What is an ecosystem?

An ecosystem is made up of all the living and non-living things in an area. The living things in an ecosystem interact with each other and the environment.

Some ecosystems are very large. A rainforest, for example, can be thousands of square kilometers in size. It may contain thousands of different kinds of living things including trees, birds, lizards, snakes, frogs, insects and fungi. It also contains non-living things such as soil, rocks and water. 

^{Rainforests are very large ecosystems}

Some ecosystems are very small. For instance, a small pond is an ecosystem. It contains water, rocks, mud and other non-living things. There may be fish, tadpoles, crayfish, plants and other living things which live in the pond.

^{A pond is a small ecosystem}