Question

What are the various structural components of an ecosystem? How are they linked together?

Answer 1

Hint: An ecosystem is a geographical area where animals, plants, landscape and weather work together to form a life’s bubble. There are two kinds of factors or components in an ecosystem. They are abiotic components and biotic components. Abiotic component is helpful in sustaining the biotic component. Abiotic component is transferred from nature to the biotic component and again transferred to nature.

Complete answer
Non-living components are abiotic components. Climatic factors and edaphic factors are classes of abiotic components. Rain, wind, temperature and light are climatic factors. Topography, oxygen, soil and minerals come under edaphic factors. Living components are biotic components. Producers, consumers and decomposers are classes of biotic components. Producers are autotrophs and produce energy. Consumers are heterotrophs and transfer energy. Decomposers are saprotrophs or reducers and recycle energy.
In an ecosystem, living components and non-living components interact with each other
Producers support consumers and decomposers through food and photosynthesis. Energy travels through primary, secondary and tertiary consumers from green plants and algae. Decomposers break down the plant and animal remains and consume dead bodies. Mineral circulation or biogeochemical cycle is supported via material components (minerals, water, atmospheric gases, salts, amino acids) of abiotic factors. Energy flows through ecosystems in the light, heat and stored energy in chemical bonds through abiotic factors.
Thus, all the components collectively function to run the ecosystem. If any component is disturbed, the whole process gets affected and the system breaks down. Hence, there should be a continuous flow of energy and cycling of minerals.

Note:
All components need not be present in an ecosystem. Some may be absent in some ecosystems. Different ecosystems have populations of different types of organisms, with an exception of a few bacteria. But, the basic structure of all ecosystems is constant. From the food point of view, ecosystem has two components only – autotrophic component and heterotrophic component