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The Ecosphere. A little piece of life. What is an Ecosphere?. The ecosphere is a close ecosystem, that don’t rely on matter exchange with any part outside the system.
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The Ecosphere A little piece of life
What is an Ecosphere? • The ecosphere is a close ecosystem, that don’t rely on matter exchange with any part outside the system. • Such systems are scientifically interesting and can potentially serve as a life support system during space flights, in space stations or space habitats.
What is in the Ecosphere? • Along with shrimp, there is algae and filtered sea water. • The EcoSphere also contains decorative shells, sea fans (corals and gorgonians), and lightweight gravel as a part of the working ecosystem.
How do Ecospheres Work? • The EcoSphere is a tiny working model of the Earth. • It contains the same essential elements that are found on our planet: air, water, life (algae, microorganisms and shrimp) and land (gravel and sea fan).
The Earth System • The earth system is composed by The Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Lithosphere. • This three spheres compose the Biosphere.
The Hydrosphere • The Hydrosphere is the combined mass of water found on, under, and over the surface of a planet. • The light from the Sun (insolation), causes evaporation of the water on surfaces, including oceans, rivers, lakes, soil and the leaves of plants.
The Lithosphere • The Lithosphere is the rigid shell of a rocky planet. • On Earth, it comprises the crust and the portion of the upper mantle
Life in Ecosphere • Life functions in the Ecosphere just as it does on Earth. • The shrimp live by consuming the algae and breathing oxygen in the water. • The algae survives by converting the carbon dioxide and light into useable oxygen which the shrimp will then breathe.
In a closed ecological system, any waste products produced by one species must be used by the other species.
Do the Animals and Plants Reproduce? • Reproduction of shrimp does occur in some Ecospheres, but this is uncommon because they are too delicates. • The algae and bacteria in the Ecosphere continuously reproduce. • In fact, you can expect changes in the algae population in your Ecosphere.
How Long will the Ecosphere Live? • The average life of an Ecosphere is between 2 and 3 years. • The life expectancy of the shrimps is known to exceed 5 years, and the oldest Ecospheres are now over 10 years old and still going strong.