Question

Which one of the following is an artificial ecosystem?
A. Pond
B. Crop field
C. Lake
D. Forest

Answer 1

Hint: When the abiotic components interact with the abiotic components present in the environment, they together form an ecosystem, ecosystems are both natural and man-made.

Complete answer:
The correct answer is (B).
The ecosystem has both biotic components which are living things like plants, animals and humans and abiotic components which are non-living things like sun, rain, wind, water etc. The interaction of these biotic and abiotic components together constitutes an ecosystem. The ecosystems which are made naturally without any human interference are called natural ecosystems like forest, river, grasslands, oceans etc. whereas the ecosystems which are developed by man like crop fields, gardens, aquarium etc. are called man-made ecosystems.
The man made ecosystem requires human interference as all the factors need to be checked on a regular basis and its cleaning, maintenance etc. is done by the humans. For example in case of crop fields, humans will first prepare the land for seed sowing, then seeds are sown after that water is supplied through irrigation facilities to meet its water requirements and then fertilizers either chemical or organic are supplied to fulfill its nutrient demands, then the protection of crops is to be done by the use of insecticides, pesticides or herbicides etc. to prevent any damage to the crops and then after complete growth and maturation of the crop, it is harvested and stored. So it is clear from the above illustration that human intervention is required at each step of the human made ecosystem to sustain its proper growth and development.

Note: Artificial ecosystems require regular human interventions for the sustenance of life of organisms present. The ecosystems are classified on the basis of their origin and thus, the types of the organism present and their interaction also shows the variations.