Running Head: THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS 1

The Different Types of Ecosystems

Name

Institutional Affiliation
 An ecosystem refers to all the living and non-living things that are present in a certain

location such as the dessert. There are two major ecosystems, which are the aquatic and

terrestrial ecosystems that are further divided into subgroups.

Terrestrial Ecosystem

Terrestrial ecosystems are located anywhere across the globe except for places that are

heavily saturated. They include the forest ecosystems, the grassland ecosystem, the desert

ecosystem, and the mountain ecosystem.

The Forest Ecosystems

These are ecosystems that comprise of large amounts of plants and as a result have many

organisms living in relatively small areas of space. These ecosystems have a large density of

living organisms. Forests ecosystems are further divided into tropical deciduous forest,

tropical evergreen forest, temperate evergreen forest, temperate deciduous forest, and taiga.

The tropical evergreen forests receive an average of 2104mm of rainfall annually. The forests

are characterised by dense vegetation that consists of a population of birds, orchids, mammals

and plants. The tropical deciduous forests receive 80 cm for every 400 inches annually as the

man rainfall. The forests are characterized by shrubs, dense bushes as well as a variety of

tress such as neem and teak and each level of the forest’s organization is home to different

types of animals such as lions and tigers found in the dry tropical deciduous forest. The

temperate evergreen forests are forests characterized by fewer populations of trees such as

pine and cedar. The trees are spike-like to reduce transpiration. These forests are home to

communities of black and brown bears as well as other animals such as small rodents.

Temperate deciduous forests are forests that go through four seasons with the leaves growing

or shedding depending on the season. For instance during winter the leaves shed and grow

back during the spring. The forests receive an average of 750 to 1,500 mm of rain annually.

These forests population consists mostly of vegetation such as trees characterized by

broadleaf trees such as oaks and maples, mosses, shrubs, and perennial herbs. Taiga forests

are mostly comprised of evergreen conifers. During the half part of the year when

temperatures are not below zero, the area’s population consists of insects and migratory birds

(Miller, & Spoolman, 2008).

The Desert Ecosystem

This ecosystem receives less than 10 inches of rainfall annually, with a large population of

non-living things and the living organisms having to adapt to the areas climatic conditions.

The ecosystem consists mostly of shrubs and rarely no trees. Communities of insects living in

the area have adapted to the dessert conditions with other animals such as camels being the

living organisms high in population in the area. Plant’s stems and leaves are modified for the

preservation of water due to the fact that the area is usually very hot and does not receive

adequate amounts of rainfall (Miller, & Spoolman, 2008).

The Mountain Ecosystem

This ecosystem is home to a large number of animals and plants since it provides a diverse

and scattered array of habitats. Higher altitudes of the ecosystem comprise of adverse

environmental conditions hence consists only of populations of treeless alpine vegetation and

animals with thick fur such as polar bears. Animals on higher altitudes undergo hibernation

during the cold winters. The lower slopes of mountains comprise of coniferous forests

(Miller, & Spoolman, 2008).

The Grassland Ecosystem

Grasslands are located in the temperate and tropical regions across the globe. The

ecosystem comprises of shrubs and grasses with small populations of trees. The area’s

population mostly comprises of vegetation such as grasses legumes belonging to the

composite family and plants. Communities of grazing animals, insectivores as well as

herbivores are found in this ecosystem. Grasslands are further divided into Savannah, which

is seasonally dry with few trees scattered across the area, who’s population comprises mainly

of grazers and predators and Prairies, which is a temperate grassland that lack trees and large

shrubs but have mixed grass such as tall and short grass (Miller, & Spoolman, 2008).

Aquatic Ecosystems

Aquatic ecosystems are found in water bodies with aquatic fauna, flora and properties

of water. This ecosystem is divide into the marine ecosystem and freshwater. The marine

ecosystem is the biggest covering 71% of the surface of the earth. It is characterized of

minerals and salts with divisions such as coral reefs and oceanic. The ecosystem’s population

consists of organisms such as brown algae, corals and sharks. The freshwater ecosystem

covers only 0.8% of the earth’s surface and consists of three ecosystems namely lentic, which

is characterized with low moving waters such as lakes, lotic, which is fats moving waters

such as rivers and wetlands, which are places where the soil is highly saturated with water for

long periods such as swamps. The aquatic ecosystem in general is home to amphibian and

reptile communities as well as 41% of earth’s species (Miller, & Spoolman, 2008).

Living and non-living things

Living things have cells, grow, move, reproduce, show excretion of unwanted

materials, respire and die, all which are not exhibited by non-living things (Lindeen, 2008).
 References

Miller, G. T., & Spoolman, S. (2008). Environmental science: Problems, concepts, and

solutions. Belmont, CA: Brooks Cole. (Miller, & Spoolman, 2008)

Lindeen, C. (2008). Living and nonliving. Mankato, Minn: Pebble Books.