An ecosystem is a community of living things — plants , animals , fungi , and microscopic organisms — together with the non-living environment they depend on: the soil , water , sunlight , and air around them. The key idea is that everything in an ecosystem is connected , constantly interacting , exchanging energy and nutrients with everything else .
Scientists split an ecosystem into two parts . The living parts — every plant , animal , fungus , and microbe — are called biotic . The non-living parts — sunlight , temperature , water , air, and minerals in the soil — are called abiotic . Both matter enormously : a desert and a rainforest have very different abiotic conditions , which is why such different living things thrive in each.
📷 Unknown authorUnknown author · CC0✨ Ecosystems range from a tiny garden pond to the vast Amazon rainforest . Even a rotting log is an ecosystem , sheltering beetles , fungi , and mosses .
🗂️ Sort each item into living or non-living parts of an ecosystem.
Living (biotic) Non-living (abiotic)
Living (biotic) Non-living (abiotic)
Living (biotic) Non-living (abiotic)
Living (biotic) Non-living (abiotic)
Living (biotic) Non-living (abiotic)
Living (biotic) Non-living (abiotic)
Within an ecosystem , every species plays a role , a bit like a job in a busy town . Trees provide shelter and food . Bees pollinate flowers so plants can make seeds . Earthworms break down dead leaves and enrich the soil . Predators keep the numbers of other animals in balance . Because everything is linked , removing just one piece can make the whole system wobble .
📷 Gideon Pisanty (Gidip) · CC BY 3.0🔗 Match each living thing to the role it plays in an ecosystem.
Keeps prey numbers in balance Breaks down dead leaves into soil Pollinates flowers Provides shelter and food
Keeps prey numbers in balance Breaks down dead leaves into soil Pollinates flowers Provides shelter and food
Keeps prey numbers in balance Breaks down dead leaves into soil Pollinates flowers Provides shelter and food
Keeps prey numbers in balance Breaks down dead leaves into soil Pollinates flowers Provides shelter and food
💡 When wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone Park in the USA, they changed the behaviour of deer , which allowed river banks to regrow with plants — the rivers even changed course . Scientists call this a 'trophic cascade' .
One of the most important jobs in any ecosystem is recycling . Dead leaves and animals fall to the ground , and decomposers such as worms , fungi , and bacteria break them down . This releases the goodness inside back into the soil , where plants take it up to grow . In this way the same nutrients are used again and again — nothing is truly wasted , and nature becomes the ultimate recycler .
📷 Pierre André Leclercq · Public domain✨ Tropical rainforests cover just 6% of Earth's surface but house more than half of all plant and animal species on the planet .
✍️ Complete the ecosystem sentences.
An ecosystem includes both _____ things (like animals and plants ) and _____ things (like water and sunlight ). Dead matter is recycled by _____ .
living non-living decomposers predators
🃏 Flip each card to review ecosystem words.
? Ecosystem A community of living things plus their non-living environment.
? Biotic The living parts of an ecosystem.
? Abiotic The non-living parts: water, sunlight, soil, air.
? Decomposer A creature that breaks down dead matter and recycles nutrients.
Tap each card to see the answer.
