Question

Which of the following is an example of a man-made ecosystem?
A. Herbarium
B. Aquarium
C. Tissue culture
D. Forest

Answer 1

Hint: An ecosystem is the community of interactions between all living components and non-living components of an environment.
A man-made ecosystem is an ecosystem where the ecosystem is made by humans.

Complete answer: Herbarium and tissue culture are not an ecosystem as for an ecosystem there should be an interaction between biotic and abiotic environment.
Forest is a natural ecosystem as all the organisms, plants, and even small organisms occur naturally in that environment.
The aquarium is a man-made ecosystem where a suitable environment is made with all the plants, aquatic animals, and non- living things.
The aquarium is consciously designed, developed, and managed to facilitate the establishment of the virtuous cycles that occur spontaneously in nature and give rise to the interactions.
Biodiversity and nutrient cycling are less in an aquarium as compared to natural ecosystems.
The decreased biodiversity ultimately results in low productivity of the ecosystem.
The aquarium ecosystem will not be a stable ecosystem.

Additional information: The main parameters that need to be considered and monitored, in an aquarium, are pH, hardness, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, phosphates.
The ideal pH varies greatly depending on the type of plants and fish in freshwater aquariums but ranges approximately from 5.5 to over 8.0.
Most tropical fish prefer medium or slightly acidic values.
Even when faced with a (non-sudden) change in this value, fish are able to adapt without difficulty, so much so that, in nature, the same species can be found in aquatic ecosystems with very different values.

So, the answer is B. Aquarium

Note: Captive fishes do not stay long in an artificial environment when the environment where it is kept is too small and is not taken care of regularly.