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Sustainable Ecosystems: Overview

Resources to support the Year 9 study of ecosytems and invasive species

Ecosystem

An ecosystem consists of all the living and nonliving things that occur together within a particular area. An ecosystem can be small, such as a family garden, or large, such as the Amazon rainforest. It may be terrestrial, such as a grassland, or aquatic, such as a pond or a coral reef. All of the organisms living within an ecosystem rely on each other for their survival.

An ecosystem includes abiotic, or nonliving, components, such as minerals, climate, soil, water, and sunlight. It also includes biotic, or living, elements, such as plantsanimalsfungiprotists, and bacteria. The living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem are linked together by two major forces: the flow of energy through the ecosystem and the cycling of nutrients within the ecosystem. (Encyclopedia Britannica Source)

Biodiversity

5 Critical Habitats

Encyclopedia Britannica

ProQuest

On-site access for MCC students and teachers.

See the Learning Commons team for passwords to access from home.