General definition of ecosystem

www.uwn.edu a community and its physical environment treated together as a functional system All the organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species All the populations in an

What is an

ecosystem?

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a community and its physical environment

treated together as a functional system

All the organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species

All the populations in an ecosystem

How are ecosystems named?

Ecosystems can be named in two ways:

biotic or abiotic

1 Based on the abiotic environment

2 Based on the primary/dominant biotic organisms/

species in the community

The dimensions of ecosystems?

Ecosystems are not isolated from one another

One ecosystem blends into the next through a transitional region—an ecotone—that contains any species common to both systems.

1 Everything is connected to everything else.

2 Everything must go somewhere.

THE RULES OF ECOLOGY

3 There is no such thing as a free lunch.

The Law of Thermodynamics

FIRST LAW :

• Energy is neither created or destroyed

• It may change form , pass from one place to another, or act upon matter in various ways.

The Law of Thermodynamics

• Transformations of energy always result in some loss or

dissipation of energy

SECOND LAW:

dissipation of energy

• Or, In energy exchanges in a closed system, the potential

energy of the final state will be less than that of the initial state

• Or, Systems will tend to go from ordered states to disordered states (to maintain order, energy must be added to the

system, to compensate for the loss of energy)

Ecosystem is an open system

matter with the surrounding environment

Ecosystems are self-correcting system

Limit of tolerance

When the environment changes, the

relationships within rearranged to fit

When impacts over the limit, the system

can not be adjusted

Structural components of the ecosystem

Physical Environment

(abiotic)

Community (biotic)

ECOSYSTEM

Physical Environment

CLIMATE FACTORS

ORGANIC

INORGANIC

FACTORS ORGANIC

PRODUCER CONSUMER DECOMPOSER PRODUCER CONSUMER DECOMPOSER

CHARACTERISTICS OF PRODUCERS

 Autotrophs

chemical synthesis

and store it in complex

organic compounds

plants/animals

CHARACTERISTICS OF DECOMPOSERS

groups of decomposers

compounds in dead

protoplasm.

on animal material Fungi feed

primarily on plants

Nutriels Cycling and Energy Flow

Nutriels

Heat

Heat

Abiotic chemicals (carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, minerals)

Solar energy

Decomposers

(bacteria, fungus)

Consumers (herbivores, carnivores)

• Ecosystems will fail if they do not remain in balance.

Balance

• No ecosystems can carry more

organisms than its food, water and shelter can accommodate.

• To succeed in an ecosystem, plants and

animals have special structures and

behaviors called adaptations.

How do ecosystems stay balanced?

behaviors called adaptations.

• Adaptations: chemical/physical/behavioral changes to increase survival rates

• Can you think of examples of adaptation?

Types of Ecosystems

• There are many types of ecosystems on earth

• Major classes of relatively contained ecosystems are called Biomes

• There are 3 Major classes of ecosystems

1.Freshwater Ecosystems

2.Terrestrial Ecosystems

3.Ocean Ecosystems

Limiting Factors on Terrestrial and

• Esp N, P, Fe

– Dissolved Oxygen concentration

– Salinity

Freshwater ecosystems

• Relatively small in area ~ 1.8% of earth's surface

• Support many species of life including fish,

amphibians, insects and plants

• Base of food-web is found in freshwater Plankton (small microscopic organisms)

Lakes Ecosystem

Terrestrial Ecosystems

• Many & diverse types of ecosystems

• Location usually dependent on:

• the latitude of the area, and altitude

• temperature, and amount of precipitation

Forest

Ecosystem

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Ocean Ecosystems

• Very large amount of Earth is covered by ocean (~75%)

• 40% of all photosynthesis occurs in oceans

• 3 types of oceanic ecosystems

Shallow ocean waters

Deep ocean water

Deep ocean surface

• Photosynthetic plankton is base of food chain Only occurs in Deep ocean surface & Shallow ocean ecosystems

• No photosynthesis can occur in deep ocean because light cannot penetrate deeply into water

Artificial Ecosystem

Artificial ecosystem are created and

maintained artificially by human beings where, by addition of energy and deliberate

management, balance of the nature is

disturbed regularly

Artificial Ecosystem

• e.g croplands, sugarcane, rice-fields,

wheat, orchards, villages, gardens, dams, aquarium, cities, and manned spaceship

• The basic components biotic and abiotic components are defined by man in artificial ecosystem.

