Summary:
- An ecosystem is a unit of nature and the focus of study in ecology.
- It consists of all the biotic and abiotic factors in an area and their interactions.
- Ecosystems can vary in size - a lake could be considered an ecosystem, as could a dead log.
- A species’ niche is the physical environment in which a species lives and to which it is adapted.
- Two different species cannot occupy the same niche in the same place for very long.
- This is known as the competitive exclusion principle.
- A habitat’s features are determined mainly by abiotic Factors such as temperature and rainfall.