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trolled by internal factors ecosystems are dynamic subject to periodic disturbances and always in the process of recovering from past disturbances the tendency of an ecosystem to remain close to its equilibrium state is termed its resistance its capacity to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change so as to retain essentially the same function structure identity is termed its ecological resilience ecosystems can be studied through a variety of approaches theoretical studies studies monitoring specific ecosystems over long periods of time those that look at differences between ecosystems to elucidate how they work and direct manipulative experimentation biomes are general classes or categories of ecosystems however there is no clear distinction between biomes and ecosystems ecosystem classifications are specific kinds of ecological classifications that consider all four elements of the definition of ecosystems a biotic component an abiotic complex the interactions between and within them and the physical space they occupy biotic factors are living things such as plants while abiotic factors are non living components such as soil plants allow energy to enter the system through photosynthesis building up plant tissue animals play an important role in the movement of matter and energy through the system by feeding on plants and one another they also influence the quantity of plant and microbial biomass present by breaking down dead organic matter decomposers release carbon back to the atmosphere and facilitate nutrient cycling by converting nutrients stored in dead biomass back to a form that can be readily used by plants and microbes ecosystems provide a variety of goods and services upon which people depend and may be part of ecosystem goods include the tangible material products of ecosystem processes such as water food fuel construction material and medicinal plants ecosystem services on the other hand are generally improvements in the condition or location of things of value these include maintenance of hydrological cycles cleaning air and water the maintenance of oxygen in the atmosphere crop pollination and opportunities for research many ecosystems become degraded through human impacts such as soil loss air and water pollution habitat fragmentation water diversion fire suppression and introduced species and invasive species these threats can lead to abrupt transformation of the ecosystem or to gradual disruption of biotic processes and degradation of abiotic conditions of the ecosystem once the original ecosystem has lost its defining features it is considered collapsed ecosystem restoration can contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals definition an ecosystem or ecological system consists of all the organisms and the abiotic pools or physical environment with which they interact 3 4 5 2 458 the biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows 5 ecosystem processes are the transfers of energy and materials from one pool to another 2 458 ecosystem processes are known to take place at a wide range of scales therefore the correct scale of study depends on the question asked 4 5 origin and development of the term the term ecosystem was first used in 1935 in a publication by british ecologist arthur tansley the term was coined by arthur roy clapham who came up with the word at tansley s request 6 tansley devised the concept to draw attention to the importance of transfers of materials between organisms and their environment 4 9 he later refined the term describing it as the whole system including not only the organism complex but also the whole complex of physical factors forming what we call the environment 3 tansley regarded ecosystems not simply as natural units but as mental isolates 3 tansley later defined the spatial extent of ecosystems using the term ecotope 7 g evelyn hutchinson a limnologist who was a contemporary of tansley s combined charles elton s ideas about trophic ecology with those of russian geochemist vladimir vernadsky as a result he suggested that mineral nutrient availability in a lake limited algal production this would in turn limit the abundance of animals that feed on algae raymond lindeman took these ideas further to suggest that the flow of energy through a lake was the primary driver of the ecosystem hutchinson s students brothers howard t odum and eugene p odum further developed a systems approach to the study of ecosystems this allowed them to study the flow of energy and material through ecological systems 4 9 processes rainforest ecosystems are rich in biodiversity this is the gambia river in senegal s niokolo koba national park flora of baja california desert cataviña region mexico external and internal factors ecosystems are controlled by both external and internal factors external factors also called state factors control the overall structure of an ecosystem and the way things work within it but are not themselves influenced by the ecosystem on broad geographic scales climate is the factor that most strongly determines ecosystem processes and structure 4 14 climate determines the biome in which the ecosystem is embedded rainfall patterns and seasonal temperatures influence photosynthesis and thereby determine the amount of energy available to the ecosystem 8 145 parent material determines the nature of the soil in an ecosystem and influences the supply of mineral nutrients topography also controls ecosystem processes by affecting things like microclimate soil development and the movement of water through a system for example ecosystems can be quite different if situated in a small depression on the landscape versus one present on an adjacent steep hillside 9 39 10 66 other external factors that play an important role in ecosystem functioning include time and potential biota the organisms that are present in a region and could potentially occupy a particular site ecosystems in similar environments that are located in different parts of the world can end up doing things very differently simply because they have different pools of species present 11 321 the introduction of non native species can cause substantial shifts in ecosystem function 12 unlike external factors internal factors in ecosystems not only control ecosystem processes but are also controlled by them 4 16 while the resource inputs are generally controlled by external processes like climate and parent material the availability of these resources within the ecosystem is controlled by internal factors like decomposition root competition or shading 13 other factors like disturbance succession or the types of species present are also internal factors primary production global oceanic and terrestrial phototroph abundance from september 1997 to august 2000 as an estimate of autotroph biomass it is only a rough indicator of primary production potential and not an actual estimate of it main article primary production primary production is the production of organic matter from inorganic carbon sources this mainly occurs through photosynthesis the energy incorporated through this process supports life on earth while the carbon makes up much of the organic matter in living and dead biomass soil carbon and fossil fuels it also drives the carbon cycle which influences global climate via the greenhouse effect through the process of photosynthesis plants capture energy from light and