Ecosystems Facts for Kids: Some plants and animals like to live in desert, if we take them to grassy area they will not find it cozy and they will start to miss the hot Sun. Let’s discover five exciting facts about ecosystems.
Ecosystems can be split into three different categories, micro, messo and biome. Micro ecosystems are the smallest types of ecosystems. Examples of a micro ecosystem are tree trunks, log and even puddles. Messo is a middle sized ecosystem. Ponds, forests and lakes would be considered as messo ecosystems.
The last type of ecosystem is biome. This is the ecosystem that you would be most familiar with. Biome ecosystems are divided into aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems are ecosystems that occur in any type of water, examples of these are Marine Ecosystems and Freshwater Ecosystems. Terrestrial ecosystems are ecosystems that occur outside of water, for example grassland, desert, forest and tundra ecosystems.
Tropical rainforests are near the equator where the environment is very warm and wet. These are perfect living conditions for many plants and animals. It’s a very busy ecosystem with many different types of plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms living there. The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world. The Amazon is one of the most biodiverse places on earth. Over 3 million species live in the rainforest, and over 2,500 tree species. Biodiversity is all the different variety of life found in one ecosystem. Healthy ecosystems have great biodiversity.
Most tundra ecosystems are located in the Arctic in the Northern Hemisphere and some exist in Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere. Tundra is a vast, empty nd treeless land. The ground is often permanently frozen meaning trees and some plants can’t grow there. They cover about 20% of the Earth’s surface. The conditions are so harsh in the tundras that very few animals can stay in the ecosystem all year long. Examples of animals that live in tundra ecosystems such as reindeer, bears, polar bears and foxes.
Unfortunately, sometimes ecosystems are destroyed by humans or natural disasters. Sadly, many human activities cause harm to ecosystems such as over-hunting, overfishing, deforestation and pollution. These actions can destroy ecosystems and force animals to leave. Climate change and natural disasters such as forest fires and floods can also cause severe damage to ecosystems.
Coral reefs are underwater ecosystems. Many people think corals are dead rocks but actually are living creatures. Not only are they animals but they are also home to many other organisms. Many crabs, sea stars, worms, clams, sponges and fishes use coral reefs as their home. Coral reefs are easily affected by pollution. In Finding Nemo, Nemo, the clownfish lives in a coral reef at the beginning of the movie! He is one of many animals that dampened on the coral reef to survive. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest coral reef system in the world.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about ecosystems as much as we loved teaching you about it. Now that you know how important the environment is to our planet Earth, you can move on to learn more about our environmental topics like: Energy, Wind Energy, Electricity and the Water Cycle.
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