NSCI 111:

People and the Earth’s

Ecosystem

Unit 2: Ecosystems: What are

they and how do they work?.
Lesson 7: What are the
Major Components of an
Ecosystem?
Introduction
Ecology is concerned with the
study of interrelationships
between organisms
and their environments. Two
distinct components of
Abiotic (nonliving or nonorganic, sometime called
the physical environment)
Biotic (living or organic)
 These two components, are, however, very much interdependent and
sometime it becomes difficult to separate biotic components from the abiotic
ones, especially when environment is looked at as a factor for
determining man's biology and culture.
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.
 Ecosystem is the sum total of living
organisms, the environment and the processes of
interaction between the various components of the system.
 Every factor in an ecosystem depends on
every other factor, either directly or
indirectly. A change in the temperature of
an ecosystem will often affect what plants
will grow there.
Animals that depend on plants for food
and shelter will
have to adapt to the changes, move to
another ecosystem, or perish
Major Components
of an Ecosystem
 Ecosystems can be very large or very
small. Tide pools, the ponds left by the
ocean as the tide goes out, are
complete, tiny ecosystems. Tide pools
contain seaweed, a kind of algae, which
uses photosynthesis to create food.
Ecosystems can be very
large or very small. Tide
pools, the ponds left by
the ocean as the tide goes
out, are complete, tiny
ecosystems. Tide pools
contain seaweed, a kind
of algae, which uses
photosynthesis to create
food. Herbivores such
as abalone eat the
 Carnivores such as sea stars eat other
animals in the
tide pool, such as clams or mussels. Tide
pools depend on the changing level of
ocean water. Some organisms, such as
seaweed, thrive in an aquatic environment,
Other organisms, such
as hermit crabs,
cannot live underwater
and depend on the
shallow pools left by
low tides. In this
way, the biotic parts of
the ecosystem depend
Living and Nonliving
components of an
ecosystem
Two types of components make up the biosphere and its ecosystems:
One type, called abiotic, consists of nonliving components such as water,
air, nutrients,
rocks, heat, and solar energy.
 The other type,
called biotic,
consists of living and

once living
biological
components—plants,
animals, and
microbes.
Different species and their populations thrive under different physical and
chemical conditions. Some need bright sunlight; others flourish in shade.
Some need a hot environment; others prefer a cool or cold
one. Some do best under wet
conditions; others thrive under dry conditions.
 The concept of ecosystem can be best
illustrated by the fact that holozoic animals
cannot synthesize their food and depend
upon plants either directly or indirectly.
 Even plants which are
capable of synthesizing
their own food depend
upon
the abiotic environment
from which they receive
light, water, carbon
dioxide and
mineral salts, other
inorganic and organic
substances of absolute
necessity for the
The organic substances
and some of the
inorganic compounds
are accumulated in the
soil by the dead and the
decaying organisms
and the excreta of
living individuals
Miller and Spoolman (2009) stated that each
population in an ecosystem has a range of
tolerance to variations in its physical and
chemical environment, as shown in Figure
2.22.
For example, a trout population may do best
within a narrow band of temperatures, but a
few individuals can survive above and below
that band. Of course, if the water becomes
much too hot or too cold, none of the trout can
survive.
Abiotic Factors Can
Limit Population
Growth
A variety of abiotic factors can affect the number
of organisms in a population. Sometimes one or
more factors, known as limiting factors, are
more
important in regulating population growth than
other factors are.
 This ecological
principle is called the limiting factor principle:
Too much or too little of any abiotic factor can limit or prevent growth of a
population, even if all other factors are at or near the optimal range of
tolerance.
On land,
precipitation often is
the limiting
abiotic factor. Lack
of water in a desert
limits plant growth.
Soil nutrients also
can act as a limiting
factor on land.
 Suppose a farmer plants corn in
phosphorus-poor
soil. Even if water, nitrogen, potassium,
and other nutrients are at optimal levels,
the
corn will stop growing when it uses up the
Too much of an abiotic factor can
also be limiting. For example, too
much water or fertilizer can kill
plants. Temperature can also be a
Both high and low
temperatures
can limit the
survival and
population sizes
of various
terrestrial species,
especially
plants
 Important limiting abiotic factors in
aquatic life zones include temperature,
sunlight, nutrient availability, and the low
solubility of oxygen gas in water
(dissolved oxygen content).
 Another such
factor is salinity
—the amounts of
various inorganic
minerals or salts
dissolved in a
given volume of
water.
• Ecologists assign
every organism in
an ecosystem to a
feeding level, or
• trophic level,
depending on its
source of food or
nutrients.
Living Component
of an Ecosystem
Producers
• These are the autotrophic members of the
ecosystem (the green plants) which are capable
of synthesizing food from the nonliving simple
inorganic compounds. In an ecosystem the
producers may be represented by the small
microscopic plants (the phytoplankton) and algae
or the rooted or large floating plants generally
growing in shallow water only. The phytoplankton

are distributed throughout the pond and as deep

as light could penetrate the water.
Consumers
• These are heterotrophic
organisms which are called as
macro consumers or
phagotrophs. These consume the
producers directly or indirectly.
I. The herbivores
• The herbivores are the
primary consumers in the
ecosystem. These solely
feed upon vegetation or
plants. A deer or rabbit is a
primary consumer in a
forest and a rat in the
gardens. Protozoans,
Crustaceans and mollusks
are the primary consumers
of the pond or lake or sea
and feed upon the floating
algae.
 II. The primary
carnivores or the
omnivorous
The primary carnivores or the
omnivorous animals constitute
the category of secondary
consumers. These feed upon the
herbivorous animals. These are
the wolves, dogs, cats, foxes,
etc.
III. Third- and higher-level
consumers are carnivores
Third- and higher-level consumers are
carnivores such as tigers, wolves,
mice-eating snakes, hawks, and killer
whales (orcas) that feed on the flesh of
other carnivores. The carnivores have
been called biophages.
Decomposers
Decomposers are micro-organisms
(bacteria and molds) of the ecosystem.
These feed upon dead decaying living
organisms (both plants and animals) and
break them into simpler compounds.