LUCKNOW

Session 2023-2024

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Mrs. Kirti Singh Nancy Sharma
(Biology Teacher )
Class: 12-science
 “ACKNOWLEDGEMENT”
I have taken efforts in this project. However, it
would not have been possible without the kind
support and help of many individuals. I would
like to thank my principal Mr. MP singh and
school for providing me with facilities required
to do my project. I am highly indebted to my
Biology teacher, Mrs. Kirti singh, for her
invaluable guidance which has sustained my
efforts in all the stages of this project work. I
would also like to thank my parents for their
continuous support and encouragement. My
thanks and appreciations also go to my fellow
classmates and the laboratory
assistant in developing the
project and to the people who
have willingly helped me out
with their abilities.
 “CONTENT”-
1) Ecosystem -Structure and function

2) Productivity

3) Decomposition

4) Energy Flow

5) Ecological pyramids
TOPIC:
““ECOSYSTEM””
 “ECOSYSTEM”

What is Ecosystem?.......
 An ecosystem consists of all the organisms living
in a community as well as all the abiotic factors
with which they interact.
 The dynamics of an ecosystem involve two
processes: energy flow and chemical cycling.
 Ecosystem ecologists view ecosystems as energy
machines and matter processors.
Structure of the Ecosystem...
The structure of an ecosystem is characterised by the
organisation of both biotic and abiotic components. This
includes the distribution of energy in our environment. It
also includes the climatic conditions prevailing in that
particular environment.
The structure of an ecosystem can be split into two main
components, namely:
• Biotic Components

• Abiotic Components
The biotic and abiotic components are interrelated in an
ecosystem. It is an open system where the energy and
components can flow throughout the boundaries.
Stratification ..
Interaction of biotic and abiotic components result in a
physical ructure that is characteristic for each type of
ecosystem. Identification and enumeration of plant and
animal species of an ecosystem gives its species
composition. Vertical distribution of diferent species
occupying different levels is called stratification. For
example, trees occupy top vertical strata or layer of a
forest, shrubs the second and herbs and grasses occupy
the bottom layers.

Biotic Components..
Biotic components refer to all living components in an
ecosystem. Based on nutrition, biotic components can be
categorised into autotrophs, heterotrophs and
saprotrophs (or decomposers).
 Producers include all autotrophs such as plants. They
are called autotrophs as they can produce food
through the process of photosynthesis.
Consequently, all other organisms higher up on the
food chain rely on producers for food.
 Consumers or heterotrophs are organisms that
depend on other organisms for food. Consumers are
further classified into primary consumers, secondary
consumers and tertiary consumers.
1. Primary consumers are always herbivores as
they rely on producers for food.
2. Secondary consumers depend on primary
consumers for energy. They can either be
carnivores or omnivores.
3. Tertiary consumers are organisms that
depend on secondary consumers for food.
Tertiary consumers can also be carnivores or
omnivore.
4. Quaternary consumers are present in some
food chains. These organisms prey on tertiary
consumers for energy. Furthermore, they are
usually at the top of a food chain as they have
no natural predators.
 Decomposers include saprophytes such as fungi and
bacteria. They directly thrive on the dead and
decaying organic matter. Decomposers are essential
for the ecosystem as they help in recycling nutrients
to be reused by plants.
Abiotic Components..
Abiotic components are the non-living component of an
ecosystem. It includes air, water, soil, minerals, sunlight,
temperature, nutrients, wind, altitude, turbidity, etc.

Function of the Ecosystem….

The components of the ecosystem are seen to function
as a unit when you consider the following aspects:
(i) Productivity;
(ii) Decomposition
(iii) Energy flow
(iv) Nutrients cycle
 “PRODUCTIVITY”

What is Productivity?..
In ecology, productivity refers to the rate of formation of
biomass in the ecosystem. It can also be referred to as
the energy accumulated in the plants by photosynthesis.
There are two types of productivity, namely:
1. Primary Productivity
2. Secondary Productivity

Primary Productivity
Primary Productivity refers to the generation of biomass
from autotrophic organisms such as plants.
Photosynthesis is the primary tool for the creation of
organic material from inorganic compounds such as
carbon dioxide and water. Primary productivity can be
divided into two aspects:
 Gross primary productivity
 Net primary productivity
Gross primary productivity

The solar energy trapped by the photosynthetic organism

is called gross primary productivity. All the organic
matters produced falls under gross primary productivity.
This depends upon the photosynthetic environmental
factors.

Net primary productivity

This is estimated by the gross productivity minus energy

lost in respiration.
NPP GPP Energy lost by respiration
It the net energy stored in the plants. This energy serves
as food for the animals that feed on plants. It is
measured as the amount of organic matter produced in a
community in a given time. Annually, over 170 billion
tons of net primary productivity occurs over the entire
biosphere.

Secondary Productivity

Heterotrophs such as animals influence Secondary

Productivity. It is the accumulation of energy at the
consumer's level. It keeps moving from one organism to
another, unlike primary productivity. This process occurs
as a result of organic materials being transferred
between various trophic levels. It is also referred to as
the rate of increase in the biomass of heterotrophs.
Organisms such as animals, fungi, bacteria and numerous
protists influence Secondary Production.
 “DECOMPOSITION”

What is Decomposition?..
Decomposition is the first stage in the recycling of
nutrients that have been used by an organism (plant or
animal) to build its body. It is the process whereby the
dead tissues break down and are converted into simpler
organic forms. These are the food source for many of the
species at the base of ecosystems. The species that carry
out the process of decomposition are known as
detritivores. Detritivore means literally 'feeders on dead
or decaying organic matter'. Many of these decomposer
species function in tandem or
parallel with one another. Each
is responsible for a specific
part of the decomposition
process. Collectively they are
known as the detritivore
community.
Decomposition in plants
The primary decomposers of most dead plant material
are fungi. Dead leaves fall from trees and herbaceous
plants collapse to the ground after they have produced
seeds. These form a layer of litter on the soil surface. The
litter layer can be quite substantial in volume. The litter
fall in a Scots pine is around 1-1.5 tonnes per hectare per
year, while that in temperate deciduous forests is over 3
tonnes per hectare per year. The litter is quickly invaded
by the hyphae of fungi. Hyphae are the white thread-like
filaments that are the main body of a fungus. [The
mushrooms that appear on the forest floor, are merely
the fruiting bodies of the fungus.) The hyphae draw
nourishment from the litter. This enables the fungi to
grow and spread, while breaking down the structure of
the dead plant material. Bacteria also play a part in this
process, as do various invertebrates, including slugs,
snails and springtails. As the decay becomes more
advanced, earthworms begin their work.

This decomposition process is usually odourless. It is

aerobic, meaning that it takes place in the presence of air
(oxygen in particular). On the forest floor it is spread out
in both space and time. When people make compost
heaps in their garden, they are utilising the same
process. It is concentrated and accelerated by piling the
dead material together in a heap, and the heat that is
generated speeds up the process of decay.

Fungi that feed on dead plant material are called

saprotrophic fungi. Common examples include the
horsehair parachute fungus, which can be seen growing
out of dead grass stems, leaves or pine needles. Another
is the sulphur tuft fungus, which fruits on logs that are at
an advanced state of decomposition.
In a forest, the rate of decomposition depends on what
the dead plant material is. Leaves of deciduous trees and
the stems and foliage of non-woody plants generally
break down quickly. They are usually gone within a year
of falling to the forest floor. Some plant material, such as
the fibrous dead fronds of bracken, takes longer. But
even these will still be decomposed within three years.
The needles of conifers, such as Scots pine, are much
tougher. It can take up to seven years for them to be
completely broken down and recycled. The rate of decay
is also determined by how wet the material is, and in
general the wetter it is the faster it breaks down. In dry
periods or dry climates, the organic matter becomes
dessicated. Many detritivores, such as fungi and slugs,
are inactive so the decomposition process becomes
prolonged.
 “ENERGY FLOW”

What is Energy flow?..

The chemical energy of food is the main source of energy
required by all living organisms. This energy is
transmitted to different trophic levels along the food
chain. This energy flow is based on two different laws of
thermodynamics:
• First law of thermodynamics, that states that
energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only
change from one form to another.
• Second law of thermodynamics, that states that
as energy is transferred more and more of it is wasted.

Energy Flow in Ecosystem

The energy flow in the ecosystem is one of the major
factors that support the survival of such a great number
of organisms. For almost all organisms on earth, the
primary source of energy is solar energy. It is amusing to
find that we receive less than 50 per cent of the sun's
effective radiation on earth. When we say effective
radiation, we mean the radiation, which can be used by
plants to carry out photosynthesis.

Most of the sun's radiation that falls on the earth is

usually reflected back into space by the earth's
atmosphere. This effective radiation is termed as the
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR).
Overall, we receive about 40 to 50 percent of the energy
having Photosynthetically Active Radiation and only
around 2-10 percent of it is used by plants for the
process of photosynthesis. Thus, this percent of PAR
supports the entire world as plants are the producers in
the ecosystem and all the other organisms are either
directly or indirectly dependent on them for their
survival. The energy flow takes place via the food chain
and food web. During the process of energy flow in the
ecosystem, plants being the producers absorb sunlight
with the help of the chloroplasts and a part of it is
transformed into chemical energy in the process of
photosynthesis. This energy is stored in various organic
products in the plants and passed on to the primary
consumers in the food chain when the herbivores
consume (primary consumers) the
plants as food. Then conversion
of chemical energy stored in
plant products into kinetic
energy occurs, degradation of
energy will occur through its
conversion into heat.
Then followed by the secondary consumers. When these
herbivores are ingested by carnivores of the first order
(secondary consumers) further degradation will occur.
Finally, when tertiary consumers consume the
carnivores, energy will again be degraded. Thus, the
energy flow is unidirectional in nature.

