ARTIFICIAL ECOSYSTEM: What It Is and Examples

We live surrounded by artificial ecosystems, some on a large scale and others really small. Many of them we create for pure leisure or aesthetic taste, while others are necessary in our way of life. Due to their abundance and importance in our daily lives, it is worth stopping to observe them carefully, since on many occasions they go unnoticed.

If you want to learn more about what is an artificial ecosystem, its characteristics and examples, join us in this Green Ecologist article.

What is an artificial ecosystem - characteristics

By definition, an ecosystem is a specific environment in which the vital processes of the living beings that form it are interrelated, that is, living beings are related to each other, but they are also related to the non-living elements of said ecosystem.

Ecosystems, however, can be divided into natural ecosystems and artificial or humanized ecosystems. In artificial ecosystems, which are what we are dealing with here, the human being intervenes by controlling part or all of the environmental conditions.

Within these conditions, the diversity of plant and animal species present in the environment, the type of soil, the contribution or not of rain or water and any other thermal or atmospheric variable.

Here we must differentiate humanized or artificial ecosystems from modified natural ecosystems. The former have been created by the hand of man, and most of their conditioning factors are consciously controlled by human intervention. The latter, on the other hand, are natural ecosystems in which man has influenced in some direct or indirect way and caused changes, such as the eradication of a specific species. The modified natural ecosystems They are a type of artificial ecosystem, since without human intervention they cannot exist.

Like any other ecosystem, an artificial ecosystem consists of biotic and abiotic factors. Biotics are the plants, animals and other living beings present in it, while abiotics are the non-living elements. The natural abiotics represent elements such as air or water, while the abiotic ones are usually the structures and constructions that man has erected.

In this other Green Ecologist article we tell you in detail what an ecosystem is.

Artificial ecosystem: examples

In general, we can say that there are 3 types of artificial ecosystems.

Urban ecosystems

Urban ecosystems are those that are created around urban areas. They are characterized by having a high negative impact on the natural habitats around them, and are the most artificial. One of the examples of an artificial urban ecosystem are cities.

To expand this information, you may be interested in knowing the Characteristics of the rural and urban ecosystem.

Agricultural or agricultural ecosystems

Agricultural or agricultural ecosystems are created to provide human beings with products for the food industry. Without them, the current way of life could not exist, and they are based on our sedentary character.

According to the management of their crops, they are divided into ecological management or conventional management. The first attempts to affect the rest of the environment as little as possible and reduce the human footprint, so natural products are used and chemicals are dispensed with, in favor of crop rotation and seed replanting techniques. Conventional management, on the other hand, prioritizes the intensive aspect of the crop, and uses the application of pesticides, fertilizers and slurry to maximize production in the short term.

We can find agricultural ecosystems for raising livestock, subsistence farming, such as that practiced by peasants in traditional agriculture, and monocultures, where a single large-scale crop is produced.

Dam or reservoir ecosystem

The third and last great type of artificial ecosystem are the ecosystems of dams or reservoirs. In them, the hand of man drastically modifies the environment creating large masses of water where there were none before by intervening on the natural course of the water. This leads to the appearance of new forms of flora and fauna, as well as the weakening or disappearance of others that were adapted to the previous conditions.

Differences between artificial and natural ecosystem

We have already seen that the main and most marked difference between both ecosystems is the intervention or not of human hands in them. However, there are more things that set them apart. These are some of the main differences between artificial and natural ecosystem:

Natural ecosystems tend to have a great variety of species of flora and fauna, while this is much lower in artificial ones. Because of this, the genetic diversity of artificial ecosystems is also much lower, with all the problems that this entails in the long run.
The food chains of artificial ecosystems are also much simpler than those of natural ones, and they are often not complete, since humans tend to feed the species that interest them themselves.
And finally, in artificial ecosystems there is usually no ecological succession, and they are almost always unsustainable in the long term due to the use of pollutants, fossil fuels and non-renewable energy sources.