An ecosystem is a community of living organisms interacting with their non-living environment. Its structure refers to its components (biotic, like producers and consumers; and abiotic, like sun

Its structure refers to its components (biotic, like producers and consumers; and abiotic, like sunlight and water), while its function involves processes such as energy flow and nutrient cycling.

A food web illustrates the complex, interconnected feeding relationships among multiple food chains within an ecosystem.

These are often visualized using ecological pyramids, which represent the biomass, number, or energy at each trophic level. Productivity is the rate at which energy is converted into organic substances, and energy flow describes the movement of energy through these trophic levels, typically with a significant loss at each transfer.