use it to combine carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates and oxygen the photosynthesis carried out by all the plants in an ecosystem is called the gross primary production gpp 8 124 about half of the gross gpp is respired by plants in order to provide the energy that supports their growth and maintenance 14 157 the remainder that portion of gpp that is not used up by respiration is known as the net primary production npp 14 157 total photosynthesis is limited by a range of environmental factors these include the amount of light available the amount of leaf area a plant has to capture light shading by other plants is a major limitation of photosynthesis the rate at which carbon dioxide can be supplied to the chloroplasts to support photosynthesis the availability of water and the availability of suitable temperatures for carrying out photosynthesis 8 155 energy flow main article energy flow ecology see also food web and trophic level energy and carbon enter ecosystems through photosynthesis are incorporated into living tissue transferred to other organisms that feed on the living and dead plant matter and eventually released through respiration 14 157 the carbon and energy incorporated into plant tissues net primary production is either consumed by animals while the plant is alive or it remains uneaten when the plant tissue dies and becomes detritus in terrestrial ecosystems the vast majority of the net primary production ends up being broken down by decomposers the remainder is consumed by animals while still alive and enters the plant based trophic system after plants and animals die the organic matter contained in them enters the detritus based trophic system 15 ecosystem respiration is the sum of respiration by all living organisms plants animals and decomposers in the ecosystem 16 net ecosystem production is the difference between gross primary production gpp and ecosystem respiration 17 in the absence of disturbance net ecosystem production is equivalent to the net carbon accumulation in the ecosystem energy can also be released from an ecosystem through disturbances such as wildfire or transferred to other ecosystems e g from a forest to a stream to a lake by erosion in aquatic systems the proportion of plant biomass that gets consumed by herbivores is much higher than in terrestrial systems 15 in trophic systems photosynthetic organisms are the primary producers the organisms that consume their tissues are called primary consumers or secondary producers herbivores organisms which feed on microbes bacteria and fungi are termed microbivores animals that feed on primary consumers carnivores are secondary consumers each of these constitutes a trophic level 15 the sequence of consumption from plant to herbivore to carnivore forms a food chain real systems are much more complex than this organisms will generally feed on more than one form of food and may feed at more than one trophic level carnivores may capture some prey that is part of a plant based trophic system and others that are part of a detritus based trophic system a bird that feeds both on herbivorous grasshoppers and earthworms which consume detritus real systems with all these complexities form food webs rather than food chains which present a number of common non random properties in the topology of their network 18 decomposition see also decomposition sequence of a decomposing pig carcass over time the carbon and nutrients in dead organic matter are broken down by a group of processes known as decomposition this releases nutrients that can then be re used for plant and microbial production and returns carbon dioxide to the atmosphere or water where it can be used for photosynthesis in the absence of decomposition the dead organic matter would accumulate in an ecosystem and nutrients and atmospheric carbon dioxide would be depleted 19 183 decomposition processes can be separated into three categories leaching fragmentation and chemical alteration of dead material as water moves through dead organic matter it dissolves and carries with it the water soluble components these are then taken up by organisms in the soil react with mineral soil or are transported beyond the confines of the ecosystem and are considered lost to it 20 271 280 newly shed leaves and newly dead animals have high concentrations of water soluble components and include sugars amino acids and mineral nutrients leaching is more important in wet environments and less important in dry ones 10 69 77 fragmentation processes break organic material into smaller pieces exposing new surfaces for colonization by microbes freshly shed leaf litter may be inaccessible due to an outer layer of cuticle or bark and cell contents are protected by a cell wall newly dead animals may be covered by an exoskeleton fragmentation processes which break through these protective layers accelerate the rate of microbial decomposition 19 184 animals fragment detritus as they hunt for food as does passage through the gut freeze thaw cycles and cycles of wetting and drying also fragment dead material 19 186 the chemical alteration of the dead organic matter is primarily achieved through bacterial and fungal action fungal hyphae produce enzymes that can break through the tough outer structures surrounding dead plant material they also produce enzymes that break down lignin which allows them access to both cell contents and the nitrogen in the lignin fungi can transfer carbon and nitrogen through their hyphal networks and thus unlike bacteria are not dependent solely on locally available resources 19 186 decomposition rates decomposition rates vary among ecosystems 21 the rate of decomposition is governed by three sets of factors the physical environment temperature moisture and soil properties the quantity and quality of the dead material available to decomposers and the nature of the microbial community itself 19 194 temperature controls the rate of microbial respiration the higher the temperature the faster the microbial decomposition occurs temperature also affects soil moisture which affects decomposition freeze thaw cycles also affect decomposition freezing temperatures kill soil microorganisms which allows leaching to play a more important role in moving nutrients around this can be especially important as the soil thaws in the spring creating a pulse of nutrients that become available 20 280 decomposition rates are low under very wet or very dry conditions decomposition rates are highest in wet moist conditions with adequate levels of oxygen wet soils tend to become deficient in oxygen this is especially true in wetlands which slows microbial growth in dry soils decomposition slows as well but bacteria continue to grow albeit at a slower rate even after soils become too dry to support plant growth 19 200 dynamics and resilience further information resistance ecology and ecological resilience ecosystems are dynamic entities they are subject to periodic disturbances and are always in the process of recovering from past disturbances 22 347 when a perturbation occurs an ecosystem responds by moving away from its initial state the tendency of an ecosystem to remain close to its equilibrium state despite that disturbance is termed its resistance the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change so as to retain essentially the same function structure identity and feedbacks is termed its ecological resilience 23 24 resilience think...