroy the whole population.

B. Invasion:
• It is the successful establishment of a species in a bare area. The process is
completed in following 3 successive stages:
i. Migration (dispersal):
✓ The seeds, spores or other propagules of the species reach the bare area.
This process is known as migration, and is generally brought about by
air, water etc.

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 ii. Ecesis (establishment):
✓ After reaching to new area, the process of successful establishment of
the species starts and is known as ecesis.
iii. Aggregation:
✓ After ecesis, as a result of reproduction, the individuals of the species
increase in number and they come close to each other. This process is
known as aggregation.

C. Competition and Co-action:

✓ After aggregation of a large number of individuals of the species at the limited
place, there develops competition mainly for space and nutrition. Individuals
of a species affect each other’s life in various ways and this is called co-action.

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D. Reaction:

✓ This is the most important stage in succession. The mechanism of

modification of the environment through the influence of living
organisms on it is known as reaction.
✓ It is a result of reactions, changes take place in the environment and as a
result it gets modified, becoming unsuitable for existing community
which sooner or later replaced by another community.
✓ The whole sequence of communities that replaces one another in the
given area is called a sere and various communities constituting the sere
are known as seral communities, seral stages or developmental stages.

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 E. Stabilization (climax):
✓ Finally, there occurs a stage when the final terminal community becomes
more or less stabilized for a longer period of time and it can maintain
itself in equilibrium with the climate of the area.
✓ This final community is not replaced and is known as climax community
and the stage as climax stage.

Theories about climax

➢ There are three schools of interpretations explaining the climax concept:

i. Monoclimax or Climatic Climax Theory:

✓ It was advanced by Clements (1916) and recognizes only one climax whose
characteristics are determined solely by climate (climatic climax).

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 ✓ The processes of succession and modification of environment overcome the
effects of differences in topography, parent material of the soil, and other
factors.
✓ The whole area would be covered with uniform plant community. Communities
other than the climax are related to it, and are recognized as subclimax,
postclimax and disclimax.

ii. Polyclimax Theory:

✓ It was advanced by Tansley (1935). It proposes that the climax vegetation of a
region consists of more than one vegetation climaxes controlled by soil
moisture, soil nutrients, topography, slope exposure, fire, and animal activity.

iii. Climax Pattern Theory.

✓ It was proposed by Whittaker (1953). The climax pattern theory recognizes a
variety of climaxes governed by responses of species populations to biotic and
abiotic conditions.
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✓ According to this theory the total environment of the ecosystem determines
the composition, species structure, and balance of a climax community.
✓ The environment includes the species responses to moisture, temperature,
and nutrients, their biotic relationships, availability of flora and fauna to
colonize the area, chance dispersal of seeds and animals, soils, climate, and
disturbance such as fire and wind.
✓ The nature of climax vegetation will change as the environment changes.
The climax community represents a pattern of populations that corresponds
to and changes with the pattern of environment. The central and most
widespread community is the climatic climax.

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 6. Ecosystem-Examples

• Owing to the great diversity in the physical environment of the earth there is also
a great diversity in the ecosystems of the world.
• There are terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems ranging from lakes and oceans to
forests and deserts.
• All ecosystems, however, exhibit similar general structural and functional
framework.
• Some examples of the main ecosystems are briefly illustrated here.

A. Terrestrial ecosystems include forests, grasslands, deserts, etc.

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6.1. Forest Ecosystem:

