Answer to Question #64485 in Ecology for Sanjukta Ghosh

Question

I'm supposed to study properties and principles of ecosystem.

I've gathered some information from a book called Ecosystem Ecology that mentioned the following points under the heading fundamental laws(i.e. principles):
1.The components of ecosystem are connected to each other.
2.All ecosystems are open systems embedded in environment , i.e they receive energy and discharge energy.
3.Ecosystems have levels of organisation and operate hierarchically.
4.Mass including biomass and energy are conserved.
5.All ecosystem processes are irreversible.
6.An ecosystem can grow and develop by increase in biomass, increase in cycling and genetic information.
But I'm not sure if these points qualify for properties as well.

Answer 1

The properties of ecosystems in general could include the following:
1. They absorb disturbance caused by external and internal factors, and return to their initial state and functioning. For example, if mushrooms or berries are gathered by humans in forest, the ecosystem will not change much.
2. If the effect of factor crosses some threshold level, the ecosystem can be transformed to a different level of functioning. Such factors could be removal of predator, change in soi will definitely change the ecosystem.

However, each separate ecosystem can be characterized by the specific properties, such as soil properties, biotic material production, nutrient cycles, biological diversity.