02

ECOSYSTEMS
env20:
Introduction to environmental
engineering

ENGR. ELISA G. ELEAZAR

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Outline
• Energy Flow in Ecosystems
• Material Flow in Ecosystems
• Ecosystem Health and Public Welfare
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Introduction
• Ecosystem
▫ an assembly of mutually interacting organisms
and their environment in which materials are
interchanged in a largely cyclical manner
▫ has physical, biological & chemical components
along w/ the energy sources & pathways of
energy & materials interchange
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Introduction

• Biotic Components
• Abiotic Components
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Energy Flow in Ecosystems
• Photosynthesis
Nutrients  CO2 sunlight
 O2  High  Energy Molecules 

• Respiration
High  Energy Molecules  O2  CO2  Nutrients
• Organisms
▫ Producers
▫ Consumers
▫ Decomposers
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Energy Flow in Ecosystems
• Food chain
▫ passage of energy from one trophic level to the
next as a result or organism consuming another
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Energy Flow in Ecosystems
• Trophic Levels
2nd order
consumer

1st order
consumer

producer
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Energy Flow in Ecosystems
• Food Web
▫ overlapping of food chains
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Material Flow in Ecosystems
• Biogeochemical Cycles
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Material Flow in Ecosystems
• Microbial Decomposers
▫ Aerobic
Detritus  O2  CO2  H2O  Nutrients
▫ Anaerobic
Detritus  CO2  CH4  H 2 S  NH3  ...  Nutrients

▫ Facultative
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Ecosystem Health and Public Welfare
Toxic Substances and Ecosystem and Human Health
▫ through effects manifested at the population or
community level or by initiating an imbalance in
ecosystem function

• Bioconcentration
▫ direct absorption of a chemical into an individual
organism
• Bioaccumulation
▫ accumulation of chemicals both by exposure to
contaminated water and ingestion of
contaminated food
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Ecosystem Health and Public Welfare
Toxic Substances and Ecosystem and Human Health
• Bioconcentration Factor, BCF
▫ ratio of concentration of a
chemical in an organism to
that in the surrounding
environmental medium
(due to direct uptake)

• Bioaccumulation Factor, BAF

▫ ratio of the concentration
of a chemical in an
organism to that in the
surrounding medium (all
mechanisms considered)
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Ecosystem Health and Public Welfare
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health

• Biodiversity
▫ great variety present in all forms of life
• Environmental Niche
▫ an organism’s specialized role in the ecosystem
• Invasive Species
▫ species that have become established in a
natural ecosystem and threaten native
biodiversity
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Ecosystem Health and Public Welfare
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health

• Reasons to Support Biodiversity

▫ plants and animals may play a critical role in
the development of more productive food
supplies and medicines that improve human
health and life
▫ the loss of a single component (specie) could
permanently and fatally disrupt ecosystem
function
▫ humans are stewards of the environment
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References
• Mihelcic, J.R. and Zimmerman, J.B.,
Environmental Engineering Fundamentals,
Sustainability, Design. USA: John Wiley & Sons,
Inc., 2010.

• Davis, M.L. and Cornwell, D.A., Introduction to

Environmental Engineering, 4th ed. USA:
McGraw Hill, 2009.
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Outline
• Energy Flow in Ecosystems
• Material Flow in Ecosystems
• Ecosystem Health and Public Welfare
 02
ECOSYSTEMS
env20:
introduction to environmental
engineering

ENGR. ELISA G. ELEAZAR