A ecosystem It is a delimited area where a set of living and non-living components interact, exchanging matter and energy. Although everything on the planet is related, in order to understand the world the human being defines this complexity in manageable units.
That is why at an ecological level concepts such as biome and ecosystem are created that refer to the complex interrelation of living beings with their environment. The biome covers an extensive geographical area and includes several ecosystems delimited in more restricted areas.
On the other hand, the scale of the ecosystem is highly variable, we can speak of a jungle as an ecosystem and a pond in that jungle is also an ecosystem. Thus, it is the interest of the human being that defines the limits of the ecosystem that he wishes to study..
In this sense, there are various types of ecosystems that are classified according to different criteria. We speak, for example, of natural ecosystems and artificial or anthropic ecosystems (with human intervention).
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In the system called ecosystem, abiotic and biotic components interact, in an intricate network of matter and energy exchange.
In an ecosystem, the abiotic components are all those elements that make it up and lack life. That is, non-biological or inert components such as water, air, earth and rocks.
In addition, there are other natural elements, such as solar radiation and the climate, or anthropic (of human origin) such as artifacts or their waste..
For its part, the biotic components of an ecosystem include all living beings present in said ecosystem, whether they are bacteria, archaea, fungi, or any plant or animal, including humans..
Ecosystems can be divided into four large groups of ecosystems:
Terrestrial ecosystems are those where the interaction between biotic and abiotic components takes place on or within the land. Within the earth it is the soil as an ecosystem, while on the earth a great diversity of ecosystems develops.
These ecosystems are fundamentally defined by the type of vegetation that is established according to environmental conditions. In turn, a great diversity of life forms interacts with the vegetation.
The jungles and forests are formed especially by the trees. In this case, the abiotic components allow the development of the tree biotic component, especially water, temperature and soil fertility..
In turn, the abundance of trees affects the abiotic components of the ecosystem, by capturing and conserving moisture, as well as regulating temperature. Likewise, trees help to increase soil fertility due to the contributions of organic matter..
Within these types of ecosystems, the highest level of complexity is reached in tropical rainforests. In them, the abiotic components include a great diversity of species forming complex food webs..
In this subtype of terrestrial ecosystem, the abiotic components do not allow the development of trees. Especially the fertility of the soil determines the dominance of herbs, mainly grasses, although there may be scattered trees.
In the case of the savannas of Africa, a central interaction is that between grasses, large herbivores and carnivores. Here also, the abiotic and biotic components influence each other..
In some regions of the planet there are ecosystems where a greater diversity of types of herbs or shrubs predominates. For example, the mountain grasslands atop the tepuis of the Guiana Shield in South America.
There some plants have adapted very specialized ways to feed themselves, such as insectivorous plants. In this environment, the abiotic components of soil fertility and altitude do not allow the development of trees..
These are ecosystems where vegetation and life in general are scarce, since the abiotic components do not provide adequate conditions for life. In a desert like the Sahara for example, most of it is an ecosystem of sand and rocks.
In these deserts there is almost no water, daytime temperatures are high and nighttime temperatures are very low (abiotic components). Therefore, the biotic components are scarce, restricted to some reptiles, insects, arachnids and few mammals.
Within all the subtypes of terrestrial ecosystems above, the soil can be defined as a particular one. In the soil there are abiotic components such as minerals, rock fragments and water, as well as biotic components. Among the latter are the roots of plants, bacteria, fungi, worms and even a great diversity of other burrowing animals..
They are characterized because the medium in which the biotic and abiotic components interact is liquid water. In this sense, there are two major subtypes, marine ecosystems, whose medium is salt water, and fresh water. The latter are usually subdivided into lentic (lakes, ponds) and lotics (rivers).
Marine ecosystems have sea water or salt water as their main abiotic component. However, diverse ecosystems are created due to the varied combination of abiotic components such as salinity, pH and temperature in the oceans..
In such a way that there are coastal ecosystems, coral reefs, open ocean ecosystems, underwater hydrothermal vents and many others. In all of them the biotic component is formed by a great diversity of living beings.
For example, microscopic organisms that make up plankton, including fish, crustaceans and mollusks, to large marine mammals such as the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus).
Hydrothermal vents more than 2,000 m deep are possibly one of the first ecosystems to emerge on the planet. They are composed of rock chimneys through which streams of water and hot gases emerge (fumaroles), which are the main abiotic component. They function as a source of energy for various living beings to develop and thus constitute this particular ecosystem..
