UNIT 4 ECOSYSTEMS
An ecosystem is a group of plants, animals, and other living things that live in the same surroundings. It also includes nonliving materials, for example, water, rocks, soil, and sand. It consists of a biological community and its physical environment. All of Earth's ecosystems together constitute the biosphere.
- Terrestrial ecosystems include forest, savanna, grassland, scrubland, tundra, and desert.
- Marine and freshwater aquatic ecosystems include oceans, lakes, rivers, and wetlands.
COMPONENTS
- living things: species, population, community
- habitat
- interrelationships
A
species is often defined as a group of
organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
A population is a group of the same species of organism living in one area at the same time.
A
community is a group of animals and plants that live together in the same environment.
A
habitat is the place where an organism or a community of organisms lives. It
includes all living and nonliving factors or conditions of the surrounding environment.
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RELATIONSHIPS
- competition
- mutualism
- parasitism
The struggle between two or more individuals or species for a common resource is called competition.
An interaction between two species that benefits both of them is called a mutualism.
In
parasitism one member of the relationship benefits while the other is harmed.
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