Question

A unit of land delimited by natural boundary and having patches of different biotic communities is known as:
A. Ecosystem
B. Landscape
C. Biome
D. B and C

Answer 1

Ecology is the branch of biology, which deals with the inter-relationship amongst organisms and interaction between organisms and their surroundings or environment. Organisms, populations, communities and biomes are the levels of biological organisation which is the part of the ecology.

Complete answer: Ecology can be studied at small or at large levels. There are various levels of biological organization. These three are part of them:
A. Ecosystem: the study of structure and function of nature is known as an ecosystem. The ecosystem is composed of the biological community. It can be defined as a systematic form of the interaction of all the living and nonliving things, with physical and chemical factors of the environment or their surroundings where they can survive. These biotic and abiotic components are linked with the exchange of energy and recycling of the nutrients.
B. Landscape: Landscape ecology is the study where we can focus on the interaction or relationship between spatial pattern and ecological process that is caused in consequence of spatial heterogeneity across a range of scales.
The landscape is defined as a heterogeneous area composed of distinct patches. So, a landscape element is essentially one of those patches within the landscape.
E.g – Glacier, Mountain range, cliff, Polar zone of the earth, shrublands, dessert, Tundra, wetland, forest, rainforest, woodland, etc are the types of landscape.
In landscapes, the following three types of boundaries are present:
(a) Ecotone: It can be defined as the transitional zone between two communities.
(b) Ecocline: It can be defined as the lines of different communities that exist within an ecotone.
(c) Ecotype: It can be defined as a similar area in an ecotone which might be distinct far spaced, but have similar characteristics.
C. Biome: is a large regional unit that is characterized by a major vegetation type and associated fauna found in a specific climate zone. Some examples of terrestrial biomes are desert, tropical rain forest etc.

As per the description of the above statement, the landscape is the correct answer. Thus, the correct answer is B.

Note: The example of ecotones are salt marshes and riparian zones. The example of ecotypes is warbler finch and Cocos island finch. An ecocline can be chemocline, thermocline, pycnocline or halocline and are more stable in higher plant species.