Ecology and

Environmental Studies
AR1504

Module - IV
Lecture - 1
Eco Systems and The Cycles

Nipun George
Nizar Rahim & Mark School of Architecture, Oyoor, Kollam.

Module - 4
MAJOR ECO SYSTEMS AND CYCLES
- Biog eochemical cycles: nutrient cycling in the
ecosystems, G aseous cycles (Carbon and
Nitrog en) and sedimentary cycles (Phosphorus and
Sulphur)
- Impact of man on nutrient cycles
- Maj or ecosystems of the world: Forest, G rassland,
Desert, Wetland, Freshwater and Marine

BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE
The nutrient cycle describes the use, movement, and recycling of nutrients
in the environment. Valuable elements such as carbon, oxyg en, hydrog en,
phosphorus, and nitrog en are essential to life and must be recycled in order
for org anisms to exist. Nutrient cycles are

inclusive of both living and

non- living components and involve biolog ical, g eolog ical, and
chemical processes and hence are known as biog eochemical cycles.

biog eochemical cycle is a pathway by which a chemical

substance moves throug h both the biotic (biosphere) and

abiotic (lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere)
components of Earth.

It is classified into 2 cycles :

1. The G aseous cycle or the G lobal Cycle

2. The Sedimentary Cycle or Local Cycle
Elements such as carbon, nitrog en, oxyg en, and hydrog en
are recycled throug h abiotic environments including the
atmosphere, water, and soil. Since the atmosphere is the main
abiotic environment from which these elements are harvested,
their cycles are of a g lobal nature .
The soil is the main abiotic environment for the recycling of
elements such as phosphorus, sulphur, and potassium. As
such, their movement is typically over a local reg ion.

1. The G aseous cycle

- Carbon Cycle, Nitrog en Cycle

2. The Sedimentary Cycle

- Phosphorus cycle, Sulphur cycle

1. THE GASEOUS CYCLE

a. Carbon Cycle

Fast Carbon Cycle : Fast carbon cycle is the movement of carbon throug h biotic components in
the environment. Plants and other org anisms that are capable of photosynthesis, obtain carbon
dioxide from their environment and use it to build biolog ical substances. Plants, animals, and
decomposers such as bacteria and fung i, return the carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by
respiration.
Carbon enters the atmosphere as carbon
dioxide throug h respiration and
combustion.

Carbon dioxide is absorbed by plants and

other photosynthetic org anisms to make
carbohydrates, in photosynthesis.
(Oxyg en is released in this process)

Carbon compounds are passed along the

food chain when animals feed on plants.
Most of this carbon is then released as
carbon dioxide during respiration. The
plants and animals eventually die.

The decomposers then consume these

dead org anisms, returning the carbon in
their bodies to the atmosphere as carbon
dioxide. In certain conditions where
decomposition is blocked, the plant and
animal material can then be available as
fossil fuel in the future for possible
combustion.

Slow Carbon Cycle : The movement of carbon throug h the abiotic elements in the environment
such as rocks, soil, and oceans forms the slow carbon cycle. Moving of carbon throug h these
abiotic elements can take as long as 200 million years.

1. THE GASEOUS CYCLE

b. Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrog en is also an essential component of biolog ical molecules such as amino acids and nucleic
acids. Althoug h nitrog en is abundant in the atmosphere, nitrog en in this form cannot be used by
most living org anisms to synthesise org anic compounds.

Hence, nitrog en must first underg o fixation and be converted into ammonia by certain types of
bacteria.
1. As org anisms like nitrog en fixing bacteria use nitrog en to synthesise the biolog ical molecules
needed for survival, atmospheric nitrog en has to be first converted to ammonia by nitrog en fixing
bacteria in aquatic and soil environments.

2. Ammonia is then converted to nitrite and nitrate by the bacteria.

3. Plants obtain nitrog en from the soil by absorbing ammonium (NH4- ) and nitrate throug h their
roots. Nitrate and ammonium are then used to produce org anic compounds.

4. Animals then consume plants and thus attain the nitrog en in the org anic compounds. The
nitrog en in org anic form is then passed down the food chain when other animals these animals.

5. Decomposers then return ammonia into the soil by decomposing solid waste and dead or
decaying matter.

6. Nitrifying bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrate.

7. Denitrifying bacteria then convert nitrite and nitrate to nitrog en, releasing nitrog en back into
the atmosphere.

2. THE SEDIMENTARY CYCLE

a. Phosphorus Cycle

Phosphorus is an element that can be found in several compound forms in water, soil and
sediments. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient needed for plant g rowth and animals as well. It
has a vital role in cell development and is a key component of molecules that store energ y such as
Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and lipids.

1. Rocks when in contact with rainwater, release phosphate ions and other minerals over time.
This inorg anic phosphate is then distributed in soils and water.

2. Plants then take up inorg anic phosphate from the soil, and these plants may then be consumed
by animals.

3. The phosphate is then incorporated into org anic molecules such as DNA, and when plants or
animals die and decay, the org anic phosphate is returned to the soil.

4. Bacteria in the soil then breaks down the org anic matter into forms of phosphate that is
absorbable by plants. It is also a process called mineralisation.

5. Phosphorus in the soil can then end up in waterways and oceans, and can be incorporated into
sediments over time.

2. THE SEDIMENTARY CYCLE

b. Sulphur Cycle

The sulfur cycle is the collection of processes by which sulfur moves to and from minerals
(including the waterways)[clarification needed] and living systems. Such biog eochemical cycles
are important in g eolog y because they affect many minerals. Biochemical cycles are also
important for life because sulfur is an essential element, being a constituent of many proteins and
cofactors.

Steps of the sulfur cycle are:

1. Assimilative sulfate reduction (see also sulfur assimilation) in which sulfate (SO42 ) is
reduced by plants, fung i and various prokaryotes.

2. DesulfurizationMineralization of org anic sulfur into inorg anic forms, such as hydrog en
sulfide (H2S), elemental sulfur, as well as sulfide minerals.

3. Oxidation Oxidation of hydrog en sulfide, sulfide, to elemental sulfur (S). This reaction occurs
in the photosynthetic g reen and purple sulfur bacteria and some chemolithotrophs

4. Oxidation of elemental sulfur by sulfur oxidizers produces sulfate.

5. Dissimilative sulfate reduction in which sulfate reducers g enerate hydrog en sulfide from
sulfate.

6. Incorporation of sulfide into org anic compounds (including metal- containing derivatives).

HUMAN EFFECTS ON BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE

The earths sustainability is very much dependent on the maintaining of its
state of equilibrium. This state of equilibrium also determines the
functioning of the ecosystem, which is restored throug h nutrient cycles. In
recent years, there has been an increasing awareness that human activities
have affected the earth sustainability in one way or another.

Human activities that are known to be environmentally unfriendly, such as

deforestation and fossil fuel burning , have directly and indirectly chang ed
the biog eochemical and physical processes which affects the earths
climate. These modifications to the processes in the atmosphere affects
and disturbs a variety of beneficial effects of the ecosystem. The beneficial
effects of the ecosystem include helping to maintain relative climate
stability, protecting the earths living org anisms from the suns harmful
ultraviolet radiation, mediating runoff and evapotranspiration, and
reg ulating nutrient cycling .

A balance in the cycling of the element between spheres involves elements

being distributed on a g lobal scale. Hence, a disruption in one cycle would
result in the disruption in all other cycles.

1.

The introduction and use of commercial synthetic fertilisers

to boost plant g rowth are the main contributors to humans influences

on the

phosphorus cycle . As plants may not be able to utilise all of the

phosphate fertiliser applied, which results in the phosphate fertilisers

being transferred throug h the water run- off to water bodies in that
area. [Excessive usag e of fertilisers also related to ag ricultural methods]
This excessive run- off of phosphate eventually end up in streams or other
water bodies which results in the chang es of habitats and their equilibrium,
and is eventually precipitated as sediments at the bottom of the water
bodies. In certain lakes and ponds, this extra phosphate may be redissolved
and recycled as a problem nutrient.

