Understanding Ecosystems: Biotope, Biocenosis, and Food Chains
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Understanding Ecosystems
An ecosystem encompasses all plants, animals, and other organisms in a specific location, along with its climate. It also includes the relationships among organisms (e.g., for food) and between organisms and their environment.
The conjunction of organisms and the physical environment (soil, water, climate) in any given area, and the relationships among these elements, is called an ecosystem. Forests, jungles, and deserts are examples of ecosystems.
The elements that make up an ecosystem are classified into two main components: the biotope and the biocenosis.
Biotope: The Physical Environment
The physical environment of an ecosystem is called the biotope.
The biotope includes the air, water, soil, rocks, climate, and all the environmental factors that influence organisms.
Biocenosis: The Community of Organisms
The complete set of all organisms in an ecosystem is called the biocenosis. There are many relationships amongst organisms.
Land and Aquatic Ecosystems
The environment of an ecosystem is where organisms are found and carry out their vital processes. There are two primary environments: air and water, leading to two types of ecosystems: land and aquatic.
The environment for land ecosystems is air. The organisms in land ecosystems, like wolves, rabbits, and birds, breathe the air, even if they live underground.
The environment for aquatic ecosystems is water. Organisms that live in these ecosystems, like fish and crabs, breathe in water, although some, such as dolphins and water birds like ducks, breathe air.
Food in Ecosystems
There are two types of organisms in an ecosystem: those that produce their own food, called producers, and those that feed off other organisms, called consumers.
In all ecosystems, organisms are related through food. That is, they feed on each other. To explain this relationship, we use diagrams known as food chains. These diagrams show what each organism eats.
Many different food chains can exist within an ecosystem. Furthermore, a single organism may be part of various different food chains.