Remembering:

I.O = Define the concept of an ecosystem.

T.I = What is an ecosystem?

Understanding:

I.O =
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 rocks and soils from past lectures. From this course and from general
knowledge, you also 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, NH4+) Detritivores
etc. etc.
All of these vary over space/time

By and large, this set of components and 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
(that is, inorganic material such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, instead of those elements being
bound up in organic matter). Often bacteria complete this process, through the process called
decomposition or mineralization (see next 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 fromtrophic 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 asgrazer 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" (this is a
major take-home point of this lecture), and it is important to
understand what are the most important linkages in any particular food web. The next question is "how" do
we determine what the important processes or linkages are in food webs or ecosystems? Ecosystem scientists use
several different tools, which can be described generally under the term "Biogeochemistry".

Summary

Ecosystems are made up of abiotic (non-living, environmental) and biotic components, and these
basic components are important to nearly all types of ecosystems. Ecosystem Ecology looks at
energy transformations and biogeochemical cycling within ecosystems.

Energy is continually input into an ecosystem in the form of light energy, and some energy is lost
with each transfer to a higher trophic level. Nutrients, on the other hand, are recycled within an
ecosystem, and their supply normally limits biological activity. So, "energy flows, elements cycle".

Energy is moved through an ecosystem via a food web, which is made up of interlocking food
chains. Energy is first captured by photosynthesis (primary production). The amount of primary
production determines the amount of energy available to higher trophic levels.

The study of how chemical elements cycle through an ecosystem is termed biogeochemistry. A
biogeochemical cycle can be expressed as a set of stores (pools) and transfers, and can be studied
using the concepts of "stoichiometry", "mass balance", and "residence time".
 Ecosystem function is controlled mainly by two processes, "top-down" and "bottom-up" controls.

A biome is a major vegetation type extending over a large area. Biome distributions are
determined largely by temperature and precipitation patterns on the Earth's surface.

What is an ecosystem?

An ecosystem, a term very often used in biology, is a community of plants and animals interacting with
each other in a given area, and also with their non-living environments. The non-living environments
include weather, earth, sun, soil, climate and atmosphere. The ecosystem relates to the way that all these
different organisms live in close proximity to each other and how they interact with each other. For
instance, in an ecosystem where there are both rabbits and foxes, these two creatures are in a
relationship where the fox eats the rabbit in order to survive. This relationship has a knock on effect with
the other creatures and plants that live in the same or similar areas. For instance, the more rabbits that
foxes eat, the more the plants may start to thrive because there are fewer rabbits to eat them.

Ecosystem Structure

At a basic functional level, ecosystem generally contains primary producers (plants) capable of harvesting

energy from the sun through the process called photosynthesis. This energy then flows through the food

chain. Next come consumers. Consumers could be primary consumers (herbivores) or secondary

consumers (carnivores). These consumers feed on the captured energy. Decomposers work at the

bottom of the food chain. Dead tissues and waste products are produced at all levels. Scavengers,

detritivores and decomposers not only feed on this energy but also break organic matter back into its

organic constituents. It is the microbes that finish the job of decomposition and produce organic

constituents that can again be used by producers.

Energy that flows through the food chain i.e. from producers to consumers to decomposers is always

inefficient. That means less energy is available at secondary consumers level than at primary producers

level. Its not surprising but amount of energy produced from place to place varies a lot due to amount

of solar radiation and the availability of nutrients and water.

Types of Ecosystem

There are very many types of ecosystems out there, but the three major classes of ecosystems,

sometimes referred to as biomes, which are relatively contained, are the following:

Freshwater Ecosystems

Terrestrial Ecosystems
 Ocean Ecosystems

Freshwater Ecosystems

These can then be broken up into smaller ecosystems. For instance, in the freshwater ecosystems we find:

Pond Ecosystems These are usually relatively small and contained. Most of the time they

include various types of plants, amphibians and insects. Sometimes they include fish, but as
these cannot move around as easily as amphibians and insects, it is less likely, and most of the
time fish are artificially introduced to these environments by humans.

