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Ecosystems
An ecosystem, a term very often used in biology, is a community of plants and animals interacting with each other in a given area, and also with their non-living environments. The non-living environments include weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, and atmosphere.
An ecosystem consists of a community of organisms together with their physical environment.
Ecosystems can be of different sizes and can be marine, aquatic, or terrestrial. Broad categories of terrestrial ecosystems are called biomes.
In ecosystems, both matter and energy are conserved. Energy flows through the system—usually from light to heat—while the matter is recycled.
Ecosystems with higher biodiversity tend to be more stable with greater resistance and resilience in the face of disturbances, or disruptive events.
Ecosystem structure
Abiotic components
The non-living factors or the physical environment prevailing in an ecosystem form the abiotic components. These are climatic factors that include rain, temperature, light, wind, humidity, etc. And edaphic factors including soil, pH, topography minerals, etc.
Biotic components
The living organisms such as plants, animals, and micro-organisms that are present in an ecosystem form the biotic components.
Types of Ecosystem
There are very many types of ecosystems out there but the three major classes of ecosystems sometimes referred to as biomes which are relatively contained.
- Terrestrial ecosystems
- Ocean ecosystems
- Freshwater ecosystems
Food Chain
The food chain is a linear sequence of organisms that starts from producer organisms and ends with decomposer species. Food web is a connection of multiple food chains. Food chain follows a single path whereas the food web follows multiple paths. From the food chain, we get to know how organisms are connected with each other. Food chain and food web form an integral part of this ecosystem. Let us take a look at the food chain and a food web and the difference between them.
A food chain shows a single pathway from the producers to the consumers and how the energy flows in this pathway. In the animal kingdom, food travels around different levels. To understand a food chain better, let us take a look at the terrestrial ecosystem.
The sun is the source of energy, which is the initial energy source. This is used by the producers or plants to create their own food, through photosynthesis and growth. Next in this chain is another organism, which is the consumer that eats this food, taking up that energy.
The primary consumers are the organisms that consume the primary producers. In a terrestrial ecosystem, it could be a herbivore like a cow or a goat or it could even be a man. When a goat is consumed by man, he becomes the secondary consumer.
As the energy goes one level up, the food chain also moves up. Each level in the food chain is called a trophic level. The different trophic levels are Primary producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, and quaternary consumers.
Example of food chain
Grass (Producer) —–Goat (Primary Consumer) —– Man (Secondary consumer)
When dead organic matter becomes the starting of a food chain, then it is called the detritus food chain (DFC). The decomposers, which are fungi and bacteria, feed on organic matter to meet the energy requirements. The digestive enzymes secreted by the decomposers help in the breakdown of the organic matter into inorganic materials.
