An ecosystem is a space on the earth, which has well defined boundary and contains biotic and abiotic factors. It can be a single drop of water, taken from a pond (containing few micro-organisms) or it can be as big as an entire ocean.
On the basis of nature and composition of biotic and abiotic factors, various types of ecosystems have been recognised such as grassland ecosystem, pond ecosystem, marine ecosystem, forest ecosystem, etc. Diagrammatic representations of grassland ecosystem, forest ecosystem and pond ecosystem have been shown in following figures.
Are you curious about the different types of ecosystem? Well, let’s see. There are
- Tropical Rainforest
- Temperate Forest
- Coniferous Forest (Taiga)
- Mediterranean
- Tropical Grassland (Savannah)
- Temperate Grassland
- Mountain
- Desert
- Tundra.
FUNCTIONING (DYNAMICS) OF THE ECOSYSTEM
- Various components of the ecosystem constitute an interacting system. Biotic characters of the ecosystem are connected together by energy, nutrients, minerals, etc. The continuous survival of the ecosystem depends upon the recycling of material and constant flow of energy from one component to the other. Therefore, ecosystem is a dynamic unit and its dynamics depends upon following factors-
1. Productivity
2. Decomposition,
3. Energy flow and food chain,
4. Food web,
5. Ecological pyramids
6.Ecological efficiencies and
7. Biogeochemical cycles.