Animals, plants and other living things have to survive in the wild. They must find food, water and shelter. They must cope with changing conditions, such as weather, climate and seasons. They also depend on one another. For example, meat-eating animals hunt other animals, or some insects feed on the droppings of large mammals. Scientists think of the natural world as being made up of ecosystems. These are areas in which living things survive together in conditions to which they are suited.

Habitats

In any ecosystem, living things that rely on each other for survival form a community. Their natural homes may be small like a garden pond or a rotting log. Or they may be much larger—a lake or forest, for example. These homes are known as habitats. Habitats contain similar kinds of plants and soils. Oak woodland, salt marshes, coral reefs and sand dunes are all examples of habitats.

Large habitats, such as tropical rainforests, deserts or oceans, are called biomes. These are huge areas where the climate and conditions are similar. For example, all deserts are dry, while rainforests are found where the climate is always hot and wet. A biome will often contain several different habitats. The woodlands biome, for example, may include oak, maple and beech woodland habitats.

Food webs

Plants “feed” on sunlight and minerals from the soil. Animals that eat plants are called plant-eaters, or herbivores. They range from tiny insects to rabbits. Animals that eat animals are meat-eaters, or carnivores. Omnivores, such as humans, eat both animals and plants. The pattern of what different animals feed on in a habitat is called a food web.