ARC-201

CA – 1

CLIMATOLOGY.

B Y -

A A R Y A N S H A R M A

Q2. Enlist and explain various types of ecosystems ?

ANS.-TPYE OF ECOSYSTEM:

BIOTIC

ABIOTIC

BIOTIC : BIOLOGICAL COMPONENTS REFER TO ALL LIVING ORGANISMS IN THE ECOSYSTEM. BASED ON

DIFFERENT NUTRITION, BIOLOGICAL COMPONENTS ARE CLASSIFIED INTO THE FOLLOWING THREE

CATEGORIES:

PRODUCERS: ALSO CALLED AS AUTOTROPHS. THEY PRODUCE FOOD FOR MANY OTHER ORGANISMS

SUCH AS ANIMALS, PLANTS, HUMANS AND OTHER ORGANISMS.

CONSUMERS: ALSO KNOWN AS HETEROTROPHS. INCLUDE ORGANISMS THAT DEPEND ON OTHER

ORGANISMS FOR THEIR FOOD NEEDS. THEY FURTHER DIVIDED INTO PRIMARY, SECONDARY, TERITIARY

AND QUATERNARY CONSUMERS.

DECOMPOSERS: ALSO CALLED AS DETRITUS OR SAPROPHYTES. INCLUDE MICROBES SUCH AS FUNGI AND

BACTERIA. MAINLY RELY ON DEAD AND ROTTING ORGANIC COMPONENTS FOR FOOD REQUIREMENTS.

ABIOTIC: ABIOTIC COMPONENTS REFERS TO ALL NON-LIVING ELEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS IN THE

ECOSYSTEM, INCLUDING CLIMATES AND CLIMATE – COMPONENTS. THEY ARE FURTHER DIVIDED INTO

TWO CATEGORIES:

CLIMATIC FACTORS: RAIN, TEMPERATURE, LIGHT, WIND.

EDAPHIC FACTORS: SOIL, PH, MINERALS, TOPOGRAPHY.

TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS:

AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM

TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM

AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM: REFERS TO ALL SUCH ECOSYSTEMS REFERS TO ALL SUCH ECOSYSTEMS THAT ARE PRIMARILY

LOCATED ON OR INSIDE WATER BODIES. ORGANISMS IN THESE ECOSYSTEMS INTERACT WITH OTHER ORGANISMS IN

AQUATIC AND TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS. THEAQUATIC ECOSYSTEM IS MAINLY SUB-DIVIDED INTO THE FOLLOWING

TYPES

FRESH WATER ECOSYSTEM: ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL ECOSYSTEMS. THIS ECOSYSTEM IS A SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER.

IT IS THE SMALLEST ECOSYSTEM AMONG THE MAJOR TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS. NO SALT CONTENT IN THIS ECOSYSTEMS.

FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM MAINLY INCLUDE LENTIC, LOTIC, AND WETLANDS.

LENTIC: WATER BODIES THAT ARE MOVING SLOWLY OR ARE STILL IN SOME PLACES. EG: PONDS, LAKES, POOLS.

LOTIC: WATER BODIES THAT ARE MOVING AT A FAST PACE. EG: STREAMS, RIVERS.

WETLANDS: ENVIRONMENTS CHARACTERIZED BY SOILS SATURATED WITH WATER FOR A LONG TIME FALL UNDER

WETLANDS.

MARINE ECOSYSTEM: USUALLY CHARACTERIZED BY THE PRESENCE OF SALT CONTENT. THESE ECOSYSTEMS HAVE A HIGHER SALT CONTENT THAN

FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM. HAVE DISTINCTIVE FLORA AND FAUNA, WHICH SUPPORT GREATER BIODIVERSITY. EG: SALT MARSHES, LAGOONS, CORAL

REEFS, ESTUARIES, INTERTIDAL ZONES, MANGROVES, SEAFLOOR, AND DEEP SEA.

TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM: MAINLY LOCATED ON LAND. A LOW AND SUFFICIENTLY NEEDED AMOUNT OF WATER IS LOCATED IN TERRESTRIAL

ECOSYSTEMS. TYPICALLY HAVE TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS IN BOTH SEASONAL AND DIURNAL CLIMATES. AVAILABILITY OF LIGHT IS HIGHER.

TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS ARE MAINLY CLASSIFIED INTO FOLLOWING TYPES:

FOREST ECOSYSTEM: AN ECOSYSTEM WHERE MANY ORGANISMS LIVE TOGETHER WITH THE ENVIRONMENT’S ABIOTIC COMPONENTS. MUCH

FLORA AND FAUNA IS PRESENT. o EG: TROPICAL DECIDUOUS, TROPICAL EVERGREEN FORESTS, TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FORESTS AND TAIG.

GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM: ECOSYSTEMS WHERE THE NUMBER OF TREES IS LOW. o EG: SAVANNA GRASSLANDS, AND TEMPERATE GRASSLANDS.

