Ecosystem

Ecosystem

Introduction

The interaction of living organisms with non living physical components of environment constitutes an ecosystem. In scientific terms it's the linking of biotic with abiotic, i.e. living with non living, respectively. Animals, plants and other organisms live, reproduce, feed and interact in an ecosystem. Different natural ecosystems are known to man, mainly divided into terrestrial ecosystem, aquatic ecosystem and artificial ecosystems. Various ecosystems have various benefits to the environment. For instance forests provide timber, clean air to the atmosphere and are a source of clean water. The following paper discusses rainforests in brief.

Discussion

Rainforests are responsible for twenty five percent of pharmaceuticals. The enormous benefits of ecosystem make humans highly reliable on it. However due the inevitable damage to the ecosystem, endangerment cannot be avoided. Rainforests are the oldest ecosystems on this planet. These are known so due to heavy rainfall throughout the year.

Structural and functional dynamics of the Rainforests

Rainforests are split into two main categories, namely tropical rainforests and temperate rainforests. A tropical rainforest is divided into four different layers vertically. Emergent layer being the top one. Canopy, the second layer is the main layer of the rainforest which sort of forms a ceiling for the forest by dense greenery. There are dense tree canopies in rainforests which serve as a natural habitat for most of the animals residing in a rainforest. Scientists estimate it to be sixty to ninety percent of the total animal population. The third layer, understory, consists of young or small trees that could grow in less sunlight. The last layer is the forest floor having fallen seeds, leaves or fruits that could decompose very quickly.

The giant trees that overgrow the canopy reach the emergent layer where they get the benefit of additional sunlight but with that these trees have to bear very high temperatures ...