• A forest is a natural terrestrial ecosystem where the trees, shrubs, climbers and
ground flora in plants and several groups of mammals, birds, reptiles and
microorganisms in animals predominantly form the structure the biotic community.
• Each forest type forms a habitat for a specific community of animals that are adapted
to live in it.
• The types of forests present in a particular geographic region are determined by the
environmental conditions prevalent in that region.
• Forests on the mountains and hills differ from those along the river valleys. Similarly
in the type of vegetation and the animal communities vary from forest to forest.
• In India, for instance, the coniferous tree specis occur in the Himalayas, mangrove
trees in river deltas and the thorn trees and bushes grow in the arid regions.
• Likewise among animals, the snow leopard, wild sheep and goats live in the
Himalayas while the leopard and tiger are found in the forests of the rest of India.
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➢ Like any other ecosystem a forest ecosystem consists structurally of two components.
a. Abiotic component:
✓ It consists of the physical environment of a forest including climatic and
edaphic (soil) conditions. Climatic conditions such as precipitation,
temperature, etc. differ from place to place and so do the forest types. Forest
soil is very rich in humus or organic matter and it differs from other types of
soil.
b. Biotic component:
✓ It includes various groups of plants, animals and microorganisms. Plants
include the trees, shrubs, climbers, grasses, and herbs in the forest. These
include species that flower (angiosperms), and non-flowering species
(gymnosperms) such as ferns, bryophytes, fungi and algae.
✓ Trees are the dominant vegetation group in a forest. The animals include
species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects and other
invertebrates. 105
➢ Depending upon the prevailing climatic conditions forests can be of various types:

i. Tropical Rain Forests:

• They are evergreen broadleaf forests found near the equator. They are characterized
by high temperature, high humidity and high rainfall, all of which favour the growth
of trees.
• They are the richest in biodiversity. Different forms of life occupy specialized areas
(niches) within different layers and spaces of the ecosystem depending upon their
needs for food, sunlight, water, nutrient etc.
• We come across different types and layers of plants and animals in the tropical rain
forests. e.g. the emergent layer is the topmost layer of the tallest broad-leaf evergreen
trees, below which lies the canopy where top branches of shorter trees form an
umbrella like cover. Below this is present the understory of still smaller trees. On the
tree trunks some woody climbers are found to grow which are known as Lianas.

106
• There are some other plants like Orchids which are epiphytes i.e. they are attached to
the trunks or branches of big trees and they take up water and nutrients falling from
above. The orchids have special type of leaves to capture and hold the water.
• Some large epiphytes can hold as much as 4 litres of water, equivalent to a small
bucket! Thus, these epiphytes almost act like mini-ponds suspended up in the air, in
the forest crown. That is the reason why a large variety of birds, insects and animals
like monkeys have made their natural homes (habitats) in these forests.
• The under storey trees usually receive very dim sunlight. They usually develop dark
green leaves with high chlorophyll content so that they can use the diffused sunlight
for photosynthesis.
• The shrub layer receives even less sunlight and the ground layer commonly known as
forest floor receives almost no sunlight and is a dark layer.
• Most of the animals like bats, birds, insects etc. occupy the bright canopy layer while
monkeys, toads, snakes, chameleons etc. keep on moving up and down in sunny and
darker layers.
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• Termites, fungi, mushrooms etc. grow on the ground layer. Warm temperature and
high availability of moisture facilitate rapid breakdown (decomposition) of the
dropped leaves, twigs etc releasing the nutrients rapidly.

✓ The Silent Valley in Kerala is the only tropical rain forest lying in India which is the
natural habitat for a wide variety of species. Being the store-house of biodiversity,
the forests provide us with an array of commercial goods like timber, fuel wood,
drugs, resins, gums etc.

ii. Tropical deciduous forests:

• They are found a little away from the equator and are characterized by a warm
climate the year round. Rain occurs only during monsoon. A large part of the year
remains dry and therefore different types of deciduous trees are found here, which
lose their leaves during dry season.

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iii. Tropical scrub forests:

• They are found in areas where the dry season is even longer. Here there are small
deciduous trees and shrubs.

iv. Temperate rain forests:

• They are found in temperate areas with adequate rainfall. These are dominated by
coniferous trees like pines, firs, redwoods etc. They also consist of some evergreen
broad-leaf trees.

v. Temperate deciduous forests:

• They are found in areas with moderate temperatures. There is a marked seasonality
with long summers, cold but not too severe winter and abundant rainfall throughout
the year. The major trees include broad leaf deciduous trees like oak, hickory,
poplar etc.

