Types of Ecosystem:

1. Aquatic Ecosystem
2. Terrestrial Ecosystem

1. Aquatic Ecosystem
An ecosystem which exists in a body of water is known as an aquatic ecosystem. The
communities of living organisms which are dependent on each other and the aquatic
surroundings of their environment for their survival exist in the aquatic ecosystems. It is very
important to understand what water is and what kind of a relationship humans and the other
species have had with water over the years to completely understand the aquatic ecosystems.
The aquatic ecosystems are mainly of two types, the freshwater ecosystems and the marine
ecosystems.

(a) Marine Ecosystem

Marine ecosystems are the biggest ecosystems. They cover around 71% of earth’s surface and
also contain almost around 97% of the total water present on earth. High amounts of minerals
and salts are generally present in the water in the marine ecosystems and to better understand
the amount and composition of the different minerals and salts in the water in different marine
ecosystems. Many different kinds of organisms live in the marine ecosystems and some of
these are the brown algae, sharks, corals etc.

(b) Freshwater Ecosystem

The freshwater ecosystems are very small in magnitude as compared to the marine ecosystems
as these cover only 0.8% of the earth’s surface and only account for 0.009% of the total water
present on earth. There are three basic kinds of freshwater ecosystems and these are Lentic,
Lotic, and Wetlands. The lentic ecosystems are stagnant or still water like ponds or lakes. Lotic
ecosystems are fast-moving water like rivers. The wetlands are those systems where soil
remains saturated for a long period of time. Many different species of reptiles, amphibians, and
around 41% of the world’s fish species live in these ecosystems. The faster moving waters
contain more dissolved oxygen than the slow moving waters and hence support greater
biodiversity.

2. Terrestrial Ecosystem
The ecosystem which is found only on landforms is known as the terrestrial ecosystem. The
main factor which differentiates the terrestrial ecosystems from the aquatic ecosystems is the
relative shortage of water in the terrestrial ecosystems. The main types of terrestrial
ecosystems are the forest ecosystems, the desert ecosystems, the grassland ecosystems and the
mountain ecosystems.
(a) Forest Ecosystem
These ecosystems have an abundance of flora or plants and hence in these ecosystems a large
number of organisms live in a small space. This means that these ecosystems have a high
density of living organisms. The different types of forest ecosystems are tropical evergreen
forest, tropical deciduous forest, temperate evergreen forest, temperate deciduous forest and
taiga. Forests are a very important part of our environment and it is very important to conserve
them and to create new ones if possible.

(b) Desert Ecosystem

Desert ecosystems are defined as and are located in the regions which receive an annual
rainfall of less than 25 cm. Almost 17% of all the land on this planet is occupied by the desert
ecosystems. The fauna and flora in these ecosystems is generally not much developed because
of the high temperatures, intense sunlight and low availability of water. The main vegetation of
such regions are the shrubs, bushes and a few grasses and trees. The stems and leaves of these
plants are also developed in order to conserve as much water as possible. Camels, reptiles and
some insects and birds are the living creatures which are found in such regions.

(c) Grassland Ecosystem

The grasslands are the areas which comprise mainly of the grasses with a little number of
shrubs and trees. Grazing animals, insectivores and herbivores are the main types of organisms
which are found in these regions. The two major types of grasslands are the savanna and the
prairies. Savannas are the tropical grasslands which are dry seasonally and have a large number
of predators and grazers. Prairies are temperate grasslands which are totally devoid of large
shrubs and trees. Prairies are of three different types, mixed grass, tall grass and short grass
prairies.

(d) Mountain Ecosystem

The mountain ecosystem is the most scattered and diverse in terms of the habitats that it
provides. A large number of animals and plants are found in this ecosystem. Though the
conditions at the very high altitudes can be very demanding allowing only the survival of the
treeless alpine vegetation. Another important feature about these ecosystems is that the animals
which live here have thick fur coats for protection against cold and generally have a long
hibernation period in the winters. The slopes at lower altitudes are generally covered with
coniferous forests.
 Energy Flow in Ecosystem:
Energy Flow is the flow of energy from the sun through the materials and living things (as food), then
into the environment (as heat). From energetics point of view it is essential to understand for an
ecosystem.
i) the efficiency of the producers in absorption and conversion
ii) the use of this converted chemical form of energy by the consumers.
iii) the loss through respiration
iv) the gross production

