Lesson 9- Biotic Components of an Ecosystem

Objective

In the end of the lesson, you will be able to identify living organisms found in an ecosystem and classify the
biotic components (producer, consumer, and decomposer) present in an environment.

Lesson Proper

Living organisms are all things on earth that have lives, like the tress, plants, animals, including YOU! They
are called biotic components. Bio comes from the Greek word bios which means life. It literally refers to living
organism.

Biotic components are the living things which help shape an ecosystem. They affect another organisms, either as
consumers or producers. Each biotic factor needs energy to do the work, food for proper growth and human
influence.

Biotic components include:

1. PRODUCERS (Autotrophs):
 Organisms that can make their own food by converting the energy from the sun into food. Example: Plants
 Producers are called energy transducers. They convert solar energy into chemical energy, with the help of
organic and inorganic substances.
 The producers are called as autotrophic (auto = self; troph = nourishing) organisms, these are organisms
that can make their own food.
 They are capable of synthesizing food from non-living inorganic compounds.
 They are largely represented by green plants on land (trees, grasses, crops) and phytoplanktons on water.

2. CONSUMERS (Heterotrophs):
 Organisms that cannot make their own food; they depend upon producers for food. Example: animals
 Consumers are the organisms that feed on other organisms to survive. They consume the food materials
prepared by the producers (autotrophs). Hence, consumers are called as heterotrophic organisms.
 Depending upon their food habits, consumers are classified into primary, secondary and tertiary consumers.
 The PRIMARY CONSUMERS solely feed on plants. Herbivores are plant eaters - grasshopper, rabbit,
goat, sheep – these animals are primary consumers.
 The SECONDARY CONSUMERS feed on some primary consumers.
o Carnivores - are flesh eaters. Example: Hawks ,Tiger and Lion
o Omnivores (Biophages) - eat both plants and animal flesh. Example: cockroaches, fox, humans

 Secondary consumers are those which predate on primary consumers.

  TERTIARY CONSUMERS are the predators of predators. They are mostly larger animals. Example: A
snake eats a rabbit, and the snake was eaten by an eagle.

3. DECOMPOSERS (Detritus):
 Decompose or break down chemicals from producers and consumers into simpler form which can be
reused. Example: bacteria and fungi
 They are also called as micro consumers. They depend on dead organic matter for their food. They are
chiefly microorganisms like bacteria and fungi. They break the complex organic matter found in plant and
animal bodies, and release simple substances. These substances will be used by autotrophs once again.
 Earthworms use these dead organic matter for their food. They are called as secondary decomposer.

This illustration shows the relationship between producers, consumers, and decomposers. The producer
that is the tree, produces food for primary consumers like the squirrel in the figure above. The secondary consumer
that is the wolf eats the primary consumer. Once the primary and secondary consumers die, their bodies will
decompose. The decomposition process takes place in the presence of bacteria and other microorganisms.

The interactions between various biotic components are necessary for the survival and reproduction of each
species.
 The single energy pathway usually consisting of five
trophic levels is called food chain. A food chain shows how each
living thing obtains food and how nutrients and energy are passed
on from one organism to another.

In reality, the flow of energy in an

ecosystem is much more complicated than what a
food chain represents. Ecologist say that
“everything is connected to everything else.” Thus,
the food chain that is discussed in the previous
section is only a part of the many food links that
are interconnected in an ecosystem. This
interconnected food chain is called food web.