Question

why is the pond considered an ecosystem?

Answer 1

An ecosystem is made of a habitat and a population. So it's the organisms and where they live. It includes both living and non-living things. So, an ecosystem could be the backyard pond. That would include the water, rocks, and everything of the pond, as well as all the organisms that live in it. It couldn't be the cat's living in the neighborhood because that doesn't include the non-living things about the cats' environment, or all the organisms living with them, like fleas maybe, or dogs. The cat's would just be a single population that could be a part of an ecosystem.