Solar radiation
118,872

Decomposition (3.0) Decomposition (0.5)

Decomposition (trace)

Autotrophs Carnivores Not utilize

Herbivores (1.2)
Gross production (G.P.)
(G.P.)
(G.P.) Respiration(1.8)
3.0
ion(1.8) 15.0
111.0

Not utilize (7.0)

Not utilize (70.0)

Respiration
(23.0) Respiration(4.5)

Energy flow diagram for a lake (Fresh water ecosystem) in g cal/cm2/yr (modified from Lindeman, 1942)

Each trophic level in a food chain or web contains a certain amount of biomass, the dry weight of all
organic matter contained in its organisms.

In a food chain or web, chemical energy stored in biomass is transferred from one trophic level to
another, with some usable energy degraded and lost to the environment as low quality heat in each
transfer. Thus
(1) only a small portion of what is eaten and digested is actually converted into an organism's bodily
material or biomass and

(2) the amount of usable energy available to each successive trophic level declines.

The percentage of usable energy transferred as biomass from one trophic level to the next is called
ecological efficiency.
It ranges from 5% to 20% (i.e. loss of 80-95%) depending upon types of species and the ecosystem
involved but 10% is typical.

Assuming 10% ecological efficiency (90% loss) at each trophic transfer, if green plants in an area manage
to capture 10,000 units of energy from the sun, then only about 1,000 units of energy will be available to
support herbivores and only about 100 units to support carnivores.

10 Tertiary consumer (Man)

100 Secondary consumer (Fish)

1,000 Primary consumer

(Zooplankton)

Producers

(Phytoplankton)

Fig. Generalized pyramids of energy flow showing the decrease in usable energy available at each succeeding
trophic level in a food chain.
The more trophic levels or steps in a food chain or web, the greater the accumulative loss of usable
energy as energy flows through the various trophic level.

The loss in energy between successive trophic levels also explains why food chains and webs rarely have
more than four and five trophic levels.

In most cases, too little energy is left after 4 or 5 transfers to support organisms feeding at these high
trophic levels.

This explains
(1) Why there are so few top carnivores such as eagle, tigers and white sharks.
(2) Why such species usually are the first to suffer when the ecosystems that support them are disrupted
&
(3) Why these species are so vulnerable to extinction.

Biogeochemical Cycles:
Nutrient cycles
A nutrient is any atom, ion, or molecule that an organism need to live, grow, or reproduce. Some elements
(such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur and calcium) are needed in fairly large
amounts, where as others (such as sodium, zinc, copper, and iodine) are needed in small or even trace
amounts.
These nutrients, atoms, ions and molecules are cycled continuously from non living environment (air,
water, soil, rock) to living organisms and then back again in what are called biogeochemical cycles
(literally, life-earth-chemical cycles).

The earth's chemical cycles also connect past, present and future forms of life.
(Some of the oxygen molecules you just inhaled may have been inhaled by your grandmother, or hunter-
gathers who lived 25,000 years ago.

Major types of Nutrients cycle:

There are 3 general types of nutrient cycles namely, Hydrologic, Atmospheric, and Sedimentary.

In the hydrologic, or water cycle, water in the form of ice, liquid, water vapor cycles through the
biosphere. In this case, the hydrosphere is the main storehouse. This cycle operate at local, regional and
global level.

In an atmospheric cycle a large portion of a given element exists in gaseous form in the atmosphere.
Examples are Nitrogen gas, Carbon dioxide gas which cycle fairly rapidly from the atmosphere, through
soil and organisms, and back into the atmosphere. Because they involve the atmosphere, such cycles
operate at local, regional, and global levels.

In a sedimentary cycle, an element does not have a gaseous phase, or its gaseous compounds do not make
up a significant portion of its supply. In this case, the earth's crust is the main store house. Such elements
cycle quite slowly, moving mostly from the land to the sediments in the seas and then back to the land
through long term geological uplifting of the earth's crust over millions to hundred of million of years.
Phosphorus and most non renewable solid minerals are circulated in such cycles. The slow rate of cycling
of such nutrients explains why availability of phosphorus in soil often limits plant growth.
Because they have no (little) circulation in the atmosphere, such cycles tend to operate only on a local and
regional basis.
 Water cycle:
Water is driver of nature. Without water, the other nutrient cycles would not exist in their present forms.
The main processes in this water cycling and purifying cycles are:
(1) Evaporation (Conversion of water into water vapor)
(2) Transpiration (Evaporation from leaves of water extracted from soil by roots and transported
throughout the plant)
(3) Condensation (Conversion of water vapor into droplets of liquid water)
(4) Precipitation (rain, hail. snow)
(5) Infiltration (Movement of water into soil)
(6) Percolation (Downward flow of water through soil and permeable rock formations to ground water
storage areas called aquifers)
(7) Runoff (Downslope surface movement back to the sea to resume the cycle)

