What is Ecosystem?
- An ecosystem is the communities of living things in any particular area and their physical surroundings interacting together. It is an ecological unit within which structurally and functionally distinct biosphere units also exist. Therefore, a non-living element is part of an ecosystem.
- An ecosystem might be a solitary lake, a little forest, a prairie, or a mountain peak, for instance. Thus, if the forum is the environment, then the books, students, tables, and teachers make up its ecosystem, and an ecology study of their interactions would be appropriate.
Components of Ecosystem:
1. Abiotic Components:
It includes energy (Essential for life), rainfall (All the biochemical reactions take place in an aqueous medium), temperature (It influences the survival of the living organisms as they tolerate a certain range of temperature), atmosphere (It creates conditions suitable for existence), substratum, latitude & altitude (It influence and areas temperature resulting in climates such as polar tropical), materials (Organic material like proteins, carbohydrates etc. that are formed from inorganic substance on decomposition and inorganic compound like CO2, Water, Sulphur, Nitrate etc).
2. Biotic Components:
a. Primary Producers or Autotrophs
- These include various bacteria and algae as well as green plants. By using the process of photosynthesis and simple inorganic raw materials like carbon dioxide and water, they create carbohydrates. Green plants come under the example of Primary producers.
b. Consumers or Heterotrophs
- These are known as heterotrophs because they consume the food stored by autotrophs.
- They rely on natural food made by plants and animals.
- Based on the food choices they are grouped into three categories: Herbivores ( which eat plants only eg: cow, deer, rabbit etc.), Carnivores ( feeds upon animals eg: lion, cat etc.) and Omnivores (feeding upon both plants and animals eg: pigs, humans etc. )
c. Decomposers:
- These are called as saprotrophs or detrivores or detritus feeders..
- Bacteria and fungi come under this category. They
feed on dead decomposed and the dead organic matter of plants and animals. - Their role is very important in recycling nutrients. They are also called detrivores or detritus feeders.
Classification of Ecosystem:
A. Natural Ecosystem:
1. Terrestrial Ecosystem – Forest, Grassland, Deserts.
2. Aquatic Ecosystem – Freshwater, Saline water and marine water.
B. Artificial Ecosystem:
These are man-made ecosystems that include Crop, Urban, Industrial, Laboratory and Space ecosystems.
Parts of Ecosystem :
1) Ecotone:
An ecotone is a point where two or more different ecosystems converge. Mangrove forests, for instance, serve as an ecotone between the marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Grassland, estuaries, wetlands, the Terai area, marshes, etc. are some examples.
Characteristics of Ecotone:
- It is either quite wide or quite thin.
- Zone of Tension or transition is another name for it. Conditions between two nearby ecosystems are present in it(zone of tension).
- When a plant’s kind or colour changes, for example, an ecotone can be recognised.
- It is linear; as we advance, one community’s species increases and another community’s species decreases simultaneously. Linear is a well-developed Ecotone and may potentially have organisms that are entirely distinct from those in nearby communities.
- In some communities, there are more animals and people per square mile than in other ones. This is known as the Edge Effect. Example: Birds are particularly susceptible to the edge effect in terrestrial ecosystems.
2) Ecological Niche:
It is a species’ particular functional role or position within an ecosystem. No two species have precisely the same number of inches in this.
Types of niches-
- Habitat niche where it lives on food
- Food niche
- Reproductive niche
- Physical and chemical niche
3) Biome:
- It is the biosphere’s terrestrial portion, which is split up into large regions and distinguished by its climate, flora, animal population, and general soil type. A biome is a particular geographic region that contains a variety of habitats.
- No two biomes are alike, and the amount of plants and animals that can be found in each one depends on its climate.
- Biomes do not include aquatic zones. It comprises freshwater ecosystems, such as lakes, creeks, ponds, swamps, and rivers; Marine Ecosystem It has salinity up to 35 ppt (90 percent sodium chloride); Estuaries, coral reefs, and mangroves are more productive than nearby rivers or seas (ecotone).
4) Biosphere:
- It is the region of Earth where life is present.
- The biosphere comprises the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere in addition to the deepest root systems of plants, the darkest ocean trenches, lush rainforests, and tall mountain peaks.
- Sun is the source of the energy needed for life in the biosphere.