Everything around you is part of a larger ecosystem that is home to all sorts of creatures and organisms. Everywhere you look is part of a different ecosystem. The ocean or lake you swim in, the forest you hike through, the mountain you climbed up, the tundra you rode a sled through. There are many different types of ecosystems, each with their own characteristics and specific organisms that call it home. To start off so everyone is on the same page, an ecosystem is all of the living and nonliving things in a natural community.
Basically, it is the area in which the organisms thrive in, plus those organisms. An ecosystem has a specific balance to it. Everything helps each other. In short, an ecosystem is an interaction and usually a symbiosis that permits organisms to exist in a limited space.
The most important components of an ecosystem are the energy, air, water, soil, minerals, and nitrogen. Each has their own purpose and contribute to the natural cycle that keeps the ecosystem functional. However, an ecosystem is not just affected by those internal factors, there are external factors that also matter in how it exists and thrives.
These would be climate, geography, time, and the biomes. An ecosystem is not the same as a habitat. A habitat is the type of environment in which an organism lives in. For example, an earthworm lives in the soil, certain fish live in coral reefs, birds live mostly in trees. There can be multiple habitats that make up a larger ecosystem.
When looking at any of the types of ecosystems, you will most likely see many things in common with other ecosystems. Each ecosystem has the same four basic components that allow it to prosper. When you think about what makes an ecosystem function, the most important concepts revolve around the organic and inorganic and their interactions with each other.
The abiotic components in an ecosystem are all of the nonliving elements. This includes the water, air, temperature, rocks, and the minerals in the soil. The abiotic elements will also include how the environment reacts to the climate. For instance, how much rain that ecosystem gets, whether the water is fresh or salty, how much sun there is and how often parts will freeze in the winter. The abiotic components are just as important as the biotic, or living, components because each help the other to thrive.
The abiotic provide the biotic with the right environment they need to live and to grow, while the biotic contribute to the betterment of the environment with their waste and when they die. The plants in the ecosystem are often called producers. This is because they supply the food source for the rest of the organisms as well as have the ability to transform carbon dioxide into oxygen.
Some examples of these producers would be basically any plants that grow on land, algae in the waters, photosynthetic bacteria and many more. These organisms form the base of the food chain. They are also the largest group on the ecosystem. These plants also contribute to the abiotic level during the nitrogen cycle, where they incorporate inorganic carbon and nitrogen from the atmosphere.
As stated before, animals are another part of the biotic life. They make up most of the food chain depending on their diet. Herbivores eat plants, carnivores eat other animals, omnivores eat both.
Just a refresher on 3rd grade science class. This level of the ecosystem makes use of the energy produced by the plants and then disposes of the waste for use by the abiotic level. This is the last level in the ecosystem. As the abiotic systems support the plant life which supports the rest of the food chain, the waste gets deposited back into the Earth.
The four ecosystem types are classifications known as artificial, terrestrial, lentic and lotic. Ecosystems are parts of biomes, which are climatic systems of life and organisms. In the biome's ecosystems, there are living and nonliving environmental factors known as biotic and abiotic. Biotic factors are organisms, plants and animals, and abiotic factors are nonliving environmental factors, such as light, water or gasses in the system. Terrestrial ecosystems are land systems such as forests, deserts, grasslands, tundras and coastal regions.
Depending on the biome's climate, more than one terrestrial ecosystem can be present. For example, tundras have less plant life because of lower temperatures; deserts produce fewer plants because of higher temperatures. A forest or grassland may have an extreme variety of plant life because its biome has the right amount of sunlight and moisture for many ecosystems, and species, to grow.
Mostly, lentic ecosystems are described as still bodies of fresh water, and they are smaller ecosystems. Grasslands provide an ideal environment for grazing animals.
The common defining feature among desert ecosystems is low precipitation, generally less than 25 centimeters, or 10 inches, per year. Not all deserts are hot — desert ecosystems can exist from the tropics to the arctic, but regardless of latitude, deserts are often windy. Some deserts contain sand dunes, while others feature mostly rock. Vegetation is sparse or nonexistent, and any animal species, such as insects, reptiles and birds, must be highly adapted to the dry conditions.
