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Ecosystem
The ecosystem is the basic functional units in ecology Eco - environment System- an aggregation of objects joined in a regular interaction
Ecology - The study of the interactions between living organisms and their environment
a. Interactions determine distribution and abundance of organisms. b. Two main themes in ecology are:
- Where do organisms live? & Why? - How many organisms are present? & Why?
d. An ecosystem consists of all abiotic factors plus all organisms that exist in a certain area Ecosystem ecology
- Landscape ecologyInteractions among ecosystems e. The biosphere is the global ecosystem. Global climate research is an example of ecology at the biosphere scale.
The Ecosystem
Is a self supporting area composed of living and nonliving things such as the Rain Forest or the Desert It produces energy, transfers energy, decomposes, and recycles It made up of two (2) types of factors:
Biotic and Abiotic
Abiotic Factors
are non living parts of the environment such as rocks, the sun, and temperature
Biotic Factors
The living parts of the environment such as plants, bacteria, and animals
Community
Is composed of all of the populations of different organisms living together in a given are such as your lawn (contains grass, insects, and worms)
A population is a group of organisms that belong to the same species & live in a given area
Ex: heard of cattle of a gaggle of geese
To accomplish those materials cycles and energy flows ecosystem possess relationships
stable system
Living organism
water
Solid earth
Atmosphere
i) Autotrophic Organisms
Producers - photosynthetic organisms.
Manufacture complex organic materials from simple inorganic substances hence they do not depend on others for food. i. In terrestrial ecosystems, producers are predominantly green plants (Obtain CO2 from the air) ii. In freshwater and marine ecosystems, dominant producers are algae (Obtain dissolved CO2 from water)
Co2 +H2o
Chlorophyll Light energy
Glucose+O2+ H2O
B) Abiotic Components
i) Inorganic compounds (CO2, H2O, N2, Ca2+, PO43- all are involved in nutrient cycle) ii) Organic components ( Protein, carbohydrate, Lipid, amino acid) iii) Physical factors ( Climate, temperature, light etc.
Sun
Solar energy Producers
Primary Consumers (Herbivores) Primary carnivors
Secondary
carnivors
Food Chains
The general sequence of who eats whom in an ecosystem, hence organisms of an ecosystem are linked together and transfer food energy from the source in plants through a series of organisms So that it represent one path of energy flow through an ecosystem
Examples: Algae Zooplankton Grass sheep Crustacea man
Food webs
Interconnecting network of food chains become Food Webs Natural ecosystems have numerous interconnected food chains
Ecological Pyramid
Populations Form a Pyramid
a. Trophic structure of an ecosystem forms an ecological pyramid. b. Base of pyramid represents producer trophic level, apex is highest level consumer or the top predator. c. Pyramid of numbers is based on number of organisms at each trophic level.
Ecological Pyramid
Top Carnivores (large fish) Carnivores (small fish) Herbivores (Zooplankton, crustaceans)
Producers
(Algae, diatoms)
Ecological Pyramid
Ecological Pyramid
d. Pyramid of biomass is calculated by multiplying the average weight for organisms times the number of organisms at each trophic level.
e. Pyramid of energy calculates amounts of energy available at each successive trophic level.
Ecological Pyramid
f. The food energy pyramid always shows a decrease moving up trophic levels because: i. Only a certain amount of food is captured and eaten by organisms on the next trophic level. ii. Some of food that is eaten cannot be digested and exits digestive tract as undigested waste. iii. Only a portion of digested food becomes part of the organism's body; rest is used as source of energy.
Ecological Pyramid iv. Substantial portion of food energy goes to build up temporary ATP in mitochondria; ATP energy is then used to synthesize proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and fuel contraction of muscles, nerve conduction, etc.
Ecological Pyramid
g. Only about 10% of energy available at a particular trophic level is incorporated into tissues at the next level. Example: a larger population can be sustained by eating grain than by eating grain-fed animals since 100 kg of grain would result in 10 human kgs but if fed to cattle, the result is 1 human kg.
Kinds of Ecosystems
1.Terrestrial (Land) Eco systems 2.Aquatic Ecosystems a. Marine (Ocean) ecosystems b. Estuaries(zones of transition between rivers and sea) c. Freshwater ecosytem (Lakes,Ponds, Rivers, Streams )