1.

Food web: Ecosystems function with energy flowing in one direction from the sun, and through nutrients, which
are continuously recycled. Light energy is used by plants, which, by the process of photosynthesis, convert it to
chemical energy in the form of carbohydrates and other carbon compounds. This energy is then transferred through
the ecosystem by a series of steps that involve eating and being eaten, or what is called a food web. Each step in the
transfer of energy involves several trophic, or feeding, levels: plants, herbivores (plant eaters), two or three levels of
carnivores (meat eaters), and decomposers. Only a fraction of the energy fixed by plants follows this pathway,
known as the grazing food web. Plant and animal matter not used in the grazing food chain, such as fallen leaves,
twigs, roots, tree trunks, and the dead bodies of animals, support the decomposer food web. Bacteria, fungi, and
animals that feed on dead material become the energy source for higher tropic levels that tie into the grazing food
web. In this way nature makes maximum use of energy originally fixed by plants.

2. Food Chain: Food Chain is the sequence of populations of an ecosystem which allows food and energy to go
through it in a specified direction. Those on the lower end of chain become food for the ones who are on upper end.
The one who is at top of the food chain is not consumed by any. We also call the food chain as a predator food
chain.
A food chain consists of producers, consumers and decomposers. Though decomposers are normally omitted but
they also play a very vital role in food chain. We can divide consumers into various orders like the first, second,
tertiary and the fourth order. The autotrophs also known as producers make food by the process of photosynthesis
from inorganic materials. This food is not only consumed by them but also by many other organisms. They absorb
energy from sun, convert it into chemical energy and then release oxygen which is used by other organisms as well.
During respiration energy is released by transducers as they convert one form of energy to another. The organic
compounds formed, help in building of bodies and releasing energy. The herbivore animals include rabbit, mouse,
deer and buffalo etc. Apart from these, few of these are also present in the aquatic areas and include the mollusks,
crustaceans and protozoan. The primary carnivore includes snakes, frog, fish, jackal, birds and wild cat. Apart from
these, we have few of the organisms called third order consumers (tertiary consumers) which feed on the primary
carnivore. It includes tiger, lion, owl and fish. There are few carnivores which are not consumed by any other
organism and thus they are at top of the food chain, example Lion. These are also known as secondary carnivores.
They act as a food for the tertiary carnivore. There are certain carnivores which cannot become food for the other
organism. They occur at the top of food chain. It includes the lion. The food chain ends at the herbivore animals.
The food chains occur in the land as well as in the water. The pond is the most common place of their residence in
water. In the land the grass is eaten by the grasshopper. The grasshopper is eaten by the frog and the frog is eaten by
the snake. Ultimately, the snake is eaten by the peacock. The vegetation is eaten by the insect. The insect is eaten by
the predator insect and the predator insect is eaten by the insectivorous bird. Ultimately, the insectivorous bird is
eaten by the hawk. The vegetation is eaten by the rabbit. The rabbit is eaten by the fox and the fox is eaten by the
wolf. Ultimately, the wolf is eaten by the tiger. In the aquatic areas the food chain consists of different organisms.
The phytoplankton is eaten by the zooplankton. The zooplankton is eaten by the small crustaceans. The small
crustaceans are eaten by the predator insects. The predator insects are eaten by the small fish. The small fish are
eaten by the large fish. This is followed by the crocodile. In the other aquatic food chain, the phytoplankton is eaten
by the zooplankton. The zooplankton is eaten by the small crustaceans. The small crustaceans are eaten by
the predator insects. The predatorinsects are eaten by the small fish. The small fish are eaten by the large fish. This
is followed by the kingfisher. The aquatic food chains are quite similar.

3. Biotic factors: Biotic components are the living things that shape an ecosystem. A biotic factor is any living
component that affects another organism, including animals that consume the organism in question, and the
living food that the organism consumes. Each biotic factor needs energy to do work and food for proper growth.
Biotic factors include human influence.
Biotic components are contrasted to abiotic components, which are non-living components of an organism's
environment, such as temperature, light, moisture, air currents, etc. Biotic components usually include:
Producers, i.e. autotrophs: e.g. plants, they convert the energy [from photosynthesis (the transfer of sunlight,
water, and carbon dioxide into energy), or other sources such as hydrothermal vents] into food.