Trophic level
The producers and consumers in the ecosystem can be
arranged into different feeding groups and are known as
trophic level or the feeding level.

1. The producers (plants) represent the first trophic level.

2. Herbivores (primary consumers) present the second
trophic level.
3. Primary carnivores (secondaryconsumers) represent
the thirdtrophic level
4. Top carnivores (tertiary
consumers) represent the last
level.
Food Chain
There are basically three different types of food chains in
the ecosystem, namely –
Grazing food chain(GFC):

This is the normal food chain that we observe in which

plants are the producers and the energy flows from the
producers to the herbivores (primary consumers), then
to carnivores (secondary consumers) and so on.

Saprophytic or Detritus food chain

(DFC):

In this type of food chain, the dead organic matter

occupies the lowermost level of the food chain, followed
by the decomposers and so on.

Parasitic food chain (PFC):

In this type of food chain, large organisms either the

producer or the consumer is exploited and therefore the
food passes to the smaller organism.
In an aquatic ecosystem, GFC is the major conduit for
energy flow. A. against this, in a terrestrial ecosystem, a
much larger fraction of energy flows through the detritus
food chain than through the GFC. Detritus food chain
may be connected with the grazing food chain at some
levels: some of the organisms of DFC are prey to the GFC
animals, and in anatural ecosystem, some animals like
cockroaches, crows, etc., are omnivores. These natural
interconnection of food chains make it a food web.

The important point to note is that the amount of energy

decreases at successive trophic levels. When any
organism dies it is converted to detritus or dead biomass
that serves as an energy source for decomposers.
Organisms at each
trophic level depend on
those at the lower
trophic level for their
energy demands.

Each trophic level has a

certain mass of living
material at a particular
time called as the
standing crop. The
standing crop is
measured as the mass of living organisms (biomass) or
the number in a unit area. The biomass of a species is
expressed in terms of fresh or dry weight. Measurement
of biomass in terms of dry weight is more accurate.

The number of trophic levels in the grazing food chain is

restricted as the transfer of energy follows 10 per cent
law - only 10 per cent of the energy is transferred to each
trophic level from the lower trophic level. In nature, it is
possible to have so many levels - producer, herbivore,
primary carnivore, secondary carnivore in the grazing
food chain.
“ECOLOGICAL PYRAMID”

What is Ecological pyramid?..

An ecological pyramid is a graphical representation of the
relationship between the different living organisms at
different trophic levels. Charles Elton developed the
concept of the pyramid of numbers. Later, G.Evylen
Hutchinson and Raymond Lindeman developed the idea
of the pyramid of energy or productivity.
It can be observed that these pyramids are in the shape
of actual pyramids, with the base being the broadest,
which is covered by the lowest trophic level, i.e.,
producers. The next level is occupied by the next trophic
level, i.e., the primary consumers and so on.

Types of Ecological Pyramid

Three types of ecological pyramids exist. They are as
follows:
Pyramid of Numbers
In this type of ecological pyramid, the number of
organisms in each trophic level is considered as a level in
the pyramid. The pyramid of numbers is usually upright
except for some situations like that of the detritus food
chain, where many organisms feed on one dead plant or
animal.
Pyramid of Biomass
In this particular type of ecological pyramid, each level
takes into account the amount of biomass produced by
each trophic level. The pyramid of biomass is also upright
except for that observed in oceans where large numbers
of zooplanktons depend on a relatively smaller number
of phytoplanktons.
Pyramid of Energy
Pyramid of energy is the only type of ecological pyramid,
which is always upright as the energy flow in a food chain
is always unidirectional. Also, with every increasing
trophic level, some energy is lost into the environment.
Importance of Ecological Pyramid
The importance of ecological pyramid can be explained in
the following points:
1. They show the feeding of different organisms in
different ecosystems.
2. It shows the efficiency of energy transfer.
3. The condition of the ecosystem can be monitored, and
any further damage can be prevented.

Limitations of Ecological Pyramid

1. More than one species may occupy multiple trophic
levels as in case of the food web. Thus, this system does
not take into account food webs.
2. The saprophytes are not considered in any of the
pyramids even though they form an important part of
the various ecosystem.
3. These pyramids are applicable only to simple food
chains, which usually do not occur naturally.
4. These pyramids do not deliver any concept in relation
to variations in season and climate.
 “BIBLIOGRAPHY”

BOOKS……
Text book of Biology 12th - Oswaal
Text book of Biology 12th – Nootan
Text book of Biology12th - NCERT

WEBSITES……
https://www.youtube.com
https://www.wikipedia.org
https://www.chemongo.com