ecosystems

• nutrient cycling

  when plants or animals die they decompose and the nutrients go into the soil which becomes fertile (allowing plants to grow)
• tropical rainforest

  • form close to the equator
  • high temperatures and heavy rainfall
  • cover 6% of the earths land surface
• ecosystem

  • a natural system made of biotic and abiotic components
  • form broad belts across the world (from east to west)
  • can be a biome (global) or small scale (pond, hedge or tree)
  • components: producers, consumers and decomposers
• producers

  • convert energy from the environment (sunlight) into sugars (glucose)
  • get their energy from photosynthesis
  • example: plants
• consumers

  • get energy from the sugars made by the producers
  • eat producers and other consumers
  • example: animals
• decomposers

  • break down plant and animal material and return the nutrients into the soil
  • examples: fungi, worms and bacteria
• biome

  • global/large scale ecosystem
  • large, distinct region with similar climate, plants and animals
  • determined by the global atmospheric circulation
  • examples: desert, tundra, tropical rainforest and grassland
• food chain

  a chain of names and arrows showing the direct link between producers and consumers

  
• food web

  shows all the connections between producers and consumers in a more complex way

  
• • biotic: the living features of an ecosystem (plants, animals and bacteria)
  • abiotic: non living environmental factors (light, water, rocks and soil)