Ecosystem

An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a large community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in a particular area.^[2] The living and physical components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.^[3] Ecosystems are of any size, but usually they are in specific places.

Each ecosystem has its own community. An aquarium community, for example, can have small fish and other organisms. A desert community may have cacti, small snakes, and scorpions. A pond community can have frogs, insects, snakes, and plants, and a forest community may have rabbits, foxes and pine trees. The species in a community are divided into populations according to the particular habitats and ecological niches in the ecosystem.

1. ↑ Hatcher, Bruce Gordon (1990). "Coral reef primary productivity: a hierarchy of pattern and process". Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 5 (5): 149–155. doi:10.1016/0169-5347(90)90221-X. PMID 21232343.
2. ↑ Molles, Manuel C. 1999. Ecology: concepts and applications. Boston: WCB/McGraw-HIll. ISBN 0-07-042716-X
3. ↑ Odum E.P. 1971. Fundamentals of ecology. 3rd ed, New York: Saunders. ISBN 0534420664