Ecosystems — Syllabus
ICSE · Class 8 · Biology
What Ecosystems covers in ICSE Class 8 Biology: 4 topics, for the 2026-27 session. Part of the ICSE Class 8 Biology syllabus.
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Topics in Ecosystems
1. Ecosystem and Its Components
- An ecosystem is a self-contained area composed of all the different organisms living in it, interacting with each other, as well as interacting with the physical conditions such as sunlight, air, wate
- The term ecosystem is derived from the Greek word Oikos, meaning house.
- A forest ecosystem contains living components and non-living components.
2. Trophic Levels, Producers, and Consumers
- Food in an ecosystem moves through trophic levels, which are food-obtaining steps in a food chain.
- Trophic level 1 consists of green plants, which are producers.
- Trophic level 2 consists of herbivores or primary consumers.
3. Food Chains
- Food chain is the linear sequence of organisms in which each organism eats the lower member and is itself eaten by the next higher member.
- A food chain may have 2 to 5 steps, very rarely 6, but never 7.
- Some examples of food chains are Rice → Man, Grass → Rabbit → Fox, Maize → Goat → Man, Maize → Goat → Lion, Grass → Grasshopper → Lizard → Crow, and Grass → Buffalo → Leech.
4. Food Webs and Their Importance
- Food web is a network of several interconnecting food chains.
- Food webs are complex and show many alternative feeding links.
- The food web allows organisms to have more than one food source or more than one predator.
Key Concepts
Central concept: Ecosystem
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