GS3 › Ecology and Biodiversity

Revision note: Ecosystems: Structure, Energy Flow and Nutrient Cycles

  • Ecology (Haeckel 1866); ecosystem (Tansley 1935); habitat vs niche; competitive exclusion (Gause)
  • Producers, consumers, decomposers; chemosynthesis at vents
  • 10% law (Lindeman); GPP vs NPP; most productive: rainforests, reefs, estuaries
  • Pyramids: energy always upright; biomass inverted in aquatic; numbers inverted for a tree
  • Biomagnification (DDT, mercury; Silent Spring 1962; Minamata)
  • N cycle: Rhizobium, Azotobacter (fixation); Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter (nitrification); Pseudomonas (denitrification); P cycle sedimentary
  • Succession: primary (lichens), secondary; climax; keystone, flagship and indicator species; ecotone and edge effect
Revision card summarising Ecosystems: Structure, Energy Flow and Nutrient Cycles
One-page visual summary of the key points to revise.

Source: https://upscprep.in/upsc/gs3/ecology-and-biodiversity/ecosystems-structure-energy-flow-and-nutrient-cycles/ · UPSCPrep.in

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