Ecosystems

Per Encyclopedia Brittanica, an ecosystem is “the complex of living organisms, their physical environment, and all their interrelationships in a particular unit of space”.   I have done several blog posts on the importance of native plants to provide habitat for native critters.  Ecosystem is a broader view of native habitats.  As an ecosystem develops, the plants and animals that live there not only adapt to the environment, but also participate in developing and maintaining that habitat.  In a healthy ecosystem, the plants, insects, reptiles, birds, animals, microbes, earth, and water systems contribute to a beneficial habitat for the particular organisms that live there.  Healthy ecosystems benefit the earth overall as well.  The attached article illustrates how introduction of an outside species significantly changed an ecosystem, and then shows how the ecosystem is beginning to change back as the disrupting forces were removed. 

https://www.popsci.com/environment/galapagos-giant-tortoises-ecosystem-conservation/