Page 123 - AI Ver 1.0 Class 9
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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:
Green Skills-I 121

