Ecosystems: A Description

Natural communities are organized into units we call ecosystems. An ecosystem is a collection of different organisms and the environment in which they live. Ecosystems can vary greatly in size & complexity. Some examples of small ecosystems are tropical fish tank, tidal pools, a garden or pond, or the stomach of an individual cow. Larger ecosystems would include mangrove estuaries, lakes & rivers, agricultural fields, rainforests & of course coral reefs. Two of the most well known ecosystems on Earth are The Amazon Rainforest & The Great Barrier Reef. One of the most recent ecosystems discovered by science are smokers (volcanic vents on the sea bed). Landscape-scale ecosystems encompass larger regions, and may include different regions of land and both freshwater & marine communities. Ultimately, all life on Earth and the physical environment in which it lives, is part of one great planetary ecosystem called a bioshere. Therefore it could be argued that the definition of a biosphere could be An assortment of wide & varied ecosystems on a planetary scale Ecology encompasses the relationships of organisms (ecosystem) with their environments (ecoregion). An ecoregion might be defined as the shoreline vegetation around a lake, or the entire lake itself, or the lake plus all the land around it. Because all of these units consist of organisms and their environment, they can properly be considered to be ecosystems within ecoregions.

The Raw Materials of an Ecosystem

All ecosystems have a few basic characteristics in common. They use energy (usually provided by sunlight) to build complex chemical compounds out of simple materials. At the level of plants, for example, chlorophyll acts on carbon dioxide and water using the energy of sunlight to produce complex carbohydrates, such as starches & sugars (this process is known as photosynthesis). As plants & their products, whether leaves, nectar or fruits are consumed by other organisms, these complex substances produced at plant level & the energy by which they were created, are passed ever upward through the food chain & often culminating in man himself. It is therefore of prime importance for us to understand this process & to apply this knowledge to the continuation of such resources. The flow of energy in an ecosystem is bidirectional & not always consumed by higher levels of organisms. Take for example a decaying tree, whilst it lived it produced leaves & fruit, yet as it decays & its tissues break down, its compounds & nutrients are often absorbed by fungi & bacteria. As a result, the process starts all over again. Even the energy & food produced by a living tree for example, not only passes to higher life forms, but also to insects & bugs which

feed on the leaves & bark. Each level of a food chain contains more energy than the levels below it & consiquently each higher life form also requires more energy with which to function. Man has, over hundreds of years, made several grave mistakes by the introduction of foreign species into various ecosystems throughout the world. A case in point is the article in the Thursday (March 10, 2011) issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which featured the janitor fish from South America that threatens to have a serious ecological impact on our freshwater ecosystems through competition in space and food as well through predation on the eggs and larvae of our native fishes. And this is only one of the several harmful alien species in the country. The result of which has been, the destruction of habitat, the endangerment & often extinction of species and ultimately the collapse of many delicate ecosystems. The Structure of Ecosystems An ecosystem is the basic functional unit in ecology, as it includes both organisms and their abiotic environment. No organism can exist without the environment. Ecosystem represents the highest level of ecological integration which is energy based. A pond, a lake, a coral reef, part of any field and a laboratory culture can be some of the examples of ecosystems. Thus an ecosystem is defined as a specific unit of all the organisms occupying a given area which interacts with the physical environment producing distinct trophic structure, biotic diversity and material cycling. The term ecosystem was first proposed by the British ecologist A.G. Tansley. Most of earths surface is oceanic, and the deepest part of these oceans is deeper than the highest peaks of the mountains. The marine environment is extensive and complex, containing a vast array of communities and is divided into two major provinces-estuaries and deep ocean. Oceans are the ultimate sinks for all water soluble minerals, and are saline. Apart from these, mangroves also form part of the marine ecosystem which is a rich source of biotic and abiotic elements. There are two basic processes in an ecosystem. One of the processes involves a cycle of exchange of materials between living things and the environment. The plants synthesis complex organic materials from the raw materials. The organic matter ultimately releases the raw material which are returned to the environment. This mechanism is called cycling of materials. The other basic requirement of an ecosystem is the constant input of energy. The ultimate source of energy is the sun whose solar energy is captured by green plants. Other organisms derive their nutrition and energy from the plants. The energy taken by these organisms is passed on to other organisms. In this way energy is transferred from one organism to another. This is called flow of energy.

The major aspects of an ecosystem are its structure and function. Structure involves: 1. composition of biological community including species, numbers, biomass, life history and distribution in space, etc. 2. quantity and distribution of non-living materials, such as nutrients, water, etc. 3. range, or gradient of conditions of existence, such as temperature, light, etc.

