Geography
Pond Ecosystem
A pond ecosystem is a community of organisms that interact with each other and their physical environment within a pond. It includes a variety of plants, animals, and microorganisms, all of which contribute to the overall balance and functioning of the ecosystem. Ponds are characterized by their relatively small size and standing water, which supports a unique and diverse range of life forms.
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12 Key excerpts on "Pond Ecosystem"
- Srivastava, Manish L(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Daya Publishing House(Publisher)
Chapter 7 Pond Ecology Introduction Water is the most vital resource of all kinds of life in this planet. A philosopher and scientist considered water to be the origin of all things. In it about 95% is sea water, 4% is frozen as snow in mountain and only 1% is available for human activity. It is confined in ground water, rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, soil profile and biological system. Out of this ground water constitutes 99% of available water. Ponds are small bodies of water in which the littoral zone is relatively large and the limnetic and profoundal regions are small or absent. Stratification is of minor importance. Ponds may be found in most regions of adequate rainfall. They are continually being formed for example, as a stream shifts position, leaving the former bed isolated as a body of standing water of “Oxbow”. Such ponds can be designated as flood plain ponds since they occur on stream flood plain ponds and are subject to flooding during high water because of the accumulation of organic materials of flood plains, small flood plain ponds may be quite productive. In the piedmont region of the south east, where glacial lakes and ponds are lacking, we have found that flood plain ponds are very favourable sites for class study since they contain a rich and varied life and illustrate various principles and the Pond Ecosystem. Natural ponds are also formed in limestone region when depressions or “Sinks” develop, due to solution of the underlying strata. Temporary ponds, that is, ponds which are dry for part of the year, are especially interesting and support a unique community organisms in such ponds must be able to survive, in dormant stage during dry periods or be able to move in and out of ponds, as can amphibians and adult aquatic insects. The fairy shrimps ( Eubranchiopoda ) are especially remarkesable crustaceans This ebook is exclusively for this university only. Cannot be resold/distributed.
eBook - PDF- Khanna, D R(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Daya Publishing House(Publisher)
Chapter 6 Discussion Abiotic and biotic factors of an aquatic ecosystem are interdependent and the fluctuations of abiotic ones frequently affect the flora and fauna, changing their quality and diversity. Even though most of the bodies like ponds, lakes in earlier days were originally meant for other drinking purpose, but in today’s life these water bodies are being utilized for various other purposes. The anthropogenic activities such as human interferences are disturbing the water quality of the ecosystem which has got specific morphoedaphic features. The Paniyala Fish Pond is one of the major pond of the fisheries department of Roorkee city of District Haridwar. Being one of the major pond for the fish culture it was found necessary to assess the current limnological, microbiological and planktonic study of the pond. Within the period of two years from March 2007 to February 2009, four physical, eight chemical and 6 biological parameters were investigated along with a study of fish diversity of the pond side by side. Water temperature is one of the most important ecological factors which control physiological behaviour and distribution. Temperature of water depends upon the depth of water, solar radiation, climate and topography. Higher water temperature accelerates the rate of physiological reaction. Temperature also alters the saturation values of solids, and gases in water. Das (1989) expressed that the lakes which do not come under This ebook is exclusively for this university only. Cannot be resold/distributed. oligotrophic and eutrophic status and fall intermediate between oligotrophic and eutrophic can be termed as mesotrophic. Sharma (1980) has also attempted to classify water bodies on the basis of water clarity values. Among all factors controlling the environment of pond water, temperature is one of the major factors having the most intense direct and indirect effect on the pond water on any aquatic ecosystem.
