Ecosystem

A community of living organisms of a particular region living in conjunction

with non-living components is called an ecosystem. An ecosystem can be as
small as an oasis in a desert, or as big as an ocean.
Types
 Terrestrial Ecosystem
 Aquatic Ecosystem

Terrestrial Ecosystem
The type of ecosystems which are predominantly found on land are called the
terrestrial ecosystems. Terrestrial ecosystems cover approximately 140 to 150
million km2, which is about 25 to 30 percent of the total earth surface area.

Types Of Terrestrial Ecosystems

There are different types of terrestrial ecosystems, which are widely distributed
around the geological zones.
They include:
Forest
These types of ecosystems include both temperate deciduous forest, plantation
forests and tropical rain forests. They serve as a natural habitat for a vast range
of living species and also comprise the highest species diversity. Forests cover
nearly 30 to 35 million square kilometres of the earth’s surface and more than
300 million species of plants and animals live in forests.
Grasslands
Grasslands are the most dominant type of vegetation and these types of
environments occur naturally in several parts of the world. These types of
terrestrial ecosystems serve as a home for a wide diversity of animal species,
such as elephants, giraffes, hyenas, jackrabbits, lions, rhinos, warthogs and
zebras. Other types of grasslands include:
1. Tropical Grasslands
2. Temperate Grasslands
Tundra
Tundra denotes polar regions, which are characterized by harsh environmental
conditions similar to deserts and is usually windswept, snow-covered and
treeless. Compared to deserts, this type of ecosystem is completely filled with
frozen soil throughout the year and in summer, the snow melts and shallow
ponds are produced. This gives rise to lichens and a few plants with small and
colorful flowers.
Desert
The Desert is a barren region of the landscape, which has extremely high or low
temperatures and has scarce vegetation. Depending on the climate and
temperature, deserts can be classified into hot deserts and cold deserts. There
are many lives that are well-adapted to life in the desert. Animals include
Camels, foxes, hyenas, jackals, scorpions, a few varieties of snakes and lizards.
The common plants are acacia, cactus and date palms.
Sahara is an example of a hot desert, which is categorized by high temperatures
associated with little rainfall and complicated life for both plants and animals.
Ladakh is an example of a cold desert, which is found on the eastern side of
Jammu and Kashmir near the Great Himalayas.

Aquatic Ecosystem
An aquatic ecosystem includes a group of interacting organisms which are
dependent on one another and their water environment for nutrients and shelter.
Examples of aquatic ecosystem include oceans, lakes and rivers.

Types of Aquatic Ecosystem

Different types of aquatic ecosystems are as follows:

Freshwater Aquatic Ecosystem

They cover only a small portion of earth nearly 0.8 per cent. Freshwater
involves lakes, ponds, rivers and streams, wetlands, swamp, bog and temporary
pools. Freshwater habitats are classified into lotic and lentic habitats. Water
bodies such as lakes, ponds, pools, bogs, and other reservoirs are standing water
and known as lentic habitats. Whereas lotic habitats represent flowing water
bodies such as rivers, streams.
 Lotic Ecosystems
They mainly refer to the rapidly flowing waters that move in a unidirectional
way including the rivers and streams. These environments harbor numerous
species of insects such as beetles, mayflies, stoneflies and several species of
fishes including trout, eel, minnow, etc. Apart from these aquatic species, these
ecosystems also include various mammals such as beavers, river dolphins and
otters.
 Lentic Ecosystems
They include all standing water habitats. Lakes and ponds are the main
examples of Lentic Ecosystem. The word lentic mainly refers to stationary or
relatively still water. These ecosystems are home to algae , crabs, shrimps,
amphibians such as frogs and salamanders, for both rooted and floating-leaved
plants and reptiles including alligators and other water snakes are also found
here.
 Wetlands
Wetlands are marshy areas and are sometimes covered in water which has a
wide diversity of plants and animals. Swamps, marshes, bogs, black spruce and
water lilies are some examples in the plant species found in the wetlands. The
animal life of this ecosystem consists of dragonflies and damselflies, birds such
as Green Heron and fishes such as Northern Pike.

Marine Aquatic Ecosystem

Marine ecosystem covers the largest surface area of the earth. Two third of earth
is covered by water and they constitute of oceans, seas, intertidal zone, reefs,
seabed, estuaries, hydrothermal vents and rock pools. Each life form is unique
and native to its habitat. This is because they have adaptations according to their
habitat. In the case of aquatic animals, they can’t survive outside of water.
Exceptional cases are still there which shows another example of adaptations
(e.g. mudskippers). The marine ecosystem is more concentrated with salts
which make it difficult for freshwater organisms to live in. Also, marine animals
cannot survive in freshwater. Their body is adapted to live in saltwater; if they
are placed in less salty water, their body will swell.
 Ocean Ecosystems
Our planet earth is gifted with the five major oceans, namely Pacific, Indian,
Arctic, and the Atlantic Ocean. Among all these five oceans, the Pacific and the
Atlantic are the largest and deepest ocean. These oceans serve as a home to
more than five lakh aquatic species. Few creatures of these ecosystems include
shellfish, shark, tube worms, crab small and large ocean fishes, turtles,
crustaceans, blue whale, reptiles, marine mammals, seabirds, plankton, corals
and other ocean plants.
 Coastal Systems
They are the open systems of land and water which are joined together to form
the coastal ecosystems. The coastal ecosystems have a different structure, and
diversity. A wide variety of species of aquatic plants and algae are found at the
bottom of the coastal ecosystem. The fauna is diverse and it mainly consists of
crabs, fish, insects, lobsters snails, shrimp, etc.
Plants and animals in an aquatic ecosystem show a wide variety of adaptations
which may involve life cycle, physiological, structural and behavioural
adaptations. Majority of aquatic animals are streamlined which helps them to
reduce friction and thus save energy. Fins and gills are the locomotors and
respiratory organs respectively. Special features in freshwater organisms help
them to drain excess water from the body. Aquatic plants have different types of
roots which help them to survive in water. Some may have submerged roots;
some have emergent roots or maybe floating plants like water hyacinths.