Ecosystems and Environment

Ecosystems and Environment

Introduction

An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting with each other and the environment in which they live. Examples of ecosystems are forests, rivers, gardens. The layer which is present around the Earth in which all the living organisms live is termed as biosphere and according to the medical gurus and scientists Earth itself is a huge ecosystem (Smith, 2011).

Discussion

Ecosystems have two basic components: the communities living (biotic) and the physical and chemical environment (a-biotic). The first part that is biotic is comprised of plants, animals and microorganisms. The abiotic portion is the set of nutrients, water, air, gas, energy, and inorganic and organic substances which form the environment. Ecosystems are subdivided into smaller units which are known as biological communities. They are composed of two or more species for example, the set of flora and fauna of a lake. The major biological communities on the planet are Amazon forest and Arctic tundra which is also called biomes.

An ecosystem is termed as a network of organisms which have interactions with each other as well as with the environment (Smith, 2011).

The characteristic features of an ecosystem are as follows

Spatial structure

Tropic structure

Flow of energy and matter cycle

The development of the ecosystem

The ability to self-regulation and relative stability.

Describe your local and surrounding ecologies and environments

The area where a person lives or spends his life is termed as the local ecology for him. It is measured in accordance with its longitudinal and latitudinal location. The most interesting fact is the Biome Type which is varies according to the location. For example: Deep Seas, narrow mines, green and huge forests, sticky grassland as well as, deserts in the rural and urban areas. Another most important fact are the particular organisms which are native to every ecological setting, last but not the least it is the adaption, which are the characteristics that organisms adopt from their environment.

Each ecosystem is a defined and is separated spatially. The size of this area is dependent on the uniformity and distribution of biotope conditions in space, such as the forest ecosystem or the marine ecosystems. The boundary between ecosystems represents a transitional belt of varying width called the ecotone characterized by a great diversity of species. Ecosystems, being open systems, are interrelated.

There are terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are abundant in spatial diversity. Spatial diversity ecosystem diversity refers to both horizontal and vertical planes. Variation in the horizontal plane due to the diversity of the ground and manifests itself mosaic of habitats. Vertical differentiation is associated especially with the lighting, which adapts biogenesis forming organisms in the ecosystem. The result is a layering of the ecosystem. The terrestrial ecosystems talk about layers / floors / in aquatic ecosystems of the zones.

List the specific factors that distinguish your local ecology and environment

Some of the major differences that are major point of differentiation among my own ...