Small scale ecosystems

• What is a small-scale ecosystem?


  A system where biotic and abiotic features are linked together through delicate balances and the nutrient cycle
• What is the producer in the following food chain: Berry, Thrush, Weasel, Fox?


  Berry
• An example of a small-scale ecosystem is...

  A freshwater pond
• What direction would the arrows go in the following food chain: Grass, Rabbit, Fox?


  Right, following the flow of energy.
• Abiotic features are:

  • non-living
• Biotic features:

  • living features
• What is the nutrient cycle?


  The movement and exchange of nutrients through an ecosystem
• What are the stages of the nutrient cycle?

  • biotic components consume plants
  • they create waste, which fertilises soils, allowing more plants to grow
  • when they die, their decomposing bodies allow more nutrients into the cycle
  • The sun provides nutrients
  • rain water can wash them away, like leaching in rainforests
• What is the role of decomposes in an ecosystem?


  they break down dead biomass (plants) and dead animals and return the nutrients to the soil, allowing new plants to grow
• Give two examples of decomposes:

  Fungi

  Bacteria