The ecological system is the basic concept that is studied by ecology. This is a science that studies all the relationships between living organisms and the environment. This includes the relationship between people and animals, people and plants, as well as the treatment of humanity with the environment.
What is an ecosystem?
For the first time this term began to be considered in 1935. It was proposed by A. Tensley, dividing the ecological system into several main components:
Metabolism between living organisms in the environment.
The community of all living organisms called biocenosis.
The habitat is a biotope.
All compounds and types of connections between organisms in each individual habitat.
Each habitat has its own climatic, energy and biological features. It depends on them which particular organisms will live in one ecosystem.
Earth is considered one large ecosystem, which is divided into subspecies - various habitats. The most important source of energy for her is the Sun.
In all artificial ecosystems, the consumers are the organisms that live there.
Artificial ecosystems
Let's first understand what is an artificial habitat. This is an ecosystem that was created by man. The main consumers in artificial ecosystems are the living organisms that were housed there.
If you ask any person about an artificial ecosystem, then the thought of a home aquarium immediately comes to mind. Although it is not a large habitat, it belongs to artificial ecosystems created by man.
It is quite limited, and all its internal conditions are regulated by the owner. He independently chooses what nutrients aquarium fish will receive. In addition, he adjusts the light, temperature, regulates the main components of water, and also selects the plants that will grow inside the aquarium.
The main types of artificial ecosystems
In the 21st century, everywhere you look, everywhere is an artificial habitat. For example, the aquarium, which we wrote about above.
Types of ecosystems:
Field. This may include an ordinary wheat field. The difference from the aquarium is that the main energy for living organisms is the sun, which is not subject to humans. However, people themselves choose which plants will grow on the field, what they will fertilize with, and also what they will feed on.
Pasture. It is very similar to the field, since solar energy is also an important component for livestock. The difference from the field is that the main living organisms are animals, not plants. A person chooses what they will eat. He can grow certain nutritious plants in the pasture, but this is already a hybrid of field and pasture.
Town. One of the main ecosystems of mankind. All settlements are artificial ecosystems, the main consumer is man. Again, the energy of the sun is the only thing that is not subject to him. The rest is his work, from food to electricity.
Features of artificial ecosystems
The main difference is heterotrophy. That is, all the main consumers of artificial ecosystems eat pre-cooked food.
In addition, all food chains in artificial ecosystems are destroyed. For example, a garden. A man himself harvests, not allowing insects and other types of pests to eat. This leads to the destruction of the food chain.
The difference between artificial ecosystems and natural ones
There are a lot of differences. The first is that in natural ecosystems, all the nutrients for living organisms are provided by wildlife.
Also, in artificial ecosystems, the main consumers are much smaller than in natural ones. This is due to the fact that people plant in the fields only one, sometimes several types of plants. Only certain species of animals are bred on their pastures.
In addition, not all representatives of the animal world are suitable for living in an artificial habitat.