1. Ecosystems By
Kamal

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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.
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Ecosystems

5. 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.
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Ecosystems

6. 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
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Ecosystems

7. 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
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Ecosystems

8. 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