2009 6 July Biology Ecology and Nutrient Cycle of the Ecosystem Post TWO All right. Hi guys, and girls (haha). Sorry for the informal starting, but, I need to voice out something. Since I relooked the whole thing, and thought that some processes of the Ecosystem like energy transfer didn't really have much things to talk about, I've decided to regroup Posts Two, Three, Four and Five (which is everything). So after careful thinking, and I hope I'm correct, this SHOULD be the final skeleton. Should be.
Well I thought if I rearranged it like that it would make more sense, since Biogeochemistry alone takes up quite a big post, and energy transfer has something to do with the Food Web and Nutrient Cycle... Well, I should be starting. ;D Alright. As mentioned in my last post, I will zoom inside the parts and components of an Ecosystem, which mainly are, the biotic and abiotic parts. However, before I start, I need to define one word, functional group. A funtional group is biological category, that comprises of organisms that perform mainly the same tasks. The species being in a certain functional group does not matter, what matters is that the processes they perform. I'll give an analogy, rice cooker, oven and bread toaster all belong to the same functional group, because they cook food for us, or a closet, bookshelf and a cupboard all belong to the same functional group because they store things for us. So similarly, in an Ecosystem, photosynthesic plants or primary producers, be it any type of plant (e.g. a tree, grass), they belong in the same functional group, as they perform the same function, which, in this case, is producing food. Here is a picture of a brief summarized view of a few functional groups in an Ecosystem.  In the picture, high, medium and low diversities are all under Biodiversity (which I might be talking about in Post Seven, under interesting facts). Now that you have understood what is a functional group, I will name some of the biotic and abiotic components of the Ecosystem. Biotic Primary Producers Herbivores Carnivores Omnivores Detritivores Etc. Abiotic Sunlight Temperature Precipitation Water/Moisture Soil/Water Chemistry Etc. The components mentioned above, are mainly seen in almost all Ecosystem, of course, they are not only limited to Ecosystems, it can be seen almost everywhere in the enviroment around us. However, one main thing to note would be that all these factors will change over time, none of the above factor will remain constant. There are two main different types of Ecosystems, mainly the Terrestrail and Aquatic Ecosystems. Terrestrail Ecosystem includes grasslands, rainforests, forests, deserts, while Aquatic Ecosystem includes ponds, rivers, marines or aquariums. Below, there are several pictures of different types of Ecosystem, after which, I will start to explain the characteristics of some of them.    The above three images are the Marine, Aquatic and Desert Ecosystems respectively. I will start with the Desert Ecosystem. In the desert, as we all know, not only that the temperatures are extreme, water is also scarce. That would mean that not many people can actually live and survive there. The main abiotic components of a Desert Ecosystem would be sand (in replacement of soil), a lot of sand. Secondly, sunlight. In the day, a lot more amount of sunlight is given out compared to other Ecosystems. Thirdly, water. As I have mentioned, in the desert, very little water can be found. Fourthly, air. The air differs from the time, it can go from not dense at all to very dense. Lastly, temperature. In the day, temperature in the desert is very high, while at night, it falls drastically. Few examples of biotic components would be cacti (primary producer), insects and/or small animals (herbivores), followed by snakes, eagles or vultres (carnivores). Next is the Aquatic Ecosystem. It comprises of mainly three types of abiotic components, temperature, which may differ from place to place. The flow of the water, whether it is fast-moving, slow-moving or whether the soil is saturated within the water. Lastly, would be the salinity, how much salt are there in the water, which may also differ from places to places. The phytoplanktons act as a primary source of food, followed by the zooplankton, then the filterers like the latern fish. After which, it goes on to the predators like squid or mackeral, and ends up with the top predators like sharks. Lastly, the Marine Ecosystem. It is about the same as the Aquatic Ecosystem. The abiotic components are mainly salinity, water, temperature, minerals in the water and dissolved oxygen. All of these can differ. Biotic components of the Marine Ecosystem are almost alike to the Aquatic Ecosystem, it starts from planktons and algaes that lead up to predators, which in turn, lead up to the top predators. With that, it ends my post. The next time I post, I will be talking about the topic of Ecology, and will come back to biotic and abiotic components of an Ecosystem when in Post Five, where I will be discussing the Food Web and Nutrient Cycle. Bye! =) Link One Link Two Link Three Link Four Link Five Link Six Link Seven Link Eight Link Nine Glossary Biodiversity How healthy an Ecosystem is. High Diversity Ecosystems normally have more species and population in it. Precipitation Quantity of rain in a certain area for a certain period of time. Detritivores Organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming other decomposing organisms. Aquatic Relating or consisting of water. Terrestrail Relating or consisting of the land. Phytoplanktons Normally the primary source of food in an Aquatic Ecosystem. Zooplankton A heterotrophic type of plankton. Heterotrophic A organism that requires carbon and nitrogen for nourishment. |
By Zhan Peng from 2-6 Catholic High School Class 2-6 One Golden Rule NOTHING |