Ecosystems

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Ecosystems Quickfacts

An ecosystem is a system of animals and plants that live together in a particular environment. The plants and animals interact with each other and their surrounding environment.
The size of an ecosystem can vary from the very small to the very large – a garden is an ecosystem and so is a tropical rainforest. The world’s largest ecosystems are called biomes.
The Sahara is the world’s largest hot desert. Fossils show that it was once a fertile land with rivers and lakes.
The oceans, which make up Earth’s largest biome, can be divided into three zones: inshore water, continental margin and open sea. Oceans cover more than 70 per cent of Earth’s surface, to an average depth of 3.8 km
Trees have adapted to survive many climates and forests are home to at least 50% of the world’s species. They produce nearly half the world’s total organic matter and contain about half its total carbon store. Forests stop soil from being washed away by rain. They also act as Earth’s lungs by producing oxygen from carbon dioxide, restoring oxygen levels in the atmosphere.
The living parts of an ecosystem are called biotic and the non-living parts of an ecosystem are called abiotic. If one part of the ecosystem is altered, the whole system will be affected