ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

SUPPORTING SERVICES

• The Supporting services provided

by the Ecosystems such as
photosynthesis, nutrient cycling,
the creation of soils, and the water
cycle.
• These processes allow the Earth to
sustain basic life forms.
• Without supporting services,
provisional, regulating, and cultural
services wouldn't exist.
REGULATING SERVICES
• A regulating service is the benefit
provided by ecosystem processes
that moderate natural phenomena.
• Here Plants clean air and filter
water, bacteria decompose wastes,
bees pollinate flowers, and tree
roots hold soil in place to prevent
erosion.
• Regulating services include
pollination, decomposition, water
purification, erosion and flood
control, and carbon storage and
climate regulation.
CULTURAL SERVICES
• A cultural service is a non-material
benefit that contributes to the
development and cultural
advancement of people, including
how ecosystems play a role in local,
national, and global cultures.
• Ecotourism and Recreation are
examples of cultural services.
PROVISIONING SERVICE

• A provisioning service is any type

of benefit to people that can be
extracted from nature.
• Along with food, other types of
provisioning services include
drinking water, timber, wood fuel,
natural gas, oils, plants that can be
made into clothes and other
materials, and medicinal benefits.
NUTRIENT CYCLING
 NUTRIENT CYCLING
• The movement of nutrient elements
through the various components of an
ecosystem is called nutrient cycling.
• Another name of nutrient cycling is
biogeochemical cycles (bio: living
organism, geo: rocks, air, and water).
• The 2 components of biogeochemical
cycle are
⚬ Reservoir pool – Atmosphere or
earths crust that stores large
amount of nutrients
⚬ Cycling pool or compartments of
cycle – Plants and animals that
store small amounts of nutrients.
NUTRIENT CYCLING
• Nutrient cycles are of two types:
⚬ Gaseous- Nitrogen, carbon, oxygen
⚬ Sedimentary- Phosphorous,
sulphur
• The reservoir for gaseous type of
nutrient cycle (e.g., nitrogen, carbon
cycle) exists in the atmosphere ,
hydrosphere and for the sedimentary
cycle (e.g., sulphur and phosphorus
cycle), the reservoir is located in Earth’s
crust.
NUTRIENT CYCLING
• A perfect nutrient cycle is one in which
nutrients are replaced as fast as they
are utilized.
• Most gaseous cycles are generally
considered as perfect cycles.
• In contrast sedimentary cycles are
considered relatively imperfect, as
some nutrients are lost from the cycle
and get locked into sediments and so
become unavailable for immediate
cycling.
STANDING STATE

• The amount of nutrients, such as carbon,

nitrogen, phosphorous, sulphur, present
in the soil at any given time, is referred
to as the standing state.
• It varies in different kinds of ecosystems
and also on a seasonal basis.
WATER CYCLE
• The water cycle describes how water
evaporates from the surface of the
earth, rises into the atmosphere, cools
and condenses into rain or snow in
clouds, and falls again to the surface as
precipitation.
• The water falling on land collects in
rivers and lakes, soil, and porous layers
of rock, and much of it flows back into
the oceans, where it will once more
evaporate.
• The cycling of water in and out of the
atmosphere is a significant aspect of the
weather patterns on Earth.
PROCESSES INVOLVED
• Evaporation
• Condensation
• Precipitation ( Rainfall, snowfall , etc)
• Transpiration
• Percolation
• Surface Run off
CARBON CYCLE
CARBON CYCLE
• Carbon cycle involves a continuous
exchange of carbon between the
atmosphere and organisms.
• SHORT TERM CARBON CYCLE
⚬ Photosynthesis
⚬ Respiration
⚬ Decomposition
• LONG TERM CARBON CYCLE
⚬ Formation of fossil fuels
⚬ Peatlands
⚬ Formation of calcium carbonate
structures in oceans.
 LET US THINK...

•
•

•
LET US THINK...

a. 1 and 4 only
b. 2 and 3 only
c. 1,2 and 4
only
d. 1, 2, 3 and 4
 NITROGEN CYCLE