River Ecosystems Because rivers always link to the sea, they are more likely to contain fish

alongside the usual plants, amphibians and insects.

These sorts of ecosystems can also include birds because birds often hunt in and around water for small

fish or insects.

As is clear from the title, freshwater ecosystems are those that are contained to freshwater environments.

This includes, but is not limited to, ponds, rivers and other waterways that are not the sea (which is, of

course, saltwater and cannot support freshwater creatures for very long). Freshwater ecosystems are

actually the smallest of the three major classes of ecosystems, accounting for just 1.8% of the total of the

Earths surface. The ecosystems of freshwater systems include relatively small fish (bigger fish are usually

found in the sea), amphibians (such as frogs, toads and newts), insects of various sorts and, of course,

plants. The absolutely smallest living part of the food web of these sorts of ecosystems is plankton, a

small organism that is often eaten by fish and other small creatures.

Terrestrial Ecosystems

Terrestrial ecosystems are many because there are so many different sorts of places onEarth. Some of the

most common terrestrial ecosystems that are found are the following:

Rainforests Rainforests usually have extremely dense ecosystems because there are so many

different types of animals all living in a very small area.

Tundra As mentioned above, tundra usually have relatively simple ecosystems because of the

limited amount of life that can be supported in these harsh conditions.

 Deserts Quite the opposite of tundra in many ways, but still harsh, more animals live in the

extreme heat than live in the extreme cold of Antarctica, for instance.

Savannas These differ from deserts because of the amount of rain that they get each year.

Whereas deserts get only a tiny amount of precipitation every tea, savannas tend to be a bit
wetter which is better for supporting more life.

Forests There are many different types of forests all over the world including deciduous forests

and coniferous forests. These can support a lot of life and can have very complex ecosystems.

Grasslands Grasslands support a wide variety of life and can have very complex and involved

ecosystems.

Since there are so many different types of terrestrial ecosystems, it can be difficult to make

generalizations that cover them all.

Because terrestrial ecosystems are so diverse, it is difficult to make generalizations about them. However,

a few things are true almost all of the time. For instance, most contain herbivores that eat plants (that get

their sustenance from the sun and the soil) and all have carnivores that eat herbivores and other

carnivores. Some places, such the poles, contain mainly carnivores because not plant life grows. A lot of

animals and plants that grow and live in terrestrial ecosystems also interact with freshwater and

sometimes even ocean ecosystems.

Ocean Ecosystems

Ocean ecosystems are relatively contained, although they, like freshwater ecosystems, also include certain

birds that hunt for fish and insects close to the oceans surface. There are different sorts of ocean

ecosystems:

Shallow water Some tiny fish and coral only live in the shallow waters close to land.

Deep water Big and even gigantic creatures can live deep in the waters of the oceans. Some

of the strangest creatures in the world live right at the bottom of the sea.

Warm water Warmer waters, such as those of the Pacific Ocean, contain some of the most

impressive and intricate ecosystems in the world.

 Cold water Less diverse, cold waters still support relatively complex ecosystems. Plankton

usually form the base of the food chain, following by small fish that are either eaten by bigger
fish or by other creatures such as seals or penguins.

Ocean ecosystems are amongst some of the most interesting in the world, especially in warm waters such

as those of the Pacific Ocean. This is not least because around 75% of the Earth is covered by the sea,

which means that there is lots of space for all sorts of different creatures to live and thrive. There are

actually three different types of oceanic ecosystems: shallow waters, deep waters and the deep ocean

surface. In two of these the very base of the food chain is plankton, just as it is in freshwater ecosystems.

These plankton and other plants that grow in the ocean close to the surface are responsible for 40% of all

photosynthesis that occurs on Earth. From this there are herbivorous creatures that eat the plankton, such

as shrimp, that are then themselves usually eaten by bigger creatures, particularly fish. Interesting, in the

deep ocean, plankton cannot exist because photosynthesis cannot occur since light cannot penetrate that

far into the oceans depths. Down in the deepest depths of the ocean, therefore, creatures have adapted

very strangely and are amongst some of the most fascination and the most terrifying and intriguing living

creatures on Earth.