What is Ecosystem?

An ecosystem is the functional unit of the environment where the biotic components interact with their abiotic components forming a system. It is the conjunction of the living and non-living entities in a particular geographical location forming a community. The biotic component includes all the different living organisms like plants, animals, microbes, etc. whereas the abiotic component includes the soil, water, air, atmosphere, sunlight, temperature, etc.

Characteristics of Ecosystem

Following are some of the characteristics of the ecosystem;

• The hierarchy of living organisms at the trophic level gives rise to the food chain.
• The non-living components provide the essential materials for the maintenance of the food chain.
• Ecosystems can be big or small depending on the number of species.
• Every organism in an ecosystem depends on each other directly and indirectly.
• The energy flow is unidirectional in the ecosystem.
• The levels of living organisms are divided into producers, consumers, and detrivores.
• Abiotic factors influence the biotic components of the ecosystem.
• Examples are; the fresh water ecosystem, marine ecosystem, desert ecosystem, etc.

Ecosystem and Biome are related to each other because both terms are associated with the environment of our planet. On one hand, an ecosystem represents the interaction of different types of organisms with their physical environment in a particular habitat whereas, on the other hand, a biome represents all the ecosystems present in a particular geographical location. The term ecosystem was coined by Sir A.G. Tansley in 1935 and biome was coined by F.E. Clements in 1906.