Ecosystem

Learning Objective

Describe the difference between a community and an ecosystem

Communities are composed of living organisms and their interactions with one another and include biotic (living) components. Ecosystems are communities that include the abiotic (non-living) components of the environment as well (Video ). These abiotic factors include temperature, amount of rainfall, sunlight, organic material and mineral nutrients, topography and attitude. Ecosystems can be small, such as the tide pools found near the rocky shores of many oceans, or large, such as the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil (Figure ). Energy flow and nutrient cycling are some of topics central to the study of ecosystems.