Ecosystems

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Ecosystems

What are ecosystems?

Ecosystem: A community of living things (organisms) interacting with each other and their environment.

Some examples of ecosystems are: rainforests, coral reefs, deserts, ponds. Can you think of any others?

The branch of science that studies ecosystems is called ecology.

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Word Cloud

What other examples of ecosystems can you think of?

Multiple Choice

An ecosystem is a collection of both living things and non-living things, interacting with each other in a shared environment.

• True

• False

• I'm not sure

Multiple Choice

Ecology is the study of:

• The internal structures of living things

• Organisms interacting with each other and their environment

• Describing, classifying, and naming organisms

• The chemical reactions that take place in living things

Ecosystems have a wide range of scales. They can be as large as a rainforest or as small as a rock pool. As long as there are living things interacting with each other and with their physical environment, there is an ecosystem.

An ecosystem can also form part of a larger ecosystem. For example, a rock pool forms part of a larger coastal ecosystem.

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Biotic vs Abiotic Factors

An ecosystem needs both living and non-living components to function. Scientists use special terms to describe the interactions between them.

• Living things in an ecosystem are called biotic factors. Examples of biotic factors include animals, plants and bacteria.

• Non-living things in an ecosystem are called abiotic factors. Abiotic factors include sunlight, soil, water and temperature.

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Open Ended

Describe two interactions between a biotic factor and an abiotic factor in a marine ecosystem.

Example: Seagrass (biotic) absorbs sunlight (abiotic) to carry out photosynthesis.

Categorize

Options (14)

Corals

Bacteria

Mushrooms

Sunlight

Minerals

Dirt

Fish

Seaweed

Insects

Birds

Water

Air

Temperature

Humidity

Categorise the following as either biotic or abiotic.

Biotic Factor

Abiotic Factor

Plastic pollution can be found in many marine ecosystems.

Explain whether plastic waste could be considered part of these ecosystems – as another abiotic factor.

In your books

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an abiotic factor in an ecosystem?

• Grass

• Sunlight

• Rabbit

• Mushroom

Dropdown

An example of an abiotic factor is:​

Select answer