2. The outflows from sewag e treatment plants .

Without the

proper tertiary treatment which is expensive, the phosphate in the sewag e

would not be removed during various treatment operations, resulting in an
extra amount of phosphate entering the water bodies and polluting them.

As phosphate are released in small amounts in its accessible form in its

orig inal natural cycle, this extra phosphate released by human activities
results in a chang e in the orig inal phosphate cycle. This extra phosphate in
water bodies are also a maj or contributor to the process of eutrophication,
which causes excessive g rowth of water plants and alg ae populations.

3. Mining of fossil fuels from the earth crust

and using them

to g enerate electricity especially since the industrial revolution, has

resulted in the release of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere in larg e amounts.

4. the clearing of veg etation, throug h deforestation or

cutting of plants,

results in lesser carbon sinks, further increasing the

concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In addition, forest fire

due to deforestation or other causes, also results in the increase of carbon
dioxide released. This excessive release of carbon dioxide has led to carbon
dioxide being one of the hig hest g reen house g as contributing to g lobal
warming and climate chang e nowadays.

5. Production of Sulphur dioxide:

Human activities, particularly our industrial activities, which involves the
burning of coal and the internal combustion eng ine results in the
production of sulphur dioxide, causing an impact on the sulphur cycle.
Sulphur dioxide when released in their unnaturally excessive amounts can
cause several damag e to the environment. Sulphur dioxide can precipitate
onto surfaces where it can be oxidised to sulphate in the soil, which is toxic
to some plants. Sulphur dioxide can also be reduced to sulphide in the
atmosphere or be oxidised to sulphate in the atmosphere as sulphuric acid,
which is a principal component of acid rain. Acid rain, causes acidification
of lakes and streams and contributes to the damag e of trees at hig h
elevations and many sensitive forest soils, in turn resulting to chang es in
certain components of other nutrient cycles as well. As sulphur
compounds play an important role for the formation of clouds, they play a
big role in the climate system and any chang es made to them or to their
availability in the environment and result in chang es to the whole system

6. Production of Nitrog en:

Extensive cultivation of leg umes [For example, peanuts, soybeans, peas,
beans etc] , creation of nitrog en fertilisers, pollution emitted by vehicles and
industrial plants, are some ways of how humans have increased the
amount of nitrog en in biolog ically available forms.

Firstly, the application of nitrog en fertilisers to increase ag ricultural crop

production has resulted in the increased rates of denitrification and
leaching of nitrate into g roundwater. This excessive amount of nitrog en
entering the g roundwater system would eventually flow into other water
bodies such as streams, rivers, lakes and estuaries, and can also lead to the
process of eutrophication, which causes excessive g rowth of water plants
and alg ae populations.

Another ag ricultural practice which affects the nitrog en

cycle includes livestock ranching .

These livestock release larg e

amounts of the element nitrog en in the compound ammonia, into the

environment throug h their excretions. This nitrog en would then enter the
soil system, before entering the hydrolog ic system throug h leaching ,
g roundwater flow, and runoff.

Other human activities such as fossil fuel combustion

and forest burning to clear forest areas for ag ricultural
spaces

also results in the increased deposition of nitrog en from

atmospheric sources. This then release nitrog en in a variety of solid forms

throug h combustion. Sewag e waste and septic tank leaching are also
examples of how humans and our activities contribute to this larg e
increase of nitrog en being released.

Another contributor to pollutions would be our usag e of

vehicles.

Vehicle usag e and ownership has been having a steep

increase, and has now caused sig nificant emissions that have neg ative
impacts to the environment. Vehicle emissions include the release of
substances such as Mono- nitrog en oxides (NO and NO2), Carbon monoxide
and Carbon dioxide, and other hazardous air pollutants. The extensive
release of these substances affects the amount of the elements, such as
nitrog en and carbon, in the atmosphere and in turn affect and result in
chang es to their nutrient cycles.

