Lanto, Mark Lesther L.

ENSC 2113

B.S. E.C.E. 2-1

June 28, 2016

What is Ecosystem?
A pond, a forest, an estuary and a grassland are some of the many examples
of Ecosystem. This refer to a system made up of biotic components (Primary
Producers, Herbivores, Carnivores, Omnivores, Detritivores, etc.)

that occurs in

some locale, and abiotic components (Sunlight, Temperature, Precipitation, Water

or Moisture, Soil or Water Chemistry, etc.) which is the physical and chemical
factors. It is mainly concerned with processes called Energy Transformations and
Biogeochemical Cycling. This also leads to the term ecology, generally defined as
the interactions of organisms with one another and with the environment in which
they occur. Furthermore, the study of ecosystem- Ecosystem Ecology, mainly
consists of the study of certain processes that link the living, or biotic, components
to the non-living, or abiotic, components.
Studies of individuals are concerned mostly about physiology, reproduction,
development or behavior, and studies of populations usually focus on the habitat
and resource needs of individual species, their group behaviors, population growth,
and what limits their abundance or causes extinction. Studies of communities
examine how populations of many species interact with one another, such as
predators and their prey, or competitors that share common needs or resources.
And, all these level of studies are under the Ecosystem Ecology where we also try
to understand how the system operates as a whole. Meaning, rather than studying
each species, we focuses more on major functional aspects of the system such as
the amount of energy that is produced by photosynthesis, how energy or materials
flow along the many steps in a food chain, or what controls the rate of
decomposition of materials or the rate at which nutrients are recycled in the
system.

What is the nutrients cycle?

The process where nutrients move from the physical environment into
living organisms, and subsequently are recycled back to the physical
environment is what we called Nutrient Cycle. This movement of
nutrients, essential for life, from the natural environment into plants and
animals and back again, is a vital function of ecology of any region. According
to MARTIN 2010, if the organism within the environment are being maintained in a
constant population, therefore the nutrient cycle in that particular environment
must be balanced and stable. Presently, human kind, if not all, we mostly influence
the nutrient cycle in a way that we remove nutrients from the land which result in
soil depletion and also, discharge it into the aquatic environment that give it
abundant of nutrients and also pollution.
In a more scientific explanation, the nutrient cycle occur when Nutrients
move from the physical environment into living organisms, and are subsequently
recycled back to the physical environment. Nutrient from soil are taken by the
plants which are consumed either humans or animals and excreted by them which
leads it to where it came from. Microorganisms in the soil break this matter down,
and again make nutrients change into the mineral form, which makes it possible for
the plants to take it
goes on.

References:

again

and

the

cycle

http://www.sswm.info/category/concept/nutrient-cycle
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/kling/ecosystem/
ecosystem