(a) Name four components of the ecosystem (b) How does the carbon cycle explain the inter-dependence of the components in the ecosystem?

Answer Details

(a) Four components of the ecosystem:

• Producers (autotrophs): green plants that make food by photosynthesis.
• Consumers (heterotrophs): animals that feed on plants or other animals (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores).
• Decomposers: bacteria and fungi that break down dead organic matter.
• Abiotic (non-living) components: the physical environment, i.e. soil, water, air, sunlight and minerals.

(b) How the carbon cycle shows the interdependence of the components:

• Producers take in carbon dioxide from the air and, using sunlight, convert it during photosynthesis into carbohydrates, locking carbon into plant tissue.
• Consumers depend on producers: when animals eat plants (and other animals), the carbon passes along the food chain from one feeding level to the next.
• Respiration by both plants and animals releases carbon dioxide back into the air, returning carbon to the atmosphere.
• Decomposers break down dead plants and animals and their waste, releasing carbon dioxide (and enriching the soil), so carbon is recycled back to the atmosphere and to producers.
• The combustion of wood and fossil fuels also returns carbon to the air.

Thus carbon flows continuously between the abiotic environment, producers, consumers and decomposers, showing that each component depends on the others: producers supply food and remove \(\text{CO}_2\), consumers pass energy along, and decomposers and respiration return carbon so the cycle can continue.