• Atmosphere has an inexhaustible

supply of nitrogen (78% of earths
atmosphere) but cannot be used by
living organisms as N2. Hence it needs
to be “fixed” in different forms
Ammonia, Nitrites, nitrates.
• Humans and nitrogen – Amino acids
(building blocks of proteins) contain
nitrogen, so do DNA
.
• Nitrogen cycle can be better understood
by dividing the whole cycle into 5
processes
• Fixation – Gaseous nitrogen to ammonia,
nitrites or nitrates (Free living type –
Azobacter, Cyanobacteria ; symbiotic type
- Rhizobium- BACTERIA+ ROOT)
• There are mechanism of nitrogen fixation
⚬ Micro-organisms – Biological fixation
⚬ Industrial processes - Industrial
fixation
⚬ Thunder and lightning – Atmospheric
fixation
• Nitrification - Ammonium ions are first
oxidised to nitrite by the bacteria
Nitrosomonas or Nitrococcus.
• The nitrite is further oxidized to nitrate
with the help of the bacterium
Nitrobacter.
NITROGEN CYCLE
• Assimilation - The uptake of Nitrates by
Plants through roots for various activities.
• Ammonification – Death and excretion
returns nitrogen to soil. The nitrogen is
converted into ammonia through a
process called ammonification.
• Denitrification- Nitrate present in the soil
is reduced to nitrogen by the process of
denitrification.
• In the soil as well as oceans there are
special denitrifying bacteria
(Pseudomonas and Thiobacillus), which
convert the nitrates/nitrites to elemental
nitrogen.
PHOSPHOROUS CYCLE
• Sedimentary cycle
• Reservoir - Earth's crust
• Sources- Mining for minerals and
Erosion.
• Found as Phosphate rocks on earth's
crust
• Weathering of Phosphate rocks -
allows uptake by plants.
• Excess phosphates in water -
Eutrophication
PHOSPHOROUS CYCLE
SULPHUR CYCLE
• Sources- Mining for minerals,
Combustion of fossil fuels, erosional
runoff, etc
• The sulphur cycle is mostly
sedimentary except two of its
compounds, hydrogen sulphide (H2S)
and sulphur dioxide (SO2), which add a
gaseous component.
• Sulphur enters the atmosphere from
several sources like volcanic eruptions,
combustion of fossil fuels (coal, diesel
etc.), from the surface of the ocean and
gases released by decomposition.
SULPHUR CYCLE
SULPHUR CYCLE
• Sulphur dioxide(SO2) is carried back to
the earth after being dissolved in
rainwater as weak sulphuric acid (acid
rain).
• Sulphur in the form of sulphates (SO4)
is taken up by plants and incorporated
through a series of metabolic processes
into sulphur bearing amino acid which
is incorporated in the proteins of
autotroph tissues.
• Sulphur bound in a living organism is
carried back to the soil, to the bottom
of ponds and lakes and seas through
excretion and decomposition of dead
organic material.
BIODIVERSITY
BIODIVERSITY
• Biodiversity is the variety of plant and
animal life in the world or in a
particular habitat.
• About 8.7 Million species are found on
earth - 6.5 Mn species on Land and 2.2
Mn in Oceans
• Biodiversity is measured by two major
components: species richness, and
species evenness.
• Species richness - It is the measure of
the number of species found in a
community.
• Species Evenness- It is a measure of
the relative abundance of the different
species making up the richness of an
area.
Let us think..
• Are there more plants or animals in
this world ?
• Among Animals which group is
considered to be the most species rich
group ?
• Among vertebrates which group
occupies the highest share?
Note
• More than 70 per cent of all the species
recorded are animals, while plants
(including algae, fungi, bryophytes,
gymnosperms and angiosperms)
comprise no more than 22 per cent of the
total.
• Among animals, insects are the most
species-rich taxonomic group, making
up more than 70 per cent of the total.
• That means, out of every 10 animals on
this planet, 7 are insects.
• The number of fungi species in the world
is more than the combined total of the
species of fishes, amphibians, reptiles and
mammals.
 Concepts
Alpha diversity
• It refers to the diversity within a
particular area or ecosystem and is
usually expressed by the number of
species (i.e., species richness) in that
ecosystem.
Beta diversity
• It is a comparison of diversity between
ecosystems, usually measured as the
change in the amount of species
between the ecosystems.
Gamma diversity
• It is a measure of the overall diversity
for the different ecosystems within a
region.
GENETIC DIVERSITY
TYPES OF BIODIVERSITY
GENETIC DIVERSITY
• Genetic diversity is the total number
of genetic characteristics in the
genetic makeup of a species.
• A single species might show high
diversity at the genetic level (E.g.
Homo sapiens: Chinese, Indian
American, African etc.).
• India has more than 50,000
genetically different strains of rice
and 1,000 varieties of mango.
• Genetic diversity allows species to
adapt to changing environments.
• This diversity aims to ensure that
some species survive drastic changes
and thus carry on desirable genes
 SPECIES DIVERSITY
• The diversity at the species level.
• It combines both Species richness and
species evenness.
• For example, the Western Ghats have a
greater amphibian species diversity
than the Eastern Ghats.
• In general, species diversity decreases
as we move away from the equator
towards the poles.
• Tropics harbour more species
diversity than temperate or polar
regions.
ECOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
• Diversity at the ecosystem level
• India, for instance, with its deserts, rain
forests, mangroves, coral reefs,
wetlands, estuaries, and alpine
meadows has a greater ecosystem
diversity than a Scandinavian country
like Norway
TYPES OF SPECIES
KEYSTONE SPECIES
• Keystone species is a species whose
addition to or loss from an ecosystem
leads to major changes in the
occurrence of at least one other
species.
• Certain species in an ecosystem is
considered more important in
determining the presence of many
other species in that ecosystem.
• All top predators (Tiger, Lion,
Crocodile, Elephant) are considered as
keystone species because they regulate
all other animal population indirectly.
ENDEMIC SPECIES
• They are confined to a specified
geographical area.
• They are also called as Precinctive
species.
• Ex - Nilgiri Tahr (Western ghats) , Red
Panda (Eastern Himalyas)
INDICATOR SPECIES
• It's presence or absence indicates the
health of the ecosystem.
• Also known as sentinel species
• Early warning signals - as they are
sensitive to signals.
• Ex - Lichen , butterfly, frog
• Tubifex grows only in polluted waters
indicating contamination.
INVASIVE SPECIES
• Lower native biodiversity
• High reproduction
• High dispersal ability.
• Ex- Lantana , Prosopis Julifora , Water
Hyacinth , Eucalyptus