The forest is generally referred to as a primary producer, processing carbon into carbohydrates. All green plants, including those outside forests, are primary producers; it is often better to refer to the primary producers of the forest as the production ecosystem of the forest, or simply the production ecosystem. This allows us to distinguish it from other forest ecosystems. As leaves and twigs fall to the ground they build up a detritus of leaf mould which is sporadically added to by falling branches and trees, and by the decay of ferns, mosses, lichens, birds, insects and other ground dwellers.

Within this detritus there exists another forest community, the soil and litter community of decomposers which forms a distinct but vital ecosystem, the litter ecosystem, intimately linked with and supplementary to the production ecosystem itself. These two systems together formed the forest ecosystem, which can continue to function indefinitely only when these two systems are intact and fully functional. Other systems within the forest -including birds, insects and other forms of wildlife – are supplementary to the production and litter ecosystems.

The litter ecosystem consists of soil and forest to drivers together with its inhabitants. This assemblage of mostly tiny living things within the litter layer is vast and counts its population is in hundreds of thousands per hectare, for mites and small insects, and in billions for bacteria. It forms a recycling system returning into circulation vital substances used by living things as they die so that new life can use these again. This litter ecosystem is absolutely vital to the health and well-being of any forest. When it is destroyed by man or by other causes such as the trampling of animals the forest slowly dies.

Contact with some sort of ecosystem is a daily occurrence for everyone. It surrounds us and is a part of everything we touch. The impact that humanity plays on the Earth’s ecosystems is not realized by many people. While it may be difficult for most of us to comprehend the universe with the naked eye, we can go out and study the world around us without the use of even a microscope as long as we have some idea of what we’re looking for. Studying a microcosm, or smaller world of organic activity, can help us to understand larger principles and systems at work on a major scale.

As schoolchildren, we study the basic physical sciences, including biology, physics, chemistry, and geology. College students will learn even more about some of these topics in fulfilling the general education requirements for just about any diploma. Yet, because few of us study all the sciences at length, we often do not understand very much about the way the natural world works. That’s why personal study of a nearby ecosystem may help to expand our knowledge base in useful ways.

Start by reading an introductory lesson on the type of system you want to study. It might be about a woodland area, a bog or marsh, a river or pond, or a plain or meadow. You could study a farmer’s crop of corn or beans, or a neighbor’s trickling stream. Wherever you look in the rural outdoors, you can find a mini-system of natural principles operating to support a variety of life forms. If you have kids or grandchildren, or teach school or children’s church, you may even want to arrange a field trip for an hour or so to let them learn about nature the experiential way. Go over the basic guidelines for identifying an ecosystem and how the parts work together to create a system that supports living creatures and plants.

Choose a good-weather day for the expedition. If you plan to investigate a neighbor’s property, get permission first. Be sure there are no safety hazards like swampland, ditches, or gas lines that someone could stumble over. Let everyone know the boundaries for the study project, along with an idea of what to look for. Then it might be a good idea to pair everyone in two’s to keep anyone from wandering off or getting lost. Another advantage to twosomes is they can check their impressions with each other to clarify findings.

Have everyone describe the terrain, the climactic and environmental conditions, and the dominant weather cycles for the region. They can do this afterward in discussion or take notes while in the field. Then they should look for typical life forms in the area, including species and genus, if they know how to classify organisms. Otherwise, a simple list by common names is fine. They should at least be able to separate insects from mammals, and so on.