There are many kinds of places on our planet. We have snow-covered mountains. We have hot deserts. Most of them have one thing in common. Life. It may be easy to see or hard to find, but it is there! These places are called biomes. How the living things interact is called an ecosystem.
An ecosystem is a community in nature. It is where organisms live. Everything has its own place.
Everything is part of the food chain. There are plants. There are animals who eat those plants. There are other animals who eat those animals.
Ecosystems can be fragile. They can be broken if we are not careful. In an ecosystem, you cannot take anything away. If you take one thing away, everything will be broken.
There are lots of ways humans disturb ecosystems. As we build more cities, animals have less space. Because there is less space, they fight for food. This means that their population drops. They could disappear.
One of the hardest biomes to live in is the polar region. The polar regions are the points at the north and south of Earth. It is cold here. You can find animals such as polar bears and seals.
The tundra is a northern biome. There are no trees in the tundra. Parts of Canada and Russia are in the tundra. You can find animals such as wolves and snowy owls.
Wetlands are found all over the world. They are places that are covered in water. Wetlands might be near rivers. They might be near oceans. They might be near ponds. They host lots of life such as beavers and alligators.
Wetlands are affected by climate change. Some are drying up. Some are becoming more flooded. They are suffering.
A swamp is a type of wetland, but it is forested. That means there are lots of trees. Otters and snakes live in swamps.
Grasslands consist of large, open fields. They are found all over the world. In Africa, giraffes live in grasslands. In North America, bison live in grasslands. Humans make use of grasslands by growing crops.
Tropical rainforests have more life than any other biome. They host lots of different types of life. The soil is very healthy. There is lots of rain. You can find animals like monkeys and sloths in tropical rainforests.
Deserts cover 1/5 of the Earth's surface. They are dry. Some are hot, and others are cold. The Sahara Desert is one of the largest deserts in the world. Baboons and mongoose can be found there.
But we don't have to travel all over the world to find ecosystems. They are all around us. We just have to look to find them. What plants and animals are around you?