Carbon cycle:

The series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment, involving the
incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere
through respiration, the decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels.
Carbon is essential to life. It is the basic building blocks of organic compounds necessary for life,
including carbohydrates, fats, proteins and nucleic acid such as DNA and RNA. The carbon cycle, a
global gaseous cycle, is based on carbon dioxide gas, which makes up 0.036% by volume of troposphere
and is also dissolved in water.

Land, Ocean,
Carbonate

Atmospheric
Burning
Carbon (CO2)

Coal, Oil Producers Consumer Decomposer

(Plants)
 Dead Organic
matter

Carbon dioxide is a key component of nature's thermostat. If the carbon cycle removes too much CO 2
from the atmosphere, the atmosphere will become cooler, if the cycle generates too much, the atmosphere
will get warmer. Thus, even slight changes in the carbon cycle can affect climate.

Terrestrial producers remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and aquatic producers remove it from
the water. Then by the process of Photosynthesis, they use CO 2 and convert it into complex carbohydrate
such as glucose (C6H12O6). The cells in oxygen consuming producers, consumers, decomposers then carry
out aerobic respiration, which breaks down glucose and other complex organic compounds and converts
the carbon back to carbon dioxide. This CO 2 is released back to the atmosphere to be reused by producers.
This linkage between photosynthesis in producers and aerobic respiration in producers, consumers and
decomposers circulates carbon in the biosphere and is major part of global carbon cycle.

Over millions of years, buried deposits of dead plant matter and animals ate compressed between layers
of sediments where they form carbon containing fossil fuels such as coal and oil. This Carbon is not
released to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide for recycling until these fuels are extracted and burnt.

The largest storage reservoir for the earth's carbon is sedimentary rocks such as limestone (CaCO 3)
deposited as sediments on the ocean floor and continents. This carbon reenters the cycle very slowly,
when some of the sediments dissolve and form dissolved carbon dioxide gas that can enter the
atmosphere.

Geological process such as chemical weathering of carbonate rock also brings CO 2 to the atmosphere.
CO2 is also released into the atmosphere when acidic rain falls on and dissolves exposed limestone rocks.

The oceans are the second largest reservoir for carbon cycle. Oceans also play a major role in regulating
the level of CO2 in the atmosphere, Some CO2 gas is readily soluble in water, stays dissolved in the sea,
some is removed by Photosynthesizing producers and some reacts with sea water to form carbonate ions
and bicarbonate ions. As water warms, more dissolved CO 2 returns to the atmosphere, just as more CO 2
fizzes out of a carbonate beverage when it warms.

We have been intervening in the earth's carbon cycle in two ways that add CO 2 to the atmosphere.
1) Clearing tress and other plants that absorb CO2 through photosynthesis
2) Adding large amounts of CO2 by burning fossil fuels and wood.
Significance of carbon cycle
1. Important for the Maintenance of the Balance in Ecosystems: The carbon
cycle is important in ecosystems because it moves carbon from the
atmosphere and oceans into organisms and back again to the atmosphere and
oceans. If the balance between these latter two reservoirs is upset, serious
consequences, such as global warming and climate disruption, may result.

2. Carbon in the form of CO2 is present in the atmosphere in a very small

amount but it has a big impact on sustainable life on the planet. The CO2
traps radiation in the atmosphere and acts like a warm blanket around the
planet, trapping heat in and keeping the surface from freezing:

3. Essential for life: all living organisms are made up of carbon or one way or
another. When the process fails, life may begin to disrupt, and may even
cause the cessation of it.

4. The carbon cycle is vitally important to life on earth. Through

photosynthesis and respiration, it is the way the earth produces food and
other renewal resources. Through decomposition, it serves as the earth's
waste disposal system.

