Eco System

• Forest is an ecosystem.
• A community of organisms living together with its non-living environment constitutes an eco-system
• Eco-systems may be natural or artificial. A pond, a grassland, a forest, alake, a desert etc. are examples of natural eco-systems.
• An aquarium, a park, a paddy field, etc. are examples of artificial eco-system.

Components of Eco-system

• An eco-system consists of two main components. They are biotic (living)and abiotic (non-living) components.

Biotin: Components

• The living components are broadly classified into three categories.
• Producers: They are green plants that prepare their  own food by the process of photosynthesis.
• Consumers: They are animals which depend on plants and animals for their food.
• Decomposers: They are an hic feed upon dead matter to getenergy and bring back the minerals to the soil, eg. Bacteria and Fungi.

Abiotic Components

• These include the soil,water,air and climatic factors such as temperature,sunlight, humidity, etc.

Food Chain

• The sun is the ultimate source of energy to all living things.
• The path of energy transfer from one organism to another in a singledirection is called a food chain.

Food chain in a grassland

• Paddy Mouse Snake Eagle

(Producer) (Herbivore) (Carnivore) (Top Carnivore)

• Grass Deer Tiger

(Producer)    (Herbivore) (Carnivore)

• Phytoplankton à Insect à Small fish à Large fish à Man
• The position of organisms in a food chain is called trophic level.
• The first trophic level is of producers. The second trophic level is of herbivores. The third trophic level is of camivores. Thep fourth trophic level is of top carnivores.
• A network of interlinked food chains is called a food web.

Flow of Energy

• Green plants trap the solar energy and convert it into chemical energy(food).
• vast geographical area is called biome

The Different Biomes 

• Based on the types of flora and fauna biomes are classified into many types

Tropical  Rain Forest:  The are found in South America, Africa and Indo Malaysia region near the equator.

• The weather is warm (20°C – 265°C). Rainfall is plentiful, 190 cm per year.
• In India, they are found in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Western ghats, Assam and West Bengal.

Savannah:

• They are found in South Africa, Westem Australia, North West India and Eastern Pakistan. A dry weather alternate with wet weather.
• The rainfall is about 25cm per year, Frequent fires occur during dry season. In India, grassy plains are found in the Nilgiris, Khasi hills and Naga hills.
• Deserts: They are found in Africa, Arizona in America, Mexican desert inMexico.
• The days are hot and nights are cold. The annual rainfall is less than 25cm. In India, it is found in Rajasthan (The Thar Desert).
• Temperate Grassland: It is found in North and South America and parts of
• The annual rainfall is 25cm to 100cm.
• They have two very severe dry seasons. They have windy hot summers and cold winters. In India, it is found in Uttar Pradesh.
• Deciduous Forests: They are found in North America ,Eastern Asia and Europe. They receive 75 to 100 cm of rainfall. The climate is moderate withmild winters. In India, it is found in Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.

Taiga:

• It is found in Canada, Europe and They are also calledBoreal Forest.    
• The climate is short cool summer and a long winter with abundant snowfall. Annual rainfall is 20 cm to 60 cm
• Most of it is covered with snow and ice . It is found in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Kashmir in India.
• Tundra: It is covered with snow and ice covered poles in the Northernhemisphere. Though it receives 25cm of rainfall, it has permanently frozen soil.

The climate is extremely cold and windy.

• The temperature is less than10°C In India, it is found in the Himalayas. .
• Forests are considered as God’s first temples.
• Vanamahotsav is an annual Indian tree planting festival celebrated in the month of july.

Different Flora and Fauna

• The biomes have a variety of plants and animals.
• The flora and fauna found in one biome is completely different from other biome due to the different climatic conditions.
• The kind of flora and fauna found in different biomes are given below:
• India is one of the 12 mega biodivesitycentres in the world with immense flora and fauna.

• The biomes have a variety of plants and animals.
• The flora and fauna found in one biome is completely different from other biome due to the different climatic conditions.
• The kind of flora and fauna found in different biomes are given below:
• India is one of the 12 mega biodivesitycentres in the world with immense flora and fauna.