ecosystems

• what is an ecosystem?

  A natural system in which a community of plants and animals interact with each other and their physical environments
• what is the role of a producer?

  They convert energy from the environment into sugars
• what is the role of a consumer?

  • Eat producers and receive energy from the sugars
• what is the role of a decomposer?

  Break down organic material and release nutrients into the soil
• What is the name of a global ecosystem?

  biome
• What are the characteristics of a desert biome?

  • Low precipitation ( less than 25cm per year)
  • low nutrients in the soil
  • high temperature in the day - 20 degrees Celsius in the day, less than 0 degrees Celsius in the night
• What are the characteristics of a rainforest biome?

  • close to the equator
  • warm/moist climate
  • high precipitation (200 - 450 cm a year)
• How can a new predator disrupt the foot chain?

  • decrease numbers of another population lower in the food chain
• How can human activity affect the food chain?

  • make conditions unsuitable for plants and animals
• What happens when the top predator is removed from a food web?

  trophic cascade
• What is a food chain?

  • shows the feeding relationships between different organisms in an ecosystem, showing how energy and nutrients are transferred
• what is a food web?

  a network of interconnected food chains within an ecosystem, illustrating how different organisms rely on each other for food