Ecosystems By Kamal

What is ecology? ‘Eco’ in ‘ecosystem’ stands for ‘ecology’. ‘Ecology’ in Greek means ‘study of the home’. What do you have at home? Living things: humans, animals, plants, etc. Non-living things: water, light, air, etc. (‘Home’ could be your house, a pond, a desert, a forest or any location on the earth.) 17 June 2018 Ecosystems

What is a system? ‘System’ in ‘ecosystem’ means ‘interconnected things’. A DVD player is a system of many things. Can you name them? All the interconnected things work together in the DVD player to play video and music by interacting with your remote control. 17 June 2018 Ecosystems

What is an ecosystem? Everything in the natural world is connected. An ecosystem is a community of living and non-living things that work together. How do living things interact among themselves, their neighbours and the environment? How do they get food and how they become food for others? What is their impact on the environment? A fish pond is an example of an ecosystem. 17 June 2018 Ecosystems

Parts of an ecosystem The living things of an ecosystem can be classified into: Producers: Who produce food for others (plants). Consumers: Who consume food from producers (animals). Decomposers: Who break down living things when they are dead and send them back to soil (bacteria, fungi, etc). The environment includes soil, atmosphere, heat, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and light from the sun, and water. 17 June 2018 Ecosystems

Types of ecosystems Ecosystems are classified based on location, environment and living things. Classification Living things/ environment Locations Tundra Polar bear, caribou, snowy owl, arctic fox/ cold and frozen areas Arctic circle Forest Many birds, mammals/ Moderate temperature, tall grass and trees Spread over different parts of the world Aquatic (water) Fish, coral, whale/ Oceans, rivers, ponds, beaches Different parts of the world Desert Ostrich, lizard/ High temperature Africa, USA, Australia Grasslands Elephant, fix, deer, ant/ Grassy, windy, and partially dry Tundra Forest Aquatic Desert Grassland 17 June 2018 Ecosystems

Human activities in ecosystems Nature provides a healthy environment for all living things to live in harmony. However, human activities could endanger the harmony of the ecosystems. Can you name a few human activities that could endanger? Tree cutting, Tourism, Illegal hunting and fishing, Burning fossil fuels – cars, industrial pollution Tree cutting Industrial Automobile Fishing Tourism pollution pollution 17 June 2018 Ecosystems

Ecosystems in Mauritius Most forest ecosystems have faded in Mauritius due to tree cutting and other human activities. This caused an imbalance in the ecosystem of Mauritius. As a result, the Pink Pigeon and other rare birds could no longer found in many parts of Mauritius. Mauritius has coral reef ecosystems in various forms in the coastal line of about 400 km: Lagoons, Reefs, Estuaries, Mangroves, Salt-water wetlands, Sheltered bays 17 June 2018 Ecosystems