109
vi. Evergreen coniferous forests (Boreal Forests):

• They are found just south of arctic tundra. Here winters are long, cold and dry.
Sunlight is available for a few hours only.
• In summer the temperature is mild, sun-shines for long hours but the season is quite
short. The major trees include pines, spruce, fir, cedar etc. which have tiny, needle-
shaped leaves having a waxy coating so that they can withstand severe cold and
drought.
• The soil is found to get frozen during winter when few species can survive. The
leaves, also known as needles, fall on the forest floor and cover the nutrient poor
soil.
• These soils are acidic and prevent other plants from growing. Species diversity is
rather low in these forests.

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➢ Forest types in India:

• Forests in India can broadly be divided into two main categories viz., Coniferous
forests and Broadleaved forests.
✓ They can also be classified according to the nature of their tree species –
evergreen, deciduous, xerophytic or thorn trees, mangroves, etc.
✓ They, sometimes, may also be classified according to the most abundant
species of trees such as Sal, Teak, Oak, Pine, Deodar or Chinar forests.
• Coniferous forests grow in the Himalayan mountain region, where the
temperatures are low. These forests have tall stately trees with needle like leaves
and downward sloping branches so that the snow can slip off the branches.
• Broadleaved forests have several types, such as evergreen forests, deciduous
forests, thorn forests, and mangrove forests. Broadleaved forests have large leaves
of various shapes.
111
6.2. Grassland ecosystem:
• Grassland ecosystem the grasses and shrubs form the dominant part of vegetation. It
grows in areas where rainfall is usually low and the soil depth and quality is poor.
• A variety of grasses, herbs, and several species of insects, birds and mammals have
evolved so that they are adapted to these wide-open grass covered areas.
➢ Three types of grasslands are found to occur in different climatic regions:

i. Tropical grasslands:

• They occur near the borders of tropical rain forests in regions of high average
temperature and low to moderate rainfall.
• In Africa, these are typically known as Savannas, which have tall grasses with
scattered shrubs and stunted trees. The Savannas have a wide diversity of animals
including zebras, giraffes, gazelle, antelopes etc.

112
 • Fires are quite common during dry season. Termite mounds are very common here.
Tropical savannas have a highly efficient system of photosynthesis. Most of the
carbon assimilated by them in the form of carbohydrates is in the perennating
bulbs, rhizomes, runners etc. which are present underground.
• Deliberate burning of these grasslands can release huge quantities of carbon
dioxide, a green house gas, responsible for global warming.

ii. Temperate grasslands:

• They are usually found on flat, gentle sloped hills, winters are very cold but
summers are hot and dry. Intense grazing and summer fires do not allow shrubs or
trees to grow.
• In the United States and Canada these grasslands are known as prairies, in South
America as Pampas, in Africa as Velds and in central Europe and Asia they are
known as Steppes. Winds keep blowing and evaporation rate is very high. It also
favours rapid fires in summer. The soils are quite fertile and therefore, very often
these grasslands are cleared for agriculture. 113
iii. Polar grasslands (Arctic Tundra):

• They are found in arctic polar region where severe cold and strong, frigid winds
along with ice and snow create too harsh a climate for trees to grow.
• In summers the sun-shines almost round the clock and hence several small annual
plants grow in the summer.
• The animals include arctic wolf, weasel, arctic fox, reindeer etc. A thick layer of
ice remains frozen under the soil surface throughout the year and is known as
permafrost.
• In summer, the tundra shows the appearance of shallow lakes, bogs etc. where
mosquitoes, different type of insects and migratory birds appear.

