The Living World - Geography

Question	Answer
Ecosystem	The living and non-living components of an environment and the interrelationships that exist between them.
Producers	Converts energy from the environment (usually sunlight) into sugars (glucose). The most obvious example of producers is plants, which convert energy from the sun by the process of photosynthesis.
Consumers	Obtain their energy from the sugars made by the producers. A pond snail would be an example as it eats the plants.
Food Chain	Shows the links between producers and consumers.
Food Web	This shows the connections between producers and consumers in a more detailed way than a food chain.
Scavengers	When living elements (plants and animals) of an ecosystem die scavengers break them down and recycle their nutrients. Scavengers eat dead plants and animals. A rat tailed maggot is a good example of a freshwater pond scavenger.
Decomposers	These are usually bacteria and fungi, they also recycle nutrients. They break down remaining plant and animal material, often returning the nutrients to the soil.
Nutrient Cycle	Nutrients are foods that are used by plants or animals to grow such as nitrogen, potash and potassium. There are two main sources of nutrients: rainwater washes chemicals out of the atmosphere and weathered rock releases nutrients into the soil. When plants or animals die, the scavengers and decomposers recycle the nutrients, making them available once again for the growth of plants or animals.

Resource summary

	Created by laurettasharp about 10 years ago