noun · academic
ecosystem
UK/ˈiːkəʊˌsɪstəm/US/ˈiːkoʊˌsɪstəm/ECO·sys·tem
A community of living organisms and their physical environment interacting as a system.
Examples
“Coral reefs are delicate ecosystems vulnerable to rising sea temperatures.”
“Human activity can disrupt an ecosystem and cause species loss.”
“Restoring wetlands helps revive the local ecosystem and improves water quality.”
Band 8 sentence
“A resilient ecosystem depends on biodiversity, connectivity and minimal human disturbance to function properly.”
Collocations
- marine ecosystem
- ecosystem services
- fragile ecosystem
Word family
Common mistakes
many ecosystems is damaged→many ecosystems are damaged
ecosystem is a big system→an ecosystem is a complex system
Say it for a higher band
5environment→6nature→7+ecosystem
Synonyms
ecological community
Easily confused
environment
“The forest environment is humid, while the forest ecosystem includes interactions between trees, animals and soil.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Nature & Animals
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