How does a Forests ecosystem support itself?

Question

Ok Well, in Science we are doing a Moon Bases project and I dont fully understand the question. Please can someone help me!

The question on the sheet says:

"Task Three:

Think about habitats on Earth that support life, pick one of them and discover which organisms live there and how the ecosystem supports itself"

I picked a Forest....

Now what?

Please help!!!!

10 Points to anyone who can help me!

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Answer 1

Forests are continually regenerating themselves with the growing of new trees and the dying of the older trees, these are the most obvious changes that we humans see. ( i will start at the microscopic level and work up). At the microscopic level of the bacteria breaking down and decomposing the deadwood of the fallen trees and other organic matter. The bacteria are releasing ,as a by product of there feeding, the locked up minerals and nutrients in the dead organic matter back into the soil. This provides essential nutriment and mineral deposits for the next generation of plant and tree life to grow and flourish. If we look at the history of forest habitats of earth we see that sentient animals are a recently new addition in geological time scales to forest habitats. Hundreds of millions of years ago there were massive fern and pine forests devoid of any mammal, reptile,insect,bird life. But  if we compare the woodlands of today against the prehistoric woodlands the latter seem like a mono cultures. Evolution brought us differing species of tree/plant life and our first animals to live in our prehistoric forests. These were insects and invertibrates which formed some of the most intimate relationships with plant and tree life. The insects and invertibrates which feed on the organic matter and eachother are the staple diet of most of the food chain. Amphibians,reptiles,birds,mammals all prey on these insects and invertibrates and as a result are the most plentiful in any forest habitats. - But as to a short answer to your question i can only say- That it is the constant recycling and redispersal of organically sound material by bacteria and microbes that make forests sustainable and able to renew themselves.

There are alot of other issues that could be approached but i have been as brief as possibe and gave a conclusion as precise as i could to the asked question. Hope this is of some use to you. Good luck,

Rik Aindow

Answer 2

a forest ecosystem supports itself by recycling nutrients, and by the oxygen cycle, the ozone cycle, the water cycle, and the nitrogen cycle