Ecosystem — Science definition
A community of organisms together with their physical surroundings, connected closely enough that a change in one part appears in others.
Where it is taught
- Energy Flow, Food Chains & Food Webs — Ecosystems, Matter & Energy, Life Science & Scientific Inquiry, Grade 7
In use
Exactly how much of this the wolves caused is still argued about by ecologists, and that argument is part of the lesson — but the case shows what an ecosystem is: a community of organisms and their physical surroundings, connected tightly enough that a change in one place turns up in others nobody was watching.
Energy Flow, Food Chains & Food Webs