Competition in Ecosystems

An ecosystem is a place where organisms live and interact with each other.

There are many different examples. One example is a pond ecosystem. Some interactions could be bugs flying around and getting eaten by frogs or fish, bees pollinating flowers, insects eating plants, and the Sun shining on plants on land and in the water.

Both plants and animals need food, air, and water. Animals also need shelter.

Ecosystems can be really small like the area around the drain of a sink or very large like the rainforest. It depends on what you are studying.

Water, air, sunlight, and buildings are all examples of nonliving things in ecosystems. All living things need water and air to survive.

Plants provide food to many different animals such as birds, bees, and other insects. Some insects use plants as shelter, and some lay their eggs on plants.

Food webs are models of the interactions that happen between producers and consumers in an ecosystem. They can be used to explain how matter and energy are transferred, and they are useful in making predictions about food resources.

In the example, there was a limited food source. If one lizard didn’t get any food because it was too slow, eventually it would die. This can also happen out in nature when food is limited.

One possible answer could include a flood as an example. Flooding in an ecosystem affects an ecosystem’s resources. Animals may not get enough to eat because all the plants have been washed away, or some animals may lose their shelters and become prey for other animals.

(Answers will vary.) If one animal has better camouflage than another animal of its same kind, it can hide better and not get eaten. Faster animals have a better chance of catching food.

(Answers will vary.) Plants compete for space, water, and light. Plants need all of those things to grow. Low plants growing under a tree compete for the sunlight that reaches ground; plants that receive little to no sunlight do not survive.

(Answers will vary.) If an invasive animal came into an ecosystem and did not have any predators, its population would keep growing. The invasive species may eventually eat up all the food that the native animals need.