➢ Grassland Types in India

• Grasslands form a variety of ecosystems that are located in different climatic

conditions ranging from near desert conditions to moist conditions.
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• The Himalayan pasture belt extends up to the snowline. These Himalayan pastures
have a large variety of grasses and herbs. Himalayan hill slopes are covered with
thousands of colourful flowering plants. There are also a large number of
medicinal plants. The patches of tall elephant grass, which grows to a height of
about five meters, are located in the low-lying waterlogged areas.
• Himalayan wildlife requires both the forest and the grassland ecosystem as
important parts of their habitat. The animals migrate up into the high altitude
grasslands in summer and move down into the forest in winter when the snow
covers the grassland.
• The Semi-arid plains of Western India, Central India and the Deccan are covered
by grassland tracts with patches of thorn forest. Several mammals such as the
wolf, the blackbuck, the chinkara, and birds such as the bustards and floricans are
adapted to these arid conditions.

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 • The Scrublands of the Deccan Plateau are covered with seasonal grasses and
herbs on which its fauna is dependent. It is teaming with insect life on which the
insectivorous birds feed.
• The grasses are the major producers of biomass in these regions. Each grassland
ecosystem has a wide variety of species of grasses and herbs.

6.3. Desert Ecosystem:

• A desert is an arid or semi arid area with very low annual rainfall and sparse patches
of vegetation.
• Desert ecosystems witness very extreme climatic conditions, either too hot as in
Thar desert or too cold as in Ladakh.
• Deserts occupy one-fifth of the Earth’s land surface. These ecosystems occur in
regions where evaporation exceeds precipitation (rainfall, snow etc.).

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• The precipitation is less than 25 cm per year. Deserts have little species diversity and
consist of drought resistant or drought avoiding plants. The atmosphere is very dry
and hence it is a poor insulator. That is why in deserts the soil gets cooled up quickly,
making the nights cool.
➢ Deserts are of three major types, based on climatic conditions:

i. Tropical deserts
like Sahara and Namib in Africa and Thar desert, Rajasthan, India are the driest of
all with only a few species.
ii. Temperate deserts
like Mojave in Southern California where day time temperatures are very hot in
summer but cool in winters.
iii. Cold deserts
like the Gobi desert in China and High altitude cold desert in Ladakh have cold
winters and warm summers. 117
• Desert plants and animals show most typical adaptations for conservation of water.
• Many desert plants are found to have reduced, scaly leaves so as to cut down loss
of water due to transpiration or have succulent leaves to store water.
• Many a times their stems get flattened and develop chlorophyll so that they can
take up the function of photosynthesis.
• Some plants show very deep roots to tap the groundwater. Many plants have a
waxy, thick cuticle over the leaf to reduce loss of water through transpiration.
• Desert animals like insects and reptiles have thick outer coverings to minimize loss
of water. They usually live inside burrows where humidity is better and heat is
less. Desert and semi arid regions have a number of highly specialized insects and
reptiles.
• The rare animals include the Indian wolf, desert cat, desert fox and birds such as
the Great Indian Bustard and the Florican. Some of the commoner birds include
partridges, quails and sand grouse.
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• Desert soil is rich in nutrients but deficient in water. Due to low species diversity,
shortage of water and slow growth rate, the desert plant communities, if faced with
a severe stress take a long time to recover.
• The Thar Desert in Rajasthan is most typical desert landscape in india. This has
sand dunes. There are also areas covered with sparse grasses and a few shrubs,
which grow if it rains.
• In most areas of the Thar the rainfall is scanty and sporadic. In an area it may rain
only once every few years.

