STRUCTURE OF ECOSYSTEM: Each and every ecosystem has several components to sustain it for long duration. It needs matter (water, oxygen, mineral, carbon dioxide), different types of organisms and continuous recycling of energy (Figure 38.1). These requirements are met by two imporattn components present in ecosystem; biotic components and abiotic components.

 

Figure 38.1: Struture of the Ecosystem.

Biotic Components: The living organisms present in an ecosystem form the biotic component. They are connected through food. In this series, few organisms are producing food whereas others are consuling the food.  

(i) Producers: The role of producers is to prepare food to provide nutrition to the other organisms present in the ecosystem. There are two types of producers; photoautotrophs and chemotrophs.

Photoautotrophs: These are green plants which can trap sun light to form carbohydrate, simple sugar from carbon di-oxide and water. This process is known as photosynthesis and these organisms are called as photoautotrophs.