THE INDIAN HIGH SCHOOL
GRADE 7
ECOSYSTEM
Topics:
• Components of Ecosystem
• Biochemical Cycles
• Human Impact on Ecosystem
Ecosystem
Ecosystem is a biological community where the living and non-living components interact with
each other and their physical environment. It is the functional unit of nature and varies greatly in
size. Let us have a look at the structure, function and components of ecosystem.
1. Components of Ecosystem
Abiotic Components
Abiotic components include inorganic materials like air, water, and soil.
Biotic Components
Biotic Components are the living components involved in shaping the ecosystem. It includes
biotic factors such as:
• Producers: All green plant in the ecosystem are termed as the producers, as they produce
their own food by making use of solar energy. All living organisms are dependent on
plants for both oxygen and food.
• Consumers: They include both primary consumers and secondary consumers. As
animals depend on plants for their food, they are called consumers. Primary consumers
feed directly of Producers for their food and the secondary consumers feed on the
primary consumers for their food. All herbivores animals are an example of Primary
consumers. Carnivores and apex predators make up the secondary and tertiary
consumers.
• Decomposers: They are the saprophytes which include fungi and bacteria. Decomposers
convert the dead matter into nitrogen and carbon dioxide and the process is called
decomposition.
• Energy Flow: Energy flow is the flow of energy along the food chain, through different
trophic levels. Energy is passed from the producers to the decomposers through various
trophic levels.
Together, the autotrophs and heterotrophs form various trophic (feeding) levels in the ecosystem:
the producer level, composed of those organisms that make their own food; the primary
consumer level, composed of those organisms that feed on producers; the secondary consumer
level, composed of those organisms that feed on primary consumers; and so on. The movement
of organic matter and energy from the producer level through various consumer levels makes up
a food chain. For example, a typical food chain in a grassland might be grass (producer)
→ mouse (primary consumer) → snake (secondary consumer) → hawk (tertiary consumer).
Actually, in many cases the food chains of the ecosystem overlap and interconnect, forming what
ecologists call a food web. The final link in all food chains is made up of decomposers, those
heterotrophs that break down dead organisms and organic wastes. A food chain in which the
primary consumer feeds on living plants is called a grazing pathway; that in which the primary
consumer feeds on dead plant matter is known as a detritus pathway. Both pathways are
important in accounting for the energy budget of the ecosystem.
Fig: The terrestrial food chain featuring producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Fig: Marine Food Chain
A food chain in the ocean begins with tiny one-celled organisms called diatoms. They make their
own food from sunlight. Shrimplike creatures eat the diatoms. Small fish eat the shrimplike
creatures, and bigger fish eat the small fish.
Energy Pyramid
An energy pyramid is a model that shows the flow of energy from one trophic level to the next
along a food chain. The pyramid base contains producers—organisms that make their own food
from inorganic substances. All other organisms in the pyramid are consumers. The consumers at
each level feed on organisms from the level below and are themselves consumed by organisms at
the level above. Most of the food energy that enters a trophic level is “lost” as heat when it is
used by organisms to power the normal activities of life. Thus, the higher the trophic level on the
pyramid, the lower the amount of available energy.
Ecosystem Energy Transfer
Transfer of energy through an ecosystem. At each trophic level only a small proportion of energy
(approximately 10 percent) is transferred to the next level.
Energy transfer efficiency limits food chain lengths
Energy is transferred between trophic levels when one organism eats another and gets the
energy-rich molecules from its prey's body. However, these transfers are inefficient, and this
inefficiency limits the length of food chains.
When energy enters a trophic level, some of it is stored as biomass, as part of organisms' bodies.
This is the energy that's available to the next trophic level since only energy storied as biomass
can get eaten. As a rule of thumb, only about 10% of the energy that's stored as biomass in one
trophic level—per unit time—ends up stored as biomass in the next trophic level—per the same
unit time. This 10% rule of energy transfer is a good thing to commit to memory.
The diagram shows the approximate dry mass (in grams per square meter) of organisms at each
trophic level in a forest ecosystem.
Why does so much energy exit the food web between one trophic level and the next?
In each trophic level, a significant amount of energy is dissipated as heat as organisms carry out
cellular respiration and go about their daily lives.
• Some of the organic molecules an organism eats cannot be digested and leave the body as
faeces, rather than being used.
• Not all of the individual organisms in a trophic level will get eaten by organisms in the
next level up. Some instead die without being eaten.
The faeces and uneaten, dead organisms become food for decomposers, who metabolize them
and convert their energy to heat through cellular respiration. So, none of the energy actually
disappears—it all winds up as heat in the end.
II. Biogeochemical Cycles
Energy flows directionally through ecosystems, entering as sunlight (and leaving as heat during
the transfers between trophic levels. Rather than flowing through an ecosystem, the matter that
makes up living organisms is conserved and recycled. The recycling of inorganic matter between
living organisms and their nonliving environment is called a biogeochemical cycle.
Oxygen cycle, along with the carbon cycle and nitrogen cycle plays an essential role in the
existence of life on the earth. The oxygen cycle is a biological process which helps in
maintaining the oxygen level by moving through three main spheres of the earth which are:
Atmosphere
Lithosphere
Biosphere
This biogeochemical cycle explains the movement of oxygen gas within the atmosphere, the
ecosystem, biosphere and the lithosphere. The oxygen cycle is interconnected with the carbon
cycle.
What is Oxygen Cycle?
Fig: A Diagrammatic Representation of the Oxygen Cycle
Stages of the Oxygen Cycle
The steps involved in the oxygen cycle are:
Stage-1: All green plants during the process of photosynthesis, release oxygen back into the
atmosphere as a by-product.
Stage-2: All aerobic organisms use free oxygen for respiration.
Stage-3: Animals exhale Carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere which is again used by the
plants during photosynthesis. Now oxygen is balanced within the atmosphere.
Production of Oxygen
Plants: The leading creators of oxygen are plants by the process of photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis is a biological process by which all green plants synthesize their food in the
presence of sunlight. During photosynthesis, plants use sunlight, water, carbon dioxide to create
energy and oxygen gas is liberated as a by-product of this process.
Sunlight: Sunlight also produces oxygen. Some oxygen gas is produced when the sunlight reacts
with water vapour in the atmosphere.
Fig: Production of Oxygen
Some Interesting Facts about Oxygen
• Phytoplankton is one of the most significant producers of oxygen, followed by terrestrial
plants and trees.
• Oxygen is also produced when the sunlight reacts with water vapour present in the
atmosphere.
• A large amount of oxygen is stored in the earth’s crust in the form of oxides, which
cannot be used for the respiration process as it is available in the combined state.
Importance of Oxygen Cycle
As we all know, oxygen is one of the most essential components of the earth’s atmosphere. It is
mainly required for:
• Breathing
• Combustion
• Supporting aquatic life
• Decomposition of organic waste.
Oxygen is an important element required for life, however, it can be toxic to some anaerobic
bacteria.
The oxygen cycle is mainly involved in maintaining the level of oxygen in the atmosphere. The
entire cycle can be summarized as, the oxygen cycle begins with the process of photosynthesis in
the presence of sunlight, releases oxygen back into the atmosphere, which humans and animals
breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, and again linking back to the plants. This also
proves that both the oxygen and carbon cycle occur independently and are interconnected to each
other.
HUMAN IMPACTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
Humans impact the physical environment in many ways: overpopulation, pollution, burning
fossil fuels, and deforestation. Changes like these have triggered climate change, soil erosion,
poor air quality, and undrinkable water. These negative impacts can affect human behaviour and
can prompt mass migrations or battles over clean water.
Pollution Effects on Wildlife
Pesticides: The pesticide DDT was banned in the U.S. in 1972 because it caused raptor eggs to
thin and break. But residual DDT and other persistent organochlorine pesticides continue to
impact wildlife today. Additionally, DDT is still used in many other countries as the most
effective control of malaria-bearing mosquitoes.
