Question wise Notes

Each question will have any 2 of the following ecosystem

Q. Describe following ecosystems with respect to its abiotic and biotic components:
i) Grassland ecosystem
ii) Desert ecosystem
iii) Tropical forest ecosystem
iv) Temperate forest ecosystem
v) Boreal forest ecosystem
vi) Fresh water ecosystem
vii) Marine water ecosystem
viii) Estuarine water ecosystem

Grassland ecosystem
Grasslands are areas in which the vegetation is dominated by a nearly continuous cover of
grasses.
▪ Grasslands are found where there is not enough regular rainfall to support the growth of a
forest, but not so little that a desert forms. In fact, grasslands often lie between forests and
deserts.
▪ There are two types of grasslands:
• Tropical Grasslands - Savannas of Africa and northern Australia
• Temperate Grasslands - Eurasian Steppes, North American Prairies and Argentine Pampas
▪ Savannas are found closer to the equator and can have a few scattered trees. They cover
almost half of the continent of Africa, as well as areas of Australia and South America.
▪ Temperate grasslands are found further away from the equator, in South Africa, Hungary,
Argentina, Uruguay, North America, and Russia. They do not have any trees or shrubs, and
receive less precipitation than savannas. The height of grass correlates with the amount of
rainfall it receives. Grasslands receive about 500 to 950 mm of rain per year compared to
deserts, which receive less than 300 mm and tropical forests, which receive more than 2,000
mm.
▪ While temperatures are often extreme in some grasslands, the average temperatures are
about-20°C to 30°C. Tropical grasslands have dry and wet seasons that remain warm all the
time. Temperate grasslands have cold winters and warm summers with some rain.
▪ Producers: In tropical region grasslands may be very dense such as those in East Africa that
are dominated by elephant grass. The largest central area consisted of mixed prairie, dominated
by several species of the grasses such as Stipa, Agropyron.
▪ Consumers: Grasses can support high densities of grazing animals, such as zebra, antelope
and bison and these herds in turn support predators, including lions and cheetahs. Prairie
animals are beaver, black-footed ferret, bobcat, bison, fox, kangaroo rat, mountain lion,
muskrat, porcupine, prairie dog, raccoon and squirrels.
▪ Decomposers: The grassland ecosystem itself influences soil formation, and this causes
grassland soils to differ from other soils. The nature of grass litter and its pattern of
decomposition commonly result in the development of a dark, organically rich upper soil layer.

Desert ecosystem
Desert, any large, extremely dry area of land with sparse vegetation. It is one of Earth’s major
types of ecosystems, supporting a community of distinctive plants and animals specially
adapted to the harsh environment. Deserts cover around 20 percent of Earth’s surface.
▪ The extreme maximum ranges from 43.5˚- 49˚C. Minimum temperatures sometimes drop to-
18˚C. Deserts are dry areas where rainfall is less than 50 cm per year. Deserts can be either
cold or hot, although most of them are found in subtropical areas.
▪ The four main types of deserts include hot and dry deserts, semi-arid deserts, coastal deserts,
and cold deserts.
▪ In hot and dry deserts, also known as arid deserts, the seasons are generally warm throughout
the year and very hot in the summer. The winters usually bring little rainfall. Some famous arid
deserts include the Sahara Desert that covers much of the African continent and the Mojave
Desert located in the southwest of the United States.
▪ Semi-arid deserts are a bit cooler than hot and dry deserts. The long, dry summers in semi-
arid deserts are followed by winters with some rain. Semi-arid deserts are found in North
America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia.
▪ Coastal deserts are a bit more humid than other types of deserts. Although heavy fogs blow
in from the coast, rainfall is still rare. The Atacama Desert of Chile in South America is an
example of a coastal desert.
▪ Cold deserts are still dry but have extremely low temperatures in comparison to the other
types of deserts. The Antarctic is an example of a cold desert.
▪ Because of their extreme conditions, there is not as much biodiversity found in deserts as in
other biomes. Any vegetation and wildlife living in a desert must have special adaptations for
surviving in a dry environment.
• Producers: In desert producers are less. The plants are spaced apart which reduces
competition. The
vegetation is sparce and consist of a sage-brush (Artemisia tridentata) and some xerophytic
plants. Some plants have adapted to the arid climate by growing long roots that tap water from
deep underground. Other plants, such as cacti, have special means of storing and conserving
water.
• Consumers: Desert animals have evolved ways to help them keep cool and use less water.
The common animal of desert, camel is a herbivore feeding on tender shoots of plants. Many
desert animals, such as the fennec fox, rodents are nocturnal. Desert wildlife consists primarily
of reptiles and small mammals. There are relatively few large mammals in deserts because most
are not capable of storing sufficient water and withstanding the heat.
• Decomposers: Detritus food chain is less important in deserts as the decomposers are fewer
due to poor vegetation. They are some fungi and bacteria which are thermophilic.

