Plants, the basis of our ecosystem

Ecology is now a famous term, used and abused in an incredible multitude of contexts. We talk about «ecology» when we separate dirt, we talk about «ecology» when a tornado devastates a coast or we talk about «ecology» when we choose to eat only organic food, and without a doubt we could continue with the examples, but we have already reached that point.

The term ecology is really on everyone’s lips but what is it actually scientifically? Leaving aside the various interpretations and conjectures, the time has come to delve into this world and understand on a practical level what we are actually talking about.

Naturally we are not scientists but we have been studying and working with greenery for years and generations, which is why the objective we set ourselves with these articles is not to delve into every detail and every complex system, but rather to try to transmit our knowledge, the result of studies and experience, trying to share our love for everything relating to the world of botany with as many people as possible, especially in this period where attention to the environment has become a more fundamental prerogative than ever for everyone.

ECOLOGY

Term coined by the biologist E. Haeckel in 1866, it derives from the Greek “οἶκος”, “oikos”, “house” or even “environment”; and “λόγος”, “logos”, “discourse” or “study”. It is a branch of biology focused on the relationships that occur in an ecosystem. Its primary objective is to explain how biodiversity is fundamental and influential for the correct functioning of the ecosystem itself.

It includes the study of:

• chemical/physical factors
  e.g. light, climate, soil composition, etc.
• biological factors;
• relationships and interactions between organisms;
• factors that influence or could influence the normal and non-normal life of organisms.

These are the most classic themes. In modern times, however, ecology has also incorporated other themes, developing to the point of being in turn divided into more specific macro-areas:

• animal ecology;
• human ecology;
• agricultural ecology;
• plant ecology;
• marine ecology;
• spatial ecology.

All these areas study and analyze extremely relevant factors that vary considerably depending on the area in which you are located, touching on landscape protection, pollution, exploitation of natural resources, etc.

ECOSYSTEM

Whether we find ourselves passing through a forest with cicadas in the background and squirrels in the trees or walking along a normal city street among asphalt, people and some plants decorating the pavements, we will realize that most of the landscapes and places that we admire every day include two large fixed elements: the presence of various types of animals and, equally, of plants.

This is precisely the basic concept of the ecosystem, in detail the varieties of animal and plant communitiesprecisely by their nature almost inseparable, make up a whole called biocoenosis. At the same time the environment where these living beings move, therefore their habitat, is identified with the name of biotope.

The ecosystem is therefore the set of a biocoenosis and its biotope.

An ecosystem is created when there is interaction between life and the surrounding physical environmentit is a term that was created precisely to highlight this constant and astonishing interaction.

ABIOTIC AND BIOTIC ELEMENTS

These apparently difficult terms instead identify a diversity that will later help us better understand the functioning of fertilizers and, in general, the world of plants.

The abiotic elements of an ecosystem are linked to the purely physical functioning, such as the availability of water, the climate, sun exposure, soil composition, etc.

While the biotic elements they are the living elements, therefore this set also includes the ways they have to interact with the environment but also the behaviors and modifications that the creatures implement to survive.

THE FOOD CHAIN

All members of the set of biotic elements, therefore all living beings, are heterotrophs (excluding plants, but we will see this later).

What? Let’s take a step back!

Heterotrophic organisms are those that depend on other organisms (whether animals or plants) for survival.

In fact, no organism can survive without an external food source. Exploring this topic further, we find other classifications, particularly those based on the diet (carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores) or foraging behavior of animals. The latter constitute another crucial pillar of the ecosystem: the food chain.

Each organism in an ecosystem is a part of it, like a small link in a long chain, collectively forming an extremely stable system that depends on each of its components—both past and future. As long as all links are stable and intact, the food chain functions perfectly. However, it doesn’t take much to disrupt this perfectly functioning system and cause problems that threaten the survival of species.

A close look at the food chain reveals its precision: herbivores are preyed upon by carnivores, and carnivores are preyed upon by other carnivores. Let’s shift our perspective and satisfy our curiosity: what is the source of this food chain? What forms the foundation of the entire system?

Right here, at the starting point (0), we find plants.

They are what set the whole mechanism in motion. Before carnivores can prey on herbivores, the latter must first consume the plants.

FOOD NETWORKS

Now, another question naturally arises: if we previously stated that all organisms are heterotrophic and therefore dependent on other organisms, how could plants be the first link in the food chain? How did they originate? How do they survive without external food sources?

This is all because plants, unlike animals, are autotrophic. Autotrophy means they can synthesize the necessary nutrients themselves.

For example, animals are considered consumers because they merely transform the organic matter produced by other organisms. Since we are primarily focused on plants, we will not delve into the various subclasses of animals, but simply point out that food chains are composed of different categories.

Within the same ecosystem, different food chains can coexist, intertwining to form food webs. Nutrient cycling exists within these webs. Sounds logical, doesn’t it? Nutrient cycling describes the process of completing a continuous cycle that sustains the ecosystem. Organic matter becomes food for one organism, which in turn becomes food for another, until the last organism dies. In this process, matter does not disappear but is transformed into inorganic matter by specific decomposing organisms, thus returning the matter taken from the environment to the environment.

TO THE FOOD PYRAMIDS

We come to the last point of this article: the food pyramid. We all know it and for better or worse we know what it is, why is it useful to us right now? To highlight its base made up, as you will imagine by now, of plants.

A living being requires nourishment both to keep its body functioning and to give energy to the organism, in this way a large part of the amount of organic matter passing from one level to another is reduced by approximately 90%. After all, it is true that matter returns to matter which is then reintroduced into the environment, but what has been transformed into energy cannot be stored or recycled, it can only be dispersed in the form of heat or work, thus being lost.

This principle perfectly follows the laws of thermodynamics and takes place thanks to cellular respiration, which, listen to me, uses as its starting point precisely what chlorophyll photosynthesis produces; glucose. That glucose is then transformed into an inorganic substance, i.e. water and carbon dioxide, ultimately releasing energy.

Due to this strong reduction in organic matter (or biomass) it is inappropriate to speak, in this case, of a cycle but rather it is simply a flow of energy.

PLANTS, THE PRODUCERS OF LIFE

Let’s return to our topic of plant friends.

In the previous section, we learned why photosynthesis is so important—because it’s the origin of all life. If plants couldn’t convert sunlight into energy, the starting point of all life cycles would cease to exist. Other organisms would also be able to survive by absorbing glucose produced by plants.

All elements in an ecosystem, including humans, are part of a complex mechanism that ensures the self-sustaining of life. But it all originates with plants—the organisms that once covered the earth and shaped the life we ​​admire today.