General

• What is an ecosystem?

  All the biotic and abiotic parts in an area
• What are the two main components of an ecosystem?

  Biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) parts
• What are the three classifications of organisms in ecosystems?

  Producers, consumers, and decomposers
• How does a producer obtain energy?

  By using sunlight energy to produce food
• What is the role of a consumer in an ecosystem?

  To get energy by eating other organisms
• Give an example of a consumer.

  A rabbit
• What is a decomposer?

  An organism that gets energy by breaking down dead material
• Name two examples of decomposers.

  Bacteria and fungi
• What happens to nutrients when dead material decomposes?

  Nutrients are released into the soil
• How do plants obtain nutrients in an ecosystem?

  By taking them up from the soil
• What occurs when plants or consumers die in an ecosystem?

  Nutrients are returned to the soil
• What is the process called that describes the transfer of nutrients in an ecosystem?

  Nutrient cycling
• What does a food chain illustrate?

  What eats what in an ecosystem
• What does a food web represent?

  Multiple interconnected food chains
• How do parts of an ecosystem depend on each other?

  Consumers depend on producers for habitat and food
• What happens if any part of an ecosystem changes?

  It affects all the other parts that depend on it
• How might cutting back blackberry bushes affect the ecosystem?

  It may lead to a decline in insect populations
• What is the nutrient cycle in an ecosystem?

  • Dead material decomposes, releasing nutrients into the soil
  • Nutrients are taken up by plants
  • Plants may be eaten by consumers
  • When plants or consumers die, nutrients return to the soil
  • This process is called nutrient cycling
• How can drawing a food web help understand ecosystem changes?

  • Visualizes connections between organisms
  • Shows what will have more or less food
  • Identifies changes in habitat availability
  • Helps predict population declines or increases