Ecosystems come in many sizes. They can be as small as a rock or larger than a continent. The community of living things work with the non-living things to create an ecosystem.
Same kind, same place, same time!
A population is a group of living organisms. They are all the same kind and live in the same place at the same time. Populations interact and form a community. |
A habitat is a place where a population lives. The habitat must supply food, water, temperature, oxygen, and minerals. If the group's needs are not met, then they will find a better habitat. The habitats within the ecosystem are different sizes, too.
| Habitats must have a water supply
for living things to survive. |
If two different populations want to live in the same place they have to work it out. To do this, they use competition, predation, cooperation, and symbiosis.
Predation
A predator kills and eats another animal (its prey). |
Symbiosis means "living together".
There are different types of symbiosis
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| Commensalism - one species benefits, but the other one doesn't suffer because of it. |
| Parasitism - one member benefits and one member is harmed. |
| Amensalism - one member is at a disadvantage and the other one is not affected. |
| Neutralism - neither member is affected. |
| Competition - both organisms are harmed. |
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Desert, tundra, grassland, forest ...what do these have in common? Each is a biome. Biomes are ecosystems where several habitats come together. The earth is one huge biome.
Humans share the world with other living things. It is important to be good to our biomes because each one is important. All join together to form one huge biome, our earth. We should take care to preserve our biome because each houses "one of a kind" forms of life.
Photo by Judy Owings
This unique plant, the Cahaba Lily can only be found in Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama. The largest number of them are found on The Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge. |
All living things in an ecosystem need ENERGY, even in aquatic ecosystems. The energy in an ecosystem ultimately comes from the sun. The energy cycle within biomes, habitats, and ecosystems determine which populations survive and which ones die.
Drawings by Sarah
Macroinvertebrates also get energy from food. They eat plants like leaves and algae. A few are predators. Some macroinvertebrates are eaten by larger animals such as fish. Fish are a source of energy for birds, raccoons, and humans.
Every plant or animal is important to the food chain
See the movie about food chains or take a quiz
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