Tropical forest ecosystem

Tropical forests include tropical rainforest, tropical deciduous forest (also called monsoon
forest), mangrove forest.
▪ Tropical rain forest is warm and wet, occurring mainly near the equator. Away from the
equator one usually finds drier tropical forests, and on mountains one finds cooler and wetter,
montane tropical forests. At sites with extreme conditions such as flooding, specialized tropical
forests, such as mangrove, occur.
▪ Tropical rainforests are found in Central and South America, western and central Africa,
western India, Southeast Asia, the island of New Guinea, and Australia.
 ▪ Climate in these ecosystems shows little seasonal variation, with high yearly rainfall and
relatively constant, warm temperatures.
▪ Producers: The dominant plants are phanerophytes- trees, lianas, and epiphytes. Tropical
rainforests have an emergent layer of tall trees over 40m tall, an overstory of trees up to 30m
tall, a sub-canopy layer of trees and tall shrubs, and a ground layer of herbaceous vegetation.
▪ Consumers: Animal diversity stems mainly from specialization. Many animals specialize on
the different resources provided by the great variety of plants and complex forest structure.
Rainforests are tremendously rich in animal life. Rainforests are populated with insects (like
butterflies and beetles), arachnids (like spiders and ticks), worms, reptiles (like snakes and
lizards), amphibians (like frogs and toads), birds (like parrots and toucans) and mammals (like
sloths and jaguars).
▪ Decomposers: Tropical forests have the highest biodiversity and primary productivity of any
of the terrestrial ecosystems. This high productivity is because of the high decomposition rates
possible in moist, warm conditions.

Temperate forests
Temperate forests occur in eastern North America, north-eastern Asia, and western and central
Europe. Well-defined seasons with a distinct winter characterize this forest.
▪ Temperate forests usually are classified into two main groups: deciduous and evergreen.
▪ Temperate deciduous forests are found in regions of the Northern Hemisphere that have moist,
warm summers and frosty winters— primarily eastern North America, eastern Asia, and
western Europe.
▪ In contrast, evergreen forests-excepting boreal forests, typically grow in areas with mild,
nearly frost-free winters. Temperate Evergreen Forests are located in areas with warmer
summers and cool winters. They are found in coastal regions of areas with mild winters and
drier climates.
▪ Abiotic factors
• The average daily temperatures range between-30˚C to 30˚C with yearly average of 10˚C.
Hot summers and cold winters are typical of this biome.
• Precipitation (75-150cm) is distributed evenly throughout the year.
• Soil is fertile, enriched with decaying litter.
▪ Canopy is moderately dense and allows light to penetrate, resulting in well-developed and
richly diversified understory vegetation and stratification of animals.
▪ Producers: Temperate forest, vegetation type with a more or less continuous canopy of broad-
leaved trees. Flora is characterized by 3-4 tree species per square kilometre. Trees are
distinguished by broad leaves that are lost annually and include such species as Oak, Hickory,
Beech, Hemlock, Maple, Basswood, Cottonwood, Elm, Willow, and spring-flowering herbs.
▪ Consumers: Fauna is represented by squirrels, rabbits, skunks, birds, deer, mountain lion,
bobcat, timber wolf, fox, and black bear.
▪ Decomposers: Fungi and bacteria bring about decomposition of the organic matter in these
forests.