Agricultural Ecosystem

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và cộng sự

Urban Ecosystems

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và cộng sự

Special structure

What is the Difference Between a Natural & Artificial Ecosystem?

Ecosystem Services and Sustainability

Solar Capital

Air resources and

Climate control Recycling vital

1 Use Renewable

Solar Energy As Energy Source

Renewable energy resources

Nonrenewable energy resources

Nonrenewable mineral resources Potentially

renewable matter resources

Biodiversity and gene pool

Natural pest and disease control

Waste removal and detoxification

Soil formation and renewal

Water resources and purification

Natural Capital

2 Recycle the

chemical nutrients needed for life Nature!

How Do Humans Affect Ecological Succession?

planting represents a major external event that radically

re-structures and disrupts a previously stabilized ecosystem

The disturbed ecosystem will immediately begin a process of ecological succession

• Plant species that adapt to the sunny conditions and the

broken soil will rapidly invade the site and will become quickly and densely established These invading plants are what we call "weeds“ in which we consider a nuisance or invaders

• A gardener's only course of action is to spend a great

deal of time and energy weeding the garden or using

chemicals to infringe upon the weeds and the ecosystem

How Do Humans Affect Ecological Succession?

around it

• The farmers and gardeners who are growing our foods incur an immense cost in terms of time, fuel, herbicides and pesticides that humans pay every growing season because of the force of ecological succession

Sustainable Ecosystems

A sustainable ecosystem is a system that survives,

functions, and is renewed over time

Sustainable Ecosystems

Processes

For an ecosystem to be sustainable, it must use energy

efficiently Several essential processes occur within an

ecosystem to ensure the flow of energy and resources

Photosynthesis uses energy from the sun to make food and

energy for plants When animals feed on the plants, the energy

is shared As plants and animals die, the decomposition of

organic material makes nutrients such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen again available to the ecosystem's organisms In this way, an ongoing flow of energy sustains the ecosystem

Sustainable Ecosystems

Resistance

A sustainable ecosystem will exhibit some resistance to change

or environmental pressures For example, many plants can cope with short-term water shortages by closing their stomata the

pores on their leaves during the warm daylight hours The

stomata are sites of gas exchange By closing them, plants avoid losing moisture Also, plant growth may slow during arid

conditions to conserve the plant's resources Rather than dying off, the plant resists environmental stress, maintaining its

sustainability

occurrence in prairie ecosystems While fire might destroy the above-ground plant growth, the root systems contain the

necessary stored materials to recover and replace the lost

plant material

Sustainable Ecosystems

Predator-Prey Relationships

It is important to the ecosystem's sustainability that its resources are not depleted too quickly Sustainability means being able to keep up with the replacement of resources in balance with the demand Predator-prey relationships illustrate this concept Prey species such as deer will continue to forage as long as food is available Left unchecked, populations increase to the point

where some members starve Predators will take the weakest members of the herd as an efficient means to get food with the least amount of effort The prey population recovers and is

stronger as the ecosystem's sustainability returns

Sustainable Ecosystems

Threats

Human disturbance can threaten the sustainability of an

ecosystem by causing change to occur too rapidly for it to cope Examples of these threats include deforestation and pollution If large tracts of forest are harvested, a forest might take a long time to recover Likewise, pollution can cause long-term soil

pollution In these cases, the sustainability is compromised

What is the Difference Between a Natural & Artificial Ecosystem?

1 Definition

An ecosystem is a community of living and non-living things that work together These can occur naturally, or they can be created through artificial means

2 Artificial Ecosystems

Artificial ecosystems, as the name suggests, are those made

by man to mimic a naturally-occurring ecosystem

3 Chance

A natural ecosystem is created through biological laws and chance Predators eat prey, trees will try to crowd out other plant life, etc In an artificial ecosystem, this may not be the case, since it will have thought and planning put into it

4 Control

There is a great deal more control in artificial ecosystems The placement of plant life, which animals are allowed in, the content of the soil, and in some cases, like terrariums,

even the light and temperature can be controlled

5 Imitation

While an artificial ecosystem may imitate a natural ecosystem,

so long as there is a control factor, the ecosystem cannot be

considered natural

6 Biodiversity

Natural Ecosystems are much more diversity than Artificial

Ecosystem