NATURAL SCIENCE

HOMEWORK #3

MARTINEZ, RENZ D.
BS PSYCHOLOGY B2019

CHAPTER 2. THE ECOSYSTEM

2.1 Definition of an Ecosystem

Ecosystem as a community of lifeforms in concurrence with non-living
components, interacting with each other.
These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and
energy flows. Energy enters the system through photosynthesis and is incorporated into plant
tissue. By feeding on plants and on one another, animals play an important role in the movement
of matter and energy through the system. They also influence the quantity of plant
and microbial biomass present. By breaking down dead organic
matter, decomposers release carbon back to the atmosphere and facilitate nutrient cycling by
converting nutrients stored in dead biomass back to a form that can be readily used by plants and
other microbes.
Ecosystems are controlled by external and internal factors. External factors such
as climate, parent material which forms the soil and topography, control the overall structure of
an ecosystem but are not themselves influenced by the ecosystem. Unlike external factors,
internal factors are controlled, for example, decomposition, root competition, shading,
disturbance, succession, and the types of species present.
Ecosystems are dynamic entities they are subject to periodic disturbances and are in the
process of recovering from some past disturbance. Ecosystems in similar environments that are
located in different parts of the world can end up doing things very differently simply because
they have different pools of species present. Internal factors not only control ecosystem
processes but are also controlled by them and are often subject to feedback loops.
2.2 Components of an Ecosystem
There are two main components of an ecosystem which are in constant communication
with each other.  They are the biotic components and the abiotic components.

Biotic Components of Ecosystem

The living components of an ecosystem are called the biotic components. Some of these
factors include plants, animals, as well as fungi and bacteria. These biotic components can be
further classified, based on the energy requirement source. Producers, consumers, and decomposers
are the three broad categories of biotic components.

 Producers are the plants in the ecosystem, which can generate their own energy
requirement through photosynthesis, in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll. All
other living beings are dependent on plants for their energy requirement of food as
well as oxygen.

 Consumers include herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. The herbivores are

the living organisms that feed on plants. Carnivores eat other living organisms.
Omnivores are animals that can eat both plant and animal tissue.

 Decomposers are the fungi and bacteria, which are the saprophytes. They feed on the
decaying organic matter and convert this matter into nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
The saprophytes play a vital role in recycling the nutrients so that the producers i.e.
plants can use them once again.
Abiotic Components of Ecosystem

Abiotic components are the physical and/or the chemical factors that act on the living
organisms at any part of their life. These are also called as the ecological factors. The physical and
chemical factors are characteristic of the environment.  Light, air, soil, and nutrients, etc. form the
abiotic components of an ecosystem.

The abiotic factors vary from ecosystem to ecosystem. In an aquatic ecosystem, the abiotic
factors may include water pH, sunlight, turbidity, water depth, salinity, available nutrients and
dissolved oxygen. Similarly, abiotic factors in terrestrial ecosystems can include soil, soil
types, temperature, rain, altitude, wind, nutrients, sunlight etc.

Here, the sun is the energy source. Producers/plants use this energy to synthesize food in the
presence of carbon dioxide and chlorophyll. The energy from the sun, through several chemical
reactions, turns into chemical energy.

2.3 Feeding Relationship and Trophic Levels

Feeding Relationship energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction, from the sun
or inorganic compounds to autotrophs (producers) and then to various
heterotrophs (consumers).
Food chains and food webs model are feeding relationships in ecosystems.
They show how energy and materials are transferred between trophic level when consumers eat
producers or other organisms. A food web is a diagram of feeding relationships that includes
multiple intersecting food chains.
Three main types of feeding relationships or symbiotic relationships

 Mutualism: both partner’s benefit.

 Commensalism: only one species benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed.
 Parasitism: One organism (the parasite) gains, while the other (the host) suffers.

Tropic levels is the group of organisms within an ecosystem which occupy the same level
in a food chain. There are five main trophic levels within a food chain, each of which
differs in its nutritional relationship with the primary energy source. The primary energy source
in any ecosystem is the Sun (although there are exceptions in deep sea ecosystems).

The solar radiation from the Sun provides the input of energy, which is used by primary
producers, also known as autotrophs. Primary producers are usually plants and algae, which
perform photosynthesis in order to manufacture their own food source. Primary producers make
up the first trophic level.
The rest of the trophic levels are made up of consumers, also known as heterotrophs;
heterotrophs cannot produce their own food, so must consume other organisms in order to
acquire nutrition.
The second trophic level consists of herbivores, these organisms gain energy by eating primary
producers and are called primary consumers.
Trophic level three consists of carnivores and omnivores which eat herbivores; these are
the secondary consumers.
Trophic level four contains carnivores and omnivores which eat secondary consumers and are
known as tertiary consumers.
Trophic level five consists of apex predators; these animals have no natural predators and are
therefore at the top of the food chain.

2.4 Energy Flow and Pyramids of Energy and Biomass

Energy Flow is the flow of energy through living things within an ecosystem. All living
organisms can be organized into producers and consumers, and those producers and consumers
can further be organized into a food chain. Each of the levels within the food chain is a trophic
level.
Pyramids of Energy is a representation of how much energy is retained in the form of
new biomass at each Tropic level.
Only 10% of energy is transferred from one level to the next level. energy in an
energy pyramid is measured in units of kilocalories (kcal) energy pyramids are always up right.

Pyramid of Biomass is a representation of the biomass at different trophic levels in an

ecosystem.
Only 10 - 20% of biomass is transferred from one level to the next level. Biomass in a
biomass pyramid is measured in units of kilograms per square meter (kgm)2 end there are upright
and inverted biomass pyramids.