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FUNCTIONING ECOSYSTEM

FUNCTIONING ECOSYSTEM
Plants carry out photosynthesis and produce carbohydrates.
This is used by plants for energy production.
Other living things especially herbivores depend on plants for food.
These are in turn fed upon by other animals. When living things die the energy in them
is converted to other forms.
Energy is thus transferred and converted from one form to another in the system.
Each organism is an important link in the system and cannot be replaced by another at
all times.
AUTOTROPHY AND HETEROTROPHY

AUTOTROPHS
These are organisms which can produce their organic food from simple
inorganic substances by using sunlight or chemical energy.
Autotrophs obtain the simple inorganic substances or chemical nutrients from the
abiotic components of the ecosystem.
They are said to be dependent.
Autotrophs are grouped into two;
Photosynthetic autotrophs
Chemosynthetic autotrophs
Photosynthetic autotrophs: synthesize organic food from simple inorganic substances
by using sunlight as a source of energy e.g Plants.
Chemosynthetic autotrophs: They utilize simple inorganic reactions as a source of
energy produce organic materials e.g. Iron bacteria, Sulphur bacteria and Theobacillus.
Producers: They are the same as autotrophs.
(i) Aquatic Producers: are phytoplanktons and algae which trap energy to produce food
substances.
(ii) Terrestrial Producers: are green plants. They occupy the first trophic level.

HETEROTROPHS
Heterotrophs are organisms which cannot manufacture their food.
They need ready-made organic food materials for their energy requirements.
Heterotrophs use the nutrients and chemical energy stored in the food they feed on
for their activities and building up their body tissues (growth).
Heterotrophs include; all animals (consumers), carnivorous plants, fungi, and most
protists and bacteria.
Consumers: They are the same as heterotrophs.
They are subdivided into primary consumers, secondary consumers and tertiary
consumers.
(i) Primary consumers: They occupy the second trophic level,
Herbivores are good examples since they feed directly on plants.
(ii) Secondary consumers: They are in the third trophic level; they include animals that
feed on herbivores. Examples are carnivores (cats, lions, tigers, and eagles, etc.)
(iii) Tertiary consumers: They include those that feed on the carnivores.
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Example is man.
They are ranked fourth in the trophic level.
Decomposers: This feed on dead remains of organisms. They recycle by making it
available for plants to make use of.
Examples are putrefying bacteria and fungi.

FOOD CHAINS, FOOD WEBS AND TROPHIC LEVELS

Food Chain: A food chain is the linear transfer of energy from one organism to another.
It is a feeding relationship involving organisms feeding or being eaten by others. It is a
form of energy flow. Energy trapped by plants are transferred through this process.

Examples;

(i) Grasses Zebra Lion

(ii) Maize Hen Kite Man

(iii) Green Alga Tadpole Bigger Fish Man

(iv) Wood Termite Chicken Kite

The Trophic levels are based on the various stages of the chain.
Trophic level means feeding pathway or level
This feeding pathway in nature follows a certain pattern:
It begins with a primary producer occupy the first trophic level followed by
the primary producer which occupy the second trophic level,
the secondary consumer which occupy the third trophic level,
while the tertiary consumers occupy the fourth the trophic level.
The decomposers convert the remains of dead producers and consumers into simple
inorganic substances which return to the non-living environment.

FOOD WEB

This is a complex feeding relationship among organisms in the same environment with
two or more inter-related food chains.
A food web contains two or more food chains hence more organisms than in a food chain
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Differences between Food web and Food chain

Food Chain Food Web

Organisms have lesser chance of survival
Food chain involves fewer organisms
It involves only one food chain
It is a linear feeding relationship
Organisms have greater chance of
survival
Food web involves many organisms
It involves two or more food chains
It is a complex feeding relationship

Pyramid of numbers: A pyramid of numbers is a graphical representation that shows

the number of organisms at each trophic level. It is an upright pyramid in light of the
fact that in an ecosystem, the producers are always more in number than other trophic
levels.
It can also be referred to as number of individual organisms at each trophic level which
decreases progressively from the first to the last trophic level in a food chain.

Pyramid of Energy: A pyramid of energy is a graphical representation of the amount

of energy at each trophic level of a food chain. They are expressed in units
of energy per area per time (e.g. kJ m –2 year –1)
It represents the rate of energy flow at successive trophic levels .
There is a progressive decrease of energy at higher trophic levels.
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Pyramid of Energy

Pyramid of Biomass: It is a representation of mass of individuals at each trophic level.

Each higher level shows a drop in mass.

