The Priciple of Ecosystem

The ecosystem approach consists of 12 interlinked and complementary principles:

Principle 1 The objectives of management of land, water and living resources are a matter of
societal choices.

Principle 2 Management should be decentralized to the lowest appropriate level.

Principle 3 Ecosystem managers should consider the effects (actual or potential) of their
activities on adjacent and other ecosystems.

Principle 4 Recognizing potential gains from management, there is usually a need to

a) Reduce those market distortions that adversely affect biological diversity;

b) Align incentives to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable use;

c) Internalize costs and benefits in the given ecosystem to the extent feasible.
Principle 5 Conservation of ecosystem structure and functioning, in order to maintain
ecosystem services, should be a priority target of the ecosystem approach.

Principle 6 Ecosystem must be managed within the limits of their functioning.

Principle 7 The ecosystem approach should be undertaken at the appropriate spatial and
temporal scales.

Principle 8 Recognizing the varying temporal scales and lag-effects that characterize ecosystem
processes, objectives for ecosystem management should be set for the long term.

Principle 9 Management must recognize the change is inevitable.

Principle 10 The ecosystem approach should seek the appropriate balance between, and
integration of, conservation and use of biological diversity.

Principle 11 The ecosystem approach should consider all forms of relevant information,
including scientific and indigenous and local knowledge, innovations and practices.
Principle 12 The ecosystem approach should involve all relevant sectors of society and
scientific disciplines.6

The following five points are proposed as operational guidance to apply the above principles:

Focus on the relationships and processes within ecosystem.

Enhance benefit-sharing.

Use adaptive management practices.

Carry out management actions at the scale appropriate for the issue being addressed, with
decentralization to lowest level, as appropriate.

Ensure intersectoral cooperation. Further information.7

Biotic potential and environmental resistance

Biotic components, or biotic factors, can be described as any living component that affects
another organism or shapes the ecosystem. This includes both animals that consume other
organisms within their ecosystem, and the organism that is being consumed. Biotic factors also
include human influence, pathogens, and disease outbreaks. Each biotic factor needs the proper
amount of energy and nutrition to function day to day.

Biotic components are typically sorted into three main categories:

Producers, otherwise known as autotrophs, convert energy (through the process of

Consumers, otherwise known as heterotrophs, depend upon producers (and occasionally other
consumers) for food.

Decomposers, otherwise known as detritivores, break down chemicals from producers and
consumers (usually antibiotic) into simpler form which can be reused.

terrestrial ecosystem is a type of ecosystem found only on landforms. Seven primary terrestrial
ecosystems exist: tundra, tuforest, tropical rain forest, grassland, deserts.

Terrestial and aquatic ecosystem

A community of organisms and their environment that occurs on the land masses of continents
and islands, terrestrial ecosystems are distinguished from aquatic ecosystems by the lower
availability of water and the consequent importance of water as a limiting factor. Terrestrial
ecosystems are characterized by greater temperature fluctuations on both a diurnal and
seasonal basis that occur in aquatic ecosystems in similar climates. The availability of light is
greater in terrestrial ecosystems than in aquatic ecosystems because the atmosphere is more
transparent inland than in water. Gases are more available in terrestrial ecosystems than in
aquatic ecosystems. Those gases include carbon dioxide that serves as a substrate for
photosynthesis, oxygen that serves as a substrate in aerobic respiration, and nitrogen that
serves as a substrate for nitrogen fixation. Terrestrial environments are segmented into a
subterranean portion from which most water and ions are obtained, and an atmospheric
portion from which gases are obtained and where the physical energy of light is transformed
into the organic energy of carbon-carbon bonds through the process of photosynthesis.

How human activity affect the natural ecosystem?

Business and human activities can be direct threats to ecosystems. They can cause destruction,
degradation, and the impairment of biodiversity and other natural resources. Ecosystem threats
include (1) climate change, (2) pollution, (3) habitat destruction, (4) overexploitation, and (5)
introduction of invasive species. Business and human activities can stress the ecosystem they
operate in reducing its overall health and at some point the accumulation of all negative impact
from human activities can exceed the ecological threshold of the planet. Driving these human
activities are population, affluence, and technology.

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Abiotic vs. Biotic

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Abiotic Biotic

Abiotic factors refer to non-living physical and chemical elements in the ecosystem. Abiotic
resources are usually obtained from the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. Examples
of abiotic factors are water, air, soil, sunlight, and minerals.

Biotic factors are living or once-living organisms in the ecosystem. These are obtained from the
biosphere and are capable of reproduction. Examples of biotic factors are animals, birds, plants,
fungi, and other similar organisms.

Comparison chart
Abiotic versus Biotic comparison chart

Abiotic Biotic

Introduction In ecology and biology, abiotic components are non-living chemical and physical
factors in the environment which affect ecosystems. Biotic describes a living component
of an ecosystem; for example organisms, such as plants and animals.

Examples Water, light, wind, soil, humidity, minerals, gases. All living things — autotrophs
and heterotrophs — plants, animals, fungi, bacteria.

Factors Affect the ability of organisms to survive, reproduce; help determine types and numbers
of organisms able to exist in environment; limiting factors restrict growth. Living things that
directly or indirectly affect organisms in environment; organisms, interactions, waste;
parasitism, disease, predation.

Affects Individual of a species, population, community, ecosystem, biome, biosphere.