Photosynthesis of plants and other organisms is the base of all ecosystems.

Organisms that produce

organic material by photosynthesis, mainly green plants and algae, are therefore known as producers.
Green plants are often called primary producers because they create carbohydrates and other
compounds using just sunlight, air, and water.

Man, and animals don’t have chlorophyll and can’t carry out photosynthetic food production. We get all
our energy for life through components for cellular respiration. We eat plants—or other animals that
have eaten plants—and break down the organic molecules in our food through cellular respiration to
obtain energy. In this process, we also consume oxygen and release carbon dioxide, thus completing the
cycle of photosynthesis and respiration.

One of the most important properties of an ecosystem is its productivity, the amount of biomass
(biological material) produced in a given area during a given period of time. Photosynthesis is described
as primary productivity because it is the basis for almost all other growth in an ecosystem.

A population consists of all the members of a species living in a given area at the same time. All of the
population organisms living and interacting in a particular area make up a biological community. An
ecological system, or ecosystem, is composed of a biological community and its physical environment.

In ecosystems, some consumers feed on a single species, but most consumers have multiple food
sources. Similarly, some species are prey to a single kind of predator, but many species in an ecosystem
are attack by several types of predators and parasites. In this way, individual food chains become
interconnected to form a food web.