Consumers, i.e. heterotrophs: e.g. animals, they depend upon producers (occasionally other consumers) for
food.
Decomposers, i.e. detritivores: e.g. fungi and bacteria, they break down chemicals from producers and
consumers (usually dead) into simpler form which can be reused.
4. Abiotic factors: In biology and ecology abiotic components or abiotic factors are those non-living chemical
and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems. They and
phenomena associated with them underpin all biology. An ecosystem's abiotic factors may be classified via
"SWATS" (Soil, Water, Air, Temperature, and Sunlight).
In biology, abiotic factors can include water, light, radiation, temperature, humidity, atmosphere, and soil. The
macroscopic climate often influences each of the above. Pressure and sound waves may also be considered in the
context of marine or sub-terrestrial environments.
All of these factors affect different organisms to different extents. If there is little or no sunlight then plants may
wither and die from not being able to get enough sunlight to complete the cycle of photosynthesis.
Many archaea require very high temperatures, or pressures, or unusual concentrations of chemical substances, such
as sulfur, because of their specialization into extreme conditions. Certain fungi have evolved to survive mostly at the
temperature, the humidity, and stability of their environment.
For example, there is a significant difference in access to water as well as humidity between temperate rain
forests and deserts. This difference in water access causes a diversity in the types of plants and animals that grow in
these areas.
Long Question
1. Ecosystems
An ecosystem consists of the biological community that occurs in some locale, and the physical and chemical
factors that make up its non-living or abiotic environment. There are many examples of ecosystems -- a pond, a
forest, an estuary, grassland. The boundaries are not fixed in any objective way, although sometimes they seem
obvious, as with the shoreline of a small pond. Usually the boundaries of an ecosystem are chosen for practical
reasons having to do with the goals of the particular study.
The study of ecosystems mainly consists of the study of certain processes that link the living, or biotic, components
to the non-living, or abiotic, components. Energy transformations and biogeochemical cycling are the main
processes that comprise the field of ecosystem ecology. As we learned earlier, ecology generally is defined as the
interactions of organisms with one another and with the environment in which they occur. We can study ecology at
the level of the individual, the population, the community, and the ecosystem.
Studies of individuals are concerned mostly about physiology, reproduction, development or behavior, and studies
of populations usually focus on the habitat and resource needs of individual species, their group behaviors,
population growth, and what limits their abundance or causes extinction. Studies of communities examine how
populations of many species interact with one another, such as predators and their prey, or competitors that share
common needs or resources.
In ecosystem ecology we put all of this together and, insofar as we can, we try to understand how the system
operates as a whole. This means that, rather than worrying mainly about particular species, we try to focus on major
functional aspects of the system. These functional aspects include such things as the amount of energy that is
produced by photosynthesis, how energy or materials flow along the many steps in a food chain, or what controls the
rate of decomposition of materials or the rate at which nutrients are recycled in the system.
Components of an Ecosystem
You are already familiar with the parts of an ecosystem. You have learned about climate and soils from past
lectures. From this course and from general knowledge, you have a basic understanding of the diversity of plants
and animals, and how plants and animals and microbes obtain water, nutrients, and food. We can clarify the parts of
an ecosystem by listing them under the headings "abiotic" and "biotic".

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS BIOTIC COMPONENTS
Sunlight Primary producers
Temperature Herbivores
Precipitation Carnivores
Water or moisture Omnivores
Soil or water chemistry (e.g., P, NH
4
+) Detritivores
etc. etc.
All of these vary over space/time
By and large, this set of environmental factors is important almost everywhere, in all ecosystems.
Usually, biological communities include the "functional groupings" shown above. A functional group is a
biological category composed of organisms that perform mostly the same kind of function in the system; for
example, all the photosynthetic plants or primary producers form a functional group. Membership in the functional
group does not depend very much on who the actual players (species) happen to be, only on what function they
perform in the ecosystem.
Processes of Ecosystems
This figure with the plants, zebra, lion, and so forth illustrates 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 (see Figure 1).

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.