Boreal Forest
The boreal forest (or “taiga”) is the world’s largest land biome.
 ▪ The taiga, which is also known as the boreal (meaning northern) forest region, occupies
circumpolar belt of the far Northern Hemisphere. Northward beyond this limit, the taiga merges
into the circumpolar tundra.
▪ The forest is characterized by long winters and moderate to high annual precipitation.
▪ Most of the conifer forests have the simplest structure: a tree layer rising to about 98 feet (30
metres), a shrub layer that is spotty or even absent, and a ground layer covered
with lichens, mosses, and liverworts.
▪ Plants and animals in the taiga are adapted to short growing seasons of long days that vary
from cool to warm. Winters are long and very cold, the days are short.
▪ Mean annual temperatures in the taiga range from a few degrees Celsius above freezing to
−10°C (14°F) or more. The growing season in the taiga is generally cool. The mean temperature
of the warmest month, July, is generally between 15 and 20°C Areas of the taiga located in the
center of continents generally receive 30 to 50 cm (12 to 20 inches) of annual precipitation.
▪ Producers: Boreal forest composed primarily of cone-bearing needle-leaved or scale-leaved
evergreen trees. These trees reach the highest latitudes of any trees on Earth. The taiga is
characterized predominantly by a limited number of conifer species i.e., Pine (Pinus), Spruce
(Picea), Larch (Larix), Fir (Abies) and to a lesser degree by some deciduous genera such as
Birch (Betula) and Poplar (Populus).
▪ Consumers: Most animals of the taiga are well adapted to the cold and survive it easily if
they have enough food to maintain an energy balance through the winter. Mammals such as
hare, moose, wolves, reindeer birds like as thrushes, flycatchers, hawks, woodpeckers are
prominent. Also few species insects occur.
▪ Decomposers: Fungi on the soil surface play an important role in the availability and
distribution of nutrients, particularly in the northern coniferous forests. Fungi and bacteria
decompose the organic matter present in soil. However, the rate of decomposition in taiga soils
does not keep pace with the rate of production, causing the progressive accumulation of organic
matter.

Fresh water ecosystem

3%of the earth's water is fresh. 2.5% of the earth's fresh water is unavailable as it is either
locked up in glaciers, polar ice caps or lies too far under the earth's surface. 0.5% of the earth's
water is available fresh water.
▪ There are 3 types of freshwater ecosystems:
• Lentic – slow-moving or stagnant water including lakes and ponds
• Lotic – rapidly moving water include streams and rivers
• Wetlands – water-logged area either permanent or seasonal. Marshes, swamps, and bogs are
all considered wetlands.
▪ It includes lakes, ponds, rivers etc. Lakes are large bodies of water that are surrounded by
land. Lakes can be large, but they are often still small enough to see the other side. Ponds, on
the other hand, are small bodies of freshwater that are surrounded by land. They are smaller
and shallower than lakes, which means that the temperature of the water usually stays the same
from top to bottom.
▪ Streams and rivers are bodies of flowing water moving in one direction. The water also has
higher oxygen levels.
▪ Light is by far the most important variable feature because it supplies not only chemical
energy for biological processes but also heat. Plants are found in the depths where light can
reach. Light penetration and solubility of gases are important factors in aquatic ecosystems.
▪ Producers: Phytoplankton, aquatic green plants and algae are major producers in this
ecosystem. In ponds and lakes, algae such as Spirogyra, diatoms, rooted and floating plants
like Nymphaea, submerged plants like Hydrilla are present.
▪ Consumers: Freshwater fauna include fishes such as catfish, carp, crustaceans, snakes and
amphibians. Also some insects and water birds are found.
▪ Decomposers: Among decomposers the water bacteria and aquatic fungi play an important
role of decomposing organic matter to inorganic substances which can be again used by
producers.

Marine water ecosystem

Oceans are large bodies of saltwater divided by continents. The oceanic ecosystem is the largest
on earth occupying 70 percent of the earth’s surface and contains approx. 97% of planet's water.
▪ There four major oceans in the world are the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic.
▪ Marine ecosystems are distinguishes from freshwater ecosystems by presence of dissolved
compounds especially salts.
▪ Abiotic factors include the amount of sunlight in the ecosystem, the amount of oxygen and
nutrients dissolved in the water, proximity to land, depth, and temperature.
▪ Based on the light penetration, the vertical zones recognized as photic/euphotic zone (light
available), disphotic (less light available) and aphotic zone (very less light available or not
available)
▪ More organisms live in the shallow part of the ocean, which reaches from the coast to the
continental slope, than in any other part of the ocean because sunlight can reach deep and the
water is warm. This makes easy for organisms to find food.
▪ As the depth of the ocean increases, it gets darker, colder, and with less available oxygen.
▪ Producers: Phytoplankton, Diatoms and Dinoflagellates, microscopic marine algae and Sea
Weeds (brown and red algae) are amongst the major producers in marine ecosystems.
▪ Consumers: Many of these organisms need to come to the surface frequently for air or to find
food,
but can also dive deep into the ocean. Fauna includes zooplanktons (which float in the upper
regions of the water and provide food for many different animals), crabs, shrimps, sea anemone,
corals, oysters, medium-sized animals like fishes, sea turtles marine birds etc., deep sea fishes
like sharks, mammals like dolphins and whales.
▪ Decomposers: Among decomposers are bacteria and fungi play an important role of
decomposing organic matter to inorganic substances which can be again used by producers.

