I need help with my ecology assignment

Question

Question 1:  Which level of organization in an environment does the picture below represent? Explain.

Questions 2: An ecosystem is a place where biotic and abiotic things interact with each other. Which do you think is more important to an ecosystem: biotic or abiotic factors? Explain.

Answer 1

Hi! The answer for Question 1 is a community.

Remember that there are several levels of organization in an environment. From most specific/smallest to broadest/biggest it is as follows:

Individual

Population

Community

Ecosystem

Biosphere

An individual is just one organism. A population is a group of the same organisms. A community is all biotic (living or previously living) factors in an environment. An ecosystem is all of the things in an environment, including both biotic and abiotic. Ecosystems vary in what they include. The biosphere is the entirety of the earth.

From this explanation, you can formulate whether you personally think abiotic or biotic factors are more important. This isn't a "correct-answer" question; in fact, you could argue for either option. Life cannot survive without the Sun, which is an abiotic factor, but an ecosystem is nothing without its biotic features. Good luck with your assignment!