ENERGY TRANSFORMATION IN NATURE

Flow of Energy: Energy flows through an ecosystem in only one direction.
Energy is passed from organisms at one trophic level or energy level to organisms in the
next trophic level.
Organisms need it for growth, locomotion, heating themselves, and reproduction.

The cycle of energy is based on the flow of energy through different trophic levels in
an ecosystem.
At the first trophic level, primary producers use solar energy to produce organic
material through photosynthesis. The herbivores at the second trophic level use the
plants as food which gives them energy.

The largest source of energy for an ecosystem is the sun. Energy that is not used in
an ecosystem is eventually lost as heat. Energy and nutrients are passed around
through the food chain, when one organism eats another organism.
Any energy remaining in a dead organism is consumed by decomposers.

ENERGY LOSS IN THE ECOSYSTEM

Biomass is the total mass of a group of organisms (carbon compounds they obtain, cells
and tissue) Since carbon compounds contain energy, Biomass also has energy. This helps
ecologists to see how much energy is added per year by group organisms in to their
biomass.
The results are calculated by:
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 per square meter of the ecosystem (so that different trophic levels can be
compared

When this is done, the same trend is found:

 the energy added to the biomass by each trophic level is less.

 In secondary consumers, for example the amount of energy is always less per
year per square meter of ecosystem than in primary consumers.

The reason for this:

Most of the energy in the food that is digested has be released by cell
respiration for cell activities (loss of heat).

 The only energy left for the other organism in the other trophic level, is the
chemical energy of carbohydrates and other carbon compounds that have no
been used up in cell respirations.
 The organisms in the next trophic level do not entirely eat the whole
plant/animal, only some parts and the rest is for the decomposers instead of
passing to the next trophic level.
 Not all parts of food and indigestible, therefore its egested by the feces.
Which pass on to Saprotrophs and detritivores

Because of all these losses on a small amount of the energy in the biomass of the
trophic level will be in the next biomass of the next trophic level. ha-ha get it?
The figure of 10% is always quoted however we have to keep in mind the loss varies :)
But we now that in each trophic level going up and up there will be less energy from
trophic level to trophic level. BIG to SMALL. We can now understand the restriction of
trophic levels, because to a point the amount of energy in a biomass would be so small
to support the next trophic level.

Laws of Thermodynamics

The First law of thermodynamics

The law states that “energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can be
transformed from one form to another.”
The first law of thermodynamics thinks big: it deals with the total amount of energy in
the universe, and in particular, it states that this total amount does not change. Put
another way, the First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created
or destroyed. It can only change form or be transferred from one object to another.
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This law may seem kind of abstract, but if we start to look at examples, we’ll find that

transfers and transformations of energy take place around us all the time. For

example:

 Light bulbs transform electrical energy into light energy (radiant energy).

 One pool ball hits another, transferring kinetic energy and making the second ball move.

 Plants convert the energy of sunlight (radiant energy) into chemical energy stored in

organic molecules.

 You are transforming chemical energy from your last snack into kinetic energy as you

walk, breathe, and move your finger to scroll up and down this page.
Importantly, none of these transfers is completely efficient. Instead, in each scenario,
some of the starting energy is released as thermal energy. When it's moving from one
object to another, thermal energy is called by the more familiar name of heat. It's
obvious that glowing light bulbs generate heat in addition to light, but moving pool balls
do too (thanks to friction), as do the inefficient chemical energy transfers of plant and
animal metabolism. To see why this heat generation is important, stay tuned for the
Second Law of Thermodynamics

Second law of thermodynamics

The law states that “the transformation of can never be hundred percent
efficient.”
At first glance, the first law of thermodynamics may seem like great news. If energy is

never created or destroyed, that means that energy can just be recycled over and over

again, right?

Well…yes and no. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can change from more-

useful forms into less-useful forms. As it turns out, in every real-world energy transfer

or transformation, some amount of energy is converted to a form that’s unusable

(unavailable to do work). In most cases, this unusable energy takes the form of heat.

Although heat can in fact do work under the right circumstances, it can never be

turned into other (work-performing) types of energy with 100% efficiency. So, every

time an energy transfer happens, some amount of useful energy will move from the

useful to the useless category.

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Heat increases the randomness of the universe

If heat is not doing work, then what exactly does it do? Heat that doesn’t do work goes

towards increasing the randomness (disorder) of the universe. That may seem like a big

logic jump, so let’s take a step back and see how it can be the case.

When you have two objects (say, two blocks of the same metal) at different

temperatures, your system is relatively organized: the molecules are partitioned by

speed, with those in the cooler object moving slowly and those in the hotter object

moving quickly. If heat flows from the hotter object into the cooler object (as it will

spontaneously), the molecules of the hot object slow down, and the molecules of the

cool object speed up, until all the molecules are moving at the same average speed. Now,

rather than having a partition of between fast and slow molecules, we simply have one

big pool of molecules going about the same speed – a less ordered situation than our

starting point.