- Frank R. Spellman(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
Figure 15.4 is a simplified diagram of a few of the living and nonliving components of an ecosystem found in a freshwater pond. An ecosystem is a cyclic mechanism in which biotic and abiotic materials are constantly exchanged through biogeo-chemical cycles , where bio refers to living organisms; geo to water, air, rocks, or solids; and chemical to the chemical composition of the Earth. Biogeochemical cycles are driven by energy, directly or indirectly from the sun. Figure 15.4 depicts an ecosystem where biotic and abi-otic materials are constantly exchanged. Producers construct organic substances through photosynthesis and chemosyn-thesis. Consumers and decomposers use organic matter as their food and convert it into abiotic components; that is, they dissipate energy fixed by producers through food chains. The abiotic part of the pond in Figure 15.4 is formed of inor-ganic and organic compounds dissolved and in sediments, such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, calcium, hydrogen, and humic acids. Producers such as rooted plants and phy-toplanktons represent the biotic part. Fish, crustaceans, and insect larvae make up the consumers. Mayfly nymphs repre-sent detrivores, which feed on organic detritus. Decomposers make up the final biotic part. They include aquatic bacteria and fungi, which are distributed throughout the pond. FIGURE 15.3 Notonecta (left) and Corixa (right). (Adapted from Odum, E.P., Basic Ecology , Saunders, Philadelphia, PA, 1983, p. 402.) Organs Organism Population Communities Ecosystem Biosphere FIGURE 15.2 Levels of organization. 502 Handbook of Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Operations, Third Edition Note: As stated earlier, an ecosystem is a cyclic mecha-nism. From a functional viewpoint, an ecosystem can be analyzed in terms of several factors. The factors important in this study include the biogeochemical cycles, energy flow, and food chains.
eBook - ePubWater Resources
An Integrated Approach
- Joseph Holden(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Figure 6.4 ). Ponds, being smaller, are occasionally overlooked in terms of their ecological importance. Nevertheless, both permanent and temporal ponds play an important role in sustaining the life cycles of a number of plants, insects and amphibians. In the case of temporary ponds there are many species that have developed adaptations and life history strategies to cope with changes in hydrological conditions. These include invertebrates that burrow into deeper, moist sediment and insects and amphibians which use water for part of the life cycle, before metamorphosis into their mature forms.Figure 6.3 Diversity of lake habitats in the Windermere catchment, north-west England: a) the stony littoral zone of Rydal Water; b) a fringing littoral reed bed in Windermere; c) littoral reed swamp in Rydal Water; and d) the expansive pelagic zone of Windermere.Source : Photos a)–c) courtesy of Gary Rushworth.Figure 6.4 A general scheme of littoral and profundal habitats in a freshwater lake.Source : After Moss (1998). Reproduced with kind permission by John Wiley & Sons; Moss, B. 1998. Ecology of freshwaters: man and medium, past to future . © Blackwell Publishing; Oxford.This chapter considers river and lake ecosystems in terms of their major biotic groups, including primary producers, consumers and parasites. The way in which these groups interact is considered with an introduction to food web structure. The chapter subsequently considers the role that aquatic organisms play in ecosystem processes, including organic-matter production, respiration and nutrient cycling, and introduces the concept of ecosystem services. Finally, the focus of the chapter turns to systems that have been altered significantly through the actions of humans, with a consideration of the effects of flow regulation, land-use alteration, point-source pollution, eutrophication
eBook - ePub- Jeremy Biggs(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- William Collins(Publisher)
CHAPTER 6The Pond Environment
