What is an ecosyststem?

An ecosystem is made up of all the living and non-living things in a habitat. This includes all of the plants, animals and microorganisms together with the non-living materials such as water, rocks, soil and sand.

For example, a pond ecosystem may consist of a pond habitat, inhabited by aquatic plants, microorganisms in the mud at the bottom, fish in the water and a heron on the bank.

If one part of an ecosystem is changed, this may affect other living things in the ecosystem. For example, if a disease suddenly wipes out the plants in a pond, it might affect the fish and heron because they have less food to eat.

Food chains

Why are trees important for wildlife?

Why are trees important to rivers?

After you have watched the videos above, have a go at the Woodland Wanders worksheet below: