An ecosystem is defined as any “biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.” But we really like the definition that our old friends at National Geographic use: “An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscapes, work together to form a bubble of life.”

The season starts when the flowers arrive in the Far North and the daytime temperature is warm enough to generate and secrete the flow of nectar into the flower. Nectar is produced by glands called nectaries. Nectaries can be located on any part of a plant, but the most familiar nectaries are those located in flowers (called “floral nectaries”).