Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants , animals and micro-organisms

(biotic factors) in an area functioning together with all of the physical (abiotic ) factors of
the environment . Ecosystems can be permanent or temporary. An ecosystem is a unit of
interdependent organisms which share the same habitat. Ecosystems usually form a
number of food webs .

The term ecosystem was coined in 1930 by Roy Clapham to mean the
combined physical and biological components of an environment. British
ecologist Arthur Tansley later refined the term, describing it as "The whole
system,… including not only the organism-complex, but also the whole complex
of physical factors forming what we call the environment”.

The study of ecosystems mainly consists of the study of certain processes that
link the living, or biotic, components to the non-living, or abiotic, components.
Energy transformations and biogeochemical cycling are the main processes
that comprise the field of ecosystem ecology. Ecology generally is defined as
the interactions of organisms with one another and with the environment in
which they occur. We can study ecology at the level of the individual, the
population, the community, and the ecosystem.

Components of an Ecosystem

Example of abiotic and biotic components and there relation.

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS BIOTIC COMPONENTS

Sunlight Primary producers
Temperature Herbivores
Precipitation Carnivores
Water or moisture Omnivores
Soil or water chemistry (e.g., P, NH4+) Detritivores
etc. etc.

Examples of ecosystems

Aquatic ecosystem, desert ecosystem, forest ecosystem are some examples of

ecosystem and they are describe below.

Aquatic ecosystem

An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem located in a body of water. Communities

of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment live

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in aquatic ecosystems. The two main types of aquatic ecosystems are marine
ecosystems and freshwater ecosystems.

Marine ecosystem

Marine ecosystems cover approximately 71% of the Earth's surface and contain
approximately 97% of the planet's water. They generate 32% of the world's net
primary production. They are distinguished from freshwater ecosystems by the
presence of dissolved compounds, especially salts, in the water. Approximately
85% of the dissolved materials in seawater are sodium and chlorine. Seawater
has an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand (ppt) of water. Actual salinity
varies among different marine ecosystems.

Freshwater ecosystem

Freshwater ecosystems cover 0.8% of the Earth's surface and contain 0.009%
of its total water. They generate nearly 3% of its net primary production.
Freshwater ecosystems contain 41% of the world's known fish species.

There are three basic types of freshwater ecosystems:

Lentic : slow-moving water, including pools, ponds, and lakes.

Lotic : rapidly-moving water, for example streams and rivers.

Wetlands : areas where the soil is saturated or inundated for at least part of
the time.

Desert ecosystem

A desert is a landscape or region that receives almost no precipitation. Deserts

are defined as areas with an average annual precipitation of less than
250 millimetres (10 in) per year, [1 ][2 ] or as areas where more water is lost by
evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation.

Forest ecosystem

A forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a
forest, based on the various criteria. These plant communities presently cover
approximately 9.4% of the Earth's surface (or 30% of total land area) in many
different regions and function as habitats for organisms, hydrologic flow
modulators, and soil conservers, constituting one of the most important
aspects of the Earth's biosphere. Although a forest is classified primarily by

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trees a forest ecosystem is defined intrinsically with additional species such as
fungi. A woodland, with more open space between trees, is ecologically distinct
from a forest.

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