Functions of an ecosystem involves: 1. rates of biological energy flow, i.e. the production and respiration rates of the community. 2. rates of materials or nutrient cycles. 3. biological or ecological regulation including both regulation of organisms by environment and regulation of environment by the organisms. Thus in any ecosystem, structure and function are studied together. Odum (1959) classified the abiotic components of an ecosystem into three parts: i. inorganic nutrients like C, N, H, etc. ii. organic compounds constituting the organism. iii. climatic factors The term abiotic means without life or nonliving. Many substances such as water, oxygen, sodium chloride, nitrogen and carbon dioxide are abiotic when they are physically outside living organisms, such as in air or water, but once within living organisms they become part of the biotic world. Many elements may be tightly bound in inorganic compounds as silicon in sandstone or aluminum in feldspar, and are unavailable to living organisms, Elements such as oxygen which are normally very active in biological processes may be in an abiotic form readily available to living organisms such as free O2, CO2, etc., or they may be in an inaccessible form as silicon dioxide in quartz, a major component of granite. One of the most important aspects of an ecosystem is the rate of release of nutrients from solids, as this regulates the rate of function of the entire system. The abiotic components can be classified into three groups: 1. Climatic regime-includes temperature, light and other physical factors which directly influence the organisms in a given area. 2. Nutrients (material cycling)-includes inorganic substances (C, CO2, H2O, H2, P, etc.) and organic substances 3. Energy circuits-includes grazing circuits and organic detritus circuits. The amount of abiotic materials present in any ecosystem is called standing state.
The Human Factor

One of the greatest challenges facing humans and their civilization is to develop a complete understanding of the fundamentals of ecosystem management, how they are structured, how they function & how they should be maintained for the sustained benefit of future generations.
Revolutionary changes have occurred in human culture that has greatly changed the relationship between humans and the environment.

Biogeochemical Cycles and Mans Interventions Biogeochemical Cycles is the cycling of energy, and various chemical elements and compounds through the biosphere due to the feeding of organisms on each other. This includes almost anything that temporarily inhabits a living thing such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and water.

The elements of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur, and of course hydrogen and oxygen, are needed for the formation of the fundamental molecules on which life depends. Their availability, circulation and interaction in nature has therefore been decisive for the development of life on earth and also for the maintenance of the present global ecosystem. On the other hand, the development of living organisms on earth and their ability to utilize their immediate environment has modified the primordial distributions and circulation of these fundamental elements. The hypothesis has even been advanced (Lovelock, 1979) that the biosphere has developed in such a manner that close to optimum conditions for life on earth prevail and are being maintained by the life processes themselves. Regardless of the extent to which this may be the case, the biogeochemical cycles are crucial for maintenance of life on earth in its present form and biological processes largely determine the main features of these cycles.
Nitrogen, Phosphorus and sulphur are essential elements in all living matter and are found in varying proportions to carbon, depending on the chemical nature of compounds in which they occur. A pattern for the circulation of these elements in nature developed when microorganism, plants and animals appeared on earth. The pattern was set by the physical and chemical environment, by the chemical nature of these and by the geographic distribution of microorganisms, plants and animals. The appearance of Homo sapiens may not have had any great effect on these patterns as long as man was nomadic. That state of affairs changed when man formed settlements, where he transported vegetable matter and meant and where he deposited most of his wastes. The effect must have particularly noticeable for phosphorus which is hardly leached from soils. Analysis if soil phosphate have, incidentally , been used to locate archaeological settlements. Hence a steady flow of phosphorus took place from nearby pastoral and agricultural areas, ending up in the soils of the settlements and their immediate surroundings. It is of course difficult to asses the impact of such process in the environment; it is continuing today, with the difference that in some settlements a great deal of the accreted phosphorus is released in lakes and rivers. In some regions agriculture has been practiced for a very long time which must have led to a sizeable depletion of phosphorus in soils, one reason for the present use of phosphorus fertilizers.

Man today influences the major biogeochemical cycles on earth significantly. The annual release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels is about ten percent of the amount being used in primary production of organic matter by plants (Bolin et al., 1979). During the last few hundred years about ten percent of the land surface, primarily forests and grasslands, has been transformed into agricultural land. The formation of fixed nitrogen by combustion and fertilizer manufacturing is currently about half of what is produced naturally. The land transformations that man has initiated also have resulted in a major translocation of nutrients, particularly nitrogen compounds, from the soils to the rivers and lakes and ultimately to the sea.

