ECOSYSTEM:

Interaction and Interdependence

Learning Objectives
u Describe the principles of
ecosystem
u Categorize the different biotic
potential and environmental
resistance (e.g. diseases,
availability of food, predators) that
affect population explosion
u Describe how human activities
affect the natural ecosystem
u Describe how the different
ecosystems are interlinked with
one another
Ecology

§ Ecology:
ú Scientific study of the interactions
between organisms and the
environment

§ Rediscovery of the nearly extinct species

raises many ecological questions
ú What environmental factors limit their
geographic distribution?
ú What factors (food, pathogens) affect
population size?
 What Is An Ecosystem
ØAn ecosystem is a natural unit
consisting of all plants, animals and
micro-organisms (biotic factors) in an
area functioning together with all of
the non-living physical (abiotic)
factors of the environment.
 What are the 2 kinds of
ecosystem?
u NATURAL ECOSYSTEM - ecosystem made
naturally & occurred naturally with no
influence by man ( ex. forest, backyard)
u
MAN-MADE ECOSYSTEM - ecosystem with
the influence of man, this is usually
controlled ( ex. fishpond, zoo)
Components of an Ecosystem
ABIOTIC COMPONENTS BIOTIC COMPONENTS

Sunlight Primary producers

Temperature Herbivores

Precipitation Carnivores

Water or moisture Omnivores

Soil or water chemistry (e.g., P,

Detritivores
NH4+)

etc. etc.

All of these vary over space/time

 Controls on Ecosystem Function
u There are two dominant theories of the control of
ecosystems. The first, called bottom-up control, states
that it is the nutrient supply to the primary producers
that ultimately controls how ecosystems function. If
the nutrient supply is increased, the resulting increase
in production of autotrophs is propagated through the
food web and all of the other trophic levels will
respond to the increased availability of food (energy
and materials will cycle faster).
u The second theory, called top-down control, states
that predation and grazing by higher trophic levels on
lower trophic levels ultimately controls ecosystem
function. For example, if you have an increase in
predators, that increase will result in fewer grazers,
and that decrease in grazers will result in turn in more
primary producers because fewer of them are being
eaten by the grazers. Thus the control of population
numbers and overall productivity "cascades" from the
top levels of the food chain down to the bottom
trophic levels.
Energy Flow Through the Ecosystem
ØThe diagram above shows how both energy and
inorganic nutrients flow through the ecosystem.
To summarize: In the flow of energy and inorganic
nutrients through the ecosystem, a few
generalizations can be made:

1. The ultimate source of energy (for most

ecosystems) is the sun
2. The ultimate fate of energy in ecosystems is
for it to be lost as heat.
3. Energy and nutrients are passed from
organism to organism through the food chain
as one organism eats another.
4. Decomposers remove the last energy from
the remains of organisms.
5. Inorganic nutrients are cycled, energy is
not.
Food Chains and Webs:
u A food chain is the path of food from a given final
consumer back to a producer. For instance, a typical
food chain in a field ecosystem might be:

grass grasshopper mouse snake hawk

ØThe real world, of course, is more complicated

than a simple food chain. While many organisms
do specialize in their diets (anteaters come to
mind as a specialist), other organisms do not.
Hawks don't limit their diets to snakes; snakes
eat things other than mice. Mouse eats grass as
well as grasshoppers, and so on.
§ The food webs you see here are
grazing food chains since at their
base are producers which the
herbivores then graze on. While
grazing food chains are important,
in nature they are outnumbered by
detritus-based food chains. In
detritus-based food chains,
decomposers are at the base of the
food chain, and sustain the
carnivores which feed on them. In
terms of the weight (or biomass) of
animals in many ecosystems, more
of their body mass can be traced
back to detritus than to living
producers.
PYRAMIDS

