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WHAT
IS AN ECOSYSTEM?
Ecosystems
are communities of organisms living and interacting in a physical
environment. An ecosystem is the combination and interaction of the
plants, animals, minerals, and people in any given area of the Earth. A
small bog, a single sand dune, or a tiny patch of forest is an
ecosystem. But ecosystems are also forests covering thousands of
kilometers, a major river system, and a desert. Every centimeter of the
planet is part of an ecosystem. Maybe the most familiar natural
ecosystems are our backyards or parks near our home.
Here are the six
ecosystems on which life on Earth most heavily depends:
- Agroecosystems
- the farms where we grow our food and the livestock production
systems-ranches and hog farms, for example-where we produce meat
products.
- Forest
ecosystems - the
woodlands where we hike, cut timber, and hunt.
- Freshwater
ecosystems - the
lakes, streams, and rivers we fish in, boat on, transport our goods
over, and rely on for drinking water.
- Grassland
ecosystems -
meadows, prairies, pampas, savannas, and steppes where we graze our
cattle.
- Coastal
ecosystems - the
beaches where we play, the marine waters we trawl, the reefs and
atolls that line coasts in tropical waters and buffer our
coastlines.
- Urban
ecosystems - Even cities and suburbs are ecosystems, where a
greater concentration of economic and educational opportunities are
offered and where nearly half of the world's populations live.
Think
about what type of ecosystem you live in. Also think about the members
of your family. Do they live in the same ecosystem as you do? Do they
live in a different ecosystem? What do you think the best ecosystem is
to live in and why do you think so.
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