Question

Which of the following is an example of a man-made ecosystem?
A. Scrub Jungle
B. A neglected backyard
C. A crop field
D. A saltwater lake

Answer 1

Hint: Man-made ecosystems are also known as anthropogenic or artificial ecosystems. They are completely formed by human activities. These ecosystems do not develop naturally by themselves and include human involvement.

Complete answer:
Crop field is an example of an artificial or man-made ecosystem because agricultural crop fields are maintained by humans for the production of food substances.

Additional Information:
Few facts about ecosystem are as follows:
> The ecosystem comprises biotic and abiotic factors.
> The biotic and abiotic components function as a unit when we observe ecosystem processes like productivity, decomposition, energy flow, and nutrient cycling.
Productivity can be defined as the production of energy-containing biomass by organisms at any trophic level in the unit area in unit time.
> Decomposition is the breakdown of dead organic matter into simpler forms by physical and chemical processes. Decomposers play a very important role in our ecosystem and help in nutrient cycling.
> Energy Flow: The flow of energy in an ecosystem is unidirectional, starting from the producers (1st Trophic Level) and ending at decomposers (6th Trophic Level).The energy flow is an ecosystem that can be explained using the 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics.
> Ecological Efficiency is the ratio between energy assimilated over the energy available between two successive trophic levels. It is of the following types:
- Photosynthetic Efficiency
- Net Production Efficiency
- Assimilation Efficiency
- Ecological Efficiency
- The whole biosphere of the earth is considered as a global ecosystem.

So, the correct answer is ‘ a crop field’.

Note: It has to be remembered that the ecosystem thermodynamically is an open system. Energy received from the sun and nutrients obtained from natural resources are distributed in the ecosystem by the interaction between biotic and abiotic components. The flow of energy is always unidirectional.