Types and example of an ecosystem. An example of changing the ecosystem

The Steppe, deciduous forest, swamp, aquarium, ocean, field - any item from this list can be considered as an example of ecosystem. In our article we will reveal the essence of the concept and consider its components.

Ecological community

Ecology is the science that studies all facets of the relationships of living organisms in nature. Therefore, the subject of its study is not an individual and the conditions of its existence. The ecology of the system is considered a character, the result and efficiency of their interaction. So, the totality of the populations determines the peculiarities of biocenosis, which includes a number of species.

But under natural conditions populations interact not only among themselves, but also with a variety of environmental conditions. This ecological community called the ecosystem. To denote this concept also use the term biogeocenosis. Miniature aquarium, and boundless taiga - this is an example of an ecosystem.

Ecosystem: definition

As you can see, the ecosystem is quite extensive. From a scientific point of view, this community is a collection of elements of nature and the abiotic environment. Consider this example of the ecosystem as the steppe. It is an open grassy space with plants and animals that adapted to cold, dry winters and hot dry summers. In the course of adaptation to life in the desert they have developed several mechanisms of adaptation.

So, many rodents make tunnels in which to store grain reserves. Some Prairie plants there is a modification of the escape, like the onion. It is characteristic of tulips, crocuses, snowdrops. For two weeks, until enough moisture in the spring, their shoots have time to grow and wither. And the bad period they are going through under the ground, eating at the expense of previously stored nutrients and water fleshy bulbs.

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Cereal plants have more underground modification of escape rhizome. In its elongated internodes also stored substance. Examples of steppe grass are the bonfire, bluegrass, hedgehogs, fescue, bentgrass. Another feature is the narrow leaves that prevent excessive evaporation.

Classification of ecosystems

As is known, the boundary of the ecosystem set at the phytocoenosis and vegetation community. This characteristic is used in the classification of these communities. So, the forest is a natural ecosystem, examples of which are very diverse: oak, aspen, tropical, birch, fir, lime, hornbeam.

The basis of another classification are the zonal or climatic characteristics. An example of an ecosystem is a community of shelf and sea coasts, rocky or sandy deserts, riparian or subalpine meadows. The aggregate of such communities of different types constitute the global envelope of our planet - the biosphere.

Natural ecosystem: examples

There are also natural and artificial ecosystems. Community of the first type operate without human intervention. Natural living ecosystem, examples of which large enough has a cyclic structure. This means that primary production of plants is returned to the system of circulation of substances and energy. This is despite the fact that it necessarily passes through different food chains.

Agrobiocenoses

Using natural resources, man has created numerous artificial ecosystems. Examples of such communities - that anthropogenic ecosystems. These include fields, gardens, orchards, pastures, greenhouses, forest plantings. The agrocenoses are created to obtain agricultural products. They have the same elements of the food chain, and natural ecosystems.

Producers in the USSR are both cultural and weed plants. Rodents, predators, insects, birds - consumers or consumers of organic matter. And bacteria and fungi represent a group of decomposers. A distinctive feature of agrobiocenoses is a mandatory part of a person who is a necessary link in the food chain and creates the conditions for productivity in artificial ecosystems.

Compare natural and artificial ecosystems

Artificial ecosystems, examples of which we have already considered, have a number of disadvantages compared to the natural. The latter are characterized by resistance and the ability to self-control. But anthropogenic ecosystems without human intervention for a long time can not exist. So, a field of wheat or a vegetable garden with vegetable crops alone produces no more than one year, perennial plants - about three. The record in this regard is the garden, and fruit trees which can develop independently up to 20 years.

Natural ecosystems receive only solar energy. In agrobiocenoses man entered her additional sources in the form of tillage, fertilizer, aeration, weed control and pests. However, there are many cases when the economichuman activities have led to adverse consequences: salinization and waterlogging of soils, desertification of the territory, pollution of natural shells.

Ecosystems cities

At the present stage of development man has already made significant changes in the composition and structure of the biosphere. Therefore, allocate a separate shell directly created by human activity. It's called the noosphere. The last time a development reaches such a concept as urbanization, the increasing role of cities in human life. They are home to more than half of the population of our planet.

The ecosystem of the cities has its own distinctive features. They have violated the ratio of elements in trophic chains, as the regulation of all processes associated with the transformation of matter and energy, has only people. Creating all possible benefits, and it creates a lot of adverse conditions. Air pollution, transport and housing problems, the high level of morbidity, permanent noise has a negative impact on health of all urban residents.

What is succession

Very often in the same area there is a consecutive change of natural communities. This phenomenon is called succession. A classic example of ecosystem change is the emergence of deciduous forests in the place of conifers. Due to a fire in the occupied territory are only saved seeds. But germination takes a long time. So first on the fire place appears herbaceous vegetation. Over time, it replaced the bushes, and they, in turn, deciduous trees. Such succession is called secondary. They arise under the influence of natural factors or human activities. In nature, they are fairly common.

Primary succession are associated with the process of soil formation. It is typical for the territories deprived of life. For example, rocks, sand, stones, supastah. At first, there are conditions for the formation of soil, and already then there are other components of the ecosystem.

So the ecosystem called community, which is composed of biotic elements and factors of inanimate nature. They are closely associated with the circulation of substances and energy.