The attractive notion that a small pond is a closed microcosm was soon dispelled , also the hope that it would be a simple system to study .C . S . Elton and R . S . Miller , 1953IntroductionThe traditional view of ponds is that they can be divided into marginal shallows, open water, bottom mud and the surface film, that their life is dependent on the availability of oxygen and sunlight, and that they are doomed to fill in and become dry land. This is reflected in the sort of classic stylised picture of a pond that you can see in many books from the 1950s right up until today, which looks something like Figure 106 . It is based on ideas which have been repeated many times for lakes and, in the absence of anything better, have been applied to mislead students (of all ages) interested in ponds.These simplifications matter. This is a time when decline in pond biodiversity is evident. Today’s student, young naturalist and interested local are tomorrow’s conservation practitioners. To help them make good decisions, our simplifications need to be a better reflection of reality.The classic pond cross section shown in Figure 106 has several flaws. Starting at the edge and working inwards:FIG 106. How ponds and lakes are typically presented in textbooks – there are essentially three zones: the edge (littoral zone), the open water and the bottom, and five main groups of plants and animals. One recent author goes as far as describing a picture much like this as ‘everything you should need to know’.1. The outer edge is too steep
eBook - PDF- Luca Palmeri, Alberto Barausse, Sven Erik Jorgensen(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
283 © 2008 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 20 Aquatic Ecosystems 20.1 Introduction Aquatic ecosystems are ubiquitous elements of natural or seminatural landscapes. Aquatic environments and the communities that inhabit them constitute the larger part of the biosphere as explained in the previous chap-ters. Water indeed covers about three quarters of the surface of our planet. The vast majority of aquatic ecosystems consist of salt water ecosystems, because almost all the water on the earth is found in the oceans and seas. Different zones of the ocean, each characterized by particular communities of organisms, can be distinguished as intertidal, benthic, and pelagic zones. Freshwater ecosystems, such as rivers, lakes, and ponds, represent only a limited portion of the water present on the planet. However these environ-ments are home to a wide variety of organisms accounting for about 10% of all aquatic species. All basic life processes started in water environments, where indeed life has begun. Water is the essential matrix for all organisms. Moreover, the history of life evolution occasionally implied some changes in water usage, storage, displacement, quality, or more generally characteristics. Definitely, describing ecological processes in aquatic environments is of utmost impor-tance to understand the different ecological roles of the water matrix in land-scape dynamics. 20.2 Eutrophication Among the key ecological processes, primary production (e.g., growth in Chapter 14) is obviously taking place in each ecosystem. Particularly, in aquatic ecosystems, growth with limitation (Chapter 15) may result in extreme dystrophic conditions, in which the system may become highly productive due to nutrient enrichment. This altered trophic condition is known as eutrophication and results in extensive algal blooms induced by
eBook - PDFEcology
From Ecosystem to Biosphere
- Christian Leveque(Author)
- 2003(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
To understand their structure and functioning, it is necessary to know this history as well as the conditions in which the flora and fauna were established. In a more recent past, various types of developments (dams, dykes) or activities (removal of sand and gravel) have often modified the beds of rivers. At each time scale, there are phenomena that have had an influence on the present dynamics. In reality, we must add a fifth dimension to hydrosystems, that of the exchanges of the river and its watershed with the atmosphere: e.g., evapotranspiration and rainfall, inputs of dissolved substances by rain, gaseous exchanges (N2, C0 2 ,0 2), the fallout of atmospheric dust. These exchanges control the elements of the hydrological balance and, consequently, the driving force of the functioning of fluvial systems. Spatial Heterogeneity and Temporal Variability 193 9.5.4. Lakes as part of a landscape: regional ecology For a long time, lakes were considered the archetype of the ecosystem, with spatial limits that were relatively clearly identified by the shore line. Subsequently, it was perceived that these ecosystems were not actually closed but kept up exchanges of matter and energy with neighbouring aquatic or terrestrial environments, as well as with the atmosphere. The lakes are thus part of a larger landscape comprising the lake itself and its watershed, characterized by the local geology, the land cover, the topography, and other factors. In other words, the spatio-temporal dynamics of lake environments is partly influenced by the external environment. Some authors have proposed the concept of regional ecology, a more general term than landscape ecology, to designate mixed terrestrial and aquatic systems. In the context of regional ecology, what occurs outside the systems studied is focused on in order to understand the respective role of endogenous and exogenous factors in the functioning of lake systems.
