Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a biological environment

consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving (abiotic), physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight.

 The entire array of organisms inhabiting a

particular ecosystem is called a community. In a typical ecosystem, plants and other photosynthetic organisms are the producers that provide the food.Ecosystems can be permanent or temporary. Ecosystems usually form a number of food webs.

 Terrestrial ecosystem Aquatic ecosystem

Lentic refers to standing or still water

Lotic refers to flowing water, from the Latin lotus, past participle of lavere, to wash.

 Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic

conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a large area creating a typical ecosystem over that area. Such major ecosystems are termed as biomes. Biomes are defined by factors such as plant structures (such as trees, shrubs, and grasses), leaf types (such as broadleaf and needleleaf), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna), and climate. Unlike ecozones, biomes are not defined by genetic, taxonomic, or historical similarities. Biomes are often identified with particular patterns of ecological succession and climax vegetation (quasi-equilibrium state of the local ecosystem). An ecosystem has many biotopes and a biome is a major habitat type.

Food Web

 A population is a single species within a specific geographical area A community is made up of all the individual animal species living

within a specific geographical area. For example, in a tide pool the community would be the sea stars, crabs, barnacles, algae, etc.

A habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits") is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism. It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds (influences and is utilized by) a species population.

 Biotic Factors

Biotic, meaning of or related to life, are living factors. Plants, animals, fungi, protist and bacteria are all biotic or living factors. Abiotic Factors Abiotic, meaning not alive, are nonliving factors that affect living organisms. Environmental factors such habitat (pond, lake, ocean, desert, mountain) or weather such as temperature, cloud cover, rain, snow, hurricanes, etc. are abiotic factors soil, Climate and local factors like height, slope and drainage.

Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups,

animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two or more parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which coexist in the same environment. For example, animals compete over water supplies, food, mates, and other biological resources. Humans compete for water, food, and mates, though when these needs are met deep rivalries often arise over the pursuit of wealth, prestige, and fame.

 In ecology, a nich is a term describing the relational position of

a species or population in its ecosystem to each other; A shorthand definition of niche is how an organism makes a living. The ecological niche describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (e.g., by growing when resources are abundant, and when predators, parasites and pathogens are scarce) and how it in turn alters those same factors (e.g., limiting access to resources by other organisms, acting as a food source for predators and a consumer of prey).

Adaptations to physical factors.

Plants and animals must adapt both to climatic

conditions and to living within a competitive community for their survival. Physical factors include light, temperature, humidity water supply, wind speed and soil. Tall trees produce large quantities of food to form woody tissues, to support lot of leaves. Broad leaves help them to trap large amount of light. They have leathery leaves to survive during the day time heat and rapid water loss and drip tip leaves to shed water quickly during heavy rains.

Rain forest floor

Dark, humid and without wind. Less food prepared by plants mostly herbs

and shrubs. Monkeys, butterflies, macaws and insects canopy. Anteaters, deer, termites and tapirs- ground

The physical adaptations that help polar bears survive include :

FUR : their thick fur keeps them warm in frigid air and water (it's

actually hollow) WHITE FUR: actually transparent, for camouflage in ice and snow. Also reflects the heat lost through the skin, back into it's body. SKIN: their skin is black to absorb heat from the sun's rays to help keep them warm PAWS : the pads provide traction on ice BIG PAWS : spread body weight on ice, and are broad for use in swimming CLAWS : are curved to dig through ice SMALL EARS and TAILS : are short to minimize heat loss TEETH : more jagged than most bears, suiting a carnivore FAT LAYERS: keeps them warm (insulates) NOSTRILS : their nostrils close underwater

 Camels have many adaptations that allow them to live

successfully in desert conditions. Deserts are