Artificial ecosystem: What is and examples

By definition, an ecosystem in is a certain environment in which the vital processes of living beings that form are interrelated, that is to say that living beings are related to each other, but also relate to the non -living elements of said ecosystem.

Ecosystems, however, can be divided into Natural ecosystems and artificial or humanized ecosystems. In artificial ecosystems, which are the ones we treat here, the human being intervenes controlling part or all of the environmental conditions.

Within these conditions, the Diversity of plant and animal species present in the environment, the type of soil, the contribution or not of rain or water and any other thermal or atmospheric variable.

We must differentiate here the humanized or artificial ecosystems of the modified natural ecosystems. The former have been created by the hand of man, and most of his conditions are consciously controlled by human intervention. The latter, on the other hand, are natural ecosystems in which man has some direct or indirect and caused changes, such as the eradication of a specific species. The Modified natural ecosystems They are a type of artificial ecosystem, since without human intervention they cannot occur.

Like any other ecosystem, an artificial ecosystem consists of biotic and abiotic factors. Biotics are plants, animals and other living beings present in it, while abiotics are non -living elements. Natural abiotics represent elements such as air or water, while abiotics are usually the structures and constructions that man has raised.

In this other ecology article, we tell you in detail what an ecosystem is.

In general, we can say that there are 3 types of artificial ecosystems.

Urban ecosystems

Urban ecosystems are those that are created around urban areas. They are characterized by being of high negative impact for natural habitats around them, and are the most artificial. One of the examples of urban artificial ecosystem are cities.

To expand this information, you may be interested in knowing the characteristics of the rural and urban ecosystem.

Agricultural or agricultural ecosystems

Agricultural or agricultural ecosystems are created to provide the human being of products for the food industry. Without them, the current way of life could not exist, and have their base in our sedentary character.

According to the management of their crops they are divided into ecological management or conventional management. In the first one, it is tried to affect the least possible of the environment and reduce the human footprint, so natural products are used and chemical, in favor of crop rotation and seed reiege techniques. Conventional management, on the other hand, prevails the intensive slope of the crop, and uses the application of pesticides, fertilizers and slurries to maximize short -term production.

We can find agricultural cattle breeding ecosystems, subsistence culture, as is the case of traditional, and monoculture peasants, where a single -scale crop occurs.

Dam or reservoir ecosystem

The third and final large type of artificial ecosystem are dams of dams or reservoirs. In them, the hand of man drastically modifies the environment by creating large masses of water where there was not before intervening on the natural water course. This results in new forms of flora and fauna, as well as the weakening or disappearance of others that were adapted to the previous conditions.

We have already seen that the main and most marked difference between both ecosystems is the intervention or not by the hand of man in them. However, there are more things that distinguish them. These are some of the main differences between artificial and natural ecosystem:

• Natural ecosystems tend to have a wide variety of species of flora and fauna, while this is much lower in artificial ones. Because of this, the genetic diversity of artificial ecosystems is also much lower, with all the problems that this entails in the long run.
• The food chains of artificial ecosystems are also much simpler than those of the natives, and they are frequent that they are not complete, since the human being usually feeds the species that interest him.
• And finally, in artificial ecosystems there is usually no ecological succession, and they are almost always unsustainable in the long term due to the use of contaminants, fossil fuels and non -renewable energy sources.

If you want to read more articles similar to Artificial ecosystem: What is and exampleswe recommend that you enter our category of ecosystems.