Elements such as carbon, nitrogen, or phosphorus enter living organisms in a variety of ways. Plants obtain elements
from the surrounding atmosphere, water, or soils. Animals may also obtain elements directly from the physical
environment, but usually they obtain these mainly as a consequence of consuming other organisms. These materials
are transformed biochemically within the bodies of organisms, but sooner or later, due to excretion or
decomposition, they are returned to an inorganic state. Often bacteria complete this process, through the process
called decomposition or mineralization (see previous lecture on microbes).
During decomposition these materials are not destroyed or lost, so the earth is a closed systemwith respect to
elements (with the exception of a meteorite entering the system now and then). The elements are cycled endlessly
between their biotic and abiotic states within ecosystems. Those elements whose supply tends to limit biological
activity are called nutrients.
The Transformation of Energy
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).
The prophet Isaah said "all flesh is grass", earning him the title of first ecologist, because virtually all energy
available to organisms originates in plants. Because it is the first step in the production of energy for living things, it
is called primary production (click here for a primer on photosynthesis). Herbivores obtain their energy by
consuming plants or plant products, carnivores eat herbivores, and detritivores consume the droppings and
carcasses of us all.
Figure 2 portrays a simple food chain, in which energy from the sun,
captured by plant photosynthesis, flows from trophic level to trophic
level via the food chain. A trophic level is composed of organisms
that make a living in the same way, that is they are all primary
producers (plants), primary consumers (herbivores) or secondary
consumers (carnivores). Dead tissue and waste products are produced
at all levels. Scavengers, detritivores, and decomposers collectively
account for the use of all such "waste" -- consumers of carcasses and
fallen leaves may be other animals, such as crows and beetles, but
ultimately it is the microbes that finish the job of decomposition. Not
surprisingly, the amount of primary production varies a great deal
from place to place, due to differences in the amount of solar radiation
and the availability of nutrients and water.
For reasons that we will explore more fully in subsequent
lectures, energy transfer through the food chain is inefficient. This
means that less energy is available at the herbivore level than at the
primary producer level, less yet at the carnivore level, and so on. The
result is a pyramid of energy, with important implications for
understanding the quantity of life that can be supported.
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.
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 very complicated, where it appears
that "everything is connected to everything else and it is important to understand what the most important
linkages are in any particular food web.
Biogeochemistry
How can we study which of these linkages in a food web are most important? One obvious way is to study the flow
of energy or the cycling of elements. For example, the cycling of elements is controlled in part by organisms, which
store or transform elements, and in part by the chemistry and geology of the natural world. The
terms Biogeochemistry is defined as the study of how living systems influence, and are controlled by, the geology
and chemistry of the earth. Thus biogeochemistry encompasses many aspects of the abiotic and biotic world that we
live in.
There are several main principles and tools that biogeochemists use to study earth systems. Most of the major
environmental problems that we face in our world today can be analyzed using biogeochemical principles and tools.
These problems include global warming, acid rain, environmental pollution, and increasing greenhouse gases. The
principles and tools that we use can be broken down into 3 major components: element ratios, mass balance, and
element cycling.
1. Element ratios
In biological systems, we refer to important elements as "conservative". These elements are often nutrients. By
"conservative" we mean that an organism can change only slightly the amount of these elements in their tissues if
they are to remain in good health. It is easiest to think of these conservative elements in relation to other important
elements in the organism. For example, in healthy algae the elements C, N, P, and Fe have the following ratio, called
theRedfield ratio after the oceanographer who discovered it:
C : N : P : Fe = 106 : 16 : 1 : 0.01
Once we know these ratios, we can compare them to the ratios that we measure in a sample of algae to
determine if the algae are lacking in one of these limiting nutrients.
2. Mass Balance
Another important tool that biogeochemists use is a simple mass balance equation to describe the state of a system.
The system could be a snake, a tree, a lake, or the entire globe. Using a mass balance approach we can determine
whether the system is changing and how fast it is changing. The equation is:
NET CHANGE = INPUT + OUTPUT + INTERNAL CHANGE
In this equation the net change in the system from one time period to another is determined by what the inputs are,
what the outputs are, and what the internal change in the system was. The example given in class is of the
acidification of a lake, considering the inputs and outputs and internal change of acid in the lake.
2. Air Pollution: Air pollution is the presence of abnormal concentration and abnormal constituents in air. We know
that Fresh air is needed for a healthy life. That is why people go out for morning walks so that they can breathe as
much fresh air as possible. But the quality of the air has been deteriorating in urban areas. It is being polluted by
smoke, harmful gasses, dust articles and other matters.