Estuarine ecosystem
An estuary is a partially enclosed, coastal water body where freshwater from rivers and streams
mixes with salt water from the ocean.
▪ Estuaries support unique communities of plants and animals specially adapted for life at the
margin of the sea.
▪ Nutrients are brought in by rivers and dispersed by tidal currents. Nutrients are also
transferred through the nutrient cycle.
 ▪ The composition of water in this zone undergoes constant change. The concentration of
dissolved substances in these habitats is unstable. At high tides such habitats experience
maximum salinity. Salinity decreases during low tide and periods of heavy rain.
▪ The constant turnover in the water of estuaries brings about considerable changes in
temperature of comparatively short duration. Most estuaries are one of the most productive
ecosystems in the world and contain a rich biodiversity.
▪ Producers: Estuarine flora includes phytoplankton– microscopic plants that produce food
through photosynthesis and also absorb nutrients from the water and larger plants such as
mangroves, saltmarsh and seagrass, which also produce food through photosynthesis and
absorb nutrients from the water. Estuary plants also provide a habitat for a range of organisms.
Nutrients within the estuary are used by plants enter other parts of the food web when plants
are grazed on by invertebrates.
▪ Consumers: Estuarine fauna includes snails, worms, crabs, fish, shellfish, and migratory and
coastal birds. Plants provide habitat for variety of animals include shellfish, worms, crabs,
shrimp and other crustaceans living on and in the sediment around the trees. Barnacles, snails
and oysters live on the trunks and aerial roots and spiders, insects and birds live amongst the
leaves and branches. Visiting animals from land, sea and fresh water use the estuary for feeding,
breeding, spawning and as nurseries for their young. Food is abundant and easy to access
because of the shallow water attracting many types of birds including gulls, ducks and wading
birds.
▪ Detritus is predominantly made up of rotting plants such as mangroves, seagrass and rushes.
Mud-dwellers such as snails, worms and crabs play an important role in recycling the nutrients
from the detritus within an estuary. They consume the detritus material and produce nutrient-
rich waste. This causes plants to grow quickly producing more food and then detritus. Larger
animals such as fish and birds consume the mud-dwellers, transferring nutrients further in the
food chain.
▪ Decomposers: Sediments are important as they store organic matter and are the site of
microbial activity. Microorganisms decompose complex organic compounds into nutrients that
can be again used by producers.

Q. What is an ecological pyramid? Explain the pyramid of number, biomass and energy
with the help of diagrammatic illustration.

Each question will have any 1 of the following Pyramid.

The graphical representation of interrelationship between the successive food levels of an

ecosystem constitutes ecological pyramids.
▪ Ecological pyramids are of three types:
1. Pyramid of Numbers
2. Pyramid of Biomass
3. Pyramid of Energy
▪ At the base of the pyramid are the primary producers (green plants) and the apex is occupied
by the top carnivores, with the herbivores and intermediate carnivores occupying the successive
food levels.
▪ There are two shapes of pyramid: Upright Inverted
Pyramid of energy
▪ The fundamental principle of ecology is that energy flows through the food chain in an
ecosystem in several steps till it reaches the top carnivores.
▪ At every step starting from the primary producers, a large amount of energy content is lost
in the form of heat, called thermal emission. Also, every producer retains some amount of
energy for its own growth.
▪ As a result, energy content of the trophic levels progressively decreases, irrespective of
number or biomass of the trophic levels. The pyramid of energy is therefore always upright for
all ecosystems.

