FUNCTIONAL ECOSYSTEM: AUTOTROPHY AND HETEROTROPHY

CONTENT

1. Producers
2. Consumers
3. Aquatic and Terrestrial

Meaning of Ecosystem

In this topic, the question a wise student will ask is; what is ecosystem? First of all, the word ‘eco’ simply means ecology so, it is ecological system. Let us consider this illustration, in a freshwater habitat where you have aquatic plant such as spirogyra, animals such as tilapia, frogs and toads. All this living things interact with the non- living environment which includes the water where they are, the atmosphere, and the soil beneath it. These living things in the environment together with the non-living environment constitute an ecological system or ecosystem. Therefore, an ecosystem is defined as the interrelationship between the living things and their non-living environment

Components of an Ecosystem

In an ecosystem, there are two major parts; the biotic or living and abiotic or non-living part. Then from the functional point of view, we have three kinds as producers, consumers, and decomposers. The producers are always green plants; the consumers are the animals, while the decomposers are the saprophytes.