The microecosystems and macroecosistemas are the two types of ecosystems that can be distinguished if classified according to their size. It can be said that an ecosystem is a set of biotic beings, that is, beings that have life, and abiotic beings, without life; in which the development of living beings depends on the physical and chemical conditions of inert beings and vice versa.
Thus, intricate relationships are established between one and the other, in such a way that if any of these factors were altered, changes would occur in all the elements involved. For example, the moving water of a river and the rocks in its bed are abiotic factors on which salmon depend for food, growth and laying eggs.
If the water in that river were to stagnate or decrease in volume, it would no longer be a suitable habitat for salmon as well as for some mammals that feed on it. Despite this, living things could adapt to new conditions. For this reason it is said that ecosystems are dynamic and depend on many variables.
However, they are very delicate because the abrupt change of a factor could completely eliminate the entire complex mechanism of relationships between the elements.
These relationships can be understood as a flow of nutrients and energy. The trophic or food chains exemplify its operation very well.
For example, the chemical elements of the grass that thanks to solar energy are transformed into nutrients, are consumed by various insects that in turn serve as food for some rodents, which will be eaten by game birds such as owls. According to their size, we can say that there are microecosystems and macroecosystems.
What are microecosystems?
Microecosystems are ecosystems that function in very small spaces that can be just a few centimeters. In general, the elements that compose them are usually very small, even microscopic and require very specific conditions for them to exist.
The particularity of microecosystems does not mean that they are isolated. Rather, they are often an important part of the functioning of larger ecosystems.
Many of the times the most extreme environmental conditions, because they are unique, allow the existence of microecosystems, since only a few living beings can support them. For example, the sulphurous pools near some volcanoes harbor bacteria that can only exist under these conditions.
Although the extreme physical and chemical characteristics of a place can allow the existence of microecosystems, most of them are in less hostile environments.
A good example of this is the Sarracenias purpureas, a cup-shaped carnivorous plant in which complete cycles of matter and energy exchange are generated between the Wyeomyia smithii mosquito, the Metriocnemus knabi mosquito, a small rotifer (Bdelloidea rotifera) and thousands of bacteria and phytoplankton.
Sarracenia purpurea
In any case, it is the heterogeneous environments with their variety of physical features that promote the appearance of microecosystems, or microhabitats.
For example, Utricularia foliosa, a carnivorous plant that lives in the Amazon rainforest, allows algae and bacteria to live in it, which are in turn the refuge of some microcrustaceans and microinvertebrates.
The assembly of the trophic chains is still complex despite the tiny space in which they occur.
Many of these processes can be observed in their entirety within a laboratory. We could even say that the human body constitutes a microecosystem for some organisms.
Therefore, some studies suggest that cancer tumors should be studied with an ecological approach (looking at them as microecosystems), in order to understand the processes between biotic and abiotic beings that include diseased cells. This would mean a huge leap in the twinning between medicine and ecology.
Understanding a system of material and energy exchange in such a small space also allows us to understand how, due to their heterogeneity, they house an enormous diversity of beings without which the most extensive ecosystems could not function; in other words, the existence of many other beings depends on them.
What are macroecosystems?
Unlike the small limited spaces in which microecosystems develop, macroecosystems encompass huge amounts of plant population and all the variety of fauna associated with them.
These gigantic structures depend on climatic conditions that are prolonged in time and spread over large geographical portions.
For example, forests, a type of macroecosystem, today occupy a third of the earth's surface and contain approximately 70% of all the carbon contained in living things.
They are macroecosystems so extensive that they even occupy several climatic floors: tropical, temperate and boreal forests.
Macroecosystems, also called biomes have undergone changes throughout the history of the earth, however they are not as fast as those with smaller systems.
The conservation of biomes or macroecosystems is a long-term exercise since with the development of human activities some of them have suffered profound alterations.
Proper knowledge of the spatial distribution of macroecosystems is essential to understand how ecological and evolutionary processes occur.
So you have to look at ecological processes on a large scale. One of the relevant issues for those who study these changes is the impact of the introduction of new species in a given ecosystem or the influence of climate changes.
Both microecosystems and macroecosystems are ways of understanding an extensive network of relationships and exchanges between living beings and the elements of our planet.
An ecosystem regardless of its extension or permanence in time is the complex shelter of biodiversity.
References
- Aguirre, Z., & Merino, B. (2015). Flora characteristics in the macro-ecosystems of Ecuador south. Forests… Latitude Zero, 5-22.
- Biomes Group. (nineteen ninety six). The World's Biomes. Retrieved from ucmp.berkeley.edu.
- Mendoza, E., Passarino, S., Quiroga, C., & Suárez, F. (2013). Writing in Science. Terrestrial ecosystems. Buenos Aires: Ministry of Education of the Nation.
- Reed, C. (1978). Species Diversity in Aquatic Microecosystems. Ecology, 481-488.
- RMB Emviromental Laboratories, Inc. (October 2013). Aquatic Invasive Species Education for Otter Tail County. Obtained from rmbel.info.