It is a general principle that the further removed a trophic

level is from its source (detritus or producer), the less
biomass it will contain (biomass here would refer
to the combined weight of all the organisms in the trophic
level).
This Reduction In Biomass Occurs For
Several Reasons:

1. Not everything in the lower levels

gets eaten.
2. Not everything that is eaten is
digested.
3. energy is always being lost as heat.
u It is important to remember that the
decrease in number is best detected in
terms or biomass. Numbers of organisms are
unreliable in this case because of the great
variation in the biomass of individual
organisms.
uA generalization exists among ecologists
that on average, about 10% of the
energy available in one trophic
level will be passed on to the next;
this is primarily due to the 3 reasons given
above. Therefore, it is also reasonable to
assume that in terms of biomass, each
trophic level will weigh only about 10% of
the level below it, and 10x as much as the
level above it.
Roles Of Organisms In An Ecosystem
u Organisms can be either producers or
consumers in terms of energy flow through
an ecosystem.

u Producers convert energy from the environment

into carbon bonds, such as those found in the
sugar glucose. Plants are the most obvious
examples of producers; plants take energy from
sunlight and use it to convert carbon dioxide
into glucose (or other sugars). Algae and
cyanobacteria are also photosynthetic
producers, like plants. Other producers include
bacteria living around deep-sea vents. These
bacteria take energy from chemicals coming
from the Earth's interior and use it to make
sugars. Other bacteria living deep underground
can also produce sugars from such inorganic
sources. Another word for producers is
autotrophs.
Consumers get their energy from the carbon bonds made by the
producers. Another word for a consumer is a heterotroph. Based
on what they eat, we can distinguish between 4 types of
heterotrophs:

consumer trophic level food source

Herbivores primary plants

Carnivores secondary or higher animals

Omnivores all levels plants & animals

Detritivores ----------- detritus

u A trophic level refers to the organisms position in the

food chain.
u Autotrophs are at the base. Organisms that eat
autotrophs are called herbivores or primary consumers.
u An organism that eats herbivores is a carnivore
and a secondary consumer.
u A carnivore which eats a carnivore which eats a
herbivore is a tertiary consumer, and so on.
u It is important to note that many animals do not
specialize in their diets.
u Omnivores (such as humans) eat both animals
and plants. Further, except for some specialists,
most carnivores don't limit their diet to
organisms of only one trophic level. Frogs, for
instance, don't discriminate between
herbivorous and carnivorous bugs in their diet.
If it's the right size, and moving at the right
distance, chances are the frog will eat it. It's not
as if the frog has brain cells to waste wondering
if it's going to mess up the food chain by being a
secondary consumer one minute and a
quaternary consumer the next.
How are ecosystems interlinked with one
another?
Processes of Ecosystems
u The two main ideas about how
ecosystems function: ecosystems have
energy flows and ecosystems cycle
materials. These two processes are
linked, but they are not quite the
same In all types of
.
ecosystem, energy flows
and nutrients are cycled.
u Figure 1. Energy flows and material cycles.
• Energy enters the biological system as light energy, or photons,
is transformed into chemical energy in organic molecules by
cellular processes including photosynthesis and respiration,
and ultimately is converted to heat energy. This energy is
dissipated, meaning it is lost to the system as heat; once it is
lost it cannot be recycled. Without the continued input of solar
energy, biological systems would quickly shut down. Thus the
earth is an open system with respect to energy.
 The Transformation of Energy
u The transformations of
energy in an ecosystem
begin first with the input
of energy from the sun.
Energy from the sun is
captured by the process of
photosynthesis. Carbon
dioxide is combined with
hydrogen (derived from the
splitting of water
molecules) to produce
carbohydrates (CHO).
Energy is stored in the high
energy bonds of adenosine
triphosphate, or ATP (see
lecture on photosynthesis).
u Usually when we think of food chains we visualize green
plants, herbivores, and so on. These are referred to as
grazer food chains, because living plants are directly
consumed. In many circumstances the principal energy input
is not green plants but dead organic matter. These are called
detritus food chains. Examples include the forest
floor or a woodland stream in a forested area, a salt marsh,
and most obviously, the ocean floor in very deep areas where
all sunlight is extinguished 1000's of meters above. In
subsequent lectures we shall return to these important issues
concerning energy flow.
u Finally, although we have been talking about food chains, in
reality the organization of biological systems is much more
complicated than can be represented by a simple "chain".
There are many food links and chains in an ecosystem, and we
refer to all of these linkages as a food web. Food webs can be
"everything
very complicated, where it appears that
is connected to everything else", and it
is important to understand what are the most important
linkages in any particular food web.
How does environmental resistance
affect the population in an ecosystem?
environmental resistance
u Biotic potential is the capability for growth of
a given population under hypothetical optimum
conditions, in an environment without limiting
factors for such growth. Under such conditions,
the population tends to grow indefinitely.

