This document discusses key concepts in ecosystem ecology. It defines ecology as the study of interrelations between living organisms and their environment, which can be studied at the individual, population, and community levels. It then discusses different aspects and subfields of ecology like autecology, synecology, population ecology, and ecosystem ecology. The document defines an ecosystem as a natural functional unit comprising living organisms and their non-living environment that interact to form a stable self-supporting system. It identifies abiotic and biotic components of ecosystems, including producers, consumers, and decomposers, and discusses concepts like food chains, food webs, energy flow, and biogeochemical cycles.

1. Ecosystem Concepts
By : Meenal Mathur

2. Ecology
The study of interrelations between
living organisms and their environment.
Ecology proceeds at three levels :
– Individual organism
– Population (individuals of same species)
– Community (no. of populations)

3. Aspects of Ecology
• Autecology : study particular species
behaviour & adoptation to the
environment
• Synecology : study of communities,
behaviour & relation to environment.
- population ecology
- community ecology
- ecosystem ecology

4. Ecology
• Aquatic Ecology
- Marine Ecology
- Freshwater Ecology
- Stream Ecology
• Terrestrial Ecology
- Grassland Ecology
- Forest Ecology
- Desert Ecology

5. ECOSYSTEM
Ecosystem is a natural functional
ecological unit comprising of living
organisms and their non-living
environment that interact to form a stable
self-supporting system like a pond, lake,
desert, forest, grassland etc.

6. Components of
Ecosysytem
• Abiotic Components – have strong influence on the
structure, distribution, behaviour & interrelationship of
organisms.
a) Climatic Factors- rain, temp., light, humidity, rain
b) Edaphic Factors- soil, pH, minerals
• Biotic Components
a) Producers
b) Consumers–primary, secondary, tertiary,
Quaternary
c) Decomposers or reducers

7. • Concept of food chain
• Concept of food web
• Energy Flow
• Biogeochemical Cycles (Material Cycles)
1) Water Cycle
2) Carbon Cycle
3) Nitrogen Cycle
4) Oxygen Cycle