what is an ecosystem
Answers
Answer:
Definition:-
An ecosystem is a large community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in a particular area. The living and physical components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Ecosystems are of any size, but usually they are in particular places.
EXPLANATION:-
An ecosystem consists of certain factors (things, in layman terms) Which interact with each other through various nutrient cycles and energy flow.
The factors may be living or non living
Living factors like microbes, fungi, plants and animals interact with each other as well as the environment, consisting of abiotic components like air, water, soil etc.
Let me give you an example of energy and nutrient exchange.
Let's take a plant.
The plant takes C02 (an abiotic factor) and fixes it into sugars in the process known as photosynthesis. The sugar (mainly glucose) is a source of energy. Where did this energy come from? It came from the Sun in the form of light energy, and got converted into chemical energy. Oxygen is also evolved in the process.
An animal eats the plant and gets the glucose. Now, the glucose is oxidised with the help of oxygen in the process known as respiration and energy is liberated.
This energy is used by the animal for its life processes. It also releases carbon dioxide which is again used up by the plant.
Water is used in metabolism, while nitrogen is used for synthesis of proteins. Proteins make up organisms. When the organism dies, the nitrogen in the protein goes back to nature when its corpse is decomposed by microbes. Thus, energy and nutrients aren't lost, but rather transformed and transmitted among various components of an ecosystem.
Answer:
The ecosystem is the system emerging from the integration of all the living and non-living factors of the environment. The factors within this environment co-exist. They interact with each other and are interdependent.