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B. Aquatic ecosystems:
Ecosystems where water is the dominant environmental factor in controlling abiotic
characteristics and the floral and faunal makeup are known as the aquatic
ecosystems. They include oceans, seas, estuaries, rivers, lakes, ponds, etc.
Abiotic characteristics:
➢ Some of the important abiotic environmental factors of aquatic ecosystems include
substrate type, water depth, nutrient levels, temperature, salinity, and flow.
• It is often difficult to determine the relative importance of these factors without
rather large experiments. The amount of dissolved oxygen in a water body is
frequently the key substance in determining the extent and kinds of organic life in the
water body. Fish need dissolved oxygen to survive, although their tolerance to low
oxygen varies among species; in extreme cases of low oxygen some fish even resort
to air gulping.
• Plants often have to produce aerenchyma, while the shape and size of leaves may
also be altered. Conversely, oxygen is fatal to many kinds of anaerobic bacteria.120
➢ Nutrient levels are important in controlling the abundance of many species of algae.
• The relative abundance of nitrogen and phosphorus can in effect determine which
species of algae come to dominate.
• Algae are a very important source of food for aquatic life, but at the same time, if
they become over-abundant, they can cause declines in fish when they decay.
➢ The salinity of the water body is also a determining factor in the kinds of species
found in the water body.
• Organisms in marine ecosystems tolerate salinity, while many freshwater organisms
are intolerant of salt.
• The degree of salinity in an estuary or delta is an important control upon the type of
wetland (fresh, intermediate, or brackish), and the associated animal species.
• Dams built upstream may reduce spring flooding, and reduce sediment accretion, and
may therefore lead to saltwater intrusion in coastal wetlands.
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Biotic characteristics:
• The biotic characteristics are mainly determined by the organisms that occur. For
example, wetland plants may produce dense canopies that cover large areas of
sediment—or snails or geese may graze the vegetation leaving large mud flats.
• Aquatic environments have relatively low oxygen levels, forcing adaptation by the
organisms found there. For example, many wetland plants must produce aerenchyma
to carry oxygen to roots.
• Other biotic characteristics are more subtle and difficult to measure, such as the
relative importance of competition, mutualism or predation.
• There are a growing number of cases where predation by coastal herbivores
including snails, geese and mammals appears to be a dominant biotic factor.

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Autotrophic organisms:

• Autotrophic organisms are producers that generate organic compounds from

inorganic material.
• Algae use solar energy to generate biomass from carbon dioxide and are possibly
the most important autotrophic organisms in aquatic environments. In the shallow
waters the biomass contribution from rooted and floating vascular plants is greater.
• These two sources combine to produce the extraordinary production of estuaries
and wetlands, as this autotrophic biomass is converted into fish, birds, amphibians
and other aquatic species.
• Chemosynthetic bacteria are found in benthic marine ecosystems. These organisms
are able to feed on hydrogen sulfide in water that comes from volcanic vents. Great
concentrations of animals that feed on these bacteria are found around volcanic
vents.
Heterotrophic organisms:

• Heterotrophic organisms consume autotrophic organisms and use the organic

compounds in their bodies as energy sources and as raw materials to create their
own biomass.
• Euryhaline organisms are salt tolerant and can survive in marine ecosystems,
while stenohaline or salt intolerant species can only live in freshwater
environments.
• The two main types of aquatic ecosystems are marine ecosystems and
freshwater ecosystems. These major types can further be divided into many
categories depending upon various environmental factors.

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6.4. Marine Ecosystem:

• Marine ecosystems cover approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface and contain
approximately 97% of the planet’s water.
• They generate 32% of the world’s net primary production. They are distinguished
from freshwater ecosystems due to the presence of dissolved compounds,
especially salts in the water in high concentrations.
• Approximately 85% of the dissolved materials in seawater are sodium and
chlorine though the salinity varies among different marine ecosystems, seawater
has an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand (ppt) of water.
• Various classes of organisms found in marine ecosystems include brown algae,
dinoflagellates, corals, cephalopods, echinoderms, and sharks. Fishes caught in
marine ecosystems are the biggest source of commercial foods obtained from wild
populations

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• Marine ecosystems can be divided into many zones depending upon water depth and shoreline
features.
• The oceanic zone is the vast open part of the ocean where animals such as whales, sharks, and
tuna live.
• The benthic zone consists of substrates below water where many invertebrates live. The
intertidal zone is the area between high and low tides; in figure it is termed the littoral zone.

