Plants and animals depend upon one another in this African savannah ecosystem. Nuria Camacho / EyeEm; Getty Images

By Jenn Savedge

You have probably heard a lot about ecosystems and how important they are to the health of our planet. But what exactly is an ecosystem anyhow?

An ecosystem - or ecological system - is the interaction between living organisms in an environment, including plants, animals, fish, birds, microorganisms, water, and people, and their relationship with non-living components of the environment - such as soil, air, climate, and weather.

In other words - an ecosystem is the complex way that living things interact with and depend upon one another and their environment.

Each component of an ecosystem has a vital role to play to ensure that all components stay healthy. If a seemingly unimportant bug species starts to decline in population, that means that there will be less food for the spiders and birds in that environment. That in turn translates in less food for the animals that eat those spiders and bugs. And that means that fewer animals will be returning nutrients to the soil via their waste and decay. So the plants will begin to die as will any animals that feed on these plants.

It's a complex, complicated cycle in which balance is maintained only when all of the components are thriving in healthy populations. Too much of one organism will lead to a decline in another. Ecologists refer to healthy ecosystems as sustainable, meaning that they will remain in balance unless disturbed.

Natural incidents such as floods, fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, storms, and even volcanic eruptions can significantly damage the health of an ecosystem.

As can human-caused factors such as climate change,pollution, habitat destruction, overharvesting, and the introduction of invasive species.

Ecosystems vary in size to the complex interactions between microorganisms and a decaying leaf in the forest to the African Serengeti in which hundreds of plants and animals exist with and rely upon one another to survive. And ecosystem can be as small as a puddle or as large as the Atlantic Ocean.

Ecologists define very small ecosystems as 'micro' ecosystems. This could be the size of a puddle, a rock, or a leaf in the forest. These microsystems might seem too small to be significant.

But a single puddle could contain hundreds of microorganisms that depend upon one another to thrive. That's an ecosystem!

Larger ecosystem units are sometimes referred to as biomes. Classic examples of biomes include forests, wetlands, oceans, rivers, savannah, deserts, tundra, and grasslands.

Basically, if an ecosystem is primarily in a water body such as an ocean or lake, it is considered an aquatic ecosystem. If it is on land, it is called a terrestrial ecosystem.

Here is a quick breakdown of ecosystem classification:

Aquatic Ecosystems

Terrestrial Ecosystems

You may have heard this term before and wondered what it meant. An ecotone is the transition zone between two ecosystems. Ecosystems don't just stop and start abruptly. Even in a puddle ecosystem, there may be an area surrounding the puddle in which the ground holds more moisture than it does in the surrounding area. This moist ground may be home to different microorganisms than those that live further away. This area is not quite a puddle, and not quite the surrounding forest. It is a blend between the two ecosystems. It is an ecotone.

Read the original here:

What Is An Ecosystem?