ecosystem

American  

[ee-koh-sis-tuhm, ek-oh-] / ˈi koʊˌsɪs təm, ˈɛk oʊ- /

noun

ecosystems plural

1. Ecology. a system, or a group of interconnected elements, formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment.

   Aquatic ecosystems differ radically from their terrestrial counterparts.

2. any system or network of interconnecting and interacting parts, as in a business.

   The success of Apple’s ecosystem depends on hardware/software integration.

   Manufacturers, retailers, and customers are all part of the automotive industry’s ecosystem.

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ecosystem British  

/ ˈɛkəʊ-, ˈiːkəʊˌsɪstəm /

noun

1. ecology a system involving the interactions between a community of living organisms in a particular area and its nonliving environment

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ecosystem Scientific  

/ ē′kō-sĭs′təm /

1. A community of organisms together with their physical environment, viewed as a system of interacting and interdependent relationships and including such processes as the flow of energy through trophic levels and the cycling of chemical elements and compounds through living and nonliving components of the system.

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ecosystem Cultural  

1. A collection of living things and the environment in which they live. For example, a prairie ecosystem includes coyotes, the rabbits on which they feed, and the grasses that feed the rabbits.

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Synonym Usage

ecosystem, habitat, environment, biosphere, ecology are all scientific terms that can refer to spaces or systems in which plants and animals (including humans) live in relationship with each other and with the surrounding physical conditions. environment is the most general term. It can refer to a set of surrounding conditions thought of as a whole, as in a desert environment, or it can single out one or more conditions that could exist with a variety of others: This plant thrives in a warm, moist environment. By itself, it usually refers to all the conditions, elements, and living things that humans live among: Armed conflict always harms the environment. A habitat, on the other hand, is a specific area or set of surrounding conditions that is the natural home of a particular animal, plant, or other organism: The polar bear’s habitat is the Arctic sea ice. The word ecosystem refers to all of the organisms and physical conditions within a certain space, interacting with each other to form a complex, balanced web of relationships. It can be of any size: The 3,000-acre marsh is a finely balanced wetland ecosystem. Each aquarium houses a complete ecosystem of rocks and sand, aquatic plants, fish, and other creatures. The largest known ecosystem of all is the biosphere, consisting of the whole earth and all its living inhabitants. ecology is different from all the other words here: like them, it can mean the web of relationships operating within a particular ecosystem, as in a grassland ecology, but more often refers broadly to relationships between organisms and their environments in general, or to the science that studies these relationships.

Discover More

Chemical substances move through ecosystems on the Earth in cycles (see carbon cycle).

The source of energy for almost every ecosystem on Earth is the sun.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ecosystems
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ecosystem

First recorded in 1930–35; eco- + system

Explanation

An ecosystem is all the living things, from plants and animals to microscopic organisms, that share an environment. Everything in an ecosystem has an important role. Well, almost everything. The term ecosystem was coined in 1935, though ecosystems have been around as long as living things. Eco is a spin-off from the word ecology and describes anything having to do with the environment and our relation to it. You've probably heard of related terms like eco-friendly and eco-warrior. And system comes from the Greek word systema or "organized body, whole."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ecosystem ecosystems

The deal would be the latest in a string of vendor financing agreements in the AI ecosystem, whereby a seller lends to a buyer of its products.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

Amex said it plans to invest further in its growth initiatives, including its ecosystem of membership credit cards that come with annual fees and a range of perks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Why do you feel it is still so vital in the festival ecosystem today?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Technicians, actors and camera operators still have a place in this new ecosystem, though how many of them will be needed remains an open question.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

The umbrella also helps humans, by protecting that ecosystem.

From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh

And once the fire is dampened down, the habitats needed to support fragile ecosystems are lost, sometimes for decades, Craig Best - National Trust general manager for the Peak District - said.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

“In California most of the biodiversity in the state is in the inland deserts, partly because a lot of the other ecosystems have been totally destroyed, you know? It’s a very alive place,” Watkins explains.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Those green ecosystems are far different from California’s; our neighbor’s fires generally arise in massive boreal forests, which do not have debris or brush concerns because they’ve never been logged or otherwise interfered with.

From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026

When coupled with open and interoperable ecosystems, AI can surface insights from previously siloed solutions, helping utilities better forecast disruptions, manage flexible demand, improve customer communication and accelerate decision-making during major events.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

The Maya, packed by the millions into land poorly suited to intensive farming, were dangerously close to surpassing the capacity of their ecosystems.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann