Ecosystem Test - 5

Decomposers breaks the complex organic matter present in dead plants and animals into simpler form that can be reused. They acts as reducer of dead and decaying matters.

The Ten percent law of transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next was introduced by Raymond Lindeman (1942). According to this law, during the transfer of energy from organic food from one trophic level to the next, only about ten percent of the energy from organic matter is stored as flesh. The remaining is lost during transfer, broken down in respiration, or lost to incomplete digestion by higher trophic level.

Ecosystem follows both first and second law of thermodynamics. Which state that energy is neither created nor destroyed but transferred from one form to another. Energy is transferred from one trophic level to other.

Ecosystem consists of biotic component producer, consumer and decomposer. Producer fix solar energy into useable forms and decomposer breaks the complex organic matter into simpler forms but consumer do not perform specific function so non-essential.

In most of the food chain of ecosystem only 4 to 5 trophic levels are present because loss of energy at successive levels is very high. Only 10% of energy is transferred to next trophic level.

A detritus food chain begins with dead organic matter. It is made of decomposers which are heterotrophic organism fungi and bacteria.

Rhizophora species is a saprophytic heterotrophs.

Food web is formed by interaction between a numbers of food chains having common members. Stability of ecosystem largely depends upon the kinds of food web exists in it for proper flow of energy.

The population of each organism in a food chain can be shown in a sort of bar chart called a pyramid of numbers. The more organisms there are, the wider the bar. The producer in the food chain always goes at the bottom of the pyramid of numbers. It is broader at base and decrease in upwards direction.

Ecosystem is a functional unit of nature. It is open unit in which energy can flow in or outside the ecosystem. Ecosystem may be temporary or permanent but size of ecosystems are not same always.

For greater efficiency a food chain must have three to four trophic levels. At each trophic levels loss of energy is very high so very small amount of energy is left after three trophic level.