Components of an ecosystem

1.4.1 Case study: Indian Ocean, 2004

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Components of an ecosystem

  1. Components

    1. An ecosystem is a balanced natural system of climate, soil, flora and fauna
    2. There are often complex relationships between the living and non-living components
    3. Non-living components include the climate, primarily temperature and rainfall, soil, water and light
    4. Producers convert energy from the environment, typically sunlight, into glucose
    5. Consumers obtain their energy by consuming other organisms
    6. A food chain/web shows the connection between the producers and consumers
    7. Decomposers are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms and the environment
    8. Nutrient cycling is the recycling of nutrients between living organisms and the environment
    9. Ecosystems can be identified at different scales: a local ecosystem could be a pond; global ecosystems are called biomes

  2. Balance

    1. The diversity and relative numbers of the components in an ecosystem can change over time
    2. This can be caused by natural factors like environmental change, like flood, fire and drought
    3. It can also be caused by humans, such as drainage, reclamation and fishing stocking
    4. Once a change is introduced, it is rarely isolated and often has an impact on other parts of the ecosystem