ecosystem

Definition of ecosystem in English English dictionary: A set of interconnected products and services; The interconnectedness of organisms (plants, animals, microbes) with each other and their environment; A system formed by an ecological community and its environment that functions as a unit; {i} ecological system, reciprocal relationship between living things and the environment; A system involving the interactions between living organisms and the physical environment; The interacting system of a biological community and its nonliving environment; means a dynamic complex of organisms and their non-living environment, interacting as a functional unit; an ecological community; complete with plants, animals, and its physical environment (soil, water, air etc ); is the complex of plant, animal, fungal, and microorganism communities and their associated non-living environment interacting as an ecological unit Ecosystems have no fixed boundaries; instead, their parameters are set according to the scientific, management, or policy question being examined Depending upon the purpose of analysis, a single lake, a watershed, or an entire region could be considered an ecosystem; A community of different species interacting with one another and with the chemical and physical factors making up the nonliving environment An ecosystem can be small (for example, a pond), or very large (for example, a major river valley); A more or less self-contained biological community together with the physical environment in which the community's organisms occur; a community of plants, animals, and microorganisms that are linked by energy and nutrient flows and that interact with each other and with the physical environment Rain forests, deserts, coral reefs, grasslands, and a rotting log are all examples of ecosystems; The interacting system of a biological community (plants, animals) and its non-living environment; a collection of all living and non-living things found in a given area; The most complex level of organization is the ecosystem An ecosystem includes the plant and animal communities in an area together with the non-living physical environment that supports them Ecosystems have physically defined boundaries, but they are also dynamic: their boundaries and constituents can change over time They can import and export materials and energy and thus can interact with and influence other ecosystems They can also vary widely in size; A dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit This definition does not specify any particular spatial unit or scale Thus, the term "ecosystem" does not, necessarily, correspond to the terms "biome" or "ecological zone", but can refer to any functioning unit at any scale Indeed, the scale of analysis and action should be determined by the problem being addressed It could, for example, be a grain of soil, a pond, a forest, a biome or the entire biosphere In the words of Eugene Odum "the grandfather of ecology" an ecosystem is a unit of biological organization interacting with the physical environment such that the flow of energy and mass leads to a characteristic trophic structure and material cycles; An ecosystem is all the plants and animals that live in a particular area together with the complex relationship that exists between them and their environment. the forest ecosystem. all the animals and plants in a particular area, and the way in which they are related to each other and to their environment ecology. Complex of living organisms, their physical environment, and all their interrelationships in a particular unit of space. An ecosystem's abiotic (nonbiological) constituents include minerals, climate, soil, water, sunlight, and all other nonliving elements; its biotic constituents consist of all its living members. Two major forces link these constituents: the flow of energy and the cycling of nutrients. The fundamental source of energy in almost all ecosystems is radiant energy from the sun; energy and organic matter are passed along an ecosystem's food chain. The study of ecosystems became increasingly sophisticated in the later 20th century; it is now instrumental in assessing and controlling the environmental effects of agricultural development and industrialization. See also biome; The basic functional unit in ecology: the interacting system of a biological community and its non-living environmental surroundings These are inseparable and act upon each other The term was coined by the Oxford ecologist A G Tansley in 1934, though the concept is much older (Source: Mintzer, 1992); An ecosystem is a system where populations of species group together into communities and interact with each other and the abiotic environment; A community of organisms and their physical environment interacting as an ecological unit; a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their physical environment; The complex system of plant, animal, fungal, and microorganism communities and their associated non-living environment interacting as an ecological unit Ecosystems have no fixed boundaries; instead their parameters are set to the scientific, management, or policy question being examined Depending upon the purpose of analysis, a single lake, a watershed, or an entire region could be considered an ecosystem; The system of interactions between living organisms and their environment; The living organisms and the nonliving environment interacting in a given area; a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms, plants, and animals with their environment; [n] a system which includes organisms and the physical environment and the interactions between them; Systems of plants, animals, and micro-organisms, together with the non-living component and related ecological processes, and humans; Biological communities that interact with the physical and chemical environment as a unified system, while simultaneously interacting with adjacent ecosystems and with the atmosphere; All the organisms in a particular region and the environment in which they live The elements of an ecosystem interact with each other in some way, and so depend on each other either directly or indirectly; A community of plants and animals existing in an environment that supplies them with water, air, and other elements they need for life; Living system that includes all organisms in a "natural community" that live and interact with their environment; An interacting complex of living organisms and the physical and chemical environment Interactions include the flow of energy and cycle of nutrients amongst members of the ecosystem Rain forests, deserts, coral reefs, and grasslands are examples of ecosystems
urban ecosystem: Urban ecosytems are the cities, towns and urban strips constructed by humans
An ecosystem: holocoen
ecosystems: n An ecological community together with its environment, functioning as a unit **
ecosystems: - a system formed by the interaction of all living organisms (plants, animals, and humans) with each other and with the physical and chemical factors of the environment in which they live
ecosystems: The interacting system of all the biotic community and its abiotic environment
ecosystems: (Greek, oikos, house + systema, that which is put together)
ecosystems: Systems which include both living and non-living substances interacting to produce an exchange of materials between the living and the non living units
ecosystems: interrelated and interdependent parts of a biological system
ecosystems: A community of organisms and their non-living environment
ecosystems: A community of organisms and their physical surroundings (habitat)
ecosystems: The fact that these ecosystems span jurisdictional and political boundaries necessitates a more comprehensive and unified approach to managing them Implementing the initial stage of a government-wide approach to ecosystem management typically requires clarifying the policy goals and undertaking certain practical steps to apply the principles being considered to include
ecosystems: a self regulating community of plants and animals interacting with one another and with their non-living environment
ecosystems: are natural areas in which plants and animals have developed interdependence on each other for survival Examples of different ecosystems include grasslands, wetlands, and boreal forests
ecosystems: Complexes of plants, animals and micro-organisms which interact with each other in food webs with light, air, minerals and nutrients These 'functions' of an ecosystem provide 'services' upon which all life depends, including recycling nutrients, regulating climate, maintaining hydrological cycles, creating soil, and balancing atmospheric gases
ecosystems: Communities of plants, animals and bacteria, generally composed of producers, consumers and decomposers, that share a common physical and chemical environment
ecosystems: Any complex of living organisms together with all the other biotic and abiotic (non-living) factors that affect them
ecosystems: the plural of ecosystem