Science glossary
Ecosystem
All the living things in an area and the nonliving things they interact with.
An ecosystem includes plants, animals, soil, water, air and sunlight. Each part affects the others.
Example: A pond ecosystem includes fish, frogs, plants, algae, water, mud and sunlight.
Lessons, worksheets, practice and tools on this: Ecosystems and food webs.
Related words
- Food web: A diagram of all the food chains in an ecosystem and how they link.
- Producer: A living thing that makes its own food, usually a plant.
- Decomposer: A living thing that breaks down dead plants and animals and returns nutrients to the soil.
- Consumer: A living thing that gets its energy by eating other living things.
- Predator: An animal that hunts and eats other animals.
- Prey: An animal that is hunted and eaten by another animal.