Ecosystems and Food Webs

An ecosystem is made up of all the living and nonliving things in an area. Plants, animals, water, soil, and air all work together. A food web shows how energy moves through an ecosystem. Every living thing in the ecosystem depends on other living things.

Parts of an Ecosystem

An ecosystem has two main parts. The living parts include plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria. The nonliving parts include water, sunlight, air, soil, and temperature. All these parts interact with each other. If one part changes, it can affect the whole ecosystem.

Food Webs

A food web shows how different food chains in an ecosystem are connected. A mouse eats seeds and is eaten by a snake. The snake is eaten by a hawk. But the hawk also eats rabbits, which eat grass. All these connections create a web. Food webs show that most animals eat more than one kind of food.

Fun Facts

• A single rotting log can be an ecosystem home to hundreds of species of insects, fungi, and plants.
• The Great Barrier Reef is one of the largest and most complex ecosystems on Earth.
• Removing one species from a food web can cause the whole ecosystem to change.

Did You Know?

When wolves were brought back to Yellowstone National Park, the whole ecosystem changed. The wolves kept deer from eating too many plants near rivers, which helped the riverbanks grow back and even changed how the rivers flowed!