- Michel Loreau, Andy Hector, Forest Isbell(Authors)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Wiley-ISTE(Publisher)
The cyclic nature of these processes leads to complex feedbacks among many of the component parts. Ecosystems are affected by characteristic disturbance regimes : events that are discrete in time and space that cause a disruption to resource availability or the physical environment (White and Pickett 1985). Due to these complexities, ecosystems are generally recognized as being dynamic, nonequilibrium systems rather than having a single stable equilibrium. Most definitions of ecosystems do not explicitly denote spatial scale – rather, the spatial scale of an ecosystem is defined by the size of the organisms and the extent of the processes in question. In theory, this could lead to ecosystems within a drop of lake water, or a single Earth-sized ecosystem, but in practice, ecosystems generally fall in spatial scale between the more-encompassing biome – defined as a characteristic community type found in a geographic area with a certain climate – and the less-encompassing habitat – the area defined by the organisms and abiotic conditions in which a particular species is found. The related concept of community encompasses the biotic factors and interactions but does not integrate the abiotic factors, including biogeochemical processes, that are essential for defining an ecosystem. Why are different ecosystems found in different areas across the Earth? Ecosystem extent, or the boundary between one ecosystem and another, in terrestrial systems is determined by five state factors that include the abiotic factors of climate, bedrock parent material, topography, and time, along with the biotic community (Jenny 1941)
- Gabrielle I. Edwards, Cynthia Pfirrmann, Barron's Educational Series(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Barrons Educational Services(Publisher)
The abiotic factors consist of physical and chemical conditions that affect the ability of a given species to live and reproduce in a particular place. Included in the abiotic factors are temperature, light, water, oxygen, pH (acid-base balance) of soil, type of substrate, and the availability of minerals. Certain kinds of plants and animals will flourish in a natural community if the conditions are present that permit their survival. Species interact to influence the survival of one another. One important principle of ecology is that no living organism is independent of other organisms or of the physical environment, if they share the same community.The Concept of the Ecosystem
Certain terms are used in ecology to provide a consistent description of conditions and events. A population refers to all of the members of a given species that live in a particular location. For example, a beech-maple forest will contain a population of maple trees, a population of beech trees, a population of deer, and populations of other species of plants and animals. All of the plant and animal populations living and interacting in a given environment are known as a community.The living community and the nonliving environment work together in a cooperative ecological system known as an ecosystem. An ecosystem has no size requirement or set boundaries. A forest, a pond, and a field are examples of ecosystems. So is an unused city lot, a small aquarium, the lawn in front of a residential dwelling, or a crack in a sidewalk. All of these examples reflect areas where interaction is taking place between living organisms and the nonliving environment.COMPONENTS OF THE ECOSYSTEM
Modern ecologists think of the ecosystem in terms of its interacting forces or components. One such component is the physical environment. This includes the air, which is made up of 21 percent oxygen, 78 percent nitrogen, 0.03 percent carbon dioxide, and the remainder inert gases. The soil is the source of minerals that supply plants with compounds of nitrogen, zinc, calcium, phosphorus, and other minerals.The green plants in the ecosystem are another component. These are the producers, so-called because they are able to make their own food using the inorganic materials of carbon dioxide and water and minerals from the soil. Directly dependent upon the producers are the primary consumers—herbivores, or plant-eaters. Herbivores come in all sizes: crickets, leaf cutters, deer, and cattle. Omnivores, or secondary consumers, eat plants and other animals, usually smaller herbivores. The carnivores, or flesh-eaters, such as snakes, hawks, and coyotes, are tertiary consumers because they feed exclusively on meat. There are also scavengers
eBook - PDFSpellman's Standard Handbook for Wastewater Operators
Volume III, Advanced Level, Second Edition
- Frank R. Spellman(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
14 Spellman’s Standard Handbook for Wastewater Operators: Volume III, Advanced Level As stated earlier, the ecosystem encompasses both the living and nonliving factors in a particular environment . The living or biotic part of the ecosystem is formed by two components: autotrophic and heterotrophic . The autotrophic (self-nourishing) component does not require food from its environment but can manufacture food from inor-ganic substances; for example, some autotrophic components (plants) manufacture needed energy through photosynthesis . Heterotrophic components, on the other hand, depend on autotrophic components for food . The nonliving or abiotic part of the ecosystem is formed by three components: inorganic substances, organic compounds (link biotic and abiotic parts), and climate regime . Figure 1 .4 is a simplified diagram of a few of the living and nonliving components of an ecosystem found in a freshwater pond . An ecosystem is a cyclic mechanism in which biotic and abiotic materials are constantly exchanged through biogeochemical cycles , where bio refers to living organisms; geo to water, air, rocks, or solids; and chemical to the chemical composition of the Earth . Biogeochemical cycles are driven by energy, directly or indirectly from the sun . Figure 1 .4 depicts an ecosystem where biotic and abiotic materi-als are constantly exchanged . Producers construct organic substances through photosynthesis and chemosynthesis . Consumers and decom-posers use organic matter as their food and convert it into abiotic com-ponents; that is, they dissipate energy fixed by producers through food chains . The abiotic part of the pond in Figure 1 .4 is formed of inorganic and organic compounds dissolved and in sediments such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, calcium, hydrogen, and humic acids .