Fresh water is the medium in which freshwater ecosystems develop, that is, water with a low content of mineral salts. These are, on the one hand, rivers, which are lotic ecosystems (running water), while bodies of water that are mostly confined to an area, such as lakes, lagoons, ponds and cenotes, are called lentic..
In rivers, as ecosystems, abiotic components are the speed of the current and the relief through which the water flows. As well as the composition of the water, its temperature and the content of dissolved oxygen, among others.
While the biotic component is defined mainly by living beings adapted to aquatic life. Among these, fish dominate, but there are also many others such as crustaceans, mollusks, algae and even marine mammals..
Mixed ecosystems combine at least two environments, terrestrial and aquatic, although the aerial environment is also involved in almost all cases. In these ecosystems, living beings adapt to establish relationships between one environment and another..
In addition, the condition of mixed ecosystem can occur temporarily or periodically, such as in flooded savannas or in the várzea forest in the Amazon (flooded forest). Among the biotic components characteristic of these ecosystems are seabirds because although they are fundamentally terrestrial, they depend on the sea for food..
Mangroves are low to medium coastal forests that develop between the terrestrial and marine environments. In fact, the trees that compose them have adapted to grow either on land or directly with their roots submerged in the sea..
Species such as the red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) and the black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) are adapted to live with their roots submerged in the sea. While others like the button mangrove (Conocarpus erectus), although it supports high salinity, it grows on dry land.
Similarly, the fauna that makes up the rest of the biotic component includes both marine, amphibian and terrestrial organisms. These include fish, starfish, turtles, crabs, and aquatic and terrestrial mammals, as well as seabirds..
While abiotic components include soil, fresh and salt water, with all gradients of salinity, temperature and humidity.
Apart from mangroves, there is a whole series of mixed ecosystems on the marine coastline, from sandy to rocky beaches, as well as cliffs. In all of them, a combination of abiotic components from both the terrestrial and marine environments is developed. Likewise, the biotic component is characterized by living beings adapted to these conditions..
Wetlands are floodplains where a permanent or temporary sheet of water is maintained. In this type of environment, the development of mixed ecosystems between aquatic and terrestrial is frequent..
Such is the case of the flooded savannas of northern South America or the area called Pantanal in southwestern Brazil. As well as the floodplain forests of the Amazon basin and the Congo.
The anthropic ecosystem is characterized because the matter and the energy that leaves, enters and flows, depends fundamentally on the human being. Although there are natural abiotic factors involved, such as solar radiation, air, water and land, these are largely manipulated by humans.
A rural unit, such as a farm, represents an anthropic ecosystem where the natural ecosystem that surrounds it and human creation are combined. The cultivated area is an agroecosystem where humans introduce a crop (central biotic component).
Likewise, the human affects part of the energy and matter flows of the ecosystem, when applying agrochemicals, irrigation and performing mechanized tasks.
Natural biotic components, such as birds and other animals, as well as plants and other organisms, are found in a city. But the structure of the ecosystem, its abiotic components and to a large extent the biotic ones depend on human action..
It is a terrestrial ecosystem with a complex combination of biotic and abiotic components. Among the former is a great diversity of living organisms, which establish complex food webs.
The trees carry out the primary production, as well as the epiphytic, climbing herbs or in the undergrowth next to the shrubs. Then a wide variety of herbivores feed on them, from insects to primates to sloths, which feed carnivores ranging from the praying mantis to the jaguar..
Finally, all these living things are recycled when they die by decomposers in the jungle floor. All these organisms depend on and in turn affect abiotic components such as environmental humidity, temperature and water availability..
This is the most diverse and productive marine ecosystem, where the central element of the biotic component is the coral polyps. The living reef they build serves as the basis for the congregation of many other aquatic organisms..
This system depends on a balance of abiotic components such as the salinity and acidity of the water, as well as solar radiation and temperature. They occur in waters at depths less than 200 m and with temperatures not lower than 20 ºC.
This is an ecosystem formed by a type of low-lying forest that is periodically flooded, which develops within the tropical rainforest biome, in the Amazon basin. It forms a mixed ecosystem, in which half the year or less is a terrestrial ecosystem and the rest a fundamentally aquatic ecosystem.
The biotic components of this ecosystem include terrestrial organisms such as the jaguar or tapir, which are good swimmers. Likewise, there are aquatic organisms that live mainly in the river and pass into the jungle when the flood occurs, such as the manatee (river dolphin), fish and alligators.
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