The burning of petrol and diesel in running vehicles emits carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and unburnt
hydrocarbon particles. These pollutants are released in the air breathe. They are very harmful for out health.
The burning of various fuels in factories and power plants emit carbon monoxide carbon dioxide and other
poisonous gases that are left off in the atmosphere. Yet without burning fuel, the production of goods in industries is
not possible. So the growth of industrial production is at the cost of polluting air.
Various chemical industries such as those manufacturing acids, plastics, dyes and paint, paper, pesticides,
petrochemical emit hazardous fumes and gases such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and
fluorocarbons.
Industrial dust also causes air pollution. Dust coming out from the cement kilns, lime kilns, stone crushing and
asbestos factories are the main causes of breathing problems and lung diseases in our country.
Smoking of cigarettes and bedis is very injurious to health. It causes heart diseases, various respiratory problems and
cancer. Tobacco smoke is a pollutant particularly in closed spaces such as buses, trains, cinema halls and restaurants.
Smoke emitted by a smoker but inhaled by a non-smoker is known as secondary or they are in the vicinity of a
smoker. That is why smoking is banned in public places.
Air pollution affects the health of people adversely. The presence of carbon monoxide in the air we breathe causes
headache nausea and suffocation. Various other respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis, bronchitis and asthma are
common in our country due to poor air quality. Dust in air causes asthma and allergies. In winter days fogs
containing particulate matter causes bronchitis and cough.
A different dimension of air pollution is the problem of ozone depletion. The presence of pollutants like
fluorocarbons and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) in the air has depleted ozone in the atmosphere. This has created a
hole in the ozone layer of the atmosphere. CFC is chemicals used in refrigerators and air-conditioners and cooking
agents. The ozone layer protects life on earth by preventing harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun from entering the
atmosphere. This layer has now become too thin and has developed a hole exposing human life to the dangerous
ultraviolet rays of sun. Long exposure to ultra-violet rays of sun causes cancer and other genetic disorders in human
beings.
Gases like carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and methane in the atmosphere trap the heat waves of the sun and cause
melting of polar ice has increased the water level in oceans and seas causing frequent floods and droughts across the
world. The global climatic change has mostly affected the agriculture. This increase in the average temperature of
the atmosphere is known as the green-house effect.
Often the easiest solution to an air pollution problem is to stop the quality process. Once the decision has been made
that the process is necessary, the engineer must consider the possibility of controlling the emissions by changing the
process. In addition a change of raw material and modification of the process might also be used to achieve a desired
result.
3. Water Pollution: Water covers two-thirds of the Earths surface, with over 97% present in the oceans and less than
1% in freshwater streams and lakes. Water is also present in the atmosphere in solid form in the polar icecaps and as
groundwater in aquifers (water-bearing rocks) deep underground.
Water has many remarkable properties. It is sometimes referred to as the universal solvent, readily dissolving a
wide range of chemical substances. It also acts as a fluid medium facilitating the dispersal of un-dissolved
particulate matter.
Water pollution may be defined as any chemical or physical change in water detrimental to living organisms. It can
occur through natural processes, for example by sediments produced by natural erosion. Water bodies are a major
recipient of an extensive array of wastes produced by human activity. These may be discharged directly into
watercourses by sewers or pipes from factories or be washed down from agricultural or urban areas particularly after
heavy rains. Under rather exceptional circumstances, water bodies may become significantly contaminated by the
atmospheric deposition of pollutants.
Sources and consequences:
Water pollution is a global problem and one that does not respect national boundaries. Sources of pollution may be
domestic, agricultural or industrial. In less-developed countries, human and animal waste and sediments from
unsound agricultural and forestry practices are the main pollutants. In more-developed countries; industrial
pollutants, such as toxic metals, organic Chemicals and heat add to the water pollution problem. The effectiveness of
treating wastes prior to their release into the environment determines the balance between potential and actual
pollution.
Organic oxygen-demanding wastes:
The release of large quantities of oxygen-demanding organic waste into watercourses often has disastrous effects on
the indigenous flora and fauna. The primary source of organic waste released into fresh waters is sewage effluent.