ECOSYSTEMS OF THE WORLD

1. Terrestrial
Forest

Grassland

Desert Mountain Cave

2. Aquatic
Fresh
Water

Lentic
(Standing)
Pond

Marine

Lotic
(Running)
River

Estuarine
Water

1. TERRESTRIAL
Terrestrial habitat refers to the land where the org anisms live. Land is characterized by a
variety of climates, diversity of abiotic factors and heterog eneity of biotic communities.

Characteristics:
1) There is scarcity of water and dryness also prevails.

2) Temperature fluctuations are more.

3) The intensity of lig ht is hig h.

4) Atmospheric air is the source of O2.

5) O2 and CO2 are provided at a constant rate.

6) Land is discontinuous, with a number of g eog raphical barriers in the form of mountains,
valleys, lakes, rivers, seas, etc.

7) Soil contains all the necessary nutrients for the production of energ y.

a. FOREST
Forests are the reg ions where there is sufficient quantity of moisture and a moderate
temperature. Moisture, temperature, rainfall, snow, wind, velocity, etc. are more or
less stable and g overn the forest environment. Ang iosperms and g ymnosperms are the
forest trees. The days are cooler and nig hts are warmer in forests.

Forests may be of 3 types depending upon the climate, soil conditions and
available water content :

A. Coniferous forests (taiga) : extends across both North America, Sweden, Finland and
Russia, Siberia.

- It is characterized by needle like leaves of everg reen trees, (poplar, birch and pine
trees) and animals like black bear, porcupine, snow shoe hare, lyrix, red fox, wolf, red
squirrel, northern flying squirrel, owl, woodpecker, etc.

- The presence of g reen plants increases the annual rate of primary production of this
biome. The temperature is cold during winter. G rowing season is very short. Summers are of
very short durations and rainfall is low. The soil is thin, acidic and poorly drained. Numerous
lakes are associated with these forests.

B. Deciduous forests: They cover Europe, part of Japan, Australia and top of South America
(tropical and temperate areas). The deciduous trees shed off their broad leaves, become
bare in winters and develop ag ain in spring . The rainfall in this biome is abundant (75 to
150 cm) and evenly distributed throug hout the year. Temperature exhibits seasonal
variations and is moderate round the year. The season varies from north to south.
The deciduous forests are rich in both invertebrate and vertebrate fauna. Invertebrates
include earthworms, snails, millipedes, insects (coleoptera and orthoptera), etc. whereas
vertebrates include amphibians (newts, toads, frog s, salamanders, etc. ) reptiles (turtles,
snakes, lizards), birds (g reat horned owl, hawks, woodpeckers, etc. ) and mammals (opposum,
pig s, squirrels, bear, deer, raccoon, mountain lion, red and g rey foxes, etc. ).

C. Tropical rainforests: The annual rainfall is about 150- 200 cm and is the most important
ecolog ical factor. The temperature of forests is uniform throug hout the year and the
stratification is maximum. The trees form three layers namely scattered, tall emerg ent trees;
second canopy layer; and understory streams. The climate is warm and humid. Tropical
forest areas are g rouped into three reg ions namely, Amazon and Orinico basins in South
America, Cong o, Nig er basins of central and West Africa and IndoBoraeo- New G uinea
reg ions. In India, tropical rain forests stretch along Western G hats as well as western and
eastern Himalayas. The outstanding features of plants in tropical rainforests are the
presence of tall, broad- leaved, everg reen trees, presence of epiphytes, abundance of lichens,
larg e number of trees and uniformity of leaves. The trees are very tall (into 60 metres) and
below them are bamboos, shrubs, ferns, etc.
The forests are very rich in vertebrate: the tall trees and other veg etation provide
home to these animals. Frog s, toads, chameleons, lizards, snakes, woodpeckers, spider
monkeys, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, bats, sloth, tig ers , elephant, deer, chital deer
are the common vertebrate fauna represented in tropical rain forests.

b. GRASSLAND

Natural g rasslands occur where the rainfall is intermediate between the desert and forest
land (1. 5 to 75 cm) and occupies about 19 per cent of the area of land - g reat plains of Canada,
United States of America, South Arg entina to Brazil and South Asia to Central Asia, Nilg iri
Hills in India.

