What is an Ecosystem?
How do living things “work” together to survive in their environment? Ecology is the study of
interactions among organisms and their environment. An ecosystem is made up of many different
components. The components of an ecosystem that are biotic, or related to life, are the living factors
in an ecosystem. Plants, animals, fungi, protists, and bacteria are all biotic, or living, factors. The
behaviors of living organisms are also considered biotic factors. For example, when an animal hunts
and eats another organism (predation), this is a biotic factor, because it involves living things. The
role, or niche, an organism plays in an ecosystem is also known as a biotic factor. Think: BIOLOGY
(the study of living things). This will help you remember that biotic factors are living things and their
behaviors. Abiotic, meaning not alive, are the nonliving factors that affect the organisms living in an
ecosystem. Weather, temperature, moisture, light, chemicals and certain components of soil are all
examples of abiotic factors present in many ecosystems. These biotic and abiotic factors combine to
create a system, or more precisely, an ecosystem.
An ecosystem is a community of living and nonliving things often studied as a whole that is
made up of many parts. The ecosystem is the whole (like a pie) and the biotic and abiotic factors are
the parts (like the crust, pan, blueberries, sugar, and whipped cream). Biotic and abiotic factors are
interrelated. If one factor is changed or removed, it impacts the availability of other resources
within the system. (Think about how different that pie would be without the blueberries!)
BIG IDEA: An ecosystem is a basic unit in ecology, formed by the interaction of plants, animals and
microorganisms (biotic factors) with their physical environment (abiotic factors).
A pond ecosystem refers to the freshwater ecosystem where there are communities of
organisms that are dependent upon each other and the water environment in which they live, for their
nutrients and survival. Usually, ponds are shallow (hardly 12-15 feet) water bodies in which sunlight
can reach to the bottoms, permitting the growth of the plants there. The organisms (living things)
inhabiting a pond ecosystem include algae, fungi, microorganisms, plants, and a variety of vertebrate
and invertebrate animals. All of these organisms surviving together within the ecosystem are called a
community. Each group of individual species of organism (for example, all the rabbits or all the club
fungi) is called a population.
Often, in an ecosystem, there are challenges facing each individual species or population of
organism. These challenges are called limiting factors. Limiting factors can be in the form of biotic
or abiotic factors. Here’s an example of a biotic limiting factor. Dragonfly larvae swim around in the
pond and eat lots of tadpoles. So, the dragonfly larvae, as predators, are a limiting factor for the
tadpole & frog population. In other words, the dragonfly predation makes it difficult for the frog species
to live, grow, and reproduce. What about an abiotic limiting factor? Think about a pond in the
winter. The temperature can drop very low, affecting how many of the organisms live. Many of them
stop growing and reproducing until spring arrives. So, temperature can be an abiotic limiting factor
that affects many species in the pond. A limiting factor is anything that tends to make it more difficult
for a species to live, grow, or reproduce in its environment.
Name __________________________________________ Bell: ______ Date: ________________
What is an Ecosystem? Worksheet
Vocabulary:
1. ________________________: The study of interactions among organisms and their
environment.
2. ________________________: A community of living and nonliving things often studied as a
whole that is made up of many parts.
3. ________________________: Living or related to life
4. ________________________: Not alive
5. ________________________: Role an organism plans in its ecosystem
6. _______________________________: Challenges facing each individual species or
population of organism that limit the size of the organism’s population.
7. ___________________________: Each group of individual species of organism.
8. ___________________________: All organisms surviving together within an ecosystem.
Comprehension:
1. Based on the definitions of Ecology and Biology, what do you think the following word parts
mean?
EcoBioOlogy2. Provide three examples of each from the text.
a. Abiotic Factors:
b. Biotic Factors:
3. How is an ecosystem similar to a pie?
4. What is the difference between a population and a community?
5. Classify the factors in the
following picture as either biotic
or abiotic.
Biotic
Abiotic
6. How do humans affect the ecosystems they live in?
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7. Write a story of about how abiotic and biotic factors play a role in your life. You need to include
at least 3 abiotic factors and 3 biotic factors and list them or draw them at the end.
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Biotic: ___________________________________________________________________________
Abiotic: __________________________________________________________________________