ecosystem

American  

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

noun

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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Related Words

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.

Etymology

Origin of ecosystem

First recorded in 1930–35; eco- + system

Example Sentences

The French company said it will implement “an end-to-end ecosystem where cultural relevance drives measurable growth.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026

He sees several reasons to believe in Microsoft and its ability to thrive in the evolving AI ecosystem.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

“The whole ecosystem is more capital constrained than people think it is,” Castagno said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Because these parasites depend on multiple species to survive, their presence can reflect the overall strength of the marine ecosystem.

From Science Daily • Apr. 1, 2026

The climate changes that beset Australia about 45,000 years ago destabilised the ecosystem and made it particularly vulnerable.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari