Types of Ecosystem

Based on the location, the ecosystem can be divided into two types: 

Terrestrial Ecosystem

It includes the ecosystem present on the land. It can be further divided into: 

• Forest Ecosystem: These areas on land receive a very large amount of rainfall, which is the reason for the diverse types of large trees and animals. Based on their distance from the equator, forests can be of two types:
  • Tropical Forest: The forests close to the equator are called tropical. It includes tropical rainforest, tropical deciduous, and tropical scrub forest.
  • Temperate Forest: The forests that are far from the equator are called temperate forests. It includes temperate rainforest, temperate deciduous, and coniferous forest.
• Grassland Ecosystem: If the terrestrial ecosystem receives a moderate amount of rainfall that can be enough for the growth of grasses, then it is called a grassland ecosystem. They can be of three types that include tropical grassland (e.g. Savanna Grassland), temperate grassland (e.g. Pampas), and polar grassland.
• Desert Ecosystem: If the terrestrial ecosystem receives a very low amount of rainfall, then it is called a desert ecosystem. The components of this ecosystem are adaptive to survive in those conditions. For eg., Camels have special pouches where they store water for later consumption. Thorny plants such as cacti are present in this ecosystem. They are two types:
  • Hot Desert: The temperature is extremely high in this kind of desert. It includes the tropical desert (Sahara), and temperate desert (Mojave Desert).
  • Cold Desert: The temperature is relatively low in these deserts. One example is the Gobi Desert.

Aquatic Ecosystem

It includes the ecosystem present in water. The food chain of the aquatic ecosystem comprises plants or phytoplankton, insects, small fishes, large fishes, turtles, and other large aquatic animals. It is further divided into two types based on the amount of salt content in the water:

Freshwater Ecosystem

The salt content is very low in comparison to the saltwater ecosystem. It can be subdivided into two types: 

Lentic water: Water is stationary. For eg. pond ecosystems and lake ecosystems. Based on the availability of sunlight, the pond ecosystem can be divided into different zones:

• Littoral Zone: Plenty amount of sunlight is available in this zone. It is the top layer of water, and generally, the plants survive in this zone.
• Limnetic Zone: Moderate amount of sunlight is available in this zone. It is the middle layer of water. The food chain can operate quite efficiently in this zone.
• Profundal Zone: It includes the deep layer of water that receives minimal or no sunlight where decomposers, such as bacteria, fungi, etc., survive.

Lotic water: Water is always moving or flowing. For, eg. the river ecosystem. It generally originates from mountains, and the respective layer has a high amount of dissolved oxygen. The middle layer has a lesser amount of dissolved oxygen and is warm. This layer flows through a long distance and collects a lot of pollutants. The last segment is called the delta, which finally leads to the deposition of water in oceans.

Saltwater Ecosystem

It has a very large amount of salt content. For eg. Seas and oceans. Its larger size and connections with different landmasses, as well as freshwater ecosystems such as rivers, are the reason for its wide range of biodiversity. On the basis of the availability of light, it can be divided into the euphotic zone (a large amount of sunlight), an aphotic zone (less amount of light), and an abyssal plain (totally dark).

It also includes estuaries where the river water meets the ocean water, and there is a higher fluctuation of nutrients and temperature.