Thursday, February 12, 2015

Structure of the Ecosystem


STRUCTURE OF THE ECOSYSTEM
by Antonio C. Antonio
January 20, 2015

The structure of the ecosystem can be classified in terms of spatial (meaning: space) and temporal (meaning: time) arrangements of the biotic communities.  It could also be understood as the organization of the different populations of species in space and time in the communities.  The relatively large ecosystem structure is composed of the following:

TROPHIC STRUCTURE – A trophic structure refers to the feeding relationship between the animal populations that comprise the biotic community.  Ecosystem structure can also be viewed from the way different organisms interact with each other in terms of feeding relationships of the species in the community.  Trophic structure is the pattern of movement of energy and matter through an ecosystem.  It is the result of compressing a community food web into a series of trophic levels.  All plants in the ecosystem comprise the primary producers or autotroph subsystem.  On another hand, all animal that feed on plants are called the herbivores or the macro consumer subsystem.  There are also micro organisms that get their energy requirement from decomposing plants and animal litter that belong to the decomposers or detritus subsystem.

SPATIAL STRUCTURE – Spatial pertains to space.  In a forest community, different groups of animals find food and habitat in the different layers of the trees and plants --- from the canopy down to the forest floor.  The different species of plants and animals are located at specific areas or layers within the ecosystem or forest ecosystem… this type of organization is called spatial structure.

TEMPORAL STRUCTURE – Temporal structure refers to the time of the day or season of the year when a particular species is active.  There are animals that are active during daytime and are called diurnal while those active during night time are known as nocturnal.  There are also other adoptive species that can be active at any time of the day.

There really is a complex relationship between species of plants and animals found in an ecosystem structure… part of the dynamism of the structure of the ecosystem.

Just my little thoughts…

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