Biotic components Archives

What is an Ecosystem and Explain its Structure

Ecosystem is a self contained ecological system which consists of a distinct biotic community and the physical environment, both interacting and exchanging material between them.

Natural Ecosystem:
They are ecosystems which develop in nature without human support. Natural ecosystems are of two types, terrestrial and aquatic.

Terrestrial Ecosystems:
Occurs over land. They are of three major types desert, grassland and forest. Aquatic ecosystems are found in water bodies, e.g. ponds, lakes, rivers (fresh water), estuaries, marine (salt water)

Artificial Ecosystems:
They are ecosystem which have been created and are maintained by human beings.

Ecosystem Structure
Ecosystem consists of two types of components, biotic and abiotic.

Biotic components:
They incluce all the living organisms present in the ecosystem. The assemblage of populations of different living organisms present in an ecosystem is also called biotic community. Autotrophs are also called producers. All other organisms which are unable to manufacture their own food are called heterotrophs. Heterotrophs are of two types, consumers and decomposers.

Producers: They are green plants, blue-green algae (= cyanobacteria), some bacteria and minute free floating autotrophic organisms called phytoplankton. All of them possess chlorophyll. The energy contained in food is chemical energy. It is the transformed form of solar energy that has been absorbed with the help of chlorophyll of producers. Because of it, the producers are also called transducers or converters.

Consumers: They are organisms which feed on other organisms. Consumers are of four types – herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and parasites.

(i) Herbivores – They are animals which directly feed on plants. Herbivores are also called primary or first order consumers. As they convert plant matter into animal matter, the herbivores are often called key industry animals.
(ii) Carnivores – They are animals which prey upon other animals and feed on their flesh. The carnivores which feed on herbivores are named as primary carnivores or second order consumers, e.g., frog, wild cat, jackal, fox, snake, some birds and fishes.
(iii) Omnivores – They are animals which feed on both plant and animal diets, e.g., human beings, cockroach, dog, bear, crow, ant. Human food consists of plant food (e.g., grains, pulses, vegetables, fruits, oil seeds) as well as animal products (e.g., milk, meat, fish, egg).

Decomposers: They are saprophytes which obtain their nourishment from organic remains. Decomposers secrete enzymes over the organic remains. It causes breakdown of organic remains into simpler and soluble substances that are absorbed by saprophytes. In the process various inorganic raw materials are released. The phenomenon is called mineralisation. They are also known as microconsumers because they are small sized heterotrophs, e.g., many bacteria many fungi.

Detrivores (Scavengers): They are animals which feed on dead bodies, e.g., vultures, kites, detrivores help in quick disposal of corpses.

What is meant by Biotic Components in Environment

All living things depend on their surroundings for food, water, and shelter.
All that surrounds living things and affects their growth and development is called their environment.
Both living and non-living things form the environment. Thus, we can say that the environment is made up of two parts or components – biotic and abiotic.

Components Of Environment

Living things like plants and animals are called biotic components.
Non-living things like air, light, water, soil, and temperature are called abiotic components.

What is meant by Biotic Components in Environment 1 — Biotic and abiotic components of the environment

1. Biotic Components
The word ‘biotic’ means ‘living’. Biotic components are those that have life. Plants, animals, scavengers, and decomposers are biotic components.
Plants
Most plants have green leaves. Leaves are green because they contain a green pigment called chlorophyll (<chloro, green; phyll, leaf). Chlorophyll gives plants the special ability to make their own food using light, water, and carbon dioxide.
The process by which green plants make their food using carbon dioxide and water in the presence of light and chlorophyll is called photosynthesis (photo, light; synthesis, production).

What is meant by Biotic Components in Environment 2 — Diagrammatic representation of photosynthesis

Animals
Animals cannot make their own food, as green plants do, thus they are called heterotrophs. Both animals and plants need substances called nutrients in order to grow. Plants absorb nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium from the soil. These nutrients enter the bodies of animals when they eat plants or the flesh of other animals. After these plants and animals die, their bodies decompose and nutrients reach back to the soil.

Scavengers and Decomposers
Some organisms feed on the bodies of dead plants and animals and release the nutrients trapped inside them.
Animals that feed on the dead bodies of other animals are called scavengers. For example, hyena and vulture.

What is meant by Biotic Components in Environment 3 — vulture

Tiny organisms that feed on the remains of dead plants and animals to break them down into simpler substances are called decomposers.
Bacteria and fungi are common decomposers.

What is meant by Biotic Components in Environment 4 — fungi

The nutrients released from the dead bodies by the action of scavengers and decomposers get mixed with the soil and are again absorbed by plants. This process is called recycling of nutrients.

Scavengers and decomposers play two important roles in the environment because:

They keep the environment clean by removing the bodies of dead plants and animals.
They help in the recycling of nutrients in the environment.

Interactions Among Biotic Components
Plants and animals depend on each other for various needs. Animals mainly depend on plants for food and shelter. Animals in turn help plants by pollinating flowers, dispersing seeds, etc.

What is meant by Biotic Components in Environment 5 — A bee pollinates flowers while collecting nectar

In nature, the following relationships are observed among plants, animals, scavengers, and decomposers.

Plants (called producers) utilize sun’s energy and manufacture their own food through photosynthesis.
Herbivores (called primary consumers) like rabbit and deer feed on plants.
Carnivores (called secondary consumers) like tiger and lion feed on herbivores.
Omnivores (called secondary consumers) like human beings and bear feed on both plants and flesh of other animals.
Scavengers and decomposers feed on dead plants and animals and release the nutrients trapped inside their bodies into the soil. These nutrients are then absorbed by plants, which helps them to grow and manufacture their food.