Ecosystem

ECOSYSTEM

  • An ecosystem is a group of living communities of species interacting with one another and with their non-living environment, exchanging energy and matter.
  • The term ecosystem was first introduced by Sir Arthur Tansely (1935). The relationship between biotic and abiotic components is called holocoenois. Previously, Russian ecologist, Sukachev in 1944, coined the term ‘biogeoconeosis’ to include environment in the study of Biological communities. This term biogeocoenosis is equivalent to term ecosystem.
  • Earnst Haekel (1869) coined the word ‘Ecology’, which is the study of organisms in their natural home interacting with their surroundings. Ecology is often defined as the study of ecosystems. According to Utpary (1954), ecosystem is a complex system in which living and non-living constituents are interacting with one another, triggering an exchange of energy and matter.
Last modified: Monday, 7 March 2011, 8:28 AM