Prescription Drugs: Prescription drugs, caffeine, and other medications can pass through both
the human body and sewage treatment facilities, and are now present in many waterways. Some
of these may be toxic to aquatic life. Others, especially steroids, estrogen, testosterone and
similar regulatory hormones, are likely to interfere with the development of organisms.
Heavy Metals: When hunters shoot animals with lead shot, but do not recover the dead or
injured animals, the shot is eventually ingested by other wildlife. The lead is concentrated as it
passes up the food chain, and the top predators, especially raptors, get lead poisoning. Many
states now require the use of steel [Link] wastes also release toxic levels of substances like
lead and mercury into waterways.
Water Acidification
Acid rain and snow is produced from the burning of high-sulfur coals in electrical power plants.
Acid mine run-off is caused by the reaction of rainwater with mine tailings. Acidification can
sterilize water bodies, killing off all aquatic flora and fauna. When wildfowl and other wildlife
ingest this water, they can be poisoned by heavy metals.
Oil Spills
Oil spills have immediate devastating effects – marine mammals and waterfowl coated with oil
drown, are poisoned, or die of hypothermia. Balls of oil that sink to the seafloor can smother
organisms. Less obvious effects include tumors and reproductive damage in fishes and
crustaceans caused by oil byproducts.
Effects of Soil pollution
The toxic substances that are deposited on the earth's surface harm our health and well-being and
affect food, water and air quality. The most important effects of soil pollution:
Damage to health
Soil pollutants enter our body through the food chain, causing illnesses to appear. Moreover, the
spread of antibiotics in the environment increases the pathogens' resistance to these drugs.
Poorer harvests
Soil pollution agents jeopardise world food security by reducing the amount and quality of
harvests.
Climate change
In the first decade of the 21st century, soil degradation released between 3.6 and 4.4 billion
tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Water and air pollution
Soil degradation affects the quality of air and water, particularly in developing countries.
Species extinction
Soil contamination is one of the main causes that could trigger the sixth mass extinction event in
history — the population of land vertebrates fell by 38 % between 1970 and 2012.
Desertification
The number of inhabitants in the most arid areas of the earth could account for 45 % of the
world's population in 2050, while world wetland areas have decreased in size by 87 % over the
last three centuries.
Plants are affected by pollution which comes from a myriad of sources. It could be air pollution,
water pollution, land and soil pollution and even light pollution, all of which have adverse effects
on plants. This is a detailed explanation of how these pollutants affect plants. Basically, plant
pollution is when pollutants and substances that do not naturally occur in the environment, come
into contact with plants or are absorbed by plants. A such, plant pollution can come from the air,
water, or soil. Plant pollution affects plants in several ways:
How Does Water Pollution Affect Plants?
1. Denying plants essential nutrients
Plants require specific nutrients, which they get from the soil, water and air. Polluted waters
might kill some of those nutrients, further denying the plant the ability to get them.
2. Poisoning the soils
Water pollution will introduce toxins that are harmful to plants. An accumulation of such toxins
in the water will poison the soils even for other crops or plants. This will in turn negatively affect
the solubility of essential nutrients and ions, like magnesium, calcium and potassium, which are
particularly vital for proper plant growth. Water pollution also introduces large amounts of
aluminum to the soil, which harms plants
How Does Soil Pollution Affect Plants?
1. Poisoning the soils
Toxins will enter the soil and poison it, causing a chain reaction. The result will be an alteration
in the soil’s biodiversity, reduction in the soil’s organic matter, as well as its capacity to act as a
filter. With regards to plants, the soil becomes weak and is not able to sustain plants as compared
to previous years. This explains why most farms which rely on fertilizers, have been giving out
lower yields year after year. Soil pollution increases the salinity of the soil making it unfit for
vegetation, thus making it useless and barren.
Poisoning the plants
As mentioned underwater pollution, toxins poison the soil and in turn, poison the plants
themselves. Land pollution through oil spills, pesticides, landfills, illegal dumping and many
other sources results in chemicals seeping into the soil and eventually into the plants.