Short notes:
Q. Features of an Ecosystem
▪ Ecosystem is a structural and functional unit of ecology.
▪ Every ecosystem requires energy for survival. Ultimate source of energy is Sun.
▪ Ecosystem consists of Biotic and Abiotic Components.
▪ Energy from sun is captured by Producers during photosynthesis.
E.g. green and purple sulphur and non-sulphur bacteria, phytoplankton, freshwater and
marine algae, higher plants
▪ Consumers use energy produced by producers. E.g. fungi, animals
▪ When producers and consumers die, their remains are decomposed by Decomposers.
Decomposers release nutrients which are again used by producers.
▪ Major events- Production, Consumption and Decomposition
▪ All three processes are continuous and overlapping.
▪ Only production and consumption are separated with respect to space and time.
▪ Therefore, ecosystem involves one-way recycling of nutrients.
▪ Unidirectional flow of energy through ecosystem. Energy is not recycled.
▪ Ecosystem once stable, shows resistance to change in its biological community and
environment.
▪ Types of ecosystems- Land or terrestrial ecosystem and water or aquatic ecosystem.

Q. Laws of thermodynamics
▪ According to first law, energy can neither be created nor be destroyed, but only transformed
from one form into another. Thus, total amount of energy in the universe remains constant.
The example of first law is light energy converted into chemical energy by producers during
photosynthesis.
▪ According to second law, every activity involving energy transfer is accompanied by
dissipation of the energy. Thus, some energy is wasted as heat energy. The example of second
law is the transfer of energy from one trophic level to another. At each trophic level, some
energy is lost in the form of heat.

Q. Energy Flow in An Ecosystem

▪ The energy essential for an ecosystem comes from the sun.
▪ Most solar energy occurs at wavelengths unsuitable for photosynthesis.
▪ Of the incident solar radiations, less than 50% is photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).
The most efficient ecosystems are known to utilize only 2.5% of the incident solar radiations.
▪ Producers capture about 1-2% of PAR to synthesize food by the process of photosynthesis
and thereby build up biomass.
▪ Producers pass on this energy (in the form of biomass) to the organisms of the next trophic
level i.e. the herbivores (primary consumers). When organic matter is produced by the green
plants, some of it is oxidized or burnt inside their body and converted into carbon dioxide
which is released during respiration (R) and is accompanied by loss of energy.
▪ Therefore, producers are left with a little less organic matter than what was actually
produced by them. This is known as net primary production (NPP) and respiratory loss added
to it is called as gross primary production (GPP).
Thus, NPP (Net Primary Production) = GPP (Gross Primary Production)– R(Respiration).
▪ Only apart of ingested food energy becomes the part of herbivore body and is made
available to secondary consumers.
▪ Similarly, still less energy is transferred from secondary consumers to tertiary consumers.
When producers and
consumers die this energy is made available to decomposers.
▪ The ratio of output of energy to input of energy is referred to as ecological efficiency.
Q. One-way flow energy model
▪ The boxes represent the trophic levels (producers, herbivores and carnivores) and the
pipelines depict the energy flow in and out of each trophic level.
▪ Size of the box shows energy stored in the form of biomass at that trophic level. There is
loss of energy (represented as pipes getting narrower) at every successive trophic level, there
is also a corresponding decline in energy stored in standing crop or biomass (represented as
decreased size of box) at successive trophic level.
▪ Energy inflows in the system balance the energy outflows as required by the first law of
thermodynamics and each energy transfer is accompanied by loss of energy in the form of
unavailable heat energy (i.e. respiration) as stated by second law of thermodynamics.
▪ The energy flow is significantly reduced at each successive trophic level from producers to
herbivores to carnivores.
▪ Thus, at each transfer of energy from one trophic level to another trophic level, major part
of energy is lost in the form of heat or other form.

Y - shaped energy model

▪ Y-shaped energy flow model was pioneered by H.T. Odum in 1956. E.P. Odum (1983) gave
a generalized model of Y-shaped energy flow.
▪ Y-Shaped energy flow model depicts the simultaneous working of grazing and detritus food
chains in an ecosystem. In nature, both grazing and detritus food chains are interconnected in
the same ecosystem.
▪ It is applicable to both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In energy flow diagram, one arm
represents the grazing food chain and another represents detritus food chain.
▪ The two arms differ fundamentally in the way they can influence primary producers. In
grazing food chain, herbivores feed on living plants, therefore they directly affect the plant
population. Whatever they do not eat is available to the decomposers after death. As a result,
decomposers are not able to directly influence the rate of supply of their food.
 ▪ Further, the amount of net production energy that flows down the two pathways varies in
different kind of ecosystems and often in the same ecosystem; it may vary seasonally or
annually.