- G reater variations in temperature, moisture, wind, intensity of sun lig ht have been
observed in this ecosystem - it builds an entirely different type of soil as ecosystem,
compared to that of forest, thoug h both start with the same minerals.

- G rasses are short- lived and a larg e amount of org anic matter is added to the soil. The
decay is rapid and results in the formation of humus. The dark g rassland soils are well
suited for g rowing food plants.

a) Primary producers are the scattered shrubs, trees and g rasses.

b) Herbivores (mostly insects, reptiles and birds) are the consumers. Common insects found
are termites, Eoccinella, Leptoconia etc. Reptiles and millipedes are also common
consumers found in g rasslands. The larg e g razers come in 2 : running types, such as cattle,
sheep, g oat, and burrowing types, such as g round squirrels and g ophers.

c) Bacteria and fung i are the common decomposers. For example. Asperg illus and
Cladosporium are found in abundance. Their activity is maximum in wet monsoon season.

c. DESERT
Desert biomes occur in reg ions with less than 10 in. of annual rainfall, or sometimes in hot
reg ions where there is more rainfall, but unevenly distributed in the annual cycle.

- North American deserts are not as extreme as those in other continents, such as the African
Sahara or the Asian G obi.

Four very distinctive life forms of plants are adapted to the desert ecosystem:

(1) The annuals (such as cheat g rass, which avoid droug ht by g rowing only when there is
adequate moisture

(2) The desert shrub with numerous branches arising from a short basal trunk, and small, thick
leaves that may be shed during dry periods; the desert shrub survives by its ability to become
dormant before wilting occurs.

(3) The succulents, such as the cacti of the New World or the euphorbias of the Old World, which
store water in their tissues.

(4) Microflora, such as mosses, lichens, and blue- g reen alg ae that remain dormant in the soil but
are able to respond quickly to cool or wet periods.

- Animals such as reptiles and some insects are "preadapted" to deserts, for their impervious
shell and dry excretions enable them to g et along on the small amount of water. Nocturnal
rodents and camel are the animals that can withstand the extreme conditions of this eco system.

d. MOUNTAIN

Earth is moving and chang ing by few mm per year throug h its crustal
plates, so that mountain rang es are continually being built up or worn
away. Valleys are formed due to the erosion of soft rocks down the slope.

Conditions:
1. Less oxyg en in the atmosphere.
2. Snow on top of hig h mountains.
3. Temperature falls by 1 deg ree Celsius for every 15m elevation.
4. Less veg etation.
5. Strong winds, more clouds and rainfall
6. Hot days and cold nig hts

- Rivers contribute to the formation of fertile soil and development of

various crops and plantations.

- Forest products, minerals, iron ore, coal, etc. are also available in the
mountain rang es with dense forest areas in the lower elevations.

- Plants and animals have extra protections depending on the surrounding

environmental conditions.

e. CAVES

- Cracks, crevices, potholes or a network of passag es are formed either by

acidic water dissolving carbonates (limestone) or due to decaying
veg etation in different rocks.

- Water seeps throug h these cracks in rock formation g iving way to

underg round streams, tunnels and caves.

- Material deposition causes ridg es.

- When the roof portion collapses, caves extend. Sometimes caves are
interconnected.

- The most favorable situation is in between a permeable limestone and

impermeable rock deposits. Animals take their shelter in the mountain
caves.

2. AQUATIC
In all aquatic ecosystems, the medium in which the org anisms live is water. It may be fresh
water, salt water (marine) or a mixture of the both (estuarine).

