ECOSYSTEMS AND BIOMES
An ecosystem is a community of living things. It can be small or large – pond or rainforest, for example – but each organism within it has its own niche, and an ecosystemis based on interrelationships between them. The world has 10 major ecosystems, called biomes: desert and desert scrub, tundra, tropical forests, savannah, mountain, Mediterranean, temperate grasslands, coniferous forests and temperate deciduous forests. Biomes are defined by abiotic (non-living) components, such as climate, the relief and geology. The plants and animals within a biome will have adapted to these factors. Think of how cacti survives a desert with a waxy coating to reduce water loss, compared to a rose, which would shrivel in the heat – much like an inadequately-prepared Brit on their holiday abroad.…
