Ecosystem vs Biome

A biome is a large community of ecosystems with plants and animals living together.

An ecosystem is a balance of living and nonliving things living together within a specific environment, or biome.

A biome contains several types of ecosystems and each biome can have different characteristics that affect how ecosystems thrive and survive.

Ecosystem Structure

Ecosystems generally contain primary producers (plants) capable of harvesting energy from the sun through the process called photosynthesis. This energy then flows through the food chain. Next come consumers. Consumers could be primary consumers (herbivores) or secondary consumers (carnivores). These consumers feed on the captured energy. Decomposers work at the bottom of the food chain. Scavengers, detritivores and decomposers feed on waster from producers and consumers and break down organic matter. It is the microbes that finish the job of decomposition and produce organic matter that can again be used by producers.

Energy that flows through the food chain changes from producers to consumers to decomposers. That means less energy is available at secondary consumers level than at primary producers level.