Ecosystem Definition

An ecosystem can be defined as the set of living beings (or biotic elements) and non-living elements (abiotic elements) that interact with each other in a certain place. Living beings are animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms that inhabit the ecosystem. The non-living elements are water, air, soil, light and climate that influence the development of living beings.

Living beings do not live in isolation, in fact, none would survive alone: ​​they depend for their subsistence, as happens with the human being, on the existence of a series of natural resources (such as water) and on the existence of other species (for example , carnivores depend on herbivores, and herbivores depend on plants).

the web of life

We could think of ecosystems as collections of biotic (living beings) and abiotic (inert elements) elements in a given place and time; but what really determines the identity of an ecosystemand often makes them unique, is the network of relationships that is established between all the elements that coexist.

In this network, each of the biotic and abiotic elements are like the knots in a fishing net. From them arise threads that unite them with other points. The same knot can be, and frequently is, connected with many other knots.

Some of these relationships are obvious, such as the one between the carnivore and its prey, or the one established between rain and plants. But others are unsuspected, such as plants with “hairs” that trap water from the fog and “irrigate” their neighbors. These “water harvesting” plants increase the capacity of deserts to provide water. Fog trapping technology, which helps communities in hyper-arid areas to obtain water, is based on this observation of the functioning of desert ecosystems.

Emergent properties of ecosystems

This particular network physiognomy of ecosystems gives them popup propertieswhich are properties that are not given by the individual components but by the shape of the network, the way these components relate to each other and work together.

It is possible that this network varies between different places, even with the same elements.

For this reason, each ecosystem is unique and functionally different from the rest; although they may be externally very similar, either because they are in the same climatic zone or are part of the same biome.

Decisions that affect entire ecosystems cannot be made from theoretical knowledge (which certainly helps to understand them) but from local knowledge: it is necessary to investigate how the network of that particular ecosystem works and is like.

Interactions in the ecosystem

Interspecies interactions are the relationships established between organisms that live in the same place and are part of the same ecosystem.

They can be of different types, depending on the effect they have on the organisms involved.

Some interactions are mutually beneficial, such as in the mutualismin others only one of the species benefits, although without harming the other, as in the commensalism. If the other species is harmed, the relationship is one of parasitism and if the other species dies during the interaction (because it is eaten) the relationship is one of predation.

The predatory relationships or trophic relationships They are represented by trophic networks, and constitute the basis of the circulation of matter and energy in ecosystems.

They also establish themselves in ecosystems competitive relationships, in which two or more species dispute the use of a resource. The competencejust as mutualistic relationships can be as important as trophic relationships in the dynamics of ecosystems.

Types of ecosystems

Ecosystems can be of different types depending on where they are located and the characteristics they have. For example, there are terrestrial ecosystems, such as forests, prairies, or deserts; aquatic ecosystems, such as rivers, lakes or oceans; and mixed ecosystems, such as wetlands or mangroves.

Wherever a living being lives, no matter how tiny, there will be others with whom it shares its existence and, therefore, there will be an ecosystem. No species, living or extinct, lives alone.: is always part of an ecosystem.

Ecosystems extend as far as the species that form the network extend. Its limits generally obey climatic issues or particularities of the geology of the area. When one of the species in the network is replaced by another, that network changes and so does the ecosystem.

The boundary between two ecosystems is diffuse, and the replacement of one species by another forms a continuum. It is not possible to put a sign marking the exact limit between ecosystem A and B. Such a limit is dynamic, it can be moved between the seasons, even between the hours of the day and it is called ecotone. This continuum of similar ecosystems forms a biome.

Ecosystem functioning

The functioning of ecosystems is given by their network typology. Like the boundaries of an ecosystem, these relationships are dynamic and it is not uncommon for them to change seasonally; with which the functionality of the ecosystems varies slightly between the seasons.

This natural variability of ecosystems is cyclical, that is, the ecosystem oscillates between its states, but none of them is permanent. For example, arctic ecosystems are grasslands filled with flowers and animals during the summer months, turning to cold, snow-covered deserts in the winter.

These seasonal and natural changes contrast with the changes caused by human action. There comes a point where the change suffered by the ecosystem is so much that it is not capable of absorbing and reversing it and that ecosystem will no longer return to its old state because the threshold of resilience.

These profound and permanent changes can occur due to massive loss of biodiversity, such as deforestation, fires, or changes in land use, which entail changes in the abiotic elements of the ecosystem, such as the diversion or damming of rivers.

If the ecosystems do not exceed that threshold of permanent change and remain far from it, maintaining their original structure, without suffering major disturbances, we speak of healthy ecosystems.

Healthy ecosystems are of great importance, since they are the ecological systems that support the life of all living beings. No living thing can survive outside of an ecosystem, unless all its needs are provided for, like our pets.

Humanity has been able to “create” its own ecosystems, where it meets its needs, but for most other species of organisms, that is not possible; and its existence is linked to the existence of a particular ecosystem. Even so, healthy ecosystems provide humanity with natural resources and ecosystem services without which life would not be possible.

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