Ecosystem

Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system. These biotic and abiotic components are regarded as linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. As ecosystems are defined by the network of interactions among organisms, and between organisms and their environment, (although some scientists say that the entire planet is an ecosystem).

Components of the Ecosystem
An ecosystem has two basic components:
i) Abiotic components.
ii) Biotic components.
The relationship between the abiotic components and the biotic components of the ecosystem is termed holocoenosis .
Abiotic Components
These include the non-living, physical and chemical factors such as air, water, soil and the basic elements and compounds of the environment. Abiotic factors are broadly classified under three categories:
1- Climatic factors which include the climatic regime and physical factors of the environment like light, radiation, humidity, wind, atmospheric temperature, etc.
2- Edaphic factors which are related to the structure and composition of soil including its physical and chemical properties, like soil types, soil profile, minerals, organic matter, soil water, and soil organisms.
3- Inorganic substances like water, carbon, sulphur, nitrogen, phosphorus and so on. Organic substances like proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, humic substances etc.