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• Some provide food for other organisms; others provide shelter or control populations through
predation.
Producers
– In a forest ecosystem, plants get their energy from
sunlight.
Decomposers
– Eventually all plants and animals die. These
materials are decomposed by microbes.
• The most typical desert landscape in India is seen in the Thar Desert,
Rajasthan.
• There are cold deserts such as in Ladakh, which are located in the high
plateaus of the Himalayas.
• The Great and Little Rann of Kutch are highly specialized arid ecosystems. In
the summers they are similar to a desert landscape. However, as these are
low-lying areas near the sea, they get converted to salt marshes during the
monsoons
• Abiotic Component:
– The abiotic component includes the nutrients present in the soil and the aerial
environment.
– The characteristic feature of the abiotic component is lack of organic matter
in the soil and scarcity of water.
– Extreme temperatures
Producers
– Mainly shrubs or bushes, some grasses and a rarely trees.
– Others have seeds that lay dormant until a rain awakens them.
– Xerophytes can hold water inside its soft tissue, has a thick, waxy layer
that minimize transpiration (water loss). Leaves are reduced to spines
and roots are highly developed to search for water. Stems contains
chlorophyll and modified to perform photosynthesis.
© Dr. Riddhi Datta
Different components of a desert ecosystem
Biotic Component:
Consumers
These include animals such as insects and reptiles. Besides them, some
rodents, birds and some mammalian vertebrates are also found.
• Desert Insects and Arachnids:
– There are plenty of insects in the desert.
– One of the most common and destructive pests is the locust.
– Not all desert insects are bad, though. The yucca moth is very
important to the yucca plant, and helps in pollination.
– There are also several species of ants in the desert. The
harvester ants gather seeds and store them for use during
the dry season. The honey pot ants eat large amounts of
sugar, so much that their abdomens get too large for them to
move. The rest of the colony feeds off this sugar.
– There are also arachnids in the desert. Spiders are the most
notable arachnids. Some scorpions have poison in their sharp
tails. They sting their predators and their prey with the
piercing tip. © Dr. Riddhi Datta
Different components of a desert ecosystem
Biotic Component:
Consumers
These include animals such as insects and reptiles. Besides them, some
rodents, birds and some mammalian vertebrates are also found.
• Desert Reptiles:
– Lizards: They are probably the most bizarre looking animals in the
desert. While some change colors and have sharp scales for
defense, others change their appearance to look threatening.
– Example: Frilled hazard, shingle back, gila monster (poisonous) © Dr. Riddhi Datta
Different components of a desert ecosystem
Biotic Component:
Consumers
These include animals such as insects and reptiles. Besides them, some
rodents, birds and some mammalian vertebrates are also found.
• Desert Birds:
– The sand grouse has special feathers that soak up water. It can
then carry the water to its young ones in the nest.
• Desert Mammals:
– Mammals also have to find ways to stay cool and drink plenty of water.
– Many desert mammals are burrowers. They dig holes in the ground and
stay there during the hot days. They return to the surface at night to feed.
Hamsters, rats and their relatives are all burrowers.
– Others include foxes, jackals and lions. They get their water from the
blood of their prey.
© Dr. Riddhi Datta
Different components of a desert ecosystem
Biotic Component:
Consumers
These include animals such as insects and reptiles. Besides them, some
rodents, birds and some mammalian vertebrates are also found.
• Desert Mammals:
Biotic Component:
Decomposers
• Due to poor vegetation the amount of dead organic matter is very less. As a result the
decomposers are very few.
• The common decomposers are some bacteria and fungi, most of which are thermophile.
Biotic Components:
• Producer Organisms:
– In grassland, producers are mainly grasses;
though, a few herbs and shrubs also
contribute to primary production of biomass.
– Some of the most common species of
grasses are: Cynodon sp., Desmodium sp.,
Digitaria sp.
• Flood grasslands
– These are flooded seasonally or year round. These grasslands
occur mostly in subtropical and tropical climates.
– The most notable flood grassland is Florida's Everglades.
• Montane grasslands
– These are high-altitude grasslands located on high mountain
ranges and valleys.
– A notable example of montane grasslands is the paramo of the
Andes.
• Producers:
• Consumers:
– Consumers of Pond ecosystem are heterotrophs which depend for their
nutrition on other organisms.
– Benthic animals like snakes, big fishes live on nectic animals and are
termed tertiary consumers.
– Generally the decomposers either live in the soil layer beneath water or in the mud.
– They act on dead and decayed organic matter of plants and animals and supply raw
materials to the producers.