uEnvironmental resistance
is the effect of limiting abiotic and biotic
factors that prevent a population from growing
as it would normally grow according to its biotic
potential. In reality, each ecosystem is able to
sustain a limited number of individuals of a
given species.
Population growth is based on
four fundamental factors
§ birth rate
§ death rate
§ immigration
§ and emigration.
Populations cannot realistically grow
exponentially. There are environmental
environmental
limits, called

resistance factors, that affect

the number of individuals that can
survive and reproduce in a given habitat.
Categories of Environmental
resistance

udensity dependent includes

competition of food, shelter and water
resulting from the increase of the
density of the population
u density independent includes
weather phenomena and natural
disasters that affect the population, but
the chance of their occurrence or level
of severity is unrelated to the density of
the population.
Principles of Ecosystem
u Speciation
Species is an evolutionary unit, where members share genes with
other members and not with other members of other species.For
a new species to arise, they must be undergoing geographic
isolation or thru reproductive isolating mechanisms.
u Diversity
The size of an ecosystem and the distance from the equator
determines the diversity in an ecosystem. Large ecosystem
supports more species. Likewise, a pleasant climatic condition
supports more life, more food to support more consumers.
u Habitat
It is a special area for living organisms to dwell. A drastic change in
the condition of the habitat can have a tremendous effect on
the organsims.
continuation
u Adaptation
It is a feature that is common in a population because it
provides some improved functions. They are produced
by natural selection.
u Interdependence
All the living things in an ecosystem depend on all the
other things - living and non-living for continued
survival - for food supplies and other needs.
u Evolution
Is the process by which organisms change over time as a result
of changes in heritable physical or behavioral traits.
Changes that allow an organism to better adapt to its
environment will help it survive and have more offspring.
 The Geography of Ecosystems
u There are many different ecosystems: rain forests
and tundra, coral reefs and ponds, grasslands and
deserts. Climate differences from place to place
largely determine the types of ecosystems we
see. How terrestrial ecosystems appear to us is
influenced mainly by the dominant vegetation.
u The word "biome" is used to describe a major
vegetation type such as tropical rain forest,
grassland, tundra, etc., extending over a large
geographic area. It is never used for aquatic
systems, such as ponds or coral reefs. It always
refers to a vegetation category that is dominant
over a very large geographic scale, and so is
somewhat broader than an ecosystem.
u Figure 4. Climate patterns
affect biome distributions.
u We can draw upon plant
physiology to know that
certain plants are
distinctive of certain
climates, creating the
vegetation appearance that
we call biomes. Note how
well the distribution of
biomes plots on the
distribution of climates
(Figure 5). Note also that
some climates are
impossible, at least on our
planet. High precipitation is
not possible at low
temperatures -- there is not
enough solar energy to
power the water cycle, and
most water is frozen and
thus biologically unavailable
throughout the year. The
high tundra is as much a
desert as is the Sahara.
FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM

Low-salt concentration
Enhouses diverse
freshwater-adapted
organisms
CHAPARRAL

A dense, impenetrable
thicket of shrubs or dwarf
trees. A vegetation type
dominated by shrubs and
small trees, especially
evergreen trees with thick,
small leaves.
DESERT

ØA desert is a landscape form or region

that receives very little precipitation.
Deserts can be defined as areas that
receive an average annual precipitation
of less than 250 mm (10 in), or as areas
in which more water is lost than falls as
precipitation.In the Köppen climate
classification system, deserts are
classed as BWh (hot desert) or BWk
(temperate desert).
TEMPERATE GRASSLAND

vGrasses are dominant

vThere is a large
fluctuation of temperature
during the year
vHave less rainfall
MARINE ECOSYSTEM

ØCovers ¾ of the Earth’s

surface.
ØAny marine
environment, from pond
to ocean, in which plants
and animals interact with
the chemical and physical
features of the
TROPICAL RAINFOREST

vHas most diverse flora

and fauna
vIt is a region of year-
round warmth
vAbundant rainfall
SAVANNA

•A tropical or subtropical
grassland containing scattered
trees and drought-resistant
undergrowth.
•Has wet & dry seasons
•Inhabited by grazing animals
TAIGA

•A moist sub arctic

coniferous forest that
begins where the
tundra ends and is
dominated by spruces
and firs.
• not much plant &
TUNDRA

A type of ecosystem
dominated by lichens, mosses,
grasses, and woody plants.
Tundra is found at high
latitudes (arctic tundra) and
high altitudes , permafrost
land,extremely cold.
•A treeless plain characteristic
of the arctic and sub arctic
regions.
URBAN ECOSYSTEM
Ø Is the subfield of ecology which deals with
the interaction of plants, animals and
humans with each other and with their
environment in urban or urbanizing settings.
Analysis of urban settings in the context of
ecosystem ecology (looking at the cycling of
matter and the flow of energy through the
ecosystem) can result in healthier, better
managed communities. Studying the factors
which allow wild plants and animals to
survive (and sometimes thrive) in built
environments can also create more livable
spaces. It allows people to adapt to the
changing environment while preserving the
resources.
 How does
man affect
the
ecosystem?
uHuman survival depends on the
health of the ecosystem
uHumans threaten ecosystems
by producing waste, damaging
habitats and removing too
many species without giving
the ecosystem time to
naturally regenerate.
 Top Most Contribution of Man to Ecosystems’
Destruction
u OVERHUNTING
Over-hunting often results in
ecosystem species imbalance and
environmental stress.
u DEFORESTATION
The world’s rainforests are being
destroyed at a rate of 78 million
acres per year, resulting in
vegetation degradation, nutrient
imbalance, flooding and animal
displacement.
 continuation
u POLLUTION
Vehicles, trains and planes emit toxic gases
that include carcinogenic particles and
irritants, creating air pollution, results in
loss of biodiversity causing severe damage
to self-sustaining ecosystems.
u LAND CONVERSION
Through urban development, the continued
rapid construction of road systems and
buildings has changed the Earth's natural
surface, removing soil nutrients, surface
vegetation and trees that filter the air and
equalize the carbon cycle.
 continuation
u COAL MINING
Coal and other mineral extraction can be
one of the most environmentally damaging
human activities. Mining not only affects
the ecosystem during the mineral
extraction but also after the mine is
closed, leaving large areas of eroded bare
land. Mining operations release
greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere, as well as heavy
metals into the soil and water sources.
The Global Threats
to Ecosystem
Viability
Man affects the Ecosystem in many ways:

1) Loss of crop & grazing land

2) Depletion of world's tropical forests
3) Extinction of species
4) Rapid population growth
5) Shortage of fresh water resources
6) Over fishing, habitat destruction, & pollution
in the marine environment.
7) Threats to human health
8) Climate change
9) Acid rain
10) Pressures on energy resources
Thank you for the patience!