Nitrogen Cycle:

Organism use nitrogen to make vital organic compounds such as aminoacids, Proteins, DNA and RNA.
Nitrogen is an essential plant nutrient.
Nitrogen is the atmosphere's most abundant element, with chemically unreactive nitrogen gas making up
78% of the volume of the troposphere.
However nitrogen cannot be absorbed and used (metabolized) directly as a nutrient by plants. The
nitrogen must be fixed or combined with hydrogen or oxygen to provide compounds that plants can use.
Atmospheric nitrogen serves as an ultimate source.
From an ecological perspective, the nitrogen cycle consists of the following stages.
i) Ammonification
ii) Nitrification
iii) Nitrogen uptake by plants
iv) Fixation of Nitrogen
v) Denitrification
 Atmospheric
Nitrogen

Nitrogen Fixation
(N2) Denitrification

Nitrate (NO3-)

Producers Nitrite (NO2-)

(Protein)

Consumer Ammonia (NH3)

Dead Organic Matter

i) Ammonification:
Ammonification is a process in which the organic nitrogen of plants and animals after their death is
converted to simpler nitrogen containing inorganic compounds such as ammonia (NH 3) and water soluble
salts containing ammonium ions (NH4+) by the action of saprotrophic fungi and bacteria. The saprotrophs
use the ammonia (NH3) to synthesize their own proteins.

ii) Nitrification:
Ammonium ions added to the soil by ammonification, are soon oxidized by a process known as
nitrification. It takes in two stages
In the first stage, ammonium (NH4+) ion is converted to nitrite (NO2-). This reaction is completed by the
bacteria such as Nitrosomonas, Nitrosopira, and Nitrococcus.
The second stage of nitrification involves the oxidation of nitrite (NO2-) to nitrate (NO3-) by bacteria of
the genera Nitrobacter, Nitrospira, Nitrococcus. The reaction proceeds by the addition of water followed
by the removal of hydrogen. The bacteria responsible for theses reaction occur in the same soil.

iii) Nitrogen uptake by plants:

Nitrate formed in the process of nitrification is used by most plants as a mineral metabolite and may be
converted to them into amino groups and other nitrogen-containing compounds. Nitrate are also added to
the soil through rock dissolution.

iv) Fixation of Nitrogen:

In this step, specialized bacteria convert gaseous nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3) that can be used by
plants by the reaction
N2+3H2 2NH3.

This is done mostly by cyanobacteria in soil and water and Rhizobium bacteria living in small nodules on
the root of leguminous plants

v) Denitrification:
it completes the nitrogen cycle by converting nitrate (NO 3-) back to gaseous nitrogen (N 2).
Denitrifying bacteria are the agents of this process. These bacteria use nitrate instead of oxygen when
obtaining energy, releasing nitrogen gas to the atmosphere. .

Microbial reduction of nitrate and nitrite with the liberation of molecular nitrogen and nitrous oxide is
called Denitrification. It is also called nitrate respiration because nitrate is used during respiration by
bacteria.
Denitrifying bacteria are Pseudomonas, Bacillus etc.

How are human activities affecting the Nitrogen cycle?

Major human interventions in the earth' current nitrogen cycle include:

 Adding large amount of nitric oxide (NO) into the atmosphere when we burn any fuel (N2+O2
2NO). In the atmosphere, this nitric oxide combines with oxygen to form nitrogen dioxide gas
which react with water vapor to from nitric acid.

 Adding nitrous oxide to the atmosphere through the action of anaerobic bacteria on livestock
wastes and commercial inorganic fertilizers applied to the soil.

 Adding nitrogen compounds to aquatic ecosystems from agriculture runoff and discharge of
municipal sewage.

 Removing nitrogen from top soil when we harvest nitrogen rich crops, burn or clear grasslands
and forest.
Phosphorus Cycle:

The phosphorus cycle, unlike those of carbon and nitrogen cycles lacks an atmospheric component. The
global phosphorus cycle involves only aquatic and soil compartment. As a basic constituent of nucleic
acids, phospholipids, phosphorus is one of the nutrients of major importance to biological system.

Organisms

(Organic Phosphorus)
Plants & bacterial Excretion, bones,
action Phosphatizing bacteria

Dissolved Phosphates

Erosion & Sedimentation Resuspension by

Weathering Physical &biological
processes

Geological
Phosphate Processes
Sediments
rocks