Carbon Dioxide & Global Warming The use of fossil fuels and practice of deforestation to meet the world's energy demands has lead to increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) in the atmosphere. Both gases absorb terrestrial infrared radiation and have the potential to affect earth's climate by warming it. Sources of Atmospheric Carbon

Atmospheric carbon represented a steady state system, where influx equaled outflow, before the Industrial Revolution. Currently, it is no longer a steady state system because the influx exceeds the outflow. Therefore, we are experiencing an increase in atmospheric carbon, mainly in the form of CO2.

Half of the solar energy that reaches Earth passes through the atmosphere and is absorbed at the surface. About 90% of the infrared radiation emitted by the surface is absorbed by the atmosphere before it can escape to space.

The characteristics of the atmosphere that enable it to raise the temperature of the surface of Earth are: 1) atmosphere is transparent to sunshine 2) but is almost opaque to infrared radiation. So the atmosphere lets in the heat from the sun, but is reluctant to let it escape again due to the greenhouse gasses If CO2 is suddenly added to the atmosphere, it takes between 50 and 200 years for the amount of atmospheric CO2 to establish a new balance, compared to several weeks required for water vapor. Soil Carbon Sinks Large amounts of carbon have been released into the atmosphere through the conversion of grasslands and forests to agricultural and grazing land, as well as through unsustainable land practices. Soils can regain lost carbon by absorbing or "sequestering" it from the atmosphere. But the ability of soils to act as carbon "sinks depends on sound land management. summary: An ecosystem is a complex set of relationships among living resources, habitats and residents of a region. Ecology is the scientific study of the processes influencing the distribution and abundance of organisms, the interactions among organisms, and the interactions between organisms and the transformation and flux of energy and matter.

Man's activities on earth today induce fluxes of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur that are of similar magnitude to those associated with the natural global cycles of these elements; in limited areas man's influence dominates the cycles. The likely increase of man's activities during the remainder of this and during the next century will undoubtedly mean significant disturbances of the global ecosystem. The most important ways whereby man is interfering with the global ecosystem are: First, fossil fuel burning which may a. double the atmospheric CO2 concentration by the middle of next century; b. further increase the emissions of oxides of sulphur and nitrogen very significantly; Second, expanding agriculture and forestry and the associated use of fertilizers (nitrogen and phosphorus) significantly alter the natural circulation of these nutrients; and Lastly, increased exploitation of the fresh-water system both for irrigation in agriculture and industry and for waste disposal. The present rate of change of the global ecosystem in response to man's activities will increase further and this implies increased departures from the pre-industrial quasi-steady state. No part of the globe will be untouched by these changes.

According to our present understanding, the most important impacts of these changes in the long term perspective are:

a gradual change towards a warmer climate, the details and implications of which we know very little about; the concentration of ozone will decrease in the stratosphere, due to the increased release of N2O and chlorine compounds and increase in the troposphere, due to the increased release of NOx and hydrocarbons; an increase of the areas affected by lake and stream acidification in midlatitudes and possibly also in the tropics; the ion balance of the soils may be significantly disturbed, as is now being found with regard to aluminium; a decrease of the extent of tropical forests, which will enhance the rate of increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration and release other minor constituents to the atmosphere; this may also contribute to soil degradation; due to loss of organic matter and nutrients, soil deterioration will occur and this implies a reduced possibility for the vegetation to return to pristine conditions; global mapping of ongoing soil changes is urgently needed; a trend toward the eutrophication of estuarine and coastal marine areas; more frequent development of anoxic conditions in fresh-water and marine systems and sediments.

The development and continuation of highly productive units in agriculture and forestry means an increasing dependance on technological advances that, to be properly directed, requires profound knowledge about long term modifications of the soil. The long term implications of exploiting the natural resources of the earth are not well understood, nor do we understand what is permissible in order to guarantee that present or future (possibly higher) levels of productivity will not later decline. We need to develop a strategy for how to assess the long term carrying capacity of the earth. It should be obvious from the overview of this vast problem area that we are yet far from such an integrated view of the global ecosystem. Ecological relationships The relationship between organisms in an ecosystem with each other, the ecosystem, and the ecosystem itself with other ecosystems. No organism is an autonomous entity isolated from its surroundings. It is part of its environment, rich in living and non-living elements all of which interact with each other in some fashion. An organism's interactions with its environment are fundamental to the survival of that organism and the functioning of the ecosystem as a whole.

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