I. FRESH WATER
There are two categ ories of fresh water ecosystems: (a) Lentic and (b) Lotic.

a. LENTIC
- Fresh water ecosystems have low percentag e of dissolved salts. They have fluctuating
physical and chemical factors affecting the flora and fauna. Lentic ecosystems In the
ponds and lakes the following three zones are evident depending upon the depth of
water and the depth to which sunlig ht penetrates effectively.

a. Littoral zone: It is the shallow water reg ion with the lig ht penetrating up to the bottom.
Photosynthesis occurs actively. In natural ponds and lakes this reg ion is occupied by rooted
plants whose leaves float at the surface.

b. Limnetic zone: It is the open water zone which includes the vast expanse of water
stretching up to the depth of effective lig ht penetration. In this zone, the community is
composed of only plankton and nekton. In small shallow ponds, this zone is absent.

c. Profoundal zone: It is the zone of deep waters and the bottom. This zone is beyond the
depth of effective sunlig ht penetration. It is often absent in ponds. Veg etation is absent and
photosynthesis does not occur. Only saprotrophs are found here.

PONDS

A pond is a g ood example of small ecosystem that exhibits a recog nizable unity both in function
and in structure. Living components of the ecosystem constitute the biotic components and these
include the following .

a) Producer Org anisms

1)Phytoplankton: These are minute floating plants usually alg ae distributed throug hout the pond
as deep as lig ht penetrates - float with the current of the water. When in abundance, g ives a
g reenish colour to pond water - very important in the production of basic food for the ecosystem.
The phytoplankton of the pond usually comprises Volvox, Ulothrix, Clostridium, Anabaena,
Eug lena and Ceratium.

2) Filamentous alg ae: These alg ae will be floating in water and include Spirog yra, Oedog onium,
Nitella and Chara.

3) Marg inal and emerg ent plants: These include Ipomea, Jussica which are found floating on the
surface and Phrag mites, Typha and Acorus which are rooted plants or sedg es.

4) Submerg ed plants: These are Vallisneria and Potamog eton which are rooted to the bottom.
Utricularia and Ceratophyllunz are rootless submerg ed plants.

5) Floating plants: These include Pistia, Lonna, Wolffia and Eichliornio

b) Consumer Org anisms

The macro- consumers represent animal fauna. These can be categ orized i Primary
consumers or herbivores, secondary consumers or carnivores and the tertiary
consumers. The primary macro- consumers feed directly up living plants or plant
remains and are of the following types:

(i) Zooplankton: These microscopic animals Dinoflag ellates, Copepods,

Heliozoans and Isopods drift on the water surface currents.

(ii) Nekton: These are free swimming aquatic animals (insects and insect
larvae).

(iii) Benthos: These are bottom dwelling forms (molluscs and annelids).
The secondary consumers or carnivores are predacious insects and consumers are
g ame fish.

c) Decomposers
The aquatic bacteria, (flag ellates and fung i) are distributed throug hout the pond,
abundant in the mud water. When temperature conditions are favourable,
decomposition occurs very rapidly in the body of water.

LAKES

A lake is defined as a larg e body of standing water which does not have connection with sea. It is
deeper than pond. Lakes differ from ponds in retaining permanent water in the centre and by
having sandy shore. It has stable environmental conditions.

The lake water exhibits a temperature g radient from surface to bottom. Different
strata of water with different temperatures can be noticed. This is called thermal
stratification.
- During summer three strata can be noticed. They are upper epilimnion, middle thermocline and
lower hypolimnion.

- Epilimnion is the warm surface water. Here the temperature fluctuates with the atmospheric
temperature. Water circulates in this layer. It has plenty of veg etation. The temperature will be 21C
to 25C.

- The bottom layer is hypolimnion. It is the cold water layer. The temperature will be 5C to 7C. The
water is stag nant and devoid of plants.

- The intermediate layer of water is called thermocline. Based on the penetration of lig ht, the water
column of a deep lake is divided into three zones. The euphotic zone is a lighted zone and it

extends to a depth of 80-100 metres. In the disphotic zone light is highly modified and it extends
from 80 to 200 metres. Aphotic zone is without light and it extends beyond 200 metres.

Classification of lakes: Lakes are classified into three types, on the basis of productivity.

(a) Oligotrophic lakes : Olig otrophic lakes are following features:

i. They have g reat depths
ii. They are poor in org anic materials
iii. Oxyg en is abundant
iv. They have low nutrients
v. They are poor in fauna and flora

(b) Eutrophic lakes: Eutrophic lakes are characterized by the following features:
i. They are shallow
ii. They are rich in phosphorus
iii. They are rich in org anic materials
iv. They have hig h fertility
v. They are rich in flora and fauna

(c) Dystrophic lakes: Dystrophic lakes are characterized by the following features:
i. They may be shallow or deep
ii. They are rich in P, N2, and Ca
iii. They have hig h org anic content
iv. Oxyg en content is very low or absent
v. They are poor in fauna and flora.

The biotic component of lake is similar to that of a pond.

a. LENTIC
RIVERS

Rivers are lotic (running water) systems. Lotic habitat is characterized by motion of water. When
water particles move parallel to one another, the flow is called laminar flow. In rivers with
turbulent flow, the erosive power and the forces at the water- sediment interface are very hig h.

1). Land- water interchang e is g reater in lotic habitat.

2). Oxyg en is abundant in running water system.

Zonation of river: The deeper part of the river is called the flowing water zone. The shallow
water areas with an irreg ular substrate of rocks are named the riffle zone. In the zone of deeper
water, the velocity of current is low.

Biotic components of river: Producers of river include diatoms, blue g reen alg ae, g reen alg ae,
water moss, etc. Consumers of river include nymphs of drag on flies, may flies and stone flies,
beetles, water skaters, snails, clarias, frog s, etc.

II.MARINE ECO SYSTEM

Marine habitat is the larg est one in the biosphere and it covers approximately 71 per cent of
the earth's surface. It supports a vast assemblag e of varied forms of life. The reason for the
g reater representation of org anisms in the sea is due to the remarkable stability and uniform
conditions of the sea waters.

Characteristics :
i) Volume: - It is the larg est habitat.

ii) Continuity: Marine habitat is characterized by continuity. All the seas of the world are
connected with one another.

iii) Depth: Marine habitat has g reat depths. The averag e depth is 4000 metres.

iv) Salinity: Salinity is very hig h. It is about 35 per cent. The salinity is due to the abundance
of chlorides of Na, K, Ca and Mg . NaCl forms about 27 per cent. As many as 49 elements are
found in sea water. The salinity remains stable in most of the oceans.

v) pH. : Sea- water has more hydroxyl ions (OH) and hence it is alkaline in its nature.
The pH is 8 to 8. 3.

vi) Currents: Sea- water is in continuous circulation due to the currents of water caused by
wind, temperature and g ravitational force.

vii) Tides: Tides are reg ular rise and fall in the level of the sea, caused by the attraction of the
sun and the moon.

viii) Pressure: Pressure increases as the depth increases.

ix) Temperature: The temperature of an ocean rang es from about 2C in the polar seas to 32C
in the tropics.

x) Lig ht: Lig ht is a sig nificant factor in reg ulating the pattern of the distribution of marine
plants and animals.

According to the depth of penetration of lig ht 3 layers are recog nized in the marine habitat.

a. Euphotic Zone is the upper layer of water. It extends from surface to 100 metres. It is
the lig hted zone. Producers are abundant in this layer.

b. Disphotic Zone is the middle layer. This zone extends from 100 metres to 200 metres.
This zone is characterized by the presence of diffused or modified lig ht. Producers are rare
in this layer.

c.Aphotic zone extends below 200 metres. Lig ht and producers are completely absent in
this layer.

Stratification of Marine Habitat

- The marine habitat exhibits clear horizontal stratification as pelag ic reg ion and benthic
reg ion.

- Pelag ic reg ion includes the entire water body, further sub- divided into neritic and oceanic
zones.

- Benthic reg ion consists of the floor of the sea. It is subdivided into littoral zone and deep
sea reg ion.

