ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES

AND
LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION
IN THE BIOTIC COMPONENT
OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Lontok, Bryan Matthew V.

Naval, John Benedic R.

TOPICS

Ecosystem
Important Aspects of Ecosystem
Primary Production
Energy Flow
General Energy Flow Scenario
Nutrient Cycling
Heterotrophs
Autotrophs
Levels of Organization

Anecosystemis
acommunityof
living
organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in
conjunction with thenonliving components
of their environment (things like air, water
and mineral soil), interacting as a system.
The term "ecosystem" was first used in a
publication
by
British
ecologistArthur
Tansley.
o

This
example
demonstrates
several
important aspects of ecosystems:
1. Ecosystem boundaries are often nebulous
and may fluctuate in time.
2. Organisms within ecosystems are
dependent on ecosystem level biological
and physical processes.
3. Adjacent ecosystems closely interact and
often are interdependent for maintenance
of community structure and functional
processes that maintain productivity and
biodiversity.
o

PRIMARY PRODUCTION

Primary production is the production

oforganic matterfrom inorganic carbon
sources.
It drives thecarbon cycle, which
influences globalclimatevia
thegreenhouse effect.

ENERGY FLOW

This energy flow diagram illustrates how energy is lost as it

fuels the metabolic process that transforms the energy and
nutrients into biomass.

The carbon and energy incorporated into

plant tissues (net primary production) is
either consumed by animals while the plant
is alive, or it remains uneaten when the
plant tissue dies and becomes detritus.
Inecology,energy
flow,
also
called
thecalorific flow, refers to the flow
ofenergythrough
afood
chain.
In
anecosystem,ecologistsseek
toquantifythe relative importance of
different componentspeciesand feeding
relationships.
o

GENERAL ENERGY FLOW SCENARIO

PRODUCERS

Primaryproducersare
organisms
in
an
ecosystemthat produce biomass from inorganic
compounds (autotrophs). In almost all cases
these are photosynthetically active organisms
(plants, cyanobacteria and a number of other
unicellular organisms).

PRIMARY CONSUMERS

Solar energyis fixed by thephoto-autotrophs, called

primary
producers,
like
greenplants.Primary
consumersabsorb most of the stored energy in the plant
throughdigestion, and transform it into the form of energy they
need,
such
asadenosine
triphosphate(ATP),
throughrespiration.

SECONDARY CONSUMERS

Secondary consumers,carnivores, then consume the primary

consumers,
althoughomnivoresalso
consume
primary
producers. Energy that had been used by the primary
consumers for growth and storage is thus absorbed into the
secondary consumers through the process of digestion. As
with primary consumers, secondary consumers convert this
energy into a more suitable form (ATP) during respiration.

TERTIARY CONSUMER

Tertiary consumers, which may or may not

beapex predators, then consume the
secondary consumers, with some energy
passed on and some lost, as with the lower
levels of the food chain.

DECOMPOSERS

A
final
link
in
the
food
chain
aredecomposerswhich
break
down
theorganic
matterof
the
tertiary
consumers (or whichever consumer is at
the top of the chain) and release
nutrientsinto thesoil.
o

NUTRIENT CYCLING

Ecosystems continually exchange energy and carbon with

the widerenvironment; mineral nutrients, on the other hand,
are mostly cycled back and forth between plants, animals,
microbes and the soil. Most nitrogen enters ecosystems
through biologicalnitrogen fixation, is deposited through
precipitation, dust, gases or is applied asfertilizer. Since most
terrestrial ecosystems are nitrogen-limited, nitrogen cycling is
an important control on ecosystem production.
o

HETEROTROPHS
Aheterotroph is anorganism that
cannotfix
carbonand
usesorganiccarbon
for
growth.Heterotrophy can be further
divided based on how they obtain
energy; if the heterotroph uses light for
energy,
then
it
is
considered
aphotoheterotroph,
while
if
the
heterotroph uses chemical energy, it is
considered achemoheterotroph.

TYPES OF HETEROTROPHS

Herbivores
Carnivores
Omnivores

HERBIVORES

Herbivores are animals which only eat plant material. This

means leaves, flowers, fruits or even wood. Sheep, horses,
rabbits and snails are well known examples of herbivores which
eat grass and leaves. A parrot, however, which eats fruits and
nuts can also be called a herbivore.

CARNIVORES

Carnivores eat meat. A carnivore is a predator because it

has to find and catch its prey. Some carnivores, such as wolves,
hunt in a group called a pack. They move silently and slowly to
form a circle around their prey before they attack.
o

OMNIVORES

Omnivores eat both plants and meat. Chickens are

omnivores. They eat seeds, but they can also eat worms. human
beings are also omnivores, although some people choose not to
eat
meat.
These
people
are
called
vegetarians.

AUTOTROPHS
Anautotroph
("self-feeding",
from
theGreekautos"self" andtrophe"nourishing") or
"producer", is an organism that produces
complexorganic
compounds(such
ascarbohydrates,fats, andproteins) from simple
substances present in its surroundings, generally
using energy from light (photosynthesis) or
inorganic chemical reactions (chemosynthesis).

TYPES OF AUTOTROPHS

Photoautotrophs
Chemoautotrophs

Photoautotrophs
Photoautotrophsget their energy from
sunlight and convert it into usable energy
(sugar).
This
process
is
calledphotosynthesis. During the process
of photosynthesis, not only is sunlight
turned into energy, but carbon dioxide is
taken from the air and oxygen is released
in its place.

Chemoautotrophs
Chemoautotrophsget
their
energy
from
chemicals,
mainly
inorganic
substances such as hydrogen sulfide and
ammonia.Inorganic substancesare those
that are not from biological sources, and
they do not contain carbon as a main
element.