Ecosystem
✭ It is a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
✭ It includes both living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components.
✭ Living components: Plants, animals, fungi, and microbes.
✭ Non-living components: Air, water, energy, mineral soil, sunlight, temperature, oxygen, and soil.
Types of Ecosystems
Natural Ecosystems:
✶ Terrestrial: Forests, grasslands, deserts.
✶ Aquatic: Freshwater (lakes, rivers) and marine (oceans, seas).
Artificial Ecosystems:
✶ Man-made systems like gardens, aquariums, and agricultural fields.
Components of an Ecosystem
1.Biotic Components:
⭒ Producers (Autotrophs): Plants, algae, and certain bacteria that produce food through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis.
⭒ Consumers (Heterotrophs): Organisms that depend on others for food. These include:
⭒ Herbivores (plant-eaters) Eg: Rabbit
⭒ Carnivores (meat-eaters) Eg: Frog
⭒ Omnivores (eat both plants and animals) Eg: humans
⭒ Decomposers (e.g., fungi and bacteria that break down dead matter)
2.Abiotic Components:
⭒ Sunlight, water, air, soil, temperature, and minerals, which are non-living elements of the environment.