As with deserts, a harsh environment characterizes ecosystems in the tundra. In the snow-covered, windswept, treeless tundra, the soil may be frozen year-round, a condition known as permafrost. During the brief spring and summer, snows melt, producing shallow ponds which attract migrating waterfowl. Lichens and small flowers may become visible during this time of year.
Freshwater ecosystems can be found in streams, rivers, springs, ponds, lakes, bogs and freshwater swamps. They are subdivided into two classes: those in which the water is nearly stationary, such as ponds, and those in which the water flows, such as creeks. Freshwater ecosystems are home to more than just fish: algae, plankton, insects, amphibians and underwater plants also inhabit them. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher.
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Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives. A limiting factor is anything that constrains a population's size and slows or stops it from growing. Some examples of limiting factors are biotic, like food, mates, and competition with other organisms for resources. Others are abiotic, like space, temperature, altitude, and amount of sunlight available in an environment.
Limiting factors are usually expressed as a lack of a particular resource. For example, if there are not enough prey animals in a forest to feed a large population of predators, then food becomes a limiting factor. Likewise, if there is not enough space in a pond for a large number of fish, then space becomes a limiting factor. There can be many different limiting factors at work in a single habitat, and the same limiting factors can affect the populations of both plant and animal species.
Ultimately, limiting factors determine a habitat's carrying capacity, which is the maximum size of the population it can support. Teach your students about limiting factors with this curated collection of resources.
Trophic levels provide a structure for understanding food chains and how energy flows through an ecosystem. At the base of the pyramid are the producers, who use photosynthesis or chemosynthesis to make their own food. Herbivores or primary consumers, make up the second level. Secondary and tertiary consumers, omnivores and carnivores, follow in the subsequent sections of the pyramid.
At each step up the food chain, only 10 percent of the energy is passed on to the next level, while approximately 90 percent of the energy is lost as heat. Teach your students how energy is transferred through an ecosystem with these resources. A biome is an area classified according to the species that live in that location.
Temperature range, soil type, and the amount of light and water are unique to a particular place and form the niches for specific species allowing scientists to define the biome.
However, scientists disagree on how many biomes exist. Some count six forest, grassland, freshwater, marine, desert, and tundra , others eight separating two types of forests and adding tropical savannah , and still others are more specific and count as many as 11 biomes. Use these resources to teach middle school students about biomes around the world.
A biotic factor is a living organism that shapes its environment. In a freshwater ecosystem, examples might include aquatic plants, fish, amphibians, and algae. Biotic and abiotic factors work together to create a unique ecosystem. Learn more about biotic factors with this curated resource collection. An abiotic factor is a non-living part of an ecosystem that shapes its environment. In a terrestrial ecosystem, examples might include temperature, light, and water.
In a marine ecosystem, abiotic factors would include salinity and ocean currents. Abiotic and biotic factors work together to create a unique ecosystem. Learn more about abiotic factors with this curated resource collection.
A habitat is an environment where an organism lives throughout the year or for shorter periods of time to find a mate. The habitat contains all an animal needs to survive such as food and shelter. A microhabitat is a small area which differs somehow from the surrounding habitat. Its unique conditions may be home to unique species that may not be found in the larger region. Unfortunately, some habitats are threatened by pollution, extreme weather, or deforestation.
This puts many of the species that live there in danger and is causing many populations to decline. Explore different types of habitats and microhabitats with this curated collection of classroom resources. A terrestrial ecosystem is a land-based community of organisms and the interactions of biotic and abiotic components in a given area.
Examples of terrestrial ecosystems include the tundra, taigas, temperate deciduous forests, tropical rainforests, grasslands, and deserts. The type of terrestrial ecosystem found in a particular place is dependent on the temperature range, the average amount of precipitation received, the soil type, and amount of light it receives.
Use these resources to spark student curiosity in terrestrial ecosystems and discover how different abiotic and biotic factors determine the plants and animals found in a particular place.
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