Ecosystems

‘A system, or a group of interconnected elements,

formed by the interaction of a community of
organisms with their environment.’

An ecosystem is a community of An ecosystem is all the living

living organisms in conjunction with
the non-living components of their things, from plants and
environment (things like air, water and
mineral soil), interacting as a animals to microscopic
system. These biotic and abiotic
components are regarded as linked
organisms, that share an
together through nutrient cycles and environment. Everything in
energy flows. As ecosystems are
defined by the network of interactions an ecosystem has an important
among organisms, and between
organisms and their environment, they
role. Well, almost everything.
can be of any size but usually
encompass specific, limited
spaces (although some scientists say
that the entire planet is an
ecosystem).
List the following elements of an ecosystem in the correct column below.
Soil, minerals, air, light, plants, insects, animals, precipitation, temperature.

What elements comprise an ecosystem?

Abiotic Biotic
(non-living environmental factors) (living features)

Ecosystems can be large (global like the rainforest) or small scale (like a pond).

Global scale Local scale

A freshwater pond ecosystem provides a number of different habitats for plants and
animals. There are big variations in the amount of light, water and oxygen available
in different part of a pond. Different habitats suit certain plants, insects and animals.
There are various categories of living organism within an ecosystem:

Explain what is meant by each of these terms and the role that they play within the
ecosystem
Producers Consumers Decomposers
(can be primary,
secondary etc)

Energy flows through the ecosystem from producers to consumers, then to

decomposers and back to producers again.

There are various flows and linkages within an ecosystem food chain or food web.

Food Chain and Food Web:

What is the difference between a food chain and food web?
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A Glossary of Terms

Term Definition

Producers

Consumers

Decomposers

Food chain
 Food web

Nutrient cycles also occur, particularly the nitrogen cycle which provides the
nutrients.

Nutrients are foods that are used by plants and animals to grow. There are two main
sources of nutrients:

• Rainwater washes chemicals out of the atmosphere

• Weathered rock release nutrients into the soil
When plants or animals die, the decomposers help to recycle the nutrients making
them available once again for the growth of plants and animals. This is the nutrient
cycle.
In a natural ecosystem, there is a balance between the components. But there is an
impact on the ecosystem even if one component changes.

How does change alter ecosystems?

Ecosystems take hundreds, if not thousands, of years to develop. If an ecosystem is
to be sustainable it needs to be in balance. If there is a change to one component it
may well have knock on effects for the rest of the ecosystem.
Damage to ecosystems can be anthropological (caused by humans) or natural.
Changes can take place on a variety of scales:

• Global scale changes, such as climate change

• Local scale changes, such as changes to a habitat, for example when a
hedge is removed.
Ecosystems can adapt to slow natural changes with few harmful effects. But rapid
changes can have serious impacts. Extreme weather events like droughts can be
devastating to ponds or lakes. They could dry up, changing the edge of pond
environment: plants will dry out and die, fish will be starved of oxygen and may not
survive.
Changes due to human activity can have many impacts on ecosystems. Once a
component has been changed it can have serious knock on effects on the
ecosystem.
List some examples of these two causes in the table below:
Anthropological Causes of Natural Causes of Disruption to
Disruption to Ecosystems Ecosystems

We will construct a flow diagram showing the Amazon rainforest and another
demonstrating how cutting down an area of forest will adversely affect the ecosystem
by affecting many of the elements.
These diagrams should be drawn landscape on separate pieces of paper.

Tasks
1. Find a picture of a pond on google. Copy and paste it into a word document,
Add the following annotations:

• Above the pond surface – birds and animals breathe oxygen. Food is
found in or on the water, or in the margins.

• Pond surface – plenty of oxygen and light here. Animals breathe through
their gills, lungs or skin.

• Pond margin - plenty of oxygen and light here. Plenty of shelter for the
plants and insects, for small animals to eat.

• Mid-water – animals breathe through gills or skin. Fish are the main
predators. Food is found on the surface or in the pond.

• Pond bottom – little oxygen or light. Plenty of shelter (rotting plants and
stones) and food. Decomposers and scavengers live here.

2. Match the heads and tails by cutting out these boxes and sticking them in the
correct location in the blank table for glossary of terms provided.

This shows DIRECT links between producers and

consumers in the form of a simple line.

These get energy from the sugars produced by the

producers. A pond snail is a good example because
it eats plants.

Convert energy from the environment (mainly

sunlight) into sugars (glucose). The most obvious
are plants that convert energy from the sun by
photosynthesis.

This shows all the connections between producers

and consumers on a rather more complex way.

These break down plant and animal material and

return nutrients to the soil. Bacteria and fungi are
good examples.