What Makes Ecosystems Work Plant and Soil Science Lesson 10

Made up of all the living organisms in the ecosystem and their interaction. –include plants, animals and microorganisms Biotic Community

Made up of nonliving parts of the ecosystem. –include space, soil, water, sunlight and climate. Abiotic Environment

Energy used to support life follows a one-way cycle through the environment in what scientists call food chains. The three main types of matter used by biotic organisms are –carbon, nitrogen and water. Again, these three recycle through the environment in what are called the – carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle and the hydrologic cycle. Web of Life

provide the energy plants, animals and humans need to live. The chain includes two types of workers –producers and decomposers who provide energy to those who use energy, also known as the consumers. Food Chains

Green plants that use photosynthesis to draw solar energy from the sun to grow and produce food for other organisms. Producers

Break down –waste products and dead organisms into chemical substances –such as nitrates and carbon dioxide. – These are recycled into »soil, air and water »where they can be used by »plants and other organisms. Decomposers

must depend on these two types of "workers," –because they are unable to manufacture their own food. Consumers include animals, humans, birds and fish. Consumer Organisms

First, –green plants use energy from the sun to grow, –using nitrogen from nitrates in the soil –and carbon from carbon dioxide in the air to produce protein and carbohydrates. Next –plants are eaten as food by consumer animals, fish or other organisms. These plant eaters may, in turn, be eaten by meat-eating animals, fish or humans. In addition, some plant eaters produce eggs or milk that can be used by humans, or be stolen in the wild by predator animals. When plants and animals die, they become waste material in the environment. This waste is then recycled into the environment by decomposers – mainly microorganisms that release carbon dioxide, nitrites and nitrates. The food chain operates through three phases: