ECOSYSTEM

WHAT IS ECOSYSTEM?
• The term `eco' refers to a part of the world and `system' refers to the co-ordinating
units
• An ecosystem is a community of living and non-living things that work together – it
consists of abiotic (soil, water, air) and biotic parts (flora, fauna).
• Ecosystems have no particular size.
• An ecosystem can be as large as a desert or as small as a tree.
• The ecosystem is an open system. It receives energy from an outside source (the sun),
as input, fixes and utilities the energy and ultimately dissipates the heat into space
as output.
 EXAMPLES OF ECOSYSTEMS
• AGROECOSYSTEM • HUMAN ECOSYSTEM • SAVANNA
• AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM • LITTORAL ZONE • STEPPE
• CORAL REEF • MARINE ECOSYSTEM • TAIGA
• DESERT • PRAIRIE • TUNDRA
• FOREST • RAINFOREST • URBAN ECOSYSTEM
 MACRO AND MICROECOSYSTEMS:
• Macroecosystems- a dimensionally larger systems
such as a forest or a lake.
• Microecosystems- can exist in locations which are
precisely defined by critical environmental factors
within small or tiny spaces.
 BIOMES
• Biomes are globally similar areas, including ecosystems, as
regards combinations of plants, animals, soil organisms and
climatic conditions. They have certain common factors, e.G.
Plant structures (trees, shrubs, grasses), leaf types (broadleaf,
needles), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna) and
climate. The basic types of biomes are: land, freshwater and
marine biomes.
Certain plants grow in
certain climates and thus
create the biomes -
vegetation types extending
over a large geographic
area. So climate affects the
creation of biomes strongly.
The following chart shows
the relationship between the
biome type and the climate.
 HABITATS
• Within each ecosystem there are habitats of various sizes. A habitat is
a place with a population (a group of living organisms of the same
kind).
• The habitat must provide the organisms with food, water,
temperature, oxygen and other goods they need.
• Among populations in the same habitat different processes may occur,
such as cooperation, symbiosis, but also competition and predation.
COMPONENTS OF THE
ECOSYSTEM
1.) BIOTIC COMPONENTS
• Include all living organisms and their products.
• This group includes all animals, plants, bacteria, fungi and their waste products
like fallen leaves or branches or excreta.
• Based on their activity, biotic components are classified into four categories as:
A) producers;
B) consumers;
C) transformers; and
D) decomposers.
• Producers are green plants which make their own food.
• Consumers are animals which get their energy from the
producers or organisms that eat producers. There are three
types of consumers:
1. Herbivores: animals that eat plants;
2. Carnivores: animals that eat herbivores and sometimes
other carnivores;
3. Omnivores: animals that eat plants and other animals.
• Transformers are certain types of bacteria. They attack on
materials excreted by other living organisms (even dead plants
and animals ). They transform the above into either organic or
inorganic substances. These substances are suitable for the
nutrition of green plants. Transformers help in recycling the
nutrients which came as waste already.
• Decomposers are plants and animals that break down dead
plants and animals into organic materials which go back into the
soil.
ENERGY AND MATERIAL FLOW IN
ECOSYSTEM
• Both energy and materials flow inside ecosystems but with a
fundamental differenece. Energy flow is in only one direction while
material flow is cyclical.
• Photosynthesis- the process by which some organisms (namely
chlorophyll- containing plants) are able to convect energy from sunlight
into chemical energy ( in the form of sugars).
• Respiration- all other organisms must use this energy for nourishment
and growth through a process.
 Energy and water are vital to the survival of an ecosystem, thus a system
of conservation is necessary. The exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen
is a process of conservation. What one species discards, means food for
another.
MATERIAL FLOW
2.) ABIOTIC COMPONENTS
• The abiotic components are the non-living components of the ecosystem. They are of
three categories
1. Climatic and physical factors -air, water, soil and sunlight; rainfall, temperature,
humidity, soil texture and geomorphic conditions.
2. Inorganic substances- there are various nutrient elements and compounds, such as
carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorous, carbon-di-oxide, water, etc. These are involve
din the cycling of materials in the ecosystems.
3. Organic compounds- these are proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, humic substances,
etc. They largely form the living body and link the abiotic compounds with the biotic
factors.
 SOME OF THE MAJOR NON-LIVING
FACTORS OF AN ECOSYSTEM ARE:

•SUNLIGHT •OXYGEN
•WATER •SOIL
•TEMPERATURE •AIR
 SUN
The heat and light from the sun are
critical parts of an ecosystem. The
sun's heat helps water evaporate and
return to the atmosphere where it is
cycled back into water. The heat also
keeps plants and animals warm. The
light from the sun is necessary for
photosynthesis, so that plants have the
energy they need to make food.
 WATER
Without water there would be no life.
Water is a large
Percentage of the cells that make up
all living organisms. Water is also
used by plants to carry and
Distribute the nutrients they need to
survive.
 SOIL
Soil is a critical part of an
ecosystem. It provides important
nutrients for the plants. It helps
anchor the plants to keep them in
place. Soil absorbs and holds
water for plants and animals to use
and provides a home for lots of
living organisms.
 AIR
The atmosphere provides oxygen
and carbon dioxide for the plants
and animals in an ecosystem.
The atmosphere is also part of the
water cycle. Without the complex
interactions and elements in the
atmosphere, there would be no
life at all!
TEMPERATURE
Temperature – all living things
have a range of temperatures in
which they can survive; beyond
those limits it will be difficult for
them to live.
 OXYGEN
Oxygen – many living things
require oxygen; it is necessary for
cellular respiration, a process
used to obtain energy from food;
others are actually killed by the
presence of oxygen (certain
bacteria).
 FUNCTIONS OF AN ECOSYSTEM:
1) flow of energy through the medium of living organisms
and their activities;
2) food chains;
3) biodiversity and biomass;
4) circulation and transformation of elements and nutrients;
5) development and evolution; and
6) control.
• The specific functional processes of an ecosystem include:
A) photosynthesis;
B) decomposition;
C) predator - prey relations (herbivory, carnivory, parasitism);
and
D) symbiosis.
 HUMAN
INFLUENCES ON
ECOSYSTEMS
As environmental engineers and scientists we have a responsibilities
to protect ecosystems and the life that resides within them. The
following are several of the more evident ways unpredictable
humans can affect ecosystem.

1. Effect of pesticides on an ecosystem.

2. Effect of nutrients on a lake ecosystem.
3. Effect of organic wastes on a steam ecosystem.
4. Effect of design on an ecosystem.