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Ecological hierarchy

Hierarchy of Ecological Systems: Individual, Population, Biome, Biosphere and Community.

Ecological Hierarchy

The synergy of organisms with their environment leads to the formation of a grouping of organisms known as an ecological hierarchy or ecological levels of the nature-based organisation. The hierarchy of ecological systems is given below:

  • Individual

  • The first level of the ecological hierarchy is the individual organism
  • This hierarchy level looks over how an organism interacts with its surroundings
  • Aspects of evolution are extensively used in this level’s research
  • It is concerned with the biological, morphological, and physiological development of individual organisms in response to their natural environment
  • Examples: The individual-organism level allows a scientist to study, why a giraffe has a very long neck?
  • Population

  • It is a group of individuals belonging to the same species that live in a definite area and interact with each other
  • Ex: All of the angelfish living in the same area of the ocean make up the angelfish population
  • Birth and immigration cause the population to rise, and death and emigration cause the population to decrease
  • Community

  • It is a group of organisms consisting of many different species that live in an area and interact with each other
  • Ex: The marine ecosystem that includes the angelfish includes populations of other fish, corals, and a variety of other organisms
  • Plants need animals for pollination, and animals need plants for food. They interact with each other as a community
  • Ecosystem

  • It is a group or collection of organisms and their physical environment, interacting with each other as an ecological unit
  • Ecosystems carry biotic or living parts, as well as abiotic factors or nonliving parts
  • All that exists in an ecosystem is reliant on the other organisms and elements that make up that ecosystem’s ecosystem
  • When one aspect of an ecosystem is disrupted or dies, it affects the rest of the ecosystem
  • Biome

  • The earthbound piece of the biosphere, which is separable into huge areas called biomes (natural home). Biomes are portrayed by the environment, vegetation, creature life and general soil type. It is a group of similar ecosystems with the same general type of physical environment anywhere in the world
  • In biomes, all biota have some characteristics in common, and all biome areas have more or less uniform environmental conditions
  • Biosphere

  • A biosphere is a generally dainty life-supporting layer of the Earth’s surface that reaches out from a couple of kilometres into the air to remote ocean vents in the sea
  • The biosphere is a global ecosystem. It is made up of the parts of  the Earth, where life exists

Conclusion

Ecological hierarchy refers to the synergy of organisms with their environment and leads to the formation of a grouping of organisms. It is grouped into four levels: individual, population, community, and ecosystem level. The individual level is the first level of ecological hierarchy. It looks over how an organism interacts with its surroundings and is concerned with the biological, morphological, and physiological development of individual organisms. A population is a group of individuals belonging to the same species that live in a definite area with each other, and it is affected by birth, death, and immigration. A community refers to a group of organisms consisting of many different species that live in an area and interact with each other. The ecosystem is the last level of the ecological hierarchy and is a collection of organisms and their physical environment interacting with each other. Our boys’ fair is separated into use areas called biomes. Biomes represent the group of ecosystems that is similar in vegetation, animal kingdom, features of the environment, soil type, etc.