There are many things needed to do to be able to properly study an ecosystem. There are different parts of the ecosystem that are to be studied. There is the animal part, the plant part, and the abiotic (non-living) part. Studying ecosystems can answer some of these questions:
-What organisms are present?
-What organisms live in what part of the ecosystem?
-Who eats what and what eats them?
-What abiotic factors are important?
To make a good, structured, detailed study, there are some steps recommended to do. These steps can vary depending on what ecosystem you are studying. You will not have to check water salinity in desert.

1. Making a Map: this is useful to then mark off certain things found in what areas. Even easier if done in bird’s-eye-view. (squiggly line for path, small circle for tree etc.)
2. Observe and Collect: look around at the different animals and plant visible. Then collect samples of these organisms to bring back to your lab. Note: not all studying of ecosystems is done entirely in the field, sometimes almost as much time is spent outside than inside.
3. Analyse and Name: using a key, which is a simple set of yes/no questions which ask questions such as “Less than four legs? or More than four legs?”. Organisms can be identified using this key. For trees and plants, the leaves can be used to identify the plant.
4. Observe and Collect Abiotic Factors: look at factors such as the air, soil, water temperature, oxygen presence in water and soil, light intensity, and much more. Samples of soil and water can be collected to conduct different tests.
5. Distribution: this means that you can try to determine the percentage of organisms present in an ecosystem. Random sampling can be used to do this. Using a quadrat (relatively big empty frame, usually wooden planks nailed together), you can place this randomly in different areas and note the different organisms contained within the frame, and later calculate an average on all the notes.

There are many different objects (apparatus) used to carry out these steps easier and faster. For collecting animal samples, this can be used:

Net

Cryptozoic Trap: A piece of wood or stone laid on the ground and after some time, small insects could be found underneath.
Nets: Lots of different nets exist that have been adapted to catch certain organisms. e.g. fish net, plankton net.

Tullgren Funnel

Tullgren Funnel: This is to extract insects from soil. A soil sample is placed on a wire gauze which is over a funnel which leads into a beaker with a mixture of alcohol and water. There is a strong light held over the soil for the necessary amount of time. The light gradually dries out the soil, driving the insects within it to go downward until eventually reaching the beaker of liquids.

Pooter

Pooter: A small beaker beaker with two separate tubes leading out. one tube is covered with a wire gauze on the inside of the beaker. Inhale through this tube while placing to other one over small insect to suck the insect into the beaker.

Thermometers: Lots of different thermometers exist to measure the heat of different things. Different thermometers even exist to measure the heat of the same thing.

Images from: http://bohart.ucdavis.edu, http://www.blackrockec.ie, http://herbarium.usu.edu

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Tags: ecology, ecosystem, study