User:JoeJohnsonJazz/sandbox

Ecosystems
An ecosystem is all the organisms in a biological community interacting with each other and their non-living environment. Ecosystems can be very small or very large. For example, an ecosystem could the inside of a log or the Amazon rain forest. In an ecosystem there are biotic and abiotic factors. Biotic factors are the living organisms in the ecosystem. Abiotic factors are the non living-components of an ecosystem. Examples of each include the following:

All ecosystems have biotic characteristics. In other words, organisms interact with each other in an ecosystem, which affects the ecosystem. Symbiosis, predation, and competition are biotic characteristics.
 * Symbiosis: The interactions between two different species that live together affecting at least one species. Mutual-ism is when both species benefit from this relationship. Parasitism is when one species gains while the other suffers.