The system will tend to move towards this more disordered configuration simply

because it’s statistically much more likely than the temperature-separated

configuration (i.e., there are many more possible states corresponding to the

disordered configuration). You can explore this concept further in the videos in this

tutorial, or in this straightforward.

Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

The degree of randomness or disorder in a system is called its entropy. Since we know
that every energy transfer results in the conversion of some energy to an unusable
form (such as heat), and since heat that does not do work goes to increase the
randomness of the universe, we can state a biology-relevant version of the Second Law
of Thermodynamics: every energy transfer that takes place will increase the entropy
of the universe and reduce the amount of usable energy available to do work (or, in the
most extreme case, leave the overall entropy unchanged). In other words, any process,
such as a chemical reaction or set of connected reactions, will proceed in a direction
that increases the overall entropy of the universe.
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To sum up, the First Law of Thermodynamics tells us about conservation of energy

among processes, while the Second Law of Thermodynamics talks about the

directionality of the processes, that is, from lower to higher entropy (in the universe

overall).

Entropy in biological systems

One implication of the second law of thermodynamics is that in order for a process to

happen, it must somehow increase the entropy of the universe. This may immediately

raise some questions for you when you think about living organisms such as yourself.

After all, aren’t you a pretty ordered collection of matter? Every cell in your body has

its own internal organization; the cells are organized into tissues, and the tissues into

organs; and your entire body maintains a careful system of transport, exchange, and

commerce that keeps you alive. Thus, at first glance, it may not be clear how you, or

even a simple bacterium, can represent an increase in the entropy of the universe.

To clarify this, let’s look at the energy exchanges that take place in your body – say,

when you are going for a walk. As you contract the muscles of your legs to move your

body forward, you are using chemical energy from complex molecules such as glucose

and converting it into kinetic energy (and, if you’re walking uphill, potential energy)

However, you’re doing this with pretty low efficiency: a large fraction of the energy

from your fuel sources is simply transformed into heat. Some of the heat keeps your

body warm, but much of it dissipates into the surrounding environment.

Decomposition in Nature

Decomposition is the process by which organic substances are broken down into simpler
organic matter.
It is the natural process of dead animal or plant tissue being rotten or broken down.
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This process is carried out by invertebrates, fungi and bacteria. The result
of decomposition is that the building blocks required for life can be recycled.
The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is essential for recycling the finite
matter that occupies physical space in the biosphere. Bodies of living organisms begin
to decompose shortly after death.
Animals, such as worms, also help decompose the organic materials. Organisms that do
this are known as decomposers. Although no two organisms decompose in the same way,
they all undergo the same sequential stages of decomposition.
The science which studies decomposition is generally referred to as taphonomy from
the Greek word taphos, meaning tomb.
One can differentiate abiotic from biotic substance (biodegradation). The former
means "degradation of a substance by chemical or physical processes,
e.g., hydrolysis.[1] The latter means "the metabolic breakdown of materials into simpler
components by living organisms",[2] typically by microorganisms.
Decomposition begins at the moment of death, caused by two factors: 1.) autolysis, the
breaking down of tissues by the body's own internal chemicals and enzymes, and
2.) putrefaction, the breakdown of tissues by bacteria. These processes release
compounds such as cadaverine and putrescine, that are the chief source of the
unmistakably putrid odor of decaying animal tissue.
Prime decomposers are bacteria or fungi, though larger scavengers also play an
important role in decomposition if the body is accessible to insects, mites and other
animals. The most important arthropods that are involved in the process include carrion
beetles, mites,[the flesh-flies (Sarcophagidae) and blow-flies (Calliphoridae), such as
the green-bottle fly seen in the summer. In North America, the most important non-
insect animals that are typically involved in the process include mammal and bird
scavengers, such as coyotes, dogs, wolves, foxes, rats, crows and vultures. Some of
these scavengers also remove and scatter bones, which they ingest at a later time.
Aquatic and marine environments have break-down agents that include bacteria, fish,
and crustaceans, fly larvae [5] and other carrion scavengers.
Stages of decomposition
Five general stages are used to describe the process of decomposition in vertebrate
animals: fresh, bloat, active decay, advanced decay, and dry/remains.[6]
The general stages of decomposition are coupled with two stages of chemical
decomposition: autolysis and putrefaction
These two stages contribute to the chemical process of decomposition, which breaks
down the main components of the body.
With death the microbiome of the living organism collapses and is followed by
the necrobiome that undergoes predictable changes over time.