Knowra Ecosystem Ecosystem An ecosystem is a community of organisms together with the physical environment with which it interacts. Its living and nonliving parts exchange energy and matter.
Food web : A network of feeding relationships among organisms in an ecological community. Food webs show how energy and nutrients move among an ecosystem’s organisms.
Ecological community : The populations of different species living and interacting in a particular area. A community supplies the living component of an ecosystem, without its abiotic setting.
Ecosystem services : Benefits people obtain from ecosystems, including food, water regulation, and cultural value. This framework connects ecosystem processes to benefits and costs for people.
Ecological succession : The change in species composition and community structure over time after new habitat forms or disturbance occurs. Succession describes how ecosystem communities develop after disturbance or habitat creation.
Biogeochemical cycle : The circulation of chemical elements through organisms, Earth’s materials, and the atmosphere or water. Cycles such as those of carbon and nitrogen link ecosystem life to its physical environment.
Population ecology : The study of how and why populations change in size, distribution, and composition. Population dynamics help explain changes in the species making up an ecosystem.
Ecosystem restoration : The process of assisting the recovery of a degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystem. Restoration applies ecological knowledge to recover ecosystem structure and function.
Ecological disturbance : An event that disrupts ecosystem structure or resource availability, such as fire, storms, or flooding. Disturbances can reorganize ecosystem populations, resources, and processes.
Primary production : The rate at which organisms produce organic matter from inorganic sources, usually through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. Primary production sets the energy entering most ecosystems.
Abiotic factor : A nonliving physical or chemical influence on organisms, such as temperature, light, or soil acidity. Abiotic factors form the physical conditions with which ecosystem organisms interact.
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