Structure, Functions, Units and Types of Ecosystem - Byjus

The ecosystem is the structural and functional unit of ecology where the living organisms interact with each other and the surrounding environment. BiologyBiologyArticleEcosystem Ecosystem EcosystemDefinition “Anecosystemisdefinedasacommunityoflifeformsinconcurrencewithnon-livingcomponents,interactingwitheachother.”   TableofContents WhatisanEcosystem? TypesofEcosystem Terrestrial Aquatic  StructureoftheEcosystem BioticComponents AbioticComponents Functions ImportantEcologicalConcepts WhatisanEcosystem? Theecosystemisthestructuralandfunctionalunitofecologywherethelivingorganismsinteractwitheachotherandthesurroundingenvironment.Inotherwords,anecosystemisachainofinteractionsbetweenorganismsandtheirenvironment.Theterm“Ecosystem”wasfirstcoinedbyA.G.Tansley,anEnglishbotanist,in1935. Readontoexplorethestructure,components,typesandfunctionsoftheecosystemintheecosystemnotesprovidedbelow. TypesofEcosystem Anecosystemcanbeassmallasanoasisinadesert,orasbigasanocean,spanningthousandsofmiles.Therearetwotypesofecosystem: TerrestrialEcosystem AquaticEcosystem TerrestrialEcosystems Terrestrialecosystemsareexclusivelyland-basedecosystems.Therearedifferenttypesofterrestrialecosystemsdistributedaroundvariousgeologicalzones.Theyareasfollows: ForestEcosystems GrasslandEcosystems TundraEcosystems DesertEcosystem ForestEcosystem Aforestecosystemconsistsofseveralplants,animalsandmicroorganismsthatliveincoordinationwiththeabioticfactorsoftheenvironment.Forestshelpinmaintainingthetemperatureoftheearthandarethemajorcarbonsink. GrasslandEcosystem Inagrasslandecosystem,thevegetationisdominatedbygrassesandherbs.Temperategrasslands,savannagrasslandsaresomeoftheexamplesofgrasslandecosystems. TundraEcosystem Tundraecosystemsaredevoidoftreesandarefoundincoldclimatesorwhererainfallisscarce.Thesearecoveredwithsnowformostoftheyear.TheecosystemintheArcticormountaintopsistundratype. DesertEcosystem Desertsarefoundthroughouttheworld.Theseareregionswithverylittlerainfall.Thedaysarehotandthenightsarecold. AquaticEcosystem Aquaticecosystemsareecosystemspresentinabodyofwater.Thesecanbefurtherdividedintotwotypes,namely: FreshwaterEcosystem MarineEcosystem FreshwaterEcosystem Thefreshwaterecosystemisanaquaticecosystemthatincludeslakes,ponds,rivers,streamsandwetlands.Thesehavenosaltcontentincontrastwiththemarineecosystem. MarineEcosystem Themarineecosystemincludesseasandoceans.Thesehaveamoresubstantialsaltcontentandgreaterbiodiversityincomparisontothefreshwaterecosystem. StructureoftheEcosystem Thestructureofanecosystemischaracterisedbytheorganisationofbothbioticandabioticcomponents.Thisincludesthedistributionofenergyinourenvironment.Italsoincludestheclimaticconditionsprevailinginthatparticularenvironment.  Thestructureofanecosystemcanbesplitintotwomaincomponents,namely:  BioticComponents AbioticComponents Thebioticandabioticcomponentsareinterrelatedinanecosystem.Itisanopensystemwheretheenergyandcomponentscanflowthroughouttheboundaries. StructureofEcosystemhighlightingthebioticandabioticfactors BioticComponents Bioticcomponentsrefertoalllifeinan ecosystem. Basedonnutrition,bioticcomponentscanbecategorisedintoautotrophs,heterotrophsand saprotrophs(ordecomposers). Producersincludeallautotrophssuchasplants.Theyarecalledautotrophsastheycanproducefoodthroughtheprocessofphotosynthesis.Consequently,allotherorganismshigheruponthefoodchainrelyonproducersforfood. Consumersorheterotrophsareorganismsthatdependonotherorganismsforfood.Consumersarefurtherclassifiedintoprimaryconsumers,secondaryconsumersandtertiaryconsumers. Primaryconsumersarealwaysherbivoresthattheyrelyonproducersforfood. Secondaryconsumersdependonprimaryconsumersforenergy.Theycaneitherbeacarnivoreoranomnivore. Tertiaryconsumersareorganismsthatdependonsecondaryconsumersforfood. Tertiaryconsumerscanalsobeanomnivore. Quaternaryconsumersarepresentinsomefoodchains.Theseorganismspreyontertiaryconsumers forenergy.Furthermore,theyareusuallyatthetopofafoodchainastheyhavenonaturalpredators. Decomposersincludesaprophytessuchasfungiandbacteria.Theydirectlythriveonthedeadanddecayingorganicmatter. Decomposersareessentialfortheecosystemastheyhelpinrecyclingnutrientstobereusedbyplants. AbioticComponents Abioticcomponentsarethenon-livingcomponentofanecosystem. Itincludesair,water,soil,minerals,sunlight,temperature,nutrients,wind,altitude,turbidity,etc.  FunctionsofEcosystem Thefunctionsoftheecosystemareasfollows: Itregulatestheessentialecologicalprocesses,supportslifesystemsandrendersstability. Itisalsoresponsibleforthecyclingof nutrients betweenbioticandabioticcomponents. Itmaintainsabalanceamongthevarioustrophiclevelsintheecosystem. Itcyclesthemineralsthroughthebiosphere. Theabioticcomponentshelpinthesynthesisoforganiccomponentsthatinvolvestheexchangeofenergy. Sothefunctionalunitsofanecosystemorfunctionalcomponentsthatworktogetherinanecosystemare: Productivity– Itreferstotherateofbiomassproduction. Energyflow–Itisthesequentialprocessthroughwhichenergyflowsfromonetrophicleveltoanother.Theenergycapturedfromthesunflowsfromproducerstoconsumersandthentodecomposersandfinallybacktotheenvironment. Decomposition –Itistheprocessofbreakdownofdeadorganicmaterial.Thetop-soilisthemajorsitefordecomposition. Nutrientcycling– Inanecosystemnutrientsareconsumedandrecycledbackinvariousformsfortheutilisationbyvariousorganisms. ImportantEcologicalConcepts 1.FoodChain Thesunistheultimatesourceofenergyonearth.Itprovidestheenergyrequiredforallplantlife.Theplantsutilisethisenergyfortheprocessofphotosynthesis,whichisusedtosynthesisetheirfood. Duringthisbiologicalprocess,lightenergyisconvertedintochemicalenergyandispassedonthroughsuccessivelevels.Theflowofenergyfromaproducer,toaconsumerandeventually,toanapexpredatororadetritivoreiscalledthefoodchain. Deadanddecayingmatter,alongwithorganicdebris,isbrokendownintoitsconstituentsbyscavengers.Thereducersthenabsorbtheseconstituents.Aftergainingtheenergy,thereducersliberatemoleculestotheenvironment,whichcanbeutilisedagainbytheproducers. Aclassicexampleofafoodchaininanecosystem 2.EcologicalPyramids Anecologicalpyramidisthegraphicalrepresentationofthenumber,energy,andbiomassofthesuccessivetrophiclevelsofanecosystem.CharlesEltonwasthefirstecologisttodescribetheecologicalpyramidanditsprincipalsin1927. Thebiomass,number,andenergyoforganismsrangingfromtheproducerleveltotheconsumerlevelarerepresentedintheformofapyramid;hence,itisknownastheecologicalpyramid. Thebaseoftheecologicalpyramidcomprisestheproducers,followedbyprimaryandsecondaryconsumers.Thetertiaryconsumersholdtheapex.Insomefoodchains,thequaternaryconsumersareattheveryapexofthefoodchain. Theproducersgenerallyoutnumbertheprimaryconsumersandsimilarly,theprimaryconsumersoutnumberthesecondaryconsumers.Andlastly,apexpredatorsalsofollowthesametrendastheotherconsumers;wherein,theirnumbersareconsiderablylowerthanthesecondaryconsumers. Forexample,Grasshoppersfeedoncropssuchascottonandwheat,whichareplentiful.Thesegrasshoppersarethenpreyeduponbycommonmice,whicharecomparativelylessinnumber.Themicearepreyeduponbysnakessuchascobras.Snakesareultimatelypreyedonbyapexpredatorssuchasthebrownsnakeeagle. Inessence: Grasshopper→Mice→ Cobra→BrownSnakeEagle 3.FoodWeb Foodwebisanetworkofinterconnectedfoodchains.Itcomprisesallthefoodchainswithinasingleecosystem.Ithelpsinunderstandingthatplantslaythefoundationofallthefoodchains.Inamarineenvironment,phytoplanktonformstheprimaryproducer. Mainarticle: Foodweb Tolearnmoreaboutwhatisanecosystem,itsstructure,types,components,andfunctions,registeratBYJU’SwebsiteordownloadtheBYJU’Sapp.   FrequentlyAskedQuestions1.Whatistheecosystem? Theecosystemisthecommunityoflivingorganismsinconjunctionwithnon-livingcomponentsoftheirenvironment,interactingasasystem. 2.Whatarethedifferenttypesofecosystems? Thedifferenttypesoftheecosysteminclude: Terrestrialecosystem Forestecosystem Grasslandecosystem Desertecosystem Tundraecosystem Freshwaterecosystem Marineecosystem 3.Whatarethefunctionalcomponentsofanecosystem? Thefourmaincomponentsofanecosystemare: (i)Productivity (ii)Decomposition (iii)Energyflow (iv)Nutrientcycling 4.Whichecosystemdowelivein? Weliveinaterrestrialecosystem.Thisistheecosystemwhereorganismsinteractonlandforms.Examplesofterrestrialecosystemsinclude tundra,taigas,andtropicalrainforests.deserts,grasslandsandtemperatedeciduousforestsalsoconstituteterrestrialecosystems. 5.Whatisthestructureoftheecosystem? Thestructureoftheecosystemincludestheorganismsandphysicalfeaturesoftheenvironment,includingtheamountanddistributionofnutrientsinaparticularhabitat.Italsoprovidesinformationregardingtheclimaticconditionsofthatarea. 6.Whichisthelargestecosystemintheworld? Thelargestecosystemintheworldistheaquaticecosystem.Itcomprisesfreshwaterandmarineecosystems.Itconstitutes70%ofthesurfaceoftheearth. 7.Whatisthemajorfunctionofanecosystem? Theecosystemisthefunctionalunitoftheenvironmentsystem.Theabioticcomponentsprovidethematrixforthesynthesisoforganiccomponents.Thisprocessinvolvestheexchangeofenergy. 8.Whatmakesagoodecosystem? Agoodecosystemconsistsofnativeplantsandanimalspeciesinteractingwitheachotherandtheenvironment.Ahealthyecosystemhasanenergysourceandthedecomposersthatbreakdowndeadplantsandanimalmatter,returningessentialnutrientstothesoil. 9.Whatallincludethenon-livingthingsinanecosystem? Thenon-livingthingsinanecosystemincludeair,wind,water,rocks,soil,temperatureandsunlight.Theseareknownastheabioticfactorsofanecosystem. RegisteratBYJU’Sforecosystemnotesorotherimportantstudyresources. FurtherReading: OurEnvironment EnergyFlowInEcosystem WhatIsANaturalEcosystem? WhyIsTheEcosystemImportant? WhatAreTheFiveLevelsOfEcology? WhatAreTheDifferentFieldsOfEcology? WhatAreTheThreeEnvironmentalIssues? DifferenceBetweenFoodChainAndFoodWeb HowManyTypesOfTheEcosystemAreThere? HowCanWeImproveOurEnvironmentalHealth? TestyourKnowledgeonEcosystem! Q5 PutyourunderstandingofthisconcepttotestbyansweringafewMCQs.Click‘StartQuiz’tobegin! Selectthecorrectanswerandclickonthe“Finish”buttonCheckyourscoreandanswersattheendofthequiz StartQuiz Congrats! 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