Question

What is an example of a micro-ecosystem?

Answer 1

Ecosystem:

1. An ecosystem is an area where living organisms interact with the physical environment.
2. An ecosystem has two components: Biotic and abiotic.
3. The living things are the biotic components and the non-living things are the abiotic component.
4. The biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem are interdependent.
5. Examples of ecosystem: Ponds, lakes, deserts, forests, etc.

Micro-ecosystem:

1. Micro-ecosystem is a small subset of a large ecosystem.
2. A micro-ecosystem shows all the features of an ecosystem such as the production of food, breakdown and energy flow, nutrient cycling, etc.

Example of a micro-ecosystem includes the soil microecosystem:

1. The total depth range of a soil micro-ecosystem may be limited to less than a millimeter, due to the variations in humidity or gas composition.
2. These ecosystems are found to be very difficult to analyze microscopically.
3. The size of the soil grains, including the physical and chemical properties of the substrate may also affect the ecosystem.
4. In this ecosystem small organisms such as fungi, lichens, mosses, and liverworts are found.