• Other near-shore (neritic) zones can include

estuaries, salt marshes, coral reefs, lagoons
and mangrove swamps.
• In the deep water, hydrothermal vents may
occur where chemosynthetic sulfur bacteria
form the base of the food web.
• Oceans are the major sinks of carbon dioxide
and play an important role in regulating many
biogeochemical cycles and hydrological cycle,
thereby regulating the earth’s climate.
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➢ The oceans have two major life zones:
• Coastal zone: this is relatively warm, nutrient rich shallow water. Due to high
nutrients and ample sunlight this is the zone of high primary productivity.
• Open sea: It is the deeper part of the ocean, away from the continental shelf (The
submerged part of the continent). It is vertically divided into three regions:
(i) Euphotic zone which receives abundant light and shows high photosynthetic
activity.
(ii) Bathyal zone receives dim light and is usually geologically active.
(iii) Abyssal zone is the dark zone, 2000 to 5000 metres deep. The abyssal zone has
no primary source of energy i.e. solar energy. It is the world’s largest ecological
unit but it is an incomplete ecosystem.
• Environmental problems concerning marine ecosystems include unsustainable
exploitation of marine resources (for example overfishing of certain species), marine
pollution, climate change, and building on coastal areas.
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128
6.5. Freshwater Ecosystem
➢ Freshwater ecosystems cover 0.80% of the Earth’s surface andconsist 0.009% of its
total water. They generate nearly 3% of its net primary production. There are three
basic types of freshwater ecosystems:
• Lentic: Standing water, including pools, ponds, and lakes.
• Lotic: Moving water, for example streams and rivers.
• Wetlands: Areas where the soil is saturated or inundated for at least part of the
time.

➢ Lentic Water Ecosystems:

The three primary zones of a lake 129

Lakes
• Lake ecosystems can be divided into zones. The first, the littoral zone, is the
shallow zone near the shore where rooted wetland plants occur.
• The offshore is divided into two further zones, an open water zone and a deep
water zone.
• In the open water zone (or photic zone) sunlight supports photosynthetic
algae, and the species that feed upon them.
• In the deep water zone(aphotic), sunlight is not available and the food web is
based on detritus entering from the littoral and photic zones. Some systems
use other names.
• The off shore areas may be called the pelagic zone, and the aphotic zone may
be called the profundal zone.

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• Towards inland from the littoral zone one can also frequently identify a riparian
zone which has plants still affected by the presence of the lake—this can
include effects from windfalls, spring flooding, and winter ice damage.
• The production of the lake as a whole is the result of production from plants
growing in the littoral zone, combined with production from plankton growing
in the open water.
➢ Lakes have several types of organisms:
a) Planktons that float on the surface of waters e.g. phytoplanktons like
algae and zooplanktons like rotifers.
b) Nektons that swim e.g. fishes.
c) Neustons that rest or swim on the surface.
d) Benthos that are attached to bottom sediments e.g. snails.
e) Periphytons that are attached or clinging to other plants or any other
surface e.g. crustaceans.
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 Small/ Big/
Average lake Great Lakes
Fresh water Lake Ecosystem

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✓ Stratification:
• This is an important feature of temperate region lakes which show vertical
zonation of its water based on temperature differences.
• During summer, the top waters become warmer than the bottom waters.
Therefore, only the warm top layer circulates without mixing with the colder
layers below. Different layers exhibit different physical, chemical and
biological characteristics.
• Following zones are generally described in lakes which show stratification
or zonation.

i. Epilimnion : Warm, lighter, circulating surface layer

ii. Hypolimnion : Cold, viscous, non-circulating bottom layer.
iii. Thermocline: In between the two -warmer and colder- layers lies the
region of sharp drop in temperature which is known as thermocline.
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➢ Types of Lakes: Some important types of lakes are:
1. On the basis of nutrient status
a) Oligotrophic lakes which have low nutrient concentrations.
b) Eutrophic lakes which are over nourished by nutrients like nitrogen and
phosphorus, usually as a result of agricultural run-off or municipal sewage
discharge. They are covered with algal blooms. e.g. Dal Lake.
c) Dystrophic lakes that have low pH, high humic acid content and brown
waters e.g. bog lakes.

