THE 2 MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM - BIOLOGY - 2025

The main elements of an ecosystem are living beings and the physical environment. Relationships are established between the two within the same habitat, where their vital activities take place.

The concept of ecosystem, created in the 1930s, dismantles previous theories that differentiated human activity from nature and dissociated one from the other.

In this way, by sharing space and assuming mutual influence, it can be said that the concept of ecosystem places man and nature on the same plane. The action of one affects the other, and vice versa. They cannot be dissociated.

The 2 main elements of an ecosystem

1- Living beings

Living things are also called biotic beings. By definition, they are material assemblages of complex organization in which communication systems between molecules intervene.

The concept is very broad and encompasses an innumerable variety of species of various types. Living things are studied by science through biology.

Sometimes the concept of living being is mistakenly associated with that of an animal or being animate. In reality, animated living beings are not the majority on the planet, but they are the most visible and those that present a more dynamic interaction with the environment in which they inhabit.

2- The physical environment

The physical environment is the set of all abiotic (lifeless) elements of an ecosystem. This medium can be terrestrial or aquatic. This is a fairly simple primary division.

Statistically most of the physical environments of the ecosystems of planet Earth are aquatic; the aquatic surface is much greater than the terrestrial one.

In a secondary division, these land or water physical environments can be subdivided according to various factors.

For example, terrestrial environments are studied through soil, climate, and relief. And, in turn, an ecosystem is influenced by factors such as temperature, humidity, wind or rainfall.

For its part, in aquatic environments the elements to take into account are the salinity of the water, light, currents, the temperature of the water or the type of bottom, among others.

Relations within the ecosystem

Within ecosystems, multiple relationships are established between living beings. These relationships can be of different types; they can even sometimes lead to the extermination of one species by another.

There are feeding relationships, which refer to when a living being feeds on another, thus creating a food chain.

There are also competitive relationships, which occur when two living beings start a fight or battle to obtain an end that only one of them can access.

Finally, there is the cooperative relationship, according to which the action of a living being benefits itself and also benefits another, directly or indirectly.

References

1. What is an ecosystem ?, on Khan Academy, at khanacademy.org
2. Characteristics of the ecosystem, on Sciencing, at sciencing.com
3. The ecosystem and how it relates to sustainability, at globalchange.umich.edu
4. Ecosystem, on Encyclopaedia Britannica.com, at britannica.com
5. "Understanding Biology", Wendy St. Germain & Peter Gribben.