How Do Natural Ecosystems Work?

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 ‘Natural ecosystems are “balanced” systems. This means the interactions between the different organisms that make up the ecosystem contribute to a certain stability. For example, in grassland ecosystems, herbivores consume grass, but also feed the soil with their droppings, which allows the grass to grow back and allows some sort of balance. Still, this doesn’t mean an ecosystem, even a healthy one, is static. In reality, ecosystems are constantly evolving as they are based on dynamic processes that are constantly changing. 

For instance, biocenosis are living organisms that interact with their environment and constantly transform it. How? Because animals compact the soil, plants create humidity or regulate the temperature and bacteria help in the microscopic world by protecting all sorts of animals from diseases and helping in their digestion process. As well, an ecosystem also evolves due to external or unforeseen events. A climatic or natural phenomenon, for example, can lead to transformations in the environment. In this way, biocenosis the ecosystem’s living organisms to adapt to these new constraints, and change happens. 

It’s also curious that although an ecosystem is always looking for stability, the ecosystem never perfectly succeeds at it. The various natural imbalances tend to offset each other permanently. Some ecosystems evolve very slowly while others can transform very quickly. Sometimes, in extreme cases, they can even disappear.

How Does Energy Flow in An Ecosystem?

According to the law of energy conservation, energy can neither be created nor destroyed. In fact, it can only be transformed or transferred from one form to another. But how does this work in an ecosystem? How does energy flow here? Let’s watch this video to better understand this phenomenon. ’ (Source)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jBV9vJmXZI

Let’s continue - Links Between Ecosystems and Human Activities

Start at the beginning - What is an ecosystem?