B4- Ecology in the Local Environment

Ecosystems

An ecosystem is a physical environment with a particular set of conditions, plus all the organisms that live in it; they can be natural or artificial.

Natural ecosystems have high biodiversity, i.e. many different species of plants and animals coexsist in the same environment.

Artficial ecosystems, for example, greenhouses are designed and maintained for a particular purpose so they have lower biodiversity.

Weedkillers, fertilisers and pesticides may be used in artificial ecosystems to prevent other animals an plants from growing alongside the crop. This leads to low biodiversity.

Forestry plantations  are very carefull set up, controlled and monitoreed. They will have less biodiversity due to the fact they havent been established for as long as natural woodland, which take years to form, and result from the relationships and interactions of the organisms that live there and the setting up stage and not all species survive from the start.

Fish farms will also showless biodiversity due to the shorter time they have existed compared to lakes. Plus in the absence of many predators some fish species will thrive while otheres won't. Also there are fewer diseases which may result in too many of certain species reducing others.

Ecological Terms

A habitat is the part of the physical environment where an animal or plant lives. An organism will hae adapted to its…