What Is an Ecosystem?

An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (biotic factors) interacting with their physical environment (abiotic factors) as an integrated system. Biotic components include producers (plants, algae), consumers (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores), and decomposers (fungi, bacteria). Abiotic components include sunlight, temperature, water, soil, and atmospheric gases. A forest ecosystem, for example, features trees converting sunlight to sugar via photosynthesis, deer browsing on understory plants, wolves regulating deer populations, and fungi breaking down fallen logs to return nutrients to the soil. These interactions create a dynamic, self-regulating system.