Ecological Organization
Scientists have organized life forms into multiple levels to study living things like animals and plants, and how they interact with each other.
The smallest level of this organization is species.
A species is a group of genetically related organisms that can breed and create fertile offspring. For example, humans are one species, and so are the squirrels.
When a group of organisms belonging to the same species, like the squirrels in the park, share food and space and interact, they form a population.
In the park, along with the squirrels, other living things, such as birds, trees, and insects, live together and interact, forming a community.
But living things don’t exist in isolation. Non-living factors like air, sunlight, soil, and water play a role, too. Together, these biotic and abiotic factors form an ecosystem. A pond and a desert may seem different, but both are ecosystems.
Finally, all ecosystems across Earth combine to form the biosphere—the largest level of ecological organization and the part of the planet where life exists.
Scientists have organized life forms into multiple levels to study living things like animals and plants, and how they interact with each other.
The smallest level of this organization is species.
A species is a group of genetically related organisms that can breed and create fertile offspring. For example, humans are one species, and so are the squirrels.
When a group of organisms belonging to the same species, like the squirrels in the park, share food and space and interact, they form a population.
In the park, along with the squirrels, other living things, such as birds, trees, and insects, live together and interact, forming a community.
But living things don’t exist in isolation. Non-living factors like air, sunlight, soil, and water play a role, too. Together, these biotic and abiotic factors form an ecosystem. A pond and a desert may seem different, but both are ecosystems.
Finally, all ecosystems across Earth combine to form the biosphere—the largest level of ecological organization and the part of the planet where life exists.
Scientists have organized life forms into multiple levels to study living things like animals and plants, and how they interact with each other.
The smallest level of this organization is species.
A species is a group of genetically related organisms that can breed and create fertile offspring. For example, humans are one species, and so are the squirrels.
When a group of organisms belonging to the same species, like the squirrels in the park, share food and space and interact, they form a population.
In the park, along with the squirrels, other living things, such as birds, trees, and insects, live together and interact, forming a community.
But living things don’t exist in isolation. Non-living factors like air, sunlight, soil, and water play a role, too. Together, these biotic and abiotic factors form an ecosystem. A pond and a desert may seem different, but both are ecosystems.
Finally, all ecosystems across Earth combine to form the biosphere—the largest level of ecological organization and the part of the planet where life exists.
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