eBook - PDF- Mahua Basu, Xavier Savarimuthu, SJ(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
Crayfish, crabs, clams and limpets, crocodiles and fishes are very common in streams and rivers. Lotic mammals include beavers, otters and river dolphins. Lentic ecosystems : Lentic ecosystems refer to immobile, still or stagnant waters such as lakes and ponds. Ponds are usually of shallow depth and holds key to the village activities. Ponds and lakes supports a wide variety of organisms such as algae, rooted plants, floating – plants, protozoans, crabs, shrimps, crayfish, clams, frogs, salamanders, alligators and water snakes. Presently, ponds and lakes are subjected to pollution as a consequence of human activities such as washing clothes and utensils, bathing, cattle bathing and for drinking. Lake are much more deeper than the ponds and usually have a shallow littoral zone, an open water zone called limnetic zone with effective light penetration and a deep water or profundal zone without light. On the basis of temperature lakes can be stratified as the epilimnion (warm surface water) and hypolimnion (cold non-circulating bottom water) with thermocline in between. Lakes can be classified as: Oligotrophic lakes with poor nutrients and clear water – Lake Vostok, Lake Superior. Eutrophic lakes with excess nutrients – Lake Erie. Dystrophic lakes with low pH and high humic acid – Lake Matheson, Humic Lake. Endemic or ancient deep lakes – Lake Baikal, Lake Tanganyika. Desert salt lakes with very high salt concentrations and high evaporations – Great Salt Lake, Utah and Sambhar. Volcanic lakes receiving water from volcanic eruptions – Lake Toba, Lake Chagan. Meromictic lakes with permanent stratification – Round Lake. Artificial lakes constructed by man – Nagarjuna Sagar, Govind Sagar. Coral reefs survive best between the temperatures 25°–29°C. The reefs stretch over an area of 280,000 sq. km and support about 2 million other marine species. It is the shelter for more than 25 per cent of fishes and a nursery bed for the juveniles.
eBook - ePub- J. A. Taylor(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
It is obvious, however, that the notion of the ecosystem is neither simple nor straightforward in its interpretation; it includes and implies a number of dimensions or aspects, and it can be used in a number of different ways in scientific praxis. Nor should it be expected that its use by geographers should in any way be different in essence from its employment by biologists. Even the common strategy of trying to base a distinction on spatial or locational emphases is trivial and effete, for the traditional use of the basic Tansleyian concept by ecologists inevitably involves a locational and spatial specificity by virtue of the incorporation of biotope into its essential content. This becomes even more obvious when the notion is expanded in scale to describe major biomes; indeed then the spatial extent and locational factors become paramount.From this two necessary observations follow. First, that in speaking of the ecosystematic approach to biogeographical studies, we can refer only to a broad and diffuse set of approaches, and not to a closely-defined structured method of study. Second, we can refer only to a broad spectrum of interests and problems to which both biological and geographical ecologists have made a contribution. Such attention as is given here to the geographical contribution in no way implies a devaluation of the biological contribution, which, in many fields, has been significantly more distinguished than that of those working in the ambience of geography, particularly in North America. It is perhaps most helpful to view ecosystem studies as a developing field in broadly defined ecological science to which both trained biologists and competent geographers have a major contribution to make. There are encouraging signs of co-operation in some institutions even now.The Ecosystem in Geography
The complexity of the concept contributes the versatility in its use. On the broadest scale it serves as an organising principle for systematising diverse theoretical material . At another level it can be treated as an object of study in itself in order to develop specific theory of ecosystems . Then it can be used as a specific concept defining a problem-solving approach . It can also be used as an empirical category denoting the visible expression of a specifiable set of ecological relationships
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