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Topic: 5.2: Ecology-interdependence of organism & environment Habitat: is the place where an organism lives such as a tropical rainforest.
Calculate the efficiency of energy transfers between trophic levels. Abiotic factors: are the non- living elements of the habitat of the organism.
Discuss how understanding the carbon cycle can lead to methods to E.g. sunlight, temperature, rainfall, pH of soil.
reduce atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (including the use of
biofuels and reforestation).
Biotic factors: the living elements of a habitat which affect the ability of a
Explain that the numbers and distribution of organisms in a habitat are
controlled by biotic and abiotic factors. group organism to survive there. E.g. The presence of suitable prey
Describe how to carry out a study on the ecology of a habitat to produce species will affect the numbers of predator in a habitat.
valid and reliable data (including the use of quadrats and transects to
assess abundance and distribution of organisms and the measurement of
abiotic factors, eg solar energy input, climate, topography, oxygen Energy flow through ecosystem
availability and edaphic factors).
Explain how the concept of niche accounts for distribution and All organisms in an ecosystem depend on an adequate supply of energy
abundance of organisms in a habitat. for their survival. Energy from the sun trapped by photosynthesis provides
Describe the concept of succession to a climax community.
the source of energy for all living organisms.
Food chains
Terminologies and their meaning
A food chain is a sequence of organisms, starting with a
Ecology: the study of the relationships of living organisms with each other
photosynthesizing organism (usually a green plant), through which
and their non-living or physical surroundings. energy is passed as one organism is eaten by the next in the
sequence.
Ecosystem: Ecosystem is a community of organisms in a habitat and their In a food chain the direction of the arrow indicates the direction of
physical environment interacting as an ecological unit. energy transfer.
The level at which an organism feeds in a food chain is called its
Community: all the populations of the different species of organism living in trophic level.
a habitat at one time.
Abiotic factors
The physical and chemical components of an ecosystem more-or-less
decide the physical conditions in which populations live. Abiotic factors of a
terrestrial habitat are of three types, relating to:
_ climate factors such as solar radiation, temperature, rainfall and wind
_ soil factors such as the parent rock, soil water and soil chemistry, and
the mineral nutrients available (edaphic factors)
_ topography factors such as slope and aspect of the land, and altitude.
Only energy taken in at one trophic level and then built in as chemical
energy in the molecules making up the cells and tissues is available to the
next trophic level. This is about 10% of the energy.
The reasons are as follows.
Much energy is used for cell respiration to provide energy for growth,
movement, feeding, and all other essential life processes.
Not all food eaten can be digested. Some passes out with the faeces.
Indigestible matter includes bones, hair, feathers, and lignified fibres in
plants.