Ecosystem

 What are ecosystems?

Various kinds of life supporting systems like the forests, grasslands, oceans, lakes, rivers, mountains, deserts and estuaries show wide variations in their structural composition and functions. However, they all are like in the fact that they consist of living entities is interacting with their surroundings in exchanging matter and energy. How do these different units like a hot desert, a dense evergreen forest, the Antarctic sea or a shallow pond differ in the type of the flora and fauna, how do they derive the energy and nutrients to life together, how do they increments each other and regulate their stability are the questions that answered by ecology.

The term ecology was coined by Ernest Haeckel in 1869. It is derived from the Greek words Oikos-home + logos-study. so ecology deals with the study of organisms in their natural home interacting with their surroundings. the surroundings of environment consists of other living organisms called biotic components and physical factor called abiotic components.

For example, how was small insect in the forest interacts with other animals, plants, soil, air, or water is studied in its ecology. does ecology is the science that studies such interactions and relationships of an organisms or a group of organisms.

Modern ecologist believe that an adequate definition of ecology must specify some unit of study and one such basic unit described by Tansley (open 1935) close was ecosystem. An ecosystem is a self regulating group of biotic communities of specific interacting with one another and with their nonliving environment exchanging energy and matter. Now ecology is often defined as "the study of ecosystems".

Some key concepts of ecosystem are are:

1. An ecosystem is an integrated unit consisting of interacting plants, animals and microorganisms whose survival depends upon the maintenance and regulation of their biotic and abiotic structures and functions.

2. Theecosystem is a unit or a system which is composed of a number of sub-units, that are all directly or indirectly linked with each other.

3. They may be freely exchanging energy and matter from outside -- an open ecosystem or may be isolated from outside -- a closed ecosystem.

4. Life on the earth is sustained by the flow of energy from the sun and cycling of nutrients through the ecosystems.

5. energy flow and nutrient cycling through ecosystem are getting altered by human activities.

What are the characteristics of an ecosystem?

Ecosystems show large variations in their size, structure, composition etc. However, all the ecosystems are characterized by certain basic structural and functional features which are common to all.