Question

What is ecosystem ?Structure and fun
ction of ecosystem?​

Answer 1

Ecosystem:-

==> The Biosphere is composed of smaller units called ecosystems.

STRUCTURE OF AN ECOSYSTEM :-

  The composition of biological community including species, numbers,biomass, life history and distribution in space, etc.

  The quantity and distribution of non living materials like nutrients, water etc.

  The conditions of existence such as temperature, light etc.

The functional attributes of the ecosystem keep the components running together. Ecosystem functions are natural processes or exchange of energy that take place in various plant and animal communities of different biomes of the world.

Answer 2

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Living organisms cannot live isolated from their non-living environment be­cause the latter provides materials and energy for the survival of the former i.e. there is an interaction between a biotic community and its environment to produce a stable system; a natural self-sufficient unit which is known as an ecosystem.

An ecosystem, therefore includes all of the living things (plants, animals and organisms) in a given area, interacting with each other, and also with their non-living environments (weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, atmosphere). A pond, lake, desert, grassland, meadow, forest etc. are common examples of ecosystems. Ecosystems are the foundations of the Biosphere and they determine the health of the entire earth system.

Structure and Function of an Ecosystem

Each ecosystem has two main components:

(1) Abiotic

(2) Biotic

(1) Abiotic Components:

The abiotic components of an ecosystem are all of the nonliving elements. They include the water, the air, the temperature and the rocks and minerals that make up the soil. Abiotic components of an ecosystem might include how much rain falls on it, whether it is fresh water or salt water, how much sun it gets or how often it freezes and thaws.

Abiotic components are mainly of two types:

(a) Climatic Factors:

Which include rain, temperature, light, wind, humidity etc.

(b) Edaphic Factors:

Which include soil, pH, topography minerals etc.?

The functions of important factors in abiotic components are given below:

Soils are much more complex than simple sediments. They contain a mixture of weathered rock fragments, highly altered soil mineral particles, organic mat­ter, and living organisms. Soils provide nutrients, water, a home, and a struc­tural growing medium for organisms. The vegetation found growing on top of a soil is closely linked to this component of an ecosystem through nutrient cycling.

The atmosphere provides organisms found within ecosystems with carbon di­oxide for photosynthesis and oxygen for respiration. The processes of evapora­tion, transpiration and precipitation cycle water between the atmosphere and the Earth’s surface.

Solar radiation is used in ecosystems to heat the atmosphere and to evapo­rate and transpire water into the atmosphere. Sunlight is also necessary for photosynthesis. Photosynthesis provides the energy for plant growth and me­tabolism and the organic food for other forms of life.

Most living tissue is composed of a very high percentage of water, up to and even exceeding 90%. The protoplasm of a very few cells can survive if their water content drops below 10%, and most are killed if it is less than 30-50%.

Water is the medium by which mineral nutrients enter and are trans-located in plants. It is also necessary for the maintenance of leaf turgidity and is required for photosynthetic chemical reactions. Plants and animals receive their water from the Earth’s surface and soil. The original source of this water is precipita­tion from the atmosphere.

(2) Biotic Components:

The living organisms including plants, animals and micro-organisms (Bacteria and Fungi) that are present in an ecosystem form the biotic components. The biotic components of the ecosystem both live on and interact with the abiotic components.

On the basis of their role in the ecosystem the biotic components can be classi­fied into three main groups:

(A) Producers

(B) Consumers

(C) Decomposers or Reducers.

(A) Producers:

Producers are the living organisms in the ecosystem that take in energy from sunlight and use it to transform carbon dioxide and oxygen into sugars.

Plants, algae and photosynthetic bacteria are all examples of producers. As the green plants manufacture their own food they are known as Autotrophs (i.e. auto = self, trophos = feeder). Producers form the base of the food web and are generally the largest group in the ecosystem by weight, or biomass.

They also act as an interface with the abiotic components of the ecosystem during nutrient cycles as they incorporate inorganic carbon and nitrogen from the atmosphere.

The chemical energy stored by the producers is utilized partly by the producers for their own growth and survival and the remaining is stored in the plant parts for their future use.

(B) Consumers:

Consumers are living organisms in the ecosystem that get their energy from consuming other organisms. Conceptually, consumers are further subdivided by what they eat.

Herbivores eat producers, carnivores eat other animals and omnivores eat both. Along with producers and decomposers, consumers are part of what is known as food chains and webs, where energy and nutrient transfer can be mapped out.

Consumers can only harvest about 10 percent of the energy contained in what they eat, so there tends to be less biomass at each stage as you move up the food chain.

The consumers are of four types, namely: