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Environment & Climate vocabulary · Biodiversity and Conservation

Ecosystem

Meaning in environment & climate, with examples

/ˈiːkoʊˌsɪstəm/nounCore term

In environment & climate, ecosystem means: A community of living things together with their physical environment, such as soil, water and climate, all interacting as one system, for example a forest, lake or coral reef.

In Turkish: ekosistem

How it is used

Used by ecologists, planners and in EIA reports: marine, freshwater, forest or coastal ecosystems. Ecosystems can be healthy, fragile, degraded or restored. In business English 'ecosystem' also means a network of companies or products, so context matters.

Example sentences

  1. Untreated wastewater has seriously damaged the lake ecosystem.

  2. Seagrass meadows are among the most productive coastal ecosystems in the Mediterranean.

Common collocations

  • marine ecosystem
  • fragile ecosystem
  • ecosystem restoration
  • damage an ecosystem
  • ecosystem health
  • biodiversityThe variety of all living things in a place, including the different species of plants, animals and microorganisms, the genes within them and the ecosystems they form.
  • habitatThe natural home of a plant or animal species: the place that gives it the food, water, shelter and conditions it needs to survive and reproduce.
  • ecosystem servicesThe benefits people get from nature, such as clean water, pollination of crops, flood protection, climate regulation, food, timber and places for recreation.
  • eutrophicationA process in which too many nutrients, mainly nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers and sewage, enter a lake or sea, so algae grow rapidly and their decay uses up the oxygen in the water.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Biodiversity and Conservation

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