Concept of ecosystem
A community of lifeforms in concurrence with non-living components interacting with each other.
All the living organisms in an area live in communities of plants and animals. They interact with their non-living environment, and with each other at different points in time for a large number of reasons.
The nature of the ecosystem is based on its geographical features such as hills, mountains, plains, rivers, lakes or coastal areas and on climatic conditions such as the amount of rainfall in the region, the temperature of that region, and the amount of sunlight reaching the region.
Importance of ecosystem
Each living and non-living being is important in the ecosystem because they are interdependent. For example plants in your home need proper sunlight, nutrients in the soil, water if plants do not get proper sunlight or water this will hinder their growth.
One more example you can see that that if there is no predator like tiger, lion in the forest, the population of herbivores like deers will increase which will lead to overgrazing of grassland and depletion of food resources in the forest. So to maintain balance in the ecosystem is very important for the proper functioning of the ecosystem.
Some benefits of ecosystem
- regulation of energy flow
- purification of soil and water
- regeneration of soil
- decomposition of waste
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Ecosystem degradation
Ecosystem degradation is a deterioration of the environment through the depletion of resources such as air water and soil.
Many human activities are leading to degradation of the ecosystem such as-
- land-use change
- Forests are deforested for human needs such as timber and to create more agricultural land. This can also destroy the habitat of many plant and animal species.
- waste from the industries.
- pollution caused by industries.
- increasing population is leading to the use of more amount of natural resources.
Structural aspects of ecosystem
The structural aspects of the ecosystem is a description of the arrangements, types and number of species along with their physical features of the environment and distribution of nutrients in a particular environment.
1.Abiotic
non-living components of an ecosystem are referred to as abiotic components.
Inorganic components
Inorganic components are carbon, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, calcium, phosphate and water. All these components are necessary for the biological cycles.
Organic components
Organic components include proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and amino acids.
Climate regimes
Climate temperatures light soil moisture.
2.Biotic
The living components of an ecosystem are referred to as biotic components.
Every living organism depends on another organism. For example, plants are food for herbivores like deer and further herbivores were food for carnivores like tigers.
Thus there are different trophic levels in the ecosystem which can be classified as:-
A. Autotrophic component or producer
The living beings which make their food by using energy from the sun are termed autotrophic or producers.
Example-plants, trees(In the forest)
Algal, seaweed(In sea)
B. Heterotrophic component or consumer
Heterotrophic is the organism that cannot make their food instead they are dependent on plants or other consumers.
Herbivores
Herbivores are animals that depend on producers or plants for food.
These are also known as primary consumers.
Example- deer, elephants
Carnivores
Carnivores are animals that depend on herbivores for food. These are also known as secondary consumers.
Example-tiger, jackals, lions, fox
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Decomposers
Decomposers are the organisms that break down dead organic material (dead plants and animals) into smaller particles and finally into simpler substances that are used by plants as nutrition.
Examples-bacteria, fungi, insects, worms.
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