Environment / Ecosystem structure and function/ Importance of environment

ECOSYSTEM AND IT'S FUNCTION :-

The term of ecosystem was given by the  Sir Arthur Tansley, in 1935. A kind of a small pond or a large forest define ecosystem. Ecosystem can be recognized as self-regulating and self-sustaining units of landscape. We can understand by having the two major categories of ecosystem  these are

1- TERRESTRIAL - 

     Forests, Grassland and Deserts are the example of terrestrial ecosystem.

2- AQUATIC -

     This ecosystem includes ponds, lakes, streams or Marine water, solt water.

HUMAN CAN MODIFY THE NATURAL ECOSYSTEM INTO ANTHROPOGENIC OR MAN -MADE ECOSYSTEM. 

FOR EXAMPLE- Natural forests are being cut and the land converted to tree plantations or agricultural system.



NOW COME TO THE ECOSYSTEM COMPONENTS :-

AN ECOSYSTEM HAS TWO BASIC COMPONENTS :

 ABIOTIC :- comprise inorganic materials for example ( carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, water, etc.) These all things come into the category of abiotic components, means (NON-LIVING).

BIOTIC :-  it is (LIVING ORGANISMS), And include producers, consumers and decomposers. Producers are autotrophic (= self- nourishing)

Generally which produce their own food. Like- trees 

NOW WE WILL LEARN ABOUT THE ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS -

Here we came to know about the basic structure of an ecosystem  that abiotic and biotic components, there for they are physically organized to provide a characteristic

Structure of the ECOSYSTEM. 

Important structural features are  SPECIES COMPOSITION and STRATIFICATION.

Some ecosystems for example ( tropical rain forests) show tall plant canopy and a bewildering no of  biological species . On the other hand we can see the desert ecosystem shows a low, discontinuous herb layer consisting of fewer species and extensive bare patches of soil. 

Another way to understand the ecosystem structure is though food relationship of producers and consumers.

The producers form the first trophic level, herbivores the second, and carnivores and then constitute the third one also. Trophic structure can be described in terms of the amount of living materials, present in different trophic levels at a given time.

NOW LET'S HAVE A KNOWLEDGE OF  “function"-

Ecosystem possess a natural tendency to persist. This is made possible by the variety of “FUNCTION”. ( Activities undertaken to ensure persistence) performed by the structural components .we can know by this that green leaves function as sites of food production , and roots absorb nutrients from soil. Herbivores perform the function pf utilising part of the plant production. In turn serve as food for carnivores.These functions are carried out in the ecosystem.