Ecosystem: definition for children

Life on our planet takes place primarily in the various ecosystems that exist throughout the biosphere, which are formed by the living beings that inhabit them and the physical environment where they develop. Next, in this lesson from unPROFESOR.com we are going to study what is an ecosystem and its main components with a definition adapted for children and that, thus, will help the little ones to know our planet better.

We can understand how ecosystem to one natural community self-regulating living organisms that interact with each other and also with the physical or non-living environment.

Ecosystems are really man-made models to simplify the complexity of the real world and thus get a clearer idea of ​​how forests, rivers, lakes, grasslands, etc., and the animal species that develop in them work.

The term was coined in 1935 by the British ecologist Arthur Tansley (1871-1955), integrating into it both living beings and the lifeless environmental factor.

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On initial stages of the history of our planet, 4000 or 5000 million years ago, only physical components existed, although changes in the climate and geology gave rise to more stable environments, in which living organisms will emerge that will gain in complexity.

Ecosystems are fundamentally formed in two parts:

• biocenosis
• the biotope

Biocenosis is made up of living beings, which is also called community, and the biotope is therefore the physical and chemical medium with its various characteristics depending on the soil, the climate or the relief.

Also, the ecosystem is considered a community located in a physical place, which is the habitat, in which biotic elements, living beings, and abiotic or inert ones are related.

The relations that occur within an ecosystem among its different populations can be very diverse, although the most important are the trophic or feeding, since all living beings need to feed themselves and get materials and energy to be able to complete their vital functions.

Specifically, in ecosystems there are no chains but food webs because living things usually feed on a variety of species.

In ecosystems, living things depend on others for food. In relation to the way they get food, living beings are classified into:

• Producers. They are called autotrophic organisms, since they manage to feed on inorganic substances and sunlight. They are called as producers because they generate organic matter. In terrestrial ecosystems, plants and vegetables are the producers, and in aquatic ecosystems, algae and some types of bacteria stand out.
• Consumers. They are also called heterotrophic organisms, because they cannot make their own food and therefore feed on plants or other animals. They can be of three types: primary or herbivores, that feed on the producers; secondary or carnivores, that feed on herbivores; and tertiary or supercarnivores, that feed on carnivores.
• Decomposers. They are those that feed on organic remains of other living beings that are in decomposition, such as animal corpses, excrement, dead vegetables, etc. For example, bacteria and fungi that transform the organic matter of corpses, remains or excrement and return it to the environment transformed into inorganic matter.

Also in ecosystems feeding relationships are built between living beings, highlighting those of:

• Competence. Organisms of different species compete for food, space, etc. There is damage between the two species, although one can fare worse and even disappear.
• Predation One predatory organism feeds on another, which is prey. It is usually the natural relationship that constitutes food chains.
• Parasitism. It occurs when an organism, which we call a parasite, takes advantage of another, the host, to feed on it. It causes you harm but not death. A clear example is the tick, which parasitizes other animals.
• Mutualism. It is the association of two organisms of different species to feed themselves, providing useful characteristics that the other species does not have. We see an example in the case of insects that pollinate flowers.
• Commensalism. It takes place when an organism, called a commensal, benefits from another without the one that helps to achieve benefits or be harmed. This is the case, for example, of plants that grow in the shade of large trees.