A short review about types of ecosystems

1. ECOSYSTEMS

2. An ecosystem consists of all the organisms living on a place, as well as the physical
environment they live in.
Organisms in an ecosystem interrelate with each other.
Ecosystems come in all shapes and sizes.
They can be as small as a terrarium in your room or as
big as an ocean.

3. PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
• The physical environment is made up of the non-living
components in an ecosystem.
• It includes non-living things, such as rocks, water and air, and factors
that affect living things, such as temperature, humidity and light.

4. • Our planet has many different ecosystems, found in two types of
physical environments:
• Terrestrial environments: these are found on land and are surrounded
by air.
• Aquatic environments: these can be freshwater environments, such as
rivers and lakes, or saltwater environments, suchasseasandoceans.

5. LIVING THINGS
• The living things in an ecosystem are all the animals, plants and other
living things, such as algae, fungi and bacteria.
• Every ecosystem has a particular fauna and flora.
• Fauna refers to all the animals in an ecosystem.
• Flora includes all its plants.

6. NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!
1. What’s an ecosystem?
2. Complete.
● Organisms in an ecosystem _______ with each other.
● The physical environment is made up of the _____ in an ecosystem.
● The physical environments can be __________ or ___________
● Fauna refers to _______ in an ecosystem, while __________
includes all its plants.

7. NUTRITION IN ECOSYSTEMS
All living things need food to survive. Depending
on how living things obtain their food, they can
be:

8. • PRODUCERS: make their own food, like plants or algae.
• CONSUMERS: obtain their food from other living things, as animals. There are
different types:
• Primary Consumers feed on producers, so they are herbivores, as rabbits.
• Secondary Consumers feed on primary consumers, they are
carnivores, as foxes.
• Tertiary consumers feed on secondary consumers, so they are
carnivores, aseagles.
• DECOMPOSERS: they decompose dead animals and plants. They transform dead
materials into minerals, such as bacteria or mushrooms.

9. FOOD CHAINS
Show how living things feed
on other living things in an
ecosystem. It always starts
with a producer, continues
with a consumer.

11. NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!
1. What’s the difference between tertiary consumers and decomposers?
2. Match.
Secondary consumers make their own food.
Primary consumers feed on primary consumers.
Producers feed on secondary consumers.
Tertiary consumers feed on producers.
3. Draw and label a food chain in a forest ecosystem.

12. TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS

13. TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS:
are located on land and are surrounded by air.
Ecosystems withmany
trees that provide food
for various animals,
including birds and
mammals.
Can be atlantic forests or
mediterranean forests.
Grasses, cloversand
wildflowers.
They grow in humid
regions with cold winters
and are home to animals
like butterflies or deer.
Found in very dry
regions with extreme
temperatures.
Living things have
adapted to severe
conditions, like grasses
or thyme, or animals
like mice or lizards.
Forests Mountain grasslands Deserts and steppes

14. AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS

15. AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS:
are located in water environment. Depending on the salinity, the amount of salt
dissolved in water, there are two types:
marine ecosystems:
• high salinity. Water is in constant
movement due to waves and currents.
• Sandy beaches
• Rocky shores
• Open sea
freshwater ecosystems:
• Very low salinity.
• Rivers, where the water is always
moving, so livingthings need to adapt
to the flow, is home to otters and
trout.
• Lagoons, where water doesn’t move,
are home of plants as reeds, and
animals as frogs or water snakes.

16. NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!
Copy and complete the following chart with the differences between a river and a lagoon.
Water Fauna
River
Lagoon