Ecosystem

Definition of Ecosystem

An ecosystem or ecological system is a structural and functional unit of the biosphere where regular energy input and matter circulation occur. The term ecosystem in our enviorment was first coined by English botanist Arthur Tansley in 1935. An ecosystem in our environment is formed by all the interacting organisms in an area (ocean, forest, desert, pond, etc) together with the non-living constituents or abiotic components. Biodiversity for all forms of life plays an important role in ecosystems because, without a wide range of life, we cannot get a healthy ecosystem on Earth. Various types of biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows to form an ecosystem in an ocean, forest, desert, pond, etc.

Biodiversity of Ecosystem

Biodiversity is the variety and variability of life you will find on our Earth. Our natural world is made up of a variety of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. Each of these living species and organisms works together in ecosystems to create a food chain or food web for balance and support of life.

Biodiversity is important for all forms of life because, without a wide range of life, we cannot get healthy ecosystems on our Earth. It supports the survival of all species in an ecosystem by providing food security, clean water, clean air, raw materials, shelter, etc.

Types of Ecosystem

Natural and artificial are two types of ecosystems found in our ocean, forest, desert, pond, etc. One can exist naturally while the other can be created or maintained by humans.

Natural Ecosystem

Natural ecosystems are the naturally existing ecosystem that occurs without any human support and are found in an ocean, forest, desert, pond, etc. Depending upon the habits, the natural ecosystems may be terrestrial and aquatic.

• Terrestrial: The ecosystem in desert, grassland, and forest.
• Aquatic: The ecosystem in ponds, lakes, estuaries, and marine.

Air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, and ozone layer depletion can impact the living organisms of various natural ecosystems on our Earth. For example, pollutants in the air can be toxic and sensitive to small plants, trees, and animals. It also pollutes land and water by depositing toxic substances and increasing the acidity of water and soil.

Artificial Ecosystem

The artificial or man-made ecosystem is created or maintained by human efforts to sustain it. Like natural ecosystems, they do not contain any self-regulating mechanism. The agroecosystem is the largest man-made ecosystem found in various parts of the world. The other examples of man-made ecosystems are aquariums, botanical gardens, parks, crop fields, etc.

Examples of Ecosystem

The natural and artificial ecosystems found in our Earth’s environment are big or small. We can see two types of natural ecosystems in our environment.

1. Terrestrial ecosystem
2. Aquatic ecosystem

Terrestrial Ecosystem

A terrestrial ecosystem is a land-based ecosystem where interaction between biotic and abiotic components is found in a given region of land. Examples of different types of terrestrial ecosystems distributed in various regions of our Earth may include:

1. Forest ecosystem
2. Grassland ecosystem
3. Taiga ecosystem
4. Tundra ecosystem
5. Desert ecosystem

Forest Ecosystem

A forest ecosystem is a terrestrial region on Earth where trees are present predominantly along with other living organisms and interact with non-living or abiotic components of the environment.

Forests play an important role in the global ecosystem and biodiversity because they produce a major amount of Earth oxygen and provide food and shelter for most of the animals.

Grassland Ecosystem

The grassland ecosystem is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous or non-woody plants. The most common examples of grassland ecosystems are temperate grasslands and tropical or savanna grasslands.

Tiaga Ecosystem

The taiga ecosystem is a region characterized by evergreen conifers, cold winters, and brief but warm and wet summers. It contains acidic soils and is home to animals like lynx, wolves, insect or seed-eating birds, and grizzly bears.

Tiga biome is found across North America, northern Europe, and northern Asia.

Tundra Ecosystem

Tundra ecosystems are treeless clod and windy regions found in the Arctic and on the tops of mountains. The rainfall in tundra ecosystems is very limited and tundra land is covered with snow for much of the year. However, summer brings their bursts of wildflowers.

Diomede Island, Alaska, United States is an example of a tundra region where rainfall is very limited and it is covered with snow for much of the year with windy environments.

Desert Ecosystem

A desert ecosystem is a terrestrial dry region on Earth where living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) communities interact together in extreme temperatures and low precipitation.

A desert may covered with sand without plants and is hot during the day but cold at night. Desert is one of the most dried land regions on the Earth that receives very little precipitation and rainfall throughout the year.

Aquatic Ecosystem

Aquatic ecosystems are ecosystems where living and non-living communities interact in fresh water and salty water. Therefore, aquatic ecosystems in our Earth are further divided into two types:

1. Freshwater ecosystem
2. Marine or ocean ecosystem

Freshwater Ecosystem

A freshwater ecosystem is an aquatic ecosystem where living and non-living communities interact in fresh water. Such types of ecosystems are found in lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and wetlands. The examples of three basic types of freshwater ecosystems are

• Lentic: Found in slow-moving water like pools, ponds, and lakes.
• Lotic: Found in faster-moving water like streams and rivers.
• Wetlands: Found in areas where the soil is saturated.

Marine Ecosystem

Marine or ocean ecosystems are aquatic ecosystems where living and non-living components interact in salty water. Such type of biodiversity in an ecosystem is found in the open ocean, the deep-sea ocean, and the coastal area of the sea. Each of these has different physical and biological characteristics.

Structure of Ecosystem

Any ecosystem of our environment contains both ling or biotic and non-living or abiotic components.

Biotic Components

Biotic components in an ecosystem include all the living organisms such as plants, animals, and microorganisms. Living organisms are interconnected with one another by food chain or food web and they interdependence on each other.

On the basis of their nutritional relationships, they are primarily classified into various groups. According to the food they consume, the different living organisms can be classified into three groups such as producers, consumers, and decomposers.

Producers

All the plants and certain blue-green algae can produce their food by the process of photosynthesis. The absorbed solar energy from the sun and produced or stored as carbohydrates.

Producers are also called autotrophs because they convert solar energy to chemical energy. They can take up carbon dioxide (CO₂) and release oxygen (O₂) into our environment. Therefore they can balance the composition of air in our natural ecosystem.

Consumers

Consumers or heterotrophs in any ecosystem consume or fulfill their nutritional requirements from producers. Therefore, they are dependent on producers and consume food prepared by producers. Consumers can further divided into the following three categories:

1. Herbivores: They are primary or first-order consumers who can feed directly from consumers. Examples of herbivores are gazing animals like zebra, goats, horses, sheep, cows, etc.
2. Carnivores: They are the animals that feed on other animals. Therefore, carnivores that feed on herbivores are called second-order consumers. Some carnivores such as tigers, lions, hawks, and wolves may be predators because they can attack and kill their prey and feed on their bodies. However, some may be scavengers (jackals) because they can feed on dead animals that they find.
3. Omnivores: Omnivores are animals that can be fed by both plants and animals. For example, humans and bears.

Decomposers

The decomposers in any ecosystem are the microorganisms that feed on decaying and dead organic matter such as dead animals and plants. The substances released from dead living organisms can be used by other members such as (bacteria and fungi) of our environment.

Decomposers are useful in decomposing waste from the environment, recycling materials, and creating the growth of new organisms. When these microorganisms are removed, the recycling of nutrients will stop, and balance in an ecosystem will be lost and biodiversity will be disturbed.

Abiotic Components

The abiotic components of any ecosystem are the non-living matter on which living organisms are dependent. Each non-living component influences our environment in many ways. Therefore, they influence the biodiversity of the intern area. The common examples of abiotic components are light, temperature, water, atmospheric gases, wind, etc.

Light

Sunlight or solar energy is the main source of energy for all natural ecosystems. It can be used by green plants during photosynthesis reactions. During photosynthesis, plants can make glucose by combining carbon dioxide and water in the presence of solar radiation.

Temperature

The plants and animals in our environment are distributed according to the temperature of the region where they live. Rain also affects the growth of plants and plant growth determines the place where animals live.

Atmospheric Gases

We can find different gases in our ecosystem. Oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide are the main and important components of air in our environment. Other harmful gases such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and methane can negatively affect our Earth’s ecosystems. They can cause envermental pollution such as air, water, and soil pollution.

Among these oxygen is required for respiration and carbon dioxide is needed for photosynthesis. Nitrogen fixation can be carried out by various bacteria and through the lighting in the upper atmosphere.

Wind

Wind in a natural ecosystem helps in pollination and seed dispersal of some plants. It also removes and redistributes the top part of soil in our environment.

Wind energy is also used in the production of electrical energy by wind turbines. It is a good source of renewable energy that is used by humans to sustain their lives.

Water

Water is essential for biodiversity and an important abiotic component of any natural and man-made ecosystem found in land and ocean. All known forms of life such as plants, animals, and microorganisms depend on water. It is a solvent in which many solutes present in living organisms dissolve.