Other sources include run-off from urban areas and farms, and some industrial effluents. The recent intensification
of livestock production, with larger herds concentrated in smaller areas, has exacerbated the problem of organic
pollution from farm animal wastes.
Plant nutrients:
Aquatic primary productivity is often limited by the availability of inorganic plant nutrients. In freshwater lakes and
rivers, the limiting nutrient element is usually phosphorus, whilst in marine waters nitrogen is often in short supply.
If small amounts of nutrients enter aquatic ecosystems where they are normally limiting, primary productivity is
stimulated. The water body becomes over-enriched by excessive nutrient input and consequently polluted.
Acidification:
Both acid rain and acid mine drainage contribute significantly to the acidification of natural waters. These two
phenomena are dealt with in detail in this section. However, there are other causes of this particular type of water
pollution. For example, the planting of extensive tracts of coniferous forests, usually in upland areas, results in the
acidification of the soil and the waters which drain these plantations.
Organochlorines:
Organochlorines are, as name suggests, organic compounds containing chlorine. Manufactured organochlorines
include a number of pesticides, for example DDT, and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs as they are known. These
two groups will be considered separately, although they do share a number of important characteristics. For
example, both groups are reported to have endocrine-disrupting properties.
Organochlorine pesticides: In 1940, the first organochlorine pesticide, DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane)
was manufactured for the Allied Forces to be used during the Second World War. It met with unprecedented success
against a number of insect-borne diseases, for example malaria in the tropics and typhus in Italy. It had many
advantages; it was cheap to manufacture, persistent in the environment and could be applied from the air. After the
war, DDT was used extensively not only to control insect populations responsible for the spread of disease but to
control insects pest attacking agricultural crops. The success of DDT resulted in the development and manufacture
of other organochlorine pesticides, for example lindane and dieldrin.
Oil:
Drilling for oils is one of the major extractive industries. Crude oil is a complex mixture of thousands of different
organic molecules, mainly hydrocarbons (aromatics, alkenes and cyclohexanes). It is refined by the process of
fractional distillation to yield a number of commercially important products such as petrol, diesel oil and tar. From
these different types of oil, seas and rivers are being polluted regularly. Sometime accidental spillage from oil
tankers causes drastic damage to the environment through oil pollution. All types of aquatic forms of life thus face
the ill-effects.
Thermal Pollutants
Water is able to absorb large quantities of heat without appreciably increasing its own temperature or changing from
its liquid sate. This high heat capacity means that it is extensively used as a coolant in many industries. The principal
user of water as a coolant is the electricity generating industry. They often discharge a huge quantity of hot water
and thus causing thermal pollution.
Thermal pollution affects aquatic ecosystems in a variety of ways. In general, the species composition changes as
species tolerant of warmer waters replace those unable to adapt. This transition is often accompanied by an overall
decrease in species richness. For example, attached algae in heated effluents were reported to show an increase in
biomass but a decrease in the number of species represented.
Water Pollution due to Fluoride and Arsenic Pollutants:
Fluoride and Arsenic pollutants are important amongst the inorganic pollutants. Vast areas of Haryana, Rajasthan
and Punjab are highly contaminated with fluoride compounds in potable water. There the amount of fluoride present
in water is very high above the danger level. Flow of waste products from glass industry, hydrocarbon producing
industry etc. carrying high amounts of fluoride compounds, polluted water bodies there. In Rajasthan thousands and
thousands of people became disabled due to fluorosis or fluoride pollution. Fluorine is responsible for the decay and
damage of calcium of Teeth and bones. This disease is termed as Fluorosis.
Water gets polluted when underground layers of Arsenic come in contact with ground water. Ground water from the
tube-wells is highly contaminated with arsenic compounds in six districts of West Bengal covering a vast area. Here
the amount of Arsenic compound is as much as 200 times higher than its permissible amount. Apart from West
Bengal, the long and vast Gangetic basin of India including Bihar, Jharkhand and some part of Uttar Pradesh is
highly contaminated with arsenic compounds. Even in Bangladesh the ground water is highly polluted with arsenic
compounds. Symptoms of arsenic pollution are melanosis where large black spots appear all over the body surface.
Tumors may appear in the feet and its sole. Bronchitis, Cirrhosis of liver, skin cancer etc. is the other effects of
Arsenic pollution.