An ecosystem is a concept that defines a system of relationships within any community of living beings that are interconnected by their environment ("oikos" (Greek) - "home" and "system").
Thus, when we consider the relationship between plants, animals, parasites, bacteria that inhabit the meadow space, we say that all this is a meadow ecosystem.
Natural ecosystems: systematization by groups
They are usually subdivided as follows:
1. Terrestrial - tundra, taiga, broad-leaved forests, steppes, deserts.
2. Freshwater - rivers, lakes, reservoirs, swamps, swampy waters.
3. Marine - the ocean, shelf, upwelling (areas with rising deep ocean waters), estuaries (estuaries flowing into the seas and oceans), reefs.
Ecosystems can be as follows:
micro - very small (for example, swamp bump);
meso - medium in size (it can be, for example, a meadow or a pond);
macro - very large (ocean or mainland);
global - planet.
Aggregates of ecosystem components and natural factors
Any ecosystem consists of a combination of biotic components: living organisms that inhabit it, and abiotic (nonliving) minerals, soil organics, nitrogen, carbon, water.
Natural factors indirectly affect the development of communities of living beings, limited by the space of the system. These are solar radiation, air humidity, temperature background, air pressure.
It is necessary to mention human intervention in the life of communities - these are anthropogenic factors that can not only change the ecosystem, but also destroy it.
Meadows: systematization
It is customary to call a limited territory overgrown with grass as a meadow. In Russia, meadows are traditionally divided into native (natural natural) and artificial. (withdrawn from the crop rotation, specially tinned for a certain time).
Native meadows are traditionally used for haying and grazing cattle. They give a rich harvest of herbs, and the meadow ecosystem itself maintains the ratio of living creatures necessary for distant life. Soil of such territories is considered to be soil erosion, overgrowth overgrowth (near forests) and weed propagation. There are fewer and fewer native meadows.
Artificial meadows are considered to be in areas of fields removed from crop rotation or appearing after a forest has been reduced. They are sown with perennial herbs, giving a high yield. Constantly monitor the condition of the soil, making the necessary mineral and organic fertilizers. The meadow ecosystem in this case is completely different from the natural one; it is created and maintained only artificially.
For grazing livestock , both natural and artificial meadows are used. A breakdown of such sites into sectors for alternate use is considered correct; this allows grass cover to be restored.
Biotic components of the meadow ecosystem
The meadow belongs to medium-sized communities of living creatures, therefore, it includes all the components inherent in any of them.
The inhabitants of the meadow ecosystem are called biotic components. According to the accepted classification, these are producers, consumers and reducers.
Producers are plants that convert the energy of the Sun through photosynthesis into the glucose isomer C 6 H 12 O 6 (the basis of any organic matter).
Consumers - consumers of the meadow ecosystem eating plants, insects or other animals.
Reducers are organisms that feed on dead organics.
Meadow producers
The main plants in the meadow are herbs. It is believed that about one hundred different plants can exist side by side in a row.
The main meadow grasses are cereal (about forty species). These are timothy grass, red and meadow fescue, ryegrass, team hedgehog, meadow bluegrass, meadow foxtail, campfire bonfire, white field pole. They make up the bulk of the green mass, give good turf, grow slowly in spring, grow back in autumn (give aftermath). These herbs are the lower tier of the meadow.
The next most common in the meadow are legumes (from fifteen to twenty species): clover, peas, and rank. They enrich the soil with nitrogen. This is the second tier.
Forbs are plants of the families of umbelliferous, labioecious, buttercup, cloves - this is basically the third tier.
Herbs are the very first, the main link in the food chain of land communities. The ecosystem of the meadow is no exception. Animals (herbivorous animals), insects, birds feed on both greenery and seeds. The more wild grasses in the meadow, the more potential consumers can feed on this site.
Consumers
Consumers of the meadow ecosystem are divided into three orders:
1. Consumers (consumers) of the first order include representatives of the fauna directly feeding on producers (producers), that is, plants. These are insects (butterflies, bees, snails), herbivorous mammals (rodents, cattle, horses, sheep, goats, hares), meadow birds (quail, lark, partridge).
2. Second-class consumers include carnivores that eat herbivores. These are foxes, hedgehogs, insectivorous birds (wagtail, corral, snipe, titmouse, magpie) and spiders.
3. Consumers of the third order include predators eating carnivores. These are birds (kestrel, harrier, hawk, kite) and animals (for example, fox).
Meadow ecosystem destroyers
Any food chain must be closed, this is due to the cyclical nature of its reproduction. Therefore, there must be organisms capable of decomposing all organic residues. They are called reducers, or destructors. They perform very important functions - they are medical orderlies in nature, they close the biogeochemical cycle.
Where do the organic residues come from? This includes dead ground and underground (roots) parts of plants, leaves that have fallen in the autumn, birds and animals that died (or from any disease, or died, or ended the process of existence), birds, animals and humans. All this organic matter is rich in energy, it is called detritus.
The meadow ecosystem allows the following animals to feed on detritus (detritophages) to exist:
birds - vultures, crows, jackdaws;
insects - ants, insect larvae developing underground, dung beetles, two-pair millipedes;
earthworms.
All of the above representatives of meadow fauna traditionally belong to consumers, occupying a separate niche in the hierarchy of consumers. Consuming dead residues and thereby purifying the environment, they leave behind solid undigested residues (excrement).
Meadow reducers
Meadow grasses, which are producers, must take the minerals dissolved in it from the soil for their growth.
On land (including in the meadow), minerals enter the soil in two ways - biotic and abiotic.
In nature, only fungi and soil microorganisms are able to turn complex organic compounds into simple organic and inorganic ones. They are the main reducers of terrestrial ecosystems. This is a biotic way.
Mechanical destruction (freezing-thawing), chemical and photochemical reactions that occur in nature turn complex organic compounds into simple organic and inorganic compounds available for reducers. This is an abiotic way.