Structure of Ecosystem

All ecosystems have to include both abiotic and biotic components, the interactions, and a known source of energy. The simplest but least representative of ecosystems therefore contains just one living plant – the biotic component, in a small terrarium with light exposure to which water source with essential nutrients for the plant’s growth has been added – the abiotic environment. The other extreme is the biosphere, which has all of Earth's organisms and the interactions between them and Earth’s systems – the abiotic environment. And of course, the majority of ecosystems fall in between the extremes of complexity.

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS:

                           The non living factors are called the abiotic component. They include the physical and chemical components. They are solar energy, water,CO2, temperature, humidity, pH, nitrogen, etc.

BIOTIC COMPONENTS:

                           The living components of the environment comprises the biotic components. Biotic components are classified as:

• PRODUCERS: These are the autotrophic organisms that are capable of photosynthesis. The are primarily the food producers.They make food for themselves and indirectly for other components directly or indirectly. Green plants are the primary producers.

• CONSUMERS: They depend on producers for their food directly or indirectly. They are further classified as herbivores(feed only on plants), carnivores(feed only on animals) and omnivores(feed both on plants and animals). 

• DECOMPOSERS: They obtain food from the dead remains of other producers and consumers.They are very important to complete the food cycle.They include bacteria and fungi.