Forest Ecosystem

Forest Ecosystem
While trees sometimes stand alone, most often they are part of a
community called a forest. Forests consist not only of living (biotic)
components like trees, animals, plants, and other living things but also of
nonliving (abiotic) components such as soil, water, air, and landforms.
All of these components together make up a forest ecosystem.
Biotic Components:
The various biotic components, representatives from the three
functional groups, of a forest ecosystem are the producer consumer and
decomposers:
Producer Organisms (The organisms that produce energy): In
a forest, the producers are mainly trees. Trees are of different kinds
depending upon the type of forest developed in that climate.
Consumer Organisms (The organisms that consume producers
and other consumers): In a forest, consumers are of three main types:
The Primary Consumers: These are Herbivores which feed
directly on producers. Examples: Ants, Beetles, Bugs, spiders etc.
feeding on tree leaves. Larger animals such as Elephants, Deer, Giraffe
etc. grazing on shoots and/or fruits of trees.
The Secondary Consumers: These are carnivores and feed
on primary consumers. Examples: Birds, Lizards, Frogs, Snakes and
Foxes.
The Tertiary Consumers: These are secondary carnivores
and feed on secondary consumers. These include top carnivores like
Lion, Tiger.
Decomposers (The organisms that consume producers and
consumers, and provide nutrients into the soil): These include wide
variety of saprotrophic microorganism like; Bacteria, Fungi (and
Actinomycetes. They attack the dead or decayed bodies of organisms
and thus decomposition takes place. Therefore, nutrients are released for
reuse.
Applying the system above to a simple real-world example is as follows:
The Producer (the grass) produces energy from the sun and nutrients and
the consumer (the deer) eats the grass and the decomposers (the worms)
eats the decomposed deer and creates nutrients from which grasses can
grow. The sun provides energy to the forest. Trees and other plants
(producers) use photosynthesis to transform the sun’s energy into
glucose.
Abiotic Components:
Abiotic factors are the ecosystem's non-living components that
influence the size and composition of the living elements An example of
these are minerals, light, heat, rocks, and water. Despite its ubiquity and
importance, the most significant abiotic component of a forest
ecosystem may not be obvious: sunshine. Soil, minerals, rocks, and
water are tangible abiotic forces. Temperature, various types of
radiation, and the chemistry of soil and water are examples of abiotic
elements that are intangible.
Three Major Forest Ecosystem
Temperate Forest: A temperate forest is a forest found
between the tropical and boreal regions, located in the temperate zone. It
is the second largest biome on our planet, covering 25% of the world's
forest area, only behind the boreal forest, which covers about 33%.
Temperate forest ecosystems are most extensively found throughout the
Northern Hemisphere, and less extensively in the Southern Hemisphere.
The specific regions containing temperate forests include: Europe, North
America, Asia, South America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Temperate forests usually are classified into two main groups:
Deciduous and Evergreen.
Northern temperate forests are often composed of deciduous trees that
drop their leaves each year, providing a supply of rich nutrients to
animals and plants as they decompose
Southern temperate forests, on the other hand, are primarily composed
of broad-leaved evergreen trees that keep their leaves year-round.
Most temperate forest ecosystems are heavily exploited and degraded.
The underlying bedrock and geology of temperate forests around the
world are highly variable, as are the soils, vegetation communities,
disturbances, and plant adaptations found within them.
Coniferous Forest: The coniferous forest is sandwiched in
between the tundra to the north and the deciduous forest to the
south. One type of coniferous forest, the northern boreal forest.
Coniferous forests consist mostly of conifers, which are trees that
grow needles instead of leaves and cones instead of flowers.
Conifers tend to be evergreen—they bear needles all year long.
These adaptations help conifers survive in areas that are very cold
or dry. Some of the more common conifers are spruces, pines, and
firs.
Tropical Rain Forest: tropical rainforest, are luxuriant
forest found in wet tropical uplands and lowlands around the
Equator. Tropical rainforests, which worldwide make up one of
Earth’s largest biomes (major life zones), are dominated by broad-
leaved trees that form a dense upper canopy (layer of foliage) and
contain a diverse array of vegetation and other life. There are two
types of rainforests, tropical and temperate.

Forest Ecosystem

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