A forest ecosystem is a terrestrial unit of living organisms (plants, animals and microorganisms), all interacting among themselves and with the environment (soil, climate, water and light) in which they live. The environmental "common denominator" of that forest ecological community is a tree, who most faithfully obeys the ecological cycles of energy, water, carbon and nutrients. A forest ecosystem would be considered having boundaries and would include a forest of trees out to the limit of tree growth. Remember that forests are not the only ecosystems. There are hundreds of thousands of defined and undefined ecosystem that can cover the broadest to the tiniest of areas. An ecosystem can be as small as a pond or a dead tree, or as large as the Earth itself.