Ecosystem ecology

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/ecosystem-ecology

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific discipline?Ecosystem ecology
2. What is the key functional processes?Primary productivity, decomposition, nutrient cycling, and energy flow
3. Why do scientists study primary productivity?Primary productivity shows how fast plants turn sunlight into food, which is the base of the food web. Knowing this helps us understand how much food and energy a whole ecosystem can produce.
4. How does decomposition help an ecosystem?Decomposers like bacteria and fungi break down dead plants and animals, returning nutrients to the soil and air so other living things can use them again.

Biotic Components: The living organisms within an ecosystem, including producers, consumers, and decomposers, and their interactions.
Abiotic Components: The non-living physical and chemical factors of an ecosystem, such as temperature, water availability, soil composition, and sunlight.
Primary Productivity: The rate at which biomass is generated by producers, typically photosynthetic organisms, forming the base of the food web.
Nutrient Cycling: The biogeochemical pathways that involve the biological, geological, and chemical processes by which essential elements are exchanged among the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems.