Create your own Ecosystem- " The life bubble terrarium"

 Nature is wonder. Close your eyes and what you think of a field filled with green grass, inbetween some little colour flowers, at far distance silhouette of mountains, trees surrounding half of the corner of a pond, sound of birds, grazing wind and peeking sun from clouds which creates anticrepuscular rays (colourful rays) in the evening. It gives such a pleasant feeling, relaxation and calmness. Planting a small plant and one day a flower blooms gives a satisfaction to our mind. What about creating a mini scenery by our own hand at home. For that we need to know about ecosystem. Already most of our house have aquarium tank or garden pond with aquatic life. In this blog, we see about terrarium which is a small ecosystem. So start with ecosystem, 

Ecosystem - A bubble of life

Ecosystem is a geographical area which represents biotic and abiotic factors. Plants, animals and other living organisms are biotic factors. Humidity, temperature and other variables in surrounding environment are abiotic factors. Every factors in a ecosystem depends directly or indirectly on each other to form a bubble of life. Ecosystem can be very small or large.

Biome is a collection of plants and Animals that can adopt and share a particular environment eg : forest, desert, aquatic... Ecosystem is a part of biome which are climatic systems of life and other organisms.

Types of ecosystems: 

* Terrestrial

* Lentic 

* Lotic 

* Artificial 

Terrestrial ecosystem refers to land areas such as forest, grasslands, deserts. Climatic conditions defers between each biome. So you can find some plants and animals in a particular biome are not survive in other biome.

Both Lentic and Lotic are aquatic ecosystems.

Lentic ecosystem are freshwater aquatic systems such as ponds, lakes, river which are smaller ecosystems. This ecosystem survives on photosynthesis of algae and other underwater aquatic plants.

Lotic ecosystem can include bodies of both fresh and saltwater. This ecosystem are moving water bodies like fresh water mixes with salt water into the ocean (Estuary).

Artificial ecosystems are man-made which are created by us like forests, beach, aquarium and terrariums.

History of terrarium ( The Wardian case)

So to create an ecosystem abiotic factors are very important. The concept of terrarium was emerged in 1842 by Nathaniel Bagshaw ward , a botanist. He accidentally found a fern on jar which was unattended. It germinate to plant and became the first terrarium and also called as Wardian case. His experiment indicated that a plant can be survive in a sealed container without ventilation. The process behind this is 

At that time, they used these Wardian cases to transport native plants from Australia to London. Even after months of travel, plants survived and reached in good condition. 

There is example for Self functional ecosystem. David latimer, planted a closed terrarium garden on 1960. It's been 61 years, it was opened only once in 1972 to add water and sealed it. The garden is still surviving without supply of water and nutrients till now. 

Process of closed terrarium ecosystem

For the closed terrarium, we need a see through glass container with lid, small rocks for drainage at the bottom, soil and your favourite terrarium plant. It is essential to choose plants carefully which is slow growing. 

The process behind this is the water cycle happened inside the terrarium. Due to heat formation in  sealed container, moisture from the soil and plant gets evaporated and condenses on the walls of the container and drops back to plants. Recycling of its nutrients and photosynthesis takes place in sunlight or you can use artificial lights.

Types of plants you can grow in terrarium

* Moss

Mosses are plants but don't have roots and produce no flowers. It reproduce using spores not seeds. It can form green mat like structure and need low water supply. Can grow in low sunlight area. It is confused with liverworts and lichens. It is perfect for closed terrarium which gives an amazing green field look.

* Fern

Unlike moss, fern is a vascular plant and also reproduce via spores. It is used in indoors which improves humidity and restore moisture in air. It has roots, stem and a eyesighting leaf structure. Good air purifier. It is a good choice to grow in terrarium and grow well in shady light, terrerium humid conditions.

* Peperomia

Good indoor plants. Low maintenance and a good air purifier. Need light to get more pigment on leaves. Widow with curtain can make a nice place to grow this plant. It is very compact and grow on rotten woods. According to the NASA clean air study shows that this plant reduce 47% of formaldehyde in air.

* Succulents

Succulents are very beautiful plant and colorful. Plant itself looks like a flower. It has thickened and fleshy leaves. Able to retain water in arid environments. It is good indoor plant  which adapt dry air conditions. Most of succulents need direct sunlight. Common Indoor succulents are aloevera, cactus, jade plant...

* Airplants

* Polka Dot plants

* Carnivorous plants ( not recommended for closed terrarium) choose small plants

* Nerve plants

* English ivy

* Miniature orchids