ecosystems

• what is a biotic component?


  Living organisms in an ecosystem.
• what is an abiotic component?


  Non-living factor in an ecosystem.
• what is an ecosystem?


  A natural system made up of plants, animals and the environment
• what is a producer?


  Producers convert energy from the environment e.g sunlight into sugars. E.g plants convert energy from the sun by photosynthesis
• what is a consumer?


  • Consumers get energy from sugars produced by the producers e.g a pond snail as it eats plants
• what is a decomposer?


  • Break down plant and animal material and return the nutrients to the soil
  • E.g bacteria and fungi
• what is a food web?


  • Shows all the connects between producers and consumers in a more complex way to a chain
• what is nutrient cycling


  • nutrients are food used by plants and animals to grow
  • Rainwater washes chemicals out the atmosphere
  • Weathered rock releases nutrients into the soil
  • When plants and animals die, decomposers help to recycle the nutrients making them available again for the growth of plants or animals
• what are the two changes that can take place in ecosystems


  • Global scale changes - e.g climate change
  • local - scale changes - changes to habitat e.g when a hedge is removed