ECOSYSTEMS

• An ecosystem is all the things that interact in a specific area, whether they are living, or non-living.   Some examples of non-living things that support life in an ecosystem are light, air, soil, and water. Living things are the organisms (plants and animals) that use those resources. Each of the specific ecosystems in the world has its own conditions created by the non-living things. These conditions determine what kinds of living things will be able to thrive there. Organisms can only thrive where their needs are being met. Everything in an organism’s environment has an effect on it. A temperate zone is an area where the conditions never become too hot or too cold, allowing many different kinds of organisms to thrive.

• All the living things in an ecosystem are called a community. All of one specific kind of organism living in a community is called a population. All the tree frogs in a rainforest community are one population within the community. All the white birch trees are another population within the same community. All the jaguars are yet another rainforest community population.

• All living organisms perform certain life processes. They take in nutrients like air, sunlight, water, and food. They use   energy from those nutrients to grow and develop. They release energy by doing work and moving. They release waste products. They react to things in their environment. They reproduce, producing offspring (babies) that are similar to themselves.

Name:__________________________________

Answer the following questions based on the reading passage. Don’t forget to go back to the passage whenever necessary to find or confirm your answers.

1) What would happen to the living organisms in an ecosystem if some of the non-living things were removed? Why?

2) What are some of the life processes that living organisms do?

3) What would happen in an ecosystem if one population grew too large for its needs to be met?

4) Explain how the living and non-living parts of an ecosystem work together.

5) Why does a temperate zone support the greatest variety of organisms?