Brief notes on the Major Ecosystems

Forest Ecosystem

These ecosystems have large no. of herbs, trees, climbers, and wide variety of animals and birds.

Forest ecosystem is divided into following types:

1. Northern coniferous forest

2. Tropical rain forest

3. Tropical seasonal forest

4. Tropical deciduous forest

5. Temperate rain forest

6. Temperate deciduous forest

7. The different components of a forest ecosystem follows are:

Abiotic Components

The abiotic components in the forest ecosystem would include the basic elements, minerals, water, CO,, soil and other compounds found in the environment. These are the inorganic as well as organic substances present in the soil and atmosphere.

We also find the dead debris the litter accumulation chiefly in temperate climate. The light conditions are different due to complex stratification in the plant communities.

Biotic Components

The living organisms present in the food chain occur in the following order:

(i) Producers

The producers, in the forest include the green plants and trees which are autotrophs capable of synthesizing complex organic food materials using the carbon of carbon dioxide taken from the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight. The trees are of different kinds depending upon the kind of the forest formation developing in that climate. The trees in the tropical forest include jack, wild jack, teak etc. Below these trees, bamboos, fern and shrubs are present. The producers in the deciduous forest include oaks, maples and beeches and other green plants.

(ii) Consumers are as follows:

(a) Primary consumers: The consumers in the forest include the herbivorous animals like ungulates, rodents, deers, bisons etc. which feed upon the green grasses, plants and leaves of trees. These are the primary consumers.

(b) Secondary consumers: These are carnivores like snake, birds, and lizards, fox etc. feeding on the herbivores.

(c) Tertiary consumers: These are the top carnivores like lion, tiger etc. that eat carnivores of secondary consumers’ level.

(iii) Decomposers

In course of time the autotrophs and heterotrophs die in the forest. The complex compounds of the dead protoplasm are eventually decomposed by decomposers which are mainly bacteria and fungi.

Thus the complex substances are converted into simple substances, which are subsequently utilized by the producers for synthesizing complex organic food materials. The decomposers thus complete the cycle in the terrestrial ecosystem.