Animals play a big part in a farm ecosystem. Animals eat plants, whether they be left overs or plants grown specifically for the animals. They then move the cycle forward by producing feces that can be used as fertilizer. Fertilizer is used to grow the plants, which brings the cycle back around. When the animals die they too can have parts used for fertilizer. Animals have many uses. For example chickens can benefit the ecosystem of a farm by acting as an all natural pest control. Animals are normally killed for food. When they are killed most of the animal’s meat is sold. A lot would change if animals were taken out of the farm ecosystem. image from : www.fanpop.com
web image from: http://sustainablesr.org/food/agricultural­ecosystem/ Ecosystems have been, and always will be, the building block of Biology. Understanding what an ecosystem means is key to being successful in Biology. But what is an ecosystem? The simple answer is an environment where the organisms inhabiting that place work together and form relationships to survive. But there is much more to an ecosystem than organisms “helping each other out”, an ecosystem contains every biotic (living) and abiotic (non­living) factor, this includes climate, basic location, and from the simplest to the most complex living organisms living in that specific ecosystem. Almost everywhere you look there will be ecosystems, we will be going into detail on the ecosystems of farm life, but there are many other examples of ecosystems. Before you learn about how everything works on Greengate farms, you need some background on what happens on this special farm and what lives here to contribute to this small, yet complex ecosystem. Plants help the ecosystem by altering soil stability, nutrient and war availability and the distribution of pest and beneficial organisms. When pants rot or die, it provides some fertilizer for the soil. Plants regulate soil fertility and stability, water availability and pest control. Usually they provide a near­base for the food chain (since they perform photosynthesis by getting energy from the sun which is passed to herbivores). Plants respond to and change the environments by actively altering soil stability, water and nutrient availability. Plants are producers, they take the sun’s energy and turn it into simple sugars. Animals eat the plants and they receive 10% of their energy. PICTURE DIAGRAM PAGE A web of the organisms and how they work together With nearly every naturally living thing on Greengate farms being part of an ecosystem, there are a lot of examples to use to describe life on a farm. So lets use the first animal that comes to mind when you think of a farm, how about a chicken. Chickens are great for keeping an ecosystem nutritious and beautiful. When a chicken poops its poop settles into the soil where it is broken down into nutrients. After the soil has absorbed this enriched soil then the plants that share this soil absorb all of the nutrient soil and get the lush green color that show their healthy. This process is repeated when the plants are harvested and composted into chicken feed and the cycle continues. With chickens being only one of many examples of an ecosystem on Greengate farms I challenge you to find as many more examples of ecosystems as you can! Bibliography: greengatefarms.com http://www2.kenyon.edu/projects/farmschool/nature/ecosys.htm http://nebeginningfarmers.org/farmers/good­stewardship/stewardship­tutorial/farmers­are­stewa
rds­of­ecosystems/ http://sustainablesr.org/food/agricultural­ecosystem/