2. On the basis of origin

d) Volcanic lakes that receive water from magma after volcanic
eruptions e.g. many lakes in Japan. They have highly restricted biota.
e) Artificial lakes or impoundments that are created due to construction of
dams e.g. Govind sagar lake at Bhakra-Nangal, Bagliar lake near Ramban.
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3. On the basis of salt content
f) Fresh water lakes such as Wular lake in Kashmir
g) Saltwater lakes eg Pangong lake in Leh
h) Meromictic lakes that are rich in salts and are permanently stratified e.g. lake
Nevada.
i) Desert salt lakes that occur in arid regions and have developed high salt
concentrations as a result of high evaporation. e.g. Sambhar lake in Rajasthan.

Others
j) Endemic lakes that are very ancient, deep and have endemic fauna which are
restricted only to that lake e.g. the Lake Baikal in Russia; the deepest lake, which
is now suffering a threat due to industrial pollution.

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Ponds
• Ponds are small bodies of freshwater with shallow and still water, marsh, and
aquatic plants.
• They can be further divided into four zones: vegetation zone, open water, bottom
mud and surface film.
• The size and depth of ponds often varies greatly with the time of year; many ponds
are produced by spring flooding from rivers.
• Food webs are based both on free-floating algae and upon aquatic plants.
• There is usually a diverse array of aquatic life, with a few examples including algae,
snails, fish, beetles, water bugs, frogs, turtles, otters and muskrats.
• Top predators may include large fish, herons, or alligators.
• Since fish are a major predator upon amphibian larvae, ponds that dry up each year,
thereby killing resident fish, provide important refugia for amphibian breeding.
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• Ponds that dry up completely each year are often known as vernal pools.
• Some ponds are produced by animal activity, including alligator holes and beaver
ponds, and these add important diversity to landscapes.

Pond Ecosystem
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➢ Lotic Water Ecosystems:

River Ecosystem:

• The major zones in river ecosystems are determined by the river bed’s gradient or by
the velocity of the current.
• Faster moving turbulent water typically contains greater concentrations of dissolved
oxygen, which supports greater biodiversity than the slow moving water of pools.
• These distinctions form the basis for the division of rivers into upland and lowland
rivers.
• The food base of streams within riparian forests is mostly derived from the trees, but
wider streams and those that lack a canopy derive the majority of their food base
from algae.
• Environmental threats to rivers include loss of water, dams, chemical pollution and
introduced species.
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River Ecosystem
139
6.5. Wetland Ecosystems
• Wetlands are dominated by vascular plants that have adapted to saturated soil.
• There are four main types of wetlands: swamp, marsh, fen and bog (both fens and
bogs are types of mire).
• Wetlands are the most productive natural ecosystems in the world because of the
proximity of water and soil.
• Hence they support large numbers of plant and animal species.
• Due to their productivity, wetlands are often converted into dry land with dykes and
drains and used for agricultural purposes.

