An ecosystem consists of the organisms that live in a certain environment. Known example of these are the forest and the coral reef where organisms thrive and depend on other living creatures to survive. The study of ecosystems and the organisms that dwell in them is known as ecology.

The British ecologist Sir Arthur George Tansley was the first to coin this term. He described it as the interaction among living species and even non-living forms in a natural environment.

Different kinds of ecosystems

Holistically, all of the Earth's living environment is called the biosphere. The biosphere is categorized into several environments known as biomes. Below are the following types of ecosystems.

• Grasslands
• Tropical or rain forests
• Deserts
• Savannas
• Aquatic and large marine ecosystems
• Chaparral or shrublands
• Coral reefs
• Taiga
• Tundra
• Human and urban ecosystems

Importance of ecosystems

The preliminary importance of an ecosystem is based on the way of how living and non-living organisms depend on each other for survival. This then describes how important the feeding levels are among the different organisms in an environment.

These feeding levels are also called trophic levels. A food web is formed upon combining all of the tropic levels. Below are the following trophic levels in order:

• Green plants or primary producers
• Herbivores or the primary consumers
• Carnivores or the secondary consumers
• Carnivores eating other carnivores or tertiary consumers
• Decomposers

This natural cycle alone helps ensure the survival of every organism in a specific environment. This process is also beneficial to us humans. Without the existence of any of these, human beings may not be able to survive as they too are dependent on several organisms.

The beneficial contributions of the ecosystem to humans is through the form of biodiversity. The most basic of necessities are found from them. It helps boost economies of countries even via their dependency on ecosystems alone.

This is why certain ecosystems are protected by the government. One way is through the implementing the Endangered Species Act. This law prohibits the mistreatment of animals that are on the verge of extinction or the human malpractice that may lead to such.