An ecosystem is a system of animals and plants that live together in a
particular environment. The plants and animals interact with each other and
their surrounding environment.
The size of an ecosystem can vary from the very small to the very large – a
garden is an ecosystem and so is a tropical rainforest. The world’s largest
ecosystems are called biomes.
The Sahara is the world’s largest hot desert. Fossils show that it was once a
fertile land with rivers and lakes.
Broadleaf deciduous forests flourish in cool, wet winters and mild, moist
summers. The long temperate winters drive many mammals into hibernation. The
brown bear hibernates for up to 7 months each year.
Temperate grassland in North America is called prairie. Varying climate
conditions across the continent create three prairie types: tallgrass in the
east, mixed-grass on the Great Plains, and shortgrass to the drier west and
south. Around 79% of the original prairie has been built on or converted to
farmland.
All our major food crops are grown in soil. As the world’s population rises,
the supply of good farming soil is running low.
Wetlands are today some of the most threatened of all Earth’s biomes. They
comprise fresh and saltwater habitats, from swamps to coastal mangrove forests
and act as important refuges for animals, buffer the land against extreme
weather and help cleanse polluted waterways. But humans often ignore their
importance.
QUICK
FACTS - Ecosystems
