2. 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 as a system
4. ● all living things are engrained into them
The importance of ecosystems
●
lies with the benefits it brings
to the environment and the people.
● living things and non living things
are engrained into them
5. Types of Ecosystem:
There are basically two types of ecosystems;
Terrestrial and Aquatic. All other sub-ecosystems
fall under these two.
6. I. Terrestrial ecosystems
Terrestrial ecosystems are
found everywhere apart
from water bodies. They are
broadly classified into:
7. Taiga:
Situated just south of the
arctic regions, Taiga is distinguished
by evergreen conifers.
While the temperature is
subzero for almost six
months, the rest of the
year it is buzzing with
insects and migratory birds.
8. The Forest Ecosystem
abundance of flora (plants) is seen and
they have a large
number of organisms living in relatively
small areas. They are
again divided into few types:
9. ● tropical evergreen forest:
Tropical forests which receive an
average rainfall of 80
to 400 inches in a year.
These forests are marked
by dense vegetation comprising of tall
trees with different levels. Each level
gives shelter to different
kinds of animals.
10. Tropical deciduous forest:
Dense bushes and shrubs
rule here along with
broad levels of trees.
This type of forests is found
in many parts of
the world and large
variety of flora and fauna
are found here.
11. Temperate evergreen forest:
These have very few number
of trees but ferns and mosses
make up fro them.
Trees have spiked leaves to minimize
transpiration.
12. Temperate deciduous forest:
This forest is found in the moist
temperate regions with sufficient
rainfall. Winters and summers are well
defined and with trees shedding their
leaves during winter
14. The Grassland Ecosystem
found in both temperate and tropical
regions of the world but the ecosystems
are slightly varying
2 types:
1. Savanna: seasonally dry with few
individual trees; support large number of
grazers and predators
2. Prairies: completely devoid of
trees and large shrubs;
categorized as tall grass,
mixed grass and short grass prairie
15. The Mountain Ecosystem:
provides a scattered but
diverse array of habitats in which a
large range of plants and animals are
found;at higher altitudes harsh
environmental conditions generally
prevail, and only treeless alpine
vegetation is found
16. II. Aquatic ecosystem
located in a body of water,
comprises aquatic fauna, flora
and the properties of water too
17. The Marine Ecosystem:
● Oceanic: The relatively shallow part of the
ocean that lies over the continental shelf.
● Profundal: Bottom or deep water.
● Benthic Bottom substrates.
● Inter-tidal:area between high and low tides
● Estuaries
● Salt marshes
● Coral reefs
● Hydrothermal vents-
chemosynthetic bacteria
● form the food base
18. The Freshwater Ecosystem:
●Lentic: Still or slow-moving water like
pools, ponds, and lakes.
● Lotic: Fast-moving water like streams
and rivers.
● Wetlands: Places where the soil is
saturated or inundated for at least some
time.
