Components of an Ecosystem
NCERT Class 12 • Biology • Chapter "Ecosystem" | NCERT Class 10 • Science • Chapter "Our Environment"
Components of an Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a self sustaining unit in which living organisms interact with one another and with their non living surroundings. Ecology is the study of these interactions, and the ecosystem is the working unit within which everything in ecology takes place.
Biotic and Abiotic Components
- Abiotic components are the non living factors: sunlight, temperature, water, air, soil, minerals and topography.
- Biotic components are all the living organisms, grouped by how they obtain their food.
- Producers are green plants and algae that make their own food by photosynthesis, so they are autotrophs.
- Consumers cannot make their own food and depend on others; they are heterotrophs.
- Herbivores or primary consumers eat plants; carnivores eat animals; omnivores eat both.
- Decomposers such as bacteria and fungi break down dead organisms and return nutrients to the soil, which is why they are called nature's recyclers.
- Without decomposers, nutrients would stay locked in dead bodies and the cycle of life would stop.
Types of Ecosystems
- A natural ecosystem develops on its own and includes forest, grassland, desert, pond, lake, river and ocean.
- An artificial or man made ecosystem is created and maintained by humans, such as a crop field, an aquarium or a garden.
- Ecosystems are broadly terrestrial on land and aquatic in water.
- Aquatic ecosystems are freshwater, as in a pond or river, or marine, as in a sea or ocean.
- A biome is a very large ecosystem covering a wide region with a characteristic climate and vegetation.
- The biosphere is the total of all ecosystems on earth, the thin zone in which life exists.
- An artificial ecosystem is usually less stable because it has lower diversity and needs constant human input.
| Component | Role | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Producer | Makes its own food | Green plant, algae |
| Herbivore | Eats plants | Deer, goat |
| Carnivore | Eats animals | Lion, snake |
| Decomposer | Breaks down dead matter | Bacteria, fungi |
Ecosystem — a self sustaining unit in which living organisms interact with one another and with their non living environment.
Hindi me samjhein
अपघटक मृत जीवों को तोड़कर पोषक तत्व मृदा को लौटा देते हैं। यदि ये न हों तो पोषक तत्व मृत शरीरों में बंद रह जाएंगे और जीवन का चक्र रुक जाएगा।
Exam me kaise aata hai
- Green plants in an ecosystem are called — producers
- Bacteria and fungi in an ecosystem are — decomposers
- A crop field is which type of ecosystem — artificial
- The total of all ecosystems on earth is the — biosphere
UPSC/State PSC ke liye
- An artificial ecosystem is less stable because low diversity means fewer alternative pathways when one species fails.
- Decomposers make the ecosystem a cycle rather than a one way flow, since matter is reused while energy is not.
Yahan confuse hote hain
✗ All animals are consumers of plants | Carnivores consume other animals | ✓
✗ Decomposers are unimportant | Without them nutrients would never return to the soil | ✓
✗ A biome and an ecosystem are the same | A biome is a very large regional ecosystem | ✓
Ek nazar me
- An ecosystem has abiotic and biotic components interacting together.
- Producers make food, consumers depend on others, decomposers recycle nutrients.
- Ecosystems are natural or artificial, terrestrial or aquatic.
- The biosphere is the total of all ecosystems on earth.