Terrestrial Ecosystem : Overview, Types & Importance

The terrestrial ecosystem is one of the essential parts of the whole ecosystem. It consists of everything related to the land in the ecosystem. It can include taigas, tundras, forests, deserts, grasslands, and so on. These ecosystems are dynamic and diverse. They are the backbones of Earth’s ecological system terrestrial ecosystem spans, grows forest grasslands, and deserts that are home to a credible variety of flora and fauna. That also contributes significantly to the planet’s biodiversity. Understanding the territorial ecosystem is necessary for conservation efforts and ensures the sustainable development of our environment.

Terrestrial Ecosystem-Overview

Name of Ecosystem	Terrestrial Ecosystem
Area Covered	140-150 million km
Area covered in Percentage	25-20% of Earth’s land area
Types	Forests Grassland Tundras Desert

What is an ecosystem?

An ecosystem is defined as the common and sharing geographical area where animals, plants, and other organisms live under a weather on a specific landscape. It consists of biotic as well as abiotic components of living system. Biotic factors are plants, animals, and organisms whereas abiotic components include rocks, temperature, and humidity. Each component depends on the other for survival and growth.

What is a Terrestrial Ecosystem?

The term terrestrial ecosystem refers to the community living or related to land. It is the land-based community of organisms interacting with biotic and abiotic components of the environment.

What is the importance of terrestrial ecosystems?

Terrestrial ecosystem is approximately spread over 148 million km 29% of Earth’s total surface area. Flistop ranges from polar reason to tropical deserts and forest rainforests. The diversity of terrestrial ecosystems is a large scale that needs a classification system to make it simple.

Types of Terrestrial Ecosystems?

Terrestrial ecosystems are large and hue. Therefore, these are divided into the biomes. Biomes can be understood as the community of plants and animals that live in an area naturally sharing the same common area. Based on these, terrestrial ecosystems are divided into the following as mentioned below. Here based on the terrestrial ecosystem, we will discuss more about the land-based biomes such as grassland, forest, desert, and tundra that can be further divided.

Forests

The forests are generally composed of trees and, a wide range of insects, birds, and mammals. These can be divided into temperate forests, tropical forests, and boreal forests. These are distributed across various latitudes because of which they have distinct climate conditions.

For example, tropical forests are located near the equator in warm and humid climates. The temperate forests are located at higher latitudes witnessing the distinct seasons. Whereas boreal forests are found at higher latitudes, which have the coldest and driest climate with snow being the primary form of precipitation

Grasslands

Grasslands are wide open areas covered with grasses. These are found in warm and dry climates. These are further divided into two kinds.

1. Tropical Grasslands/ Savannas

Savannas are found near the equator. These have scattered trees. These are found in Australia, India, and South America. These get more rainfall as compared to temperate grasslands.

2. Temperate Grasslads

Temperate grasslands are situated far away from the equator. These are found in South Africa, Hungary, Argentina, Uruguay, North America, and Russia. There are no trees and no shrubs. These can be further recognized in the form of Prairie and steppes.

Tundra

Any terrestrial ecosystem that has an annual temperature range from 34 degrees Celsius to 12 degrees Celsius (29 degrees Fahrenheit to 54 degrees Fahrenheit) is considered a tundra. Tundras are the coldest areas of the terrestrial ecosystem. These areas receive low precipitation between the range of 15 to 25 cm annually. Here, poor soil is found along with short summers. Biodiversity and vegetation in tundras are very limited. It primarily consists of shrubs, grasses, mosses, and lichens. The biodiversity and vegetation in tundra areas is limited due to underlying permafrost. Wildlife in the tundra area is special because they endure its harsh conditions.

Tundras are of two types. One is the Arctic located north of Boreal Forest. And the second is alpine, situated on high mountains.

Deserts

Deserts are part of the terrestrial ecosystem in which the annual rainfall is less than 50cm or 20 inches per year. These cover around 20% of the earth’s total surface. Generally, two types of deserts are found in form of cold deserts and the hot deserts. These are located in subtropical areas of the earth. Deesrts faces extreme conditions of weather because of which lower biodiversity is found here as compared to other biomes. The vegetation and wildlife in desserts are adaptable to the dry environment so that they can thrive in that environment. Because of the dry environment, the reptiles and mammals found here are small in size. The vegetation found in desert areas is categorised as xerophytic which means these are drought resistant, for example cacti, thorny bushes, long rooted wiry crosses, and acacias. The leaves of this vegetation is not long. These are either waxy, leathery, hairy, or noodle shapes that helps to reduce the water through transpiration.

Impact of Terrestrial Ecosystems on Environment

Terrestrial ecosystems are a significant part of the environment. It affects both local and global balances. Its impact can be noticed through various ways such as climate regulation, carbon sequestration, water cycle regulation, soil conservation, biodiversity support, air quality improvement, economic benefits, mitigating natural disasters, and so on. Terrestrial ecosystems offer a lot of services to the environment which are essential to maintaining life on the earth.

To conclude, terrestrial ecosystems are the most important on the earth’s planet. These comprise all the land-based life systems. Without it, life on the earth is not possible. It supports the survival of human life and facilitates the survival on the earth. This ecosystem provides habitat to diverse types of vegetation, wildlife, and indifferent environmental conditions This ecosystem plays a vital role in supporting life on Earth that influences climate as well as air quality.

FAQs on Terrestrial Ecosystem

What are the three types of terrestrial ecosystems?

The three types of terrestrial ecosystems are forests, grasslands, and the deserts.

What lives in terrestrial ecosystems?

Plants, Animals insects and microorganisms adapt to their habitat in terrestrial ecosystem.

What do you mean by the terrestrial ecosystem?

A land based ecosystem in which living and non living components interact continuously for the survival is known as the terrestrial ecosystem.

How much area of land is covered under the terrestrial ecosystem?

About 148 kilometres square, or 29% of the earth surface is covered under the terrestrial ecosystem.

Where is the forest ecosystem found?

At various in latitudes, different types of forest ecosystems is found on the terrestrial ecosystem.

What are the types of grassland ecosystems?

Tropical grasslands that is also known as Savannahs and temperate grasslands, also known as prairies and Steppes, are found in the form of grasslands ecosystem.