PRESENTATION ON ECO SYSTEM

Varsity-Southern University Bangladesh

Name-Tasfia Rahman
Course-Environmental Science
ECOSYSTEM

An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and

other organisms, as well as weather and landscape, work
together to form a bubble of life. Ecosystems contain biotic or
living, parts, as well as abiotic factors, or nonliving parts. Biotic
factors include plants, animals, and other organisms. Abiotic
factors include rocks, temperature, and humidity.

All the ecosystems in the world fall into two categories. 

Ecosystems found on land are considered terrestrial ecosystems
and all the ecosystems found in water are considered aquatic
ecosystems.
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.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Photosynthesis occurs when plants use light energy to convert

carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen.
During the process of photosynthesis,
carbon dioxide enters through the
stomata, water is absorbed by the root
hairs from the soil and is carried to the
leaves through the xylem vessels.
Chlorophyll absorbs the light energy
from the sun to split water molecules
into hydrogen and oxygen.
The hydrogen from water molecules
and carbon dioxide absorbed from the
air are used in the production of
glucose. Furthermore, oxygen is
liberated out into the atmosphere
through the leaves as a by product.
CELLULAR RESPIRATION
Cellular respiration is a biochemical process of
breaking down food, usually glucose, into
simpler substances. The energy released in this
process is tapped by the cell to drive various
energy-requiring processes.

During aerobic cellular respiration,

glucose reacts with oxygen, forming
carbon dioxide and water.
ENERGY TRANSFER
The energy flow is the amount of energy that moves
along the food chain. This energy flow is also known
as calorific flow.

A chronological pathway or an order that shows the flow of

energy from one organism to the other is food chain. In a
community which has producers, consumers, and
decomposers, the energy flows in a specific pathway. Energy is
not created or destroyed. But it flows from one level to the
other, through different organisms.
A food chain shows a single pathway from the producers to the
consumers and how the energy flows in this pathway. In
the animal kingdom, food travels around different levels. 
Many interconnected food chains make the food web.
CARBON CYCLE:

Carbon is in a constant state of movement from place to

place. It is stored in what are known as reservoirs, and it
moves between these reservoirs through a variety of
processes, including photosynthesis,
burning fossil fuels, and simply releasing breath from
the lungs. The movement
of carbon from reservoir to reservoir is known as
the carbon cycle.

Carbon can be stored in a variety of reservoirs,

including plants and animals, which is why they are
considered carbon life forms. Carbon is used by plants
to build leaves and stems, which are then digested by
animals and used for cellular growth.
NITROGEN CYCLE

There is a laundry list of elements that

animals need for survival. One such element
is Nitrogen. But we can’t just get nitrogen
from the air. It needs to be converted to
nitrates, via a process called nitrogen cycle.  Nitrogen fixing bacterium

The air we breathe contains 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and

remaining are other trace gases. The nitrogen component of air
is inert. So this means plants and animals cannot use it directly.
To be able to use nitrogen, nitrogen fixing bacteria convert
atmospheric nitrogen to molecules by a process called the
nitrogen cycle. Animals derive their nitrogen requirements from
plants or eating other animals.
PHOSPHORUS CYCLE
Phosphorus is an important element for all living
organisms. It forms a significant part of the structural
framework of DNA and RNA. They are also an
important component of ATP. Humans contain 80% of
phosphorus in teeth and bones.
Phosphorus cycle is a very slow process. Various
weather processes help to wash the phosphorus present
in the rocks into the soil. Phosphorus is absorbed by the
organic matter in the soil which is used for various
biological processes.
The aquatic plants absorb inorganic phosphorus from
lower layers of water bodies. The animals absorb
phosphorus from the plants or by consuming plant-
eating animals. When plants and animals die,
decomposition results in the return of phosphorus back
to the environment via the water or soil.
ECOLOGICAL
SUCCESSION

Ecological succession is the

steady and gradual change in a
species of a given area with
respect to the changing
environment. It is a predictable
change and is an inevitable
process of nature as all the
biotic components have to keep
up with the changes in the
environment.
PRIMARY SUCCESSION
Primary succession is the succession that starts
in lifeless areas such as the regions devoid of
soil or the areas where the soil is unable to
sustain life.

SECONDARY SUCCESSION type of ecological

succession in which plants and animals recolonize
a habitat after a major disturbance—such as a
devastating flood, wildfire, landslide, lava flow, or
human activity (e.g., farming or road or building
construction)—significantly alters an area but has
not rendered it completely lifeless. Secondary
succession takes place where a disturbance did not
eliminate all life and nutrients from
the environment
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
SUCCESSION

Primary Succession Secondary Succession

Occurs

In areas which are lifeless or barren In areas which were previously

inhabited or recently denuded
Time to complete

Around 1000 years or more Around 50 – 200 years

Soil

The absence of soil in the initial Presence of soil along with

process organisms