What is an Ecosystem?
An ecosystem is a system or a functional unit in the environment where living and nonliving components interact with each other. Thus, it can be defined as a community of living organisms and nonliving components living in conjunction with each other in the environment. The non-living components of the ecosystem include water, soil, atmosphere, temperature, etc. while living organisms have an internal hierarchy within an ecosystem.
Within the living organisms are the producers, the consumers, and the decomposers. Their interactions with each other give rise to the food chain within an ecosystem. The ecosystem exists on the basis of the linking within the food chains and complex food webs. The non-living components support the living components by providing essential materials that are required for survival. This includes energy, air, water, etc. which are ultimately acquired as a result of various biological cycles.
An ecosystem can be big or small in size but they maintain specific and limited species. For example, an aquatic ecosystem is dominated by aquatic species like fish, sharks, snails etcIn an ecosystem, living components are also known as biotic components and non - living components also known as abiotic components form a pattern and are interconnected through nutrient cycles and energy flows.
Every organism present in an ecosystem is dependent on one or the other element in an ecosystem, for example, humans living in a terrestrial ecosystem are dependent on plants for food, soil for agriculture and nutrients, sunlight and oxygen from the atmosphere. This way all the biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem are interconnected. They are so well connected that if one part or element of the ecosystem is disturbed, it changes and affects the rest of the elements of the ecosystem.
Characteristics of the Ecosystem
Energy flow and nutrient cycles link the living components of the ecosystem to the non-living components.
The energy flows unidirectionally or in one direction in the ecosystem.
Energy enters it through the process of photosynthesis. Animals feed on plants and one another, thus aiding the movement of energy and matter through the system. The decomposers then break down the organic matter and release carbon and nutrients back to the ecosystem. So that it can be used up again by plants in their simpler forms to utilize for the process of photosynthesis.
Abiotic factors like climate, topography, etc. influence the biotic components of the ecosystem.
Ecological pyramids are another important factor in the ecosystem. An ecological pyramid gives the graphical representation of the number, energy, and biomass of the successive trophic levels of an ecosystem.
Every part of the environment with its exclusive flora and fauna has an ecosystem of its own. Examples of the same are- Aquatic Ecosystem, Desert Ecosystem, etc.
What is a Biome?
Biomes are a community of living organisms that have common characteristics for the environment they exist in. They are formed as a result of the living organism’s response to the physical climate. A particular zone on Earth can be termed as a biome which is identified by a large-scale climate and vegetation characteristics.
Biomes are generally identified and named after the life form that exists in it, for instance, grassland, coral reef, tropical rain forests, etc.
Due to the similarity in the patterns of natural selection Species in different parts of a biome may appear similar in behavior and appearance.
Examples of biomes – Tundra, temperate evergreens, etc.
Difference Between Ecosystem and Biomes
Points to Remember
An ecosystem is smaller than a biome because a biome is distributed throughout the Earth.
A biome is strongly influenced by its physical factors like climatic conditions such as snow, temperature, rainfall, etc. but an ecosystem is not.
A biome is also influenced by latitude which an ecosystem is independent of.
In biome, the living components or all the organisms may not necessarily interact with each other.
In an ecosystem, the interaction between various living components or organisms Is the basis of its numerous food webs and energy flow.
Conclusion
Once you understand the difference between Ecosystem and Biome, it becomes easy to learn more.It is an interesting subject to learn.
FAQs on Difference Between Ecosystem and Biome
1. How is an Ecosystem Different From a Biome?
An ecosystem is a system or a functional unit in the environment where living and nonliving components interact with each other. It is a community of living organisms and nonliving components living in conjunction with each other in the environment. Whereas, Biomes are a community of living organisms that have common characteristics for the environment they exist in. They are formed as a result of the living organism’s response to the physical climate. A particular zone on Earth can be termed as a biome which is identified by a large-scale climate and vegetation characteristics. You can learn more about it on Vedantu website.
2. What are the Factors That Influence a Biome?
The factors that strongly influence biome are latitude and physical factors or climatic factors like rainfall, snow, temperature variations, etc. Though it remains unaffected, the interactions of its living organism or the living organism in a biome may or may not interact with each other at all. Which is completely opposite in an ecosystem.
3. What are the important features of an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is a small unit in which the living and non - living components which are also known as the biotic and abiotic components interact with each other. Following are some of the features of an ecosystem:
There are living and nonliving components in an ecosystem and they are connected through the energy and nutrient cycle. For example, any dead animal or plant is decomposed and the organic matter turns into nutrients like carbon and other elements. These elements re-enter the ecosystem through nutrient cycles like the carbon cycle, phosphorus cycle.
The energy in an ecosystem flows from one trophic level to another trophic level, This flow of energy is unidirectional and generally moves from below to the above trophic levels.
Energy is created from sunlight and other natural elements like water and nutrients in the soil. When plants perform photosynthesis, this energy is converted to carbohydrates and is consumed by the animals. When these animals and plants die, they are decomposed by decomposers and the nutrients re-enter the soil thus forming a cycle.
4. What are different biomes present on the earth?
The entire terrestrial ecosystem is divided into several biomes. It is nothing but a group of plants and animals that live together in a place naturally. Following are some of the biomes on the Earth:
The Tundra biome is further divided into arctic and alpine tundra biomes. Arctic biome based on the geographical location and alpine biome based on the altitude.
Grassland biome which is further divided into steppes biome located in temperate regions and Savannah biome located in tropical regions
Desert biome where life is arid. They could be dry or wet desert biomes. Generally, this biome is located in tropical and subtropical areas.
Forest biome which is further divided into the taiga, temperate deciduous, temperate rainforest biome, tropical deciduous biome, subtropical deciduous biome etc.,
We can not find any trees in the tundra biome as it is permafrost (permanently frozen condition).
5. Define what is an ecosystem and its components?
An ecosystem is a unit where the biotic components also known as living components like the plants and animals interact with the abiotic also known as non-living components like sunlight, water, nutrients to form an environment. Following are the components of an ecosystem:
a) Abiotic Components:
Abiotic components are non-living components that are very limited in nature. Hence, the absence of one factor will disturb the growth of the living components
Sunlight is one of the very important abiotic components which initiates the process of energy flow by facilitating photosynthesis
Rainfall helps an ecosystem by not only providing the rains and water for living organisms but also transferring the nutrients from one place to another place as most of them travel in an aqueous state.
Temperature affects the growth of living organisms. Stenothermal organisms have lesser toleration to temperature extremities and eurythermal animals have broader toleration to the temperature.
b) Biotic Components:
Biotic components are the living components of an ecosystem like plants and animals.
Examples of biotic components are autotrophs, which produce their food with the help of natural elements surrounding them, heterotrophs, which depend upon the autotrophs for energy and secondary consumers which depend upon the primary consumers in the food chain. Examples of secondary consumers are lion, tiger, cheetah.
