Final answer:
An ecosystem is a community of living organisms, known as the biotic components, interacting with the non-living, abiotic components within an area. It can range from small to large areas and includes the interactions of energy and nutrients among organisms and their environment.
Step-by-step explanation:
What is an Ecosystem?
An ecosystem consists of all the living organisms in an area, which are referred to as the biotic components, and the non-living, abiotic components with which they interact. These abiotic factors include elements such as air, water, and soil. Biotic components can range from plants, animals, fungi, and micro-organisms, all interacting in the same habitat. Ecosystems can vary in size and complexity; from small ecosystems like tide pools to very large ones like the Amazon Rainforest. The abiotic and biotic factors continually interact with each other, involving the movement and storage of energy and nutrients among the organisms and through the atmosphere, soil, and water.
Within an ecosystem, there are different levels of organization. A population is a group of the same species that lives in the same area. Populations that live in the same area form a community. An ecosystem includes both these communities and their nonliving environment. Larger scales include biomes, which are groups of similar ecosystems sharing the same type of physical environment, and the biosphere, encompassing all parts of the Earth where life exists.
Studying ecology involves examining how these living things interact not only among themselves but also with their non-living environment, and it is through this study that ecologists understand how nutrients, energy, and matter flow within an ecosystem.