Water is also an essential part of many metabolic processes within living organisms. In metabolism, water can help to grow larger molecules such as starches, triglycerides, and proteins while it also breaks bonds in order to generate smaller molecules such as glucose, fatty acids, and amino acids.

Water is essential for photosynthesis, respiration, and acid base balance in living organisms.

• Photosynthetic cells of plants use solar energy to split off hydrogen from water molecules to produce oxygen. The splitting hydrogen combined with CO₂ in the presence of solar light to form glucose.
• In cellular respiration, all living cells use biological fuels and oxygen for the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which contains energy. It also reforms water and carbon dioxide.
• Water can also play an important role in acid-base neutrality and enzyme function.

Food Chain in Ecosystem

A food chain in an ecosystem is a linear network of living organisms in a community through which energy is transferred in the form of food. It commonly describes who eats whom in our environment.

The transfer of food or energy through various steps or levels in a food chain is called trophic levels.

1. The producers in a food chain are present in the first trophic levels and they fix solar energy for consumers.
2. The herbivores or the primary consumers are present in second trophic levels.
3. Small carnivores or secondary consumers are present in the third tropic level of a food chain.
4. The large or tertiary consumers form the fourth trophic level of an ecosystem.

Energy Flow in Ecosystem

The energy flow of ecosystems means the transfer of accommodated solar energy from primary producers through the food chain to different trophic levels. Whenever energy is transferred from one form to another, some energy can be lost as heat energy. Such unidirectional energy cannot be recycled or go back to the previous level.

The flow of energy in an ecosystem can be described in the following steps:

• The green plants in terrestrial ecosystems can absorb one percent of solar energy for the conversion of chemical energy through photosynthesis.
• A major amount of energy can be lost as heat by primary consumers after eating green plants to sustain their life processes.
• According to the 10% law by Lindemann, about 10% of energy can be available for next-level consumers.
• Due to little energy availability for the next level of consumers, the food chain generally consists of three or four steps.
• The flow of energy in the ecosystems is unidirectional. Therefore, the energy captured by autotrophils from the solar light can not revert back to the Sun.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Ecosystem?

An ecosystem is defined as a community of living organisms (biotic factors) and their physical environment (abiotic factors) that interact with each other in a specific area (ocean, forest, desert, pond) of our Earth. It is the structural and functional unit of the biosphere. It is formed by the interaction of living organisms with their environment.

The term “ecosystem” comes from the words “eco” which means a part of the world and “system” which means coordinating units.

Why is biodiversity in an ecosystem important?

Biodiversity or biological diversity is commonly defined as the variety and variability of life and ecosystems on our Earth. Therefore, biodiversity is important for all forms of life because, without a wide range of life, we cannot get healthy ecosystems.

Biodiversity of the ecosystem supports the survival of all species found in an ocean, forest, desert, or pond by providing food security, clean water, clean air, raw materials, shelter, etc.

How does water pollution affect the ecosystem?

Water pollution is a major environmental problem because it can distrub the biodiversity of the aquatic ecosystem (fresh, coastal, and ocean). The main impacts of water pollution on ecosystems are:

• Water pollution can hurt aquatic ecosystems or life by eutrophication or the proliferation of phytoplankton in lakes, ponds, etc
• It decreases the availability of oxygen or biological oxygen for aquatic ecosystems.
• Water pollution can disturb the marine ecosystem by altering ocean temperature, pH scale, salinity, and oxygen levels
• It can cause contamination of drinking water used by animals in all ecosystems.
• Water pollution can impact the growth of plants and the productivity of foods in ecosystems.

How does deforestation affect the ecosystem?

Deforestation or cutting of trees for cultivation and housing has many negative effects on the ecosystem of our environment. Deforestation commonly disturbs the water cycle, damages natural habitats, causes soil erosion, and causes the greenhouse effect or global warming.

• The cutting of trees from forests can disturb the evaporation levels of water, drying up the moisture in the air and disrupting the balance of the water cycle.
• Indiscriminate cutting of trees has resulted in loss of habitat for wildlife. Therefore, it can damage the biodiversity of the natural ecosystem.
• Plant roots in the forest can hold the soil in one place but after deforestation, the soil erosion may increses.
• Deforestation can increses the concentration of carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere. Therefore, it can cause the greenhouse effect or global warming on our Earth’s environment and affect the life of living organisms in an ecosystem found in an ocean, forest, desert, pond, etc.