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Wetland Ecosystem

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6.6. Estuarine ecosystem
• Though a type aquatic ecosystem, an estuary is a transitional zone between marine
and fresh water ecosystems and hence exhibits some unique characteristics in
addition to those common with marine or fresh waters.
• Estuaries are places where rivers meet the sea and may be defined as areas where salt
water is measurably diluted with fresh water.
• On average, estuaries are biologically more productive than either the adjacent river
or the sea because they have a special kind of water circulation that traps plant
nutrients and stimulates primary production.
• Fresh water, being lighter than salt water, tends to form a distinct layer that floats at
the surface of the estuary. At the boundary between fresh and salt water, there is a
certain amount of mixing caused by the flow of fresh water over salt and by the ebb
and flow of tides.
• Additional mixing may be caused from time to time by strong winds and by internal
waves that are propagated along the interface between fresh and salt water.
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➢ Three types of estuary are recognized according to the degree of mixing:
• salt wedge estuaries,
• partially mixed estuaries and
• vertically homogeneous estuaries.

➢ A salt wedge estuary has minimal mixing and the salt water forms a wedge,
thickest at the seaward end, tapering to a very thin layer at the landward limit.
• Organic and inorganic particles carried by rivers tend to flocculate (aggregate
into a mass) and sediment out when they encounter salt water.
• When the organic matter decomposes, it adds still more nutrients to the
estuary. The inorganic matter settles on the bottom and provides enriched
sediment for flowering plants adapted to salt water.
• Between the tide marks, mangrove forests flourish in tropical conditions,
while salt marshes form in temperate and subarctic conditions. Below low
tide, sea grasses form dense beds on muddy substrates.
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 ➢ In a partially mixed estuary, the vigorous rise and fall of the tide generates
strong turbulence and causes partial mixing between the fresh water above and
the salt water below.
➢ In a vertically homogeneous estuary the river flow is weak and the tidal flow is
strong. Consequently, all stratification is broken down and salinity is almost the
same from top to bottom at any given place. The salinity is lowest where the
river enters the estuary and highest near the sea.

• The high level of plant production in estuaries supports a correspondingly high level
of production of invertebrate animals and fish.
• Estuaries often contain beds of shellfish such as mussels and oysters and large
populations of shrimps and crabs.
• Fish such as plaice and flounders are common. Other species use the estuaries as
nursery grounds.
• Organisms in early stages of development enter the salt wedge at the seaward end and
are carried up the estuary by the bottom currents.
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 • Juveniles find abundant food as well as protection from predators in the mangrove
forests, salt marshes, or sea-grass beds that line the estuary. Later, they may migrate
to the open ocean to continue their growth and development.
• Other species pass through the estuaries in the course of their migrations. For
example, salmon migrate from the sea to the rivers to spawn, while the young fish
later migrate back to the sea.
• Eels migrate in the opposite direction, breeding in the sea but returning to fresh
water as juveniles.

Ecosystem Services
• Ecosystem services refer to the benefits mankind obtains from natural ecosystems
present on the earth.
• There is a multitude of ways in which humans get benefitted from ecosystems.
These benefits are collectively known as ecosystem services.
• Ecosystem services are classified into four categories viz. provisioning services,
supporting services, regulating services and cultural services. 145
➢ Provisioning services
It refers the material products obtained from ecosystems such as:
• Food including seafood, crops, wild foods, and spices
• Raw materials including lumber, skins, fuel wood, organic matter, fodder, and
fertilizer.
• Genetic resources including crop improvement genes, and health care
• Water resources
• Minerals resources
• Medicinal resources including pharmaceuticals, chemical models, and test and
assay organisms
• Energy resources including hydropower, biomass fuels, etc.

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➢ Supporting Services
• It refers to the benefits which we get due to supportive role of ecosystems that
are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services.
• These include services such as nutrient recycling, primary production and soil
formation.

➢ Regulating services
It refers to those benefits which are there due to the regulation of ecosystem
processes such as:
• Carbon sequestration and climate regulation
• Waste decomposition and detoxification
• Purification of water and air
• Pest and disease control
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➢ Cultural services
It refers to the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through
spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic
experiences. Cultural services include:
• Spiritual and historical (including use of nature for religious or heritage value
or natural)
• Recreational experiences (including ecotourism, outdoor sports, and recreation)
• Science and education (including use of natural systems for school excursions,
and scientific discovery)

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