Geography- Ecosystems

Geography- Ecosystems

1. What is an ecosystem?

   • An ecosystem is a unit that includes all the biotic (living) parts and the abiotic (non-living) parts in an area.

2. What can organisms in ecosystems be classed as?

   • Producers Consumers Decomposers
   • What is a producer?
     • An organism that uses sunlight energy to produce food.
       • e.g.
         • Grass, bush with berries
   • What is a decomposer?
     • An organism that gets its energy by breaking down dead material, like fallen leaves, dead producers and dead consumers
       • e.g.
         • bacteria, fungi
   • What is a consumer?
     • An organism that gets its energy by eating other organisms- it eats producers or other consumers
       • e.g.
         • Rabbit, tiger

3. What does a food chain show?

   • It shows what eats what.

4. What does a food web contain?

   • Lots of food chains and how they overlap.

5. What happens when dead material is decomposed?

   • Nutrients are released into the soil. The nutrients are then taken up from the soil by plants. The plants may be eaten by consumers. When the plant or consumer dies, the nutrients are returned to the soil. This transfer is called nutrient cycling.

6. What do the arrows in a food web show?

   • Where the energy moves when each thing is eaten.

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