Ecosystems
Ecosystems consist of plants and animals which live in a delicate cycle, easily
affected by outside organisms, and influence what grow / live in the ecosystem
depending on the abiotic and biotic factors. They are self contained systems which
work in simple patterns of different species interaction such as predation and
mutualism. The organisms of an ecosystem help sustain each other. Any disruptions
to the ecosystem may cause detrimental effects which lead to the destruction of the
ecosystem.
Figure 1
Figure 1 is a simple example of an ecosystem.
It shows some simple food chains, of what animal eats what and incorporates grass as
a simple plant into the diagram. To better explain the system of nutrient cycling and
ecosystem, it would be better to refer to “Figure 2”
Figure 2
Figure 2 shows how an ecosystem relies on each factor of itself, and how nutrient
cycling works.
Nutrient Cycling
A nutrient cycle involves the processes which allow nutrients to be moved through an
ecosystem. Plants require nutrients in the soil for growth, these come from
decomposed animals, and leaf litter / dead plants. The cycle here is that the plants
grow, and as a result there are animals in the area which form the ecosystem, when
these plants and animals die, they are decomposed into nutrients which are absorbed
by the soil, which in turn fuels plant growth again, and the cycle continues.