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Ecosystem

            An ecosystem is defined as a community where living and non-living things interact with each other and their
            surrounding environment to form a balanced system. Any imbalance in any of the components will disturb the
            whole ecosystem which might create problems in the existence of other living organisms.
            It is made up of two important components:
               • Biotic: It refers to living organisms of the ecosystem which can be plants and animals. Plants are considered
              to be autotrophs which make their own food by trapping energy of the sun. This energy flows through all the
              other living components when plants are consumed by plant eating animals which inturn are eaten up by other
              bigger animals.
               • Abiotic: Abiotic components are the non-living components of an ecosystem. It includes air, water, soil, minerals,
              sunlight, temperature, nutrients, etc.
               • There are two main types of Ecosystem:
               • Artificial: An artificial ecosystem is  a human made system of plants, animals and people living in an area
              together with their surroundings. For example, zoo parks often create artificial ecosystems by placing animals in
              human-made areas similar to their natural habitat.
               • Natural: A natural ecosystem is a community of living and non-living things that interact with each other for
              their existence and maintain an ecological balance without human intervention. Natural ecosystems can be
              divided into terrestrial and aquatic.
              ¬   Terrestrial: A terrestrial ecosystem is a community of living and non-living things on land. They live, develop and
                interact with each other in soil and air around them. It includes forest, grassland, desert, etc.
              ¬   Aquatic: An aquatic ecosystem is a community of living and non-living things in water. They live, develop and
                interact with each other in water around them. It includes marine and freshwater ecosystems.

                    Relationship Between Society and Environment

            A group of people living together to form a tribe, village or a city sharing common interests and having constant social
            interactions forms a society. The people living in the society need to interact with the environment to obtain their food,
            water, fuel and many other things. They sometimes exploit the natural resources present in the environment for their
            own benefits, thus causing pollution and environmental damage.
            For example, humans have been cutting down forests to clear land to grow crops for centuries and due to this
            deforestation there is a change in the climatic conditions.
            Humans interact with the environment in two different ways:
               • Using natural resources like land, plants, water, soil, minerals, food in terms of plants and animals.
               • Modifying environment due to many activities like industrialisation, deforestation, mining, building dams, etc.



                         Brainy Fact


                  Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 every year all over the world to demonstrate support for
                  environmental protection.




                    Natural Resources

            The resources that exist without any intervention of humans and are present in abundance in our surroundings are
            called natural resources. These are air, water, land, plants, trees, sunlight, etc. Living organisms are dependent on
            these resources for their existence. There are four types of natural resources:


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