- Mid-latitude Grassland (Think about
Oklahoma)
An Ecological System
The word ecosystem is short for
ecological systems. An ecosystem
includes all of the living organisms in a
specific area. These systems are the
plants and animals interacting with their
non-living environments (weather,
Earth, Sun, soil, atmosphere). An
ecosystem's development depends on
the energy that moves in and out of
that system. As far as the boundaries of
an ecosystem, it depends upon how you
use the term. You could have an entire
ecosystem underneath a big rock. On
the other hand, you could be talking
about the overall ecosystem of the
entire planet (biosphere).  leads to clearly defined trophic
An ecosystem can be as small as a
puddle or as large as the Pacific Ocean.
That ecosystem includes every living
and non-living thing in the area. It is
several small communities interacting
with each other.  [edit]Etymology
Let's look at a puddle example. You
might start by looking at the
temperature, depth, turbulence,
sunlight, atmospheric pressure, weather
patterns, wind, nutrients, etc. Those are
just the non-living things in the
ecosystem of a puddle. When you add
on all the living interactions, you have a
good idea how complex an ecosystem
can be. Even a puddle is an amazing
place. 
Biomes
Scientists discuss some general
ecosystem types. They call them
biomes. A biome is a large area on the
Earth's surface that is defined by the
types of animals and plants living there.
A biome can be partially defined by the
local climate patterns. You may also
have more than one type of biome
within a larger climate zone. Here is a
short list of possible biomes. 
- Tropical Rainforest (Think about Brazil)
- Tropical Savanna (Think about Africa)
- Desert (Think about the middle east)
- Mediterranean Woodland (Think
about coniferous forests)
Ecosystems are functional units
consisting of living things in a given
- Mid-latitude Deciduous Forest (Think
about the east coast of North America)
- Tundra (Think about frozen plains of
Alaska)
- Ice Caps (Think about the poles) 
Ecotones
Biomes don't just start and stop when
they border each other. They all have
transition zones that have
characteristics of both sides. That zone
is like a blending of two biomes.
Scientists call it an ecotone. Ecotones
can happen at the edges of forests,
deserts, and mountain ranges. They are
often easy to see because one type of
world (many trees) changes quickly into
another type (the cliffs of a mountain).
While an ecotone on the ground may
not cover a large area of land, climate
transition zones between biomes are
often very large.  physical and biological components of
An ecosystem is
a biological environment consisting of
all the organisms living in a particular
area, as well as all the nonliving,
physical components of the
environment with which the organisms
interact, such as air, soil, water, and
sunlight.[1] It is all the organisms in a
given area, along with the nonliving
(abiotic) factors with which they
interact; a biological community and its
physical environment.[1]
Overview
The entire array of organisms inhabiting
a particular ecosystem is called
a community.[1] In a typical
ecosystem, plants and
other photosynthetic organisms are the
producers that provide the food.
[1]
 Ecosystems can be permanent or
temporary. Ecosystems usually form a
number of food webs.[2]
area, non-living chemical and physical
factors of their environment, linked
together through nutrient cycle and
energy flow.[citation needed]
1. Natural
1. Terrestrial ecosystem
2. Aquatic ecosystem
1. Lentic, the
ecosyste
m of a
lake, pond
or swamp.
2. Lotic, the
ecosyste
m of a
river,
stream or
spring.
2. Artificial, ecosystems created
by humans.
Central to the ecosystem concept is the
idea that living organisms interact with
every other element in their
local environment. Eugene Odum, a
founder of ecology, stated: "Any unit
that includes all of the organisms (ie:
the "community") in a given area
interacting with the physical
environment so that a flow of energy
structure, biotic diversity, and material
cycles (i.e.: exchange of materials
between living and nonliving parts)
within the system is an ecosystem."[3]
The term ecosystem was coined in 1930
by Roy Clapham to mean the combined
an environment. British ecologist Arthur
Tansley later refined the term,
describing it as "The whole system, …
including not only the organism-
complex, but also the whole complex of
physical factors forming what we call
the environment".[4] Tansley regarded
ecosystems not simply as natural units,
but as mental isolates.[4] Tansley
later[5] defined the spatial extent of
ecosystems using the term ecotope.
[edit]Examples of ecosystems
 agro-ecosystems
 Agroecosystem
 Aquatic ecosystem
 Chaparral
 Coral reef

Desert
 Forest
 Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem
 Human ecosystem
 Large marine ecosystem
 Littoral zone
 Lotic
 Marine ecosystem
 Pond Ecosystem
 Prairie
 Rainforest
 Riparian zone
 Savanna
 Steppe
 Subsurface Lithoautotrophic
Microbial Ecosystem
 Taiga
 Tundra
 Urban ecosystem
rvices
Main article:  Ecosystem services
Ecosystem services are “fundamental
life-support services upon which human
civilization depends,”i and can be direct
or indirect. Examples of direct
ecosystem services
are: pollination,wood and erosion preve
ntion. Indirect services could be
considered climate moderation, nutrien
t cycles and detoxifying natural
substances.
The services and goods an ecosystem
provides are often undervalued as many
of them are without market value.
[11]
 Broad examples include:
 regulating (climate, floods,
nutrient balance, water filtration)
 provisioning (food, medicine,
fur)
 cultural (science, spiritual,
ceremonial, recreation, aesthetic)
 supporting (nutrient cycling,
photosynthesis, soil formation).[12]
Ecosystem ecology
Ecosystem ecology is the integrated
study of biotic and abiotic components
of ecosystems and their interactions
within an ecosystem framework.
This science examines how ecosystems
work and relates this to their
components such
as chemicals, bedrock, soil, plants,
andanimals. Ecosystem ecology
examines physical and biological
structure and examines how these
ecosystem characteristics interact.
Within all species, individuals interact
with each other - feeding together,
mating together, and living together.
Some species have a pecking order as
well, and each individual has a role to
play within it.  communities in the hot summer
However,
it is not
only
Biome
Biomes are a classification of globally
similar areas, including ecosystems,
such as ecological
communities ofplants and animals, soil
organisms and climaticconditions.[citation
needed]
 Biomes are in part defined based
on factors such as plant structures (such
as trees, shrubs and grasses), leaf types
(such as broadleaf and needleleaf),
plant spacing (forest, woodland,
savanna) and climate.[citation
individuals within a species that
interact. Different species of animals
interact with each other all the time.
For instance, animals eat other animals
through their interactions in a food
web. But plants are included in this web
as well as they, too, are eaten by
animals.  different ecosystems. Within Alberta,
What
would
happen if
the
weather
were
really
cold all
the time? Well, not all species of
animals, plants and bacteria would be
able to survive. What differences are
there between species who live in
the Rocky Mountains and those who
inhabit the Sahara desert? Landscape
also determines where plants and
animals might live. But what, exactly, is
an ecosystem? An ecosystem is a
geographical area of a variable size
where plants, animals, the landscape
and the climate all interact together.
The whole earth's surface can be
described by a series of interconnected
ecosystems.  All living beings form and
are part of ecosystems.   They are
diverse and always changing. Within an
ecosystem, all aspects of the
environment (both living things and
their non-living settings) interact and
affect one another. Every species affects
the lives of those around them.
A small ecosystem in the boreal
forest might look something like this: in
the summertime, trees in forests (that
produce oxygen used by living things
through photosynthesis) lower the
temperature in the forest for
months. In turn, some members of the
communities will probably feed upon
the tree to gain nourishment, thus
affecting or stunting the tree's growth. 
Different areas in the world house
different ecosystems. For example, you
won't find an elephant or a tropical
needed]
 Unlike ecozones, biomes are not
defined by genetic, taxonomic or
historical similarities. Biomes are often
identified with particular patterns
ofecological succession and climax
vegetation.
A fundamental classification of biomes
is:
1. Terrestrial (land) biomes.
2. Freshwater biomes.
3. Marine biomes.
Ecosystem -
rainforest in Alberta! The different
world ecological units are
calledbiomes and they each have
different flora, fauna, landscapes and
weather patterns. An ecosystem is not
the same thing as a biome. A biome is a
large unit that is home to many
there are six different biomes that each
have their own specific flora and fauna
distribution. These regions
are: Grassland, Parkland, Boreal
Forest, Foothill, Rocky Mountain and
the Canadian Shield, all indicated on the
map of Alberta's Regions.
Species
Species are the different kinds of
organisms found on the Earth. A more
exact definition of species is a group of
interbreeding organisms that do not
ordinarily breed with members of
other groups. If a species interbreeds
freely with other species, it would no
longer be a distinctive kind of organism.
This definition works well with animals.
However, in some plant species fertile
crossings can take place among
morphologically and physiologically
different kinds of vegetation. In this
situation, the definition of species given
here is not appropriate.
 Populations
A population comprises all the
individuals of a given species in a
specific area or region at a certain time.
Its significance is more than that of a
number of individuals because not all
individuals are identical. Populations
contain genetic variation within
themselves and between other
populations. Even fundamental genetic
characteristics such as hair color or size
may differ slightly from individual to
individual. More importantly, not all
members of the population are equal in
their ability to survive and reproduce.
 Communities
Community refers to all the populations
in a specific area or region at a certain
time. Its structure involves many types
of interactions among species. Some of
these involve the acquisition and use of
food, space, or other environmental
resources. Others involve nutrient
cycling through all members of the
community and mutual regulation of
population sizes. In all of these cases,
the structured interactions of
populations lead to situations in which
individuals are thrown into life or death
struggles.
In general, ecologists believe that
a community that has a high diversity is
more complex and stablethan a
community that has a low diversity. This
theory is founded on the observation
that the food webs of communities of
high diversity are more interconnected.
Greater interconnectivity causes these
systems to be
more resilient to disturbance. If a
species is removed, those species that
relied on it for food have the option to
switch to many other species that
occupy a similar role in that ecosystem.
In a low diversity ecosystem, possible
substitutes for food may be non-
existent or limited in abundance.
 Ecosystems
Ecosystems are dynamic entities
composed of the
biological  community and
the abiotic environment. An
ecosystem's abiotic and biotic
composition and structure is
determined by the state of a number of
interrelated environmental factors.
Changes in any of these factors (for
example: nutrient availability,
temperature, light intensity, grazing
intensity, and species population
density) will result in dynamic changes
to the nature of these systems. For
example, a fire in the temperate
deciduous forest completely changes
the structure of that system. There are
no longer any large trees, most of the
mosses, herbs, and shrubs that occupy
the forest floor are gone, and the
nutrients that were stored in the
biomass are quickly released into the
soil, atmosphere and hydrologic system.
After a short time of recovery, the
community that was once large mature
trees now becomes a community of
grasses, herbaceous species, and tree
seedlings.
Ecosystems
The plants and animals that are found in
a particular location are referred to as
an ecosystem. These plants and animals
depend on each other to survive. In a
delicate balance, these life forms help
to sustain one another in regular
patterns. Disruptions to an ecosystem
can be disastrous to all organisms
within the ecosystem. 
As an example, consider what happens
when a new plant or animal is
introduced into an ecosystem, where it
did not before exist. The new organism
competes with the natural organisms
from that location for available
resources. These unnatural strangers
can push other organisms out, causing
them to become extinct. This can then
effect still other organisms that
depended on the extinct organism as a
source of food.
What is a Biome?  
   A biome is a large area with similar
flora, fauna, and microorganisms.  Most
of us are familiar with the tropical
rainforests, tundra in the arctic regions,
and the evergreen trees in
the coniferous forests. Each of these
large communities contain species that
are adapted to its varying conditions of
water, heat, and soil.  For instance,
polar bears thrive in the arctic while
cactus plants have a thick skin to help
preserve water in the hot desert.  To
learn more about each of the major
biomes, click on the appropriate
heading to the right. 
What is an Ecosystem?  
   Most of us are confused when it
comes to the words ecosystem and
biome.  What's the difference?  There is
a slight difference between the two
words.  An ecosystem is much smaller
than a biome.  Conversely, a biome can
be thought of many similar ecosystems
throughout the world grouped
together.  An ecosystem can be as large
as the Sahara Desert, or as small as a
puddle or vernal pool.  
   Ecosystems are dynamic interactions
between plants, animals, and
microorganisms and their environment
working together as a functional unit. 
Ecosystems will fail if they do not
remain in balance.  No community can
carry more organisms than
its food, water, and shelter can
accomodate.  Food and territory are
often balanced by natural phenomena
such as fire, disease, and the number of
predators.  Each organism has its own
niche, or role, to play.  
   How have humans affected the
ecosystems?  
   We have affected ecosystems in
almost every way imaginable!  Every
time we walk out in the wilderness or
bulldoze land for a new parking lot we
are drastically altering an ecosystem. 
We have disrupted the food chain,
the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle,
and the water cycle.  Mining minerals
also takes its toll on an ecosystem.  We
need to do our best to not interfere in
these ecosystems and let nature take its
toll.