1. Neritic zone: Most continents are surrounded by a continental shelf, a more or less
flat plain under 200 metres of water but in some places much less. The shelf and the
water over the shelf constitute the neritic zone. The neritic zone can be further subdivided into supratidal (above the hig h tide mark), intertidal (between the hig h and
low tide lines) and subtidal reg ions.

2. Oceanic zone : Beyond the neritic zone is the oceanic zone. This is the part of the
ocean which forms the " blue water" . The layers upto 3000 m depth are the abyssal
reg ion. No lig ht ever penetrates this reg ion. The temperature is virtually constant at
about 3C.

3. Photic zone: The upper (200 m) part of the ocean, into which enoug h lig ht
penetrates for photosynthesis, is known as the euphotic zone. The floor of the ocean is
thrown into g ig antic ridg es and valleys.

The following are the important biotic components of an ocean ecosystem :

1. Primary producers: Phytoplankton, mostly diatoms, g reen flag ellates are the primary
producers in the open ocean. In addition to this, a few microscopic alg ae, floating weeds
and g reen, brown and red alg ae form the basis of life in sea. All of them present in photic
zone where sufficient lig ht is available.

2. Consumers: The primary consumers in an ocean ecosystem are crustaceans, molluscs

and herbivores fishes. Fishes like cod, haddock, halibut, etc. are the secondary carnivores.
All of these fishes are bottom feeders. The fishes in the ecosystem have a tendency to
remain tog ether and to underg o seasonal mig rations. This is due to their physiolog ical and
reproductive compulsions.

3. Decomposers: bacteria are the decomposers, which bring about decomposition of

living org anisms and the dead bodies of the plants and animals. Then the decomposers
convert the material to suitable nutritive forms that could be consumed by g reen plants once
ag ain.

III. ESTUARINE ECO SYSTEM

Most of the rivers g enerally j oin the sea. The meeting place of the river and the sea is called an estuary. It
is a narrow passag e or the mouth of a river or lake where the tide meets the current.

Characteristics:

(i) It is the ecotone of marine and freshwater habitat.

(ii) The sediments carried by the river, accumulate at the river mouth.

(iii) Water level in the estuary fluctuates.

(iv) During hig h tide more sea water enters the estuary and during low tide the sea water recedes.

(v) Salinity is intermediate between fresh water and sea water

(vi) Water currents are present in the estuary due to interaction of flowing streams, oceanic tides and wind.

(vii) Estuarine temperature fluctuates daily and seasonally.

(viii) The mixing of sea and fresh waters produces turbulence and eddies. The eddies contain most of the
nutrients of the estuaries. Hence they are called nutrient traps of self- enriching system.

(ix) Estuaries have a hig h silt content. It reduces the penetration of lig ht.

Biota of estuaries:
The org anisms of estuaries are classified into Olig ohaline, True estuarine, Euryhaline
marine, Stenohaline marine org anisms and Mig rants.

(i) Olig ohaline org anisms are freshwater org anisms which cannot tolerate variations in
salinity of more than 0. 1 per cent. They are not found at the head of the estuary.

(ii) True estuarine org anisms are restricted to estuaries. They have adaptations to a wide
rang e of salinity.

(iii) Euryhaline marine org anisms extend their distribution from the sea to upper reaches of
the estuary. They can tolerate salinity as low as 15 per cent. These org anisms form the
maj ority of total estuarine.

(iv) Stenohaline marine org anisms live on open seashore and at mouths of estuaries. They
do not enter estuaries below salinities of 25 per cent.

(v) Mig rant org anisms spend only a part of their lives in estuaries.

The biota of estuaries is varied and represented by animals and plants that g rasses and can
tolerate fluctuations in salinity. These org anisms spend only a part of their lives in
estuaries. Some example of biota are Eug lena, Volvox, Cyclops, hermit crab, fishes like
Tilapia etc. Macrophytes (plants) are weeds, marsh g rasses and sea g rass.