MOUNTAIN GRASSLANDS: THESE ECOSYTEMS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY MOUNTAINOUS REGIONS WHERE THE CLIMATE IS USUALLY COLD AND

RAINFALL IS LOW. o EG: MOUNTAIN TOPS IN ARCTIC REGIONS.

DESERT ECOSYSTEMS: EXIST WORLDWIDE AND COVER ABOUT 17 PERCENT OF DESERT AREAS.ANNUAL RAINFALL IS LESS THAN 25MM.

3Q. EXPLAIN BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES WITH THE HELP OF NEAT SKETCH ?

Ans.- BIO-GEO CHEMICAL CYCLE - A biogeochemical cycle is the pathway by which a chemical substance cycles the biotic and the abiotic

compartments of Earth. The biotic compartment is the biosphere and the abiotic compartments are the atmosphere, hydrosphere and

lithosphere.

✓ There are biogeochemical cycles for chemical elements, such as for calcium, carbon, hydrogen, mercury, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus,

selenium, iron and sulfur, as well as molecular cycles, such as for water and silica.

✓ There are also macroscopic cycles, such as the rock cycle, and human-induced cycles for synthetic compounds such as polychlorinated

biphenyls (PCBs).

✓ In some cycles there are reservoirs where a substance can remain or be sequestered for a long period of time.

WATER CYCLE: THE WATER FROM THE DIFFERENT WATER BODIES EVAPORATES, COOLS, CONDENSES AND FALLS BACK TO

THE EARTH AS RAIN. THIS CYCLE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

CARBON CYCLE: THE PROCESS IN WHICH CARBON ATOMS CONTINUALLY TRAVEL FROM ATMOSPHERE TO THE EARTH AND THEN BACK INTO THE

ATMOSPHERE. CARBON IS RELEASED WHEN ORGANISMS DIE, VOLCANOES ERUPT, FIRES BLAZE, FOSSIL FELS ARE BURNED ETC .

NITROGEN CYCLE: BACTERIA PRESENT IN THE ROOTS OF THE PLANTS CONVERT THIS NITROGEN GAS INTO A USABLE COMPOUND CALLED AMMONIA, THIS

IS FURTHER CONVERTED INTO NITRITES AND NITRATES, THUS DENITRIFYING BACTERIA REDUCE THE NITRATES INTO NITROGEN AAND RETURN IT INTO

THE ATMOSPHERE.

PHOSPHOROUS CYCLE : MOVEMENT OF PHOSPHOROUS FROM THE ENVIRONMENT [ SOIL AND ROCKS] TO ORGANISMS AND THEN BACK TO THE

ENVIRONMENT.

SULPHUR CYCLE : THE MOVEMENT OF SULFUR THROUGH THE GEOSPHERE AND BIOSPHERE. SULPHUR IS RELEASED FROM ROCKS THROUGH WEATHERING, AND

THEN ASSIMILATED BY MICROBES AND PLANTS. IT IS PASSED UP FOOD CHAIN AND ASSIMILATED BY ORGANISMS AND RELEASED WHEN THEY DECOMPOSE .

4Q. DESCRIBE THE FLOW OF ENERGY IN AN ECOSYSTEM ?

Ans. - ENERGY FLOW - Energy flow is the flow of energy through living things within an ecosystem. All living organisms can be organized into producers and consumers,

and those producers and consumers can further be organized into a food chain. Each of the levels within the food chain is a trophic level.

FOOD CHAIN - A food chain is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another.

• The levels in the food chain are producers, primary consumers, higher-level consumers, and finally decomposers. These levels are used to describe ecosystem structure

and dynamics.

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF FOOD CHAINS, THEY ARE GRAZING FOOD CHAIN AND THE DETRITUS FOOD CHAINS :-

1. Grazing food chain: Grazing food chain consist mainly of Producer (green plants), Primary consumer (Herbivores), Secondary consumer (Carnivores). The chain starts

with the green plants also known as autotrophs. These can prepare their food with the help of sunlight ( the main source of energy), water and air.

This is known as the first trophic level. These plants are eaten up by the first consumer (Herbivores), and eventually, these (Herbivores) are eaten up by the different

secondary consumer (Carnivores).

2. Detritus food chain: It starts with the dead organic matter (detritus), which was produced in the grazing food chain. The waste material such as dead bodies of animals or fallen leaves is

eaten by the decomposers or detritivores. At last the organic matter gets decomposed by their predators. Energy flows in the large amount in this food chain.

FOOD WEB : A COMPLEX OF INTERRELATED FOOD CHAINS MAKES UP A FOOD CHAIN. THE FOOD WEB MAINTAINS THE STABILITY OF ECOSYSTEM OR ENVIRONMENT.

THE GREATER THE NUMBER OF ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS, THE MORE STABLE IS THE COMMUNITY OF LIVING THINGS.