A unit containing all of the organisms and their environment, interacting together in a given area is called what?

• A. Ecosystem
• B. Biome
• C. Community
• D. Habitat

Answer: (A)

An ecosystem is the unit that includes all the living organisms in an area plus the non-living environment with which they interact. It covers how plants, animals, microbes, air, water, soil and climate form a system where energy flows and nutrients cycle, all within a defined space. This integrates both biotic and abiotic parts, which is what makes the ecosystem different from other terms: a biome is a large geographic region defined by climate and typical communities; a community is just the living organisms in an area; a habitat is the specific place where an organism lives within that ecosystem.