People and the Earth's

Ecosystem

principles &
concepts of
ecosystem

ALISTADO, ARGUELLES
ENVIRONMENT, ECOLOGY AND BIOSPHERE
Environment
denotes all the physical, chemical and biotic conditions surrounding and
influencing a living organism.

Two main components of environment:

Abiotic or Non-living components

the physical (climatic), edaphic (nature of soil) and chemical. Ex. temperature, light,
pressure, humidity, precipitation, wind, mineral elements of soil and composition of
air

Biotic or Living components

All living organisms found in the environment including plants, animals and
microorganisms.

Ecology
the scientific study of the relationship and interactions between organisms and their
environment. The term ecology is derived from a Greek word Oekologie where
“oikos” meaning “household”and “logos” means “the study of.”
ORGANIZATION OF LIFE Structural Components of habitat:
Levels of organization: 1. Space 2. Water 3. Food 4. Cover or shelter

→ → →
Genes Cell Organ Organism
→ →
Species - Population
→ →
Community Ecosystem Biome
→ Biosphere

Levels of biotic organizations

show direct impact of the
environment:
Habitat
a specific place where the
population lives
FOUR MAJOR HABITATS OF THE EARTH:
TERMS RELATED TO THE ENVIRONMENT
Niche and Organisms

Niche
the sum of all the activities and
relationships of a species by
which it uses the resources in
its habitat for its survival and
reproduction.

the functional characteristics of

a species in its habitat

the most important resources

available in the niches of
animals are food and shelter
while in case of plants, they are
moisture and nutrients
(phosphorus and nitrogen)
TERMS RELATED TO THE ENVIRONMENT

Adaptation
the appearance or behaviour or structure or mode of life of an organism
that allows it to survive in a particular environment.
can be observed in structure or behaviour or physiology of an organism.
have a genetic basis and have been evolved and perfected through the
evolutionary process.
TERMS RELATED TO THE ENVIRONMENT
Three physical components of the earth The term ecosphere is being used more
are; commonly.
1. atmosphere (air) It is used to denote biosphere (living
2. lithosphere (land) components) along with its three abiotic
3. hydrosphere (water) components –atmosphere, hydrosphere
and lithosphere of the earth as one entity
Atmosphere is a gaseous envelope (unit).
surrounding the earth’s surface, It is madeup Ecosphere = Biosphere + Lithosphere +
of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and Hydrosphere + Atmosphere)
many other gases in very small amounts.
Species Composition
Hydrosphere is all the water supply to the A community is an assemblage of many
earth which exists as liquid, vapour or frozen populations that are living together at the
form of fresh and salt water. same place and time.

Lithosphere comprises the soil and rock of Stratification

the earth’s crust. Ecosystem stratification: The vertical and
horizontal distribution of plants in the
ecosystem
FOOD CHAIN
FOOD CHAIN
Transfer of food from the plants (producers) through a series of organisms with repeated eating and
being eaten

→ → →
Grasses Grasshopper Frogs Snakes Hawk/Eagle →
1 2 3 4 5
Each step in the food chain is called trophic level. Some more examples of food chain are given
FOOD CHAIN
Three important features that you can note in these chains are:
1. Weaker organisms are attacked by the stronger organisms
2. Number of organisms is reduced at each higher level but the size of organisms is
increases.
3. The number of steps in a food chain is limited to 4-5.

A food chain consists of the following trophic levels:

(Producers) Autotrophs:
They produce food for all other organisms of the ecosystem.
Primary consumers Herbivore:
These are animals which feed directly on the plants.

Secondary consumer Carnivore :

Carnivores are the animals that feed on other animals or its tissues. Therefore they
are secondary, tertiary or quaternary level consumers.

.
FOOD CHAIN
Decomposers :
They make up the final trophic level in a food chain.
Decomposers are the organisms that feed on dead organic matter called detritus of all the
trophic levels and help in recycling the nutrients. Ex. bacteria, fungi, mites, millipedes,
earthworms, nematodes, slugs, crabs and molluscs.

Special feeding groups (Consumers):

Scavengers: These are the animals that feed on the dead plants and animals. e.g. termites and
beetles feed on the decaying wood, and many marine invertebrates

Omnivores: Omnivores consume both plants and animals as source of their food e.g. human
beings.

Parasites: They live and feed on/in other living organisms called host.Parasites not only feed on
their host but they also cause lethal or nonlethal disease in it.
FOOD WEB

FOOD WEB
A net work of food chains which are interconnected at various trophic levels of
the food chain to form a number of feeding connections
ENERGY THROUGH THE FLOW SYSTEM
ENERGY THROUGH THE FLOW SYSTEM
The energy enters into the ecosystem in the form of solar radiation and is converted Into food
(plant biomass) by the producers. Food stored by the plants and their biomass (matter) is the
chemical form of energy. From the producers this chemical form of energy passes through
various trophic levels in the food chain.

This process of transfer of energy through various trophic levels of the food chain is known as
flow of energy.
TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS – NATURAL AND HUMAN MODIFIED

TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS – NATURAL AND HUMAN MODIFIED

Ecosystems
classified as natural and human modified depending upon whether they are
fully dependent on the solar radiation and other natural sources of energy or
on fertilizers and fossil fuels.

1. Natural ecosystems are such as ponds, lakes,meadows, marshlands,

grasslands, desert and forests. They are our natural resources and provide us
food, fuel, fodder and medicines.
2. Human modified ecosystem are made and managed by human beings for
their better living. Urban ecosystem, rural ecosystem, agro-ecosystems,
aquaculture and spaceship aquarium terrarium
BIOTIC INTERACTIONS IN THE ECOSYSTEM

Intraspecific interaction - The interaction Intraspecific interaction - The interaction

that occurs among different individuals of that occurs among different individuals of
the same species the same species
Interactions may be of various kinds:

Amensalism: a type of biological interaction Predation: In this type of interaction,

where one species causes harm to another predator captures, kills and eats an animal of
organism without any cost or benefits to another species called the prey.
itself.
Interactions may be of various kinds:
Parasitism: In this type of interaction, one
species is harmed and the other benefits.
Parasitism involves small sized organisms or
parasites living in or on another living species
called the host from which the parasite gets
its nourishment and often shelter. The
parasite is benefited and the host is
harmed.
Interactions may be of various kinds:

Competition: This is an interaction between two populations in which both species are harmed
to some extent. i) interspecific competition-occurring between individuals of two different
species occurring in a habitat and (ii) intraspecific competition-occurs between
individuals of same species.
Interactions may be of various kinds:

Commensalism: In this relationship one of Mutualism: This is a close association

the species benefits while the other is between two species in which both the
neither harmed nor benefited. species benefit.
BIOMES

BIOMES

A biome is different from an ecosystem. An ecosystem is the interaction of

living and nonliving things in an environment. A biome is a specific
geographic area notable for the species living there.

A. Terrestrial: These are the biomes found on land e.g„ tundra, forest, deserts,
grasslands

B. Aquatic: These are the biomes found in water. These can be:
(i) Fresh waters, such as pond, lake and river
(ii) Marine as oceans, shallow sea
TERRESTRIAL BIOMES
Terrestrial Biomes
Forests: Forests are one of the largest plant formations, densely packed with tall and big
trees. Three main forest types are: Tropical rain forests, Temperate deciduous forests,
Boreal or North coniferous forests

1. Temperate forests - a temperate forest is a forest found between the tropical and
boreal regions, located in the temperate zone
TERRESTRIAL BIOMES

2. Tropical forest- tropical forests are closed 3. Boreal Forest - Boreal forests are the
canopy forests growing within 28 degrees north earth's most common and overall largest
or south of the equator. They are very wet land-based biome. Boreal forests are also
places, receiving more than 200 cm rainfall per known as taiga, a Russian word which simply
year, either seasonally or throughout the year. means swampy, moist forest.
Temperatures are uniformly high - between
20°C and 35°C.
TERRESTRIAL BIOMES

B. Grasslands: Grasslands are dominated C. Deserts: Deserts are waterless barren

by the grasses. They occupy about 20% of regions of the earth. They occupy about
the land on earth’s surface. one-seventh of the land on earth’s
surface.
TERRESTRIAL BIOMES
D. Tundra: The word tundra means a
“barren land” since they are found in
those regions of the world where
environmental conditions are very
severe. There are two types of tundra
arctic and alpine.

Arctic tundra extend as a continuous

belt below the polar ice cap and above
the tree line on the northern
hemisphere.
TERRESTRIAL BIOMES

Alpine tundra occur at high mountain peaks above the tree line. Since mountains
are found at all latitudes therefore alpine tundra show day and night temperature
variations
AQUATIC BIOMES
Aquatic Biomes
Aquatic ecosystems are constituted by water bodies

Aquatic ecosystems are classified on the basis of salinity into following two
types:
1. Freshwater 2. Marine

Freshwater Ecosystem
Water on land which is continuously cycling and has low salt content is known as
fresh water. The study of fresh water ecosystem is known as limnology. Fresh waters
are classified into two types:
(i) Standing or still water (Lentic) e.g. pond, lake, bogs and swamps.
(ii) Running water (Lotic) e.g.. springs, mountain brooks, streams and rivers.

Marine Ecosystem
are aquatic environments with high levels of dissolved salt. These include the open
ocean, the deep-sea ocean, and coastal marine ecosystems
AQUATIC BIOMES