Environment / C1

EEK-ohs-ist-uh-m/ˈiːkəʊsɪstəm/

An ecosystem is a community of living things and their environment, working as a system: a forest ecosystem, a marine ecosystem. Habitat is the place a species lives; environment is broader and looser. The word is also used as a metaphor (a media ecosystem). In speech, the living system of a place is enough. Keep the scientific sense for nature unless you signal the metaphor. Do not call a staffroom an ecosystem without irony or a clear analogy.

Meaning

A community of living things and their environment, working as a system.

Examples

• “The forest is a rich ecosystem.”
• “The forest is a rich ecosystem: soil, insects, birds, and the canopy as one system.”
• “Destroying one wetland can unravel an ecosystem far beyond the fence line.”

Good to know

Living things plus their environment as a system. Everyday: the living system of a place. Contrast: habitat (a species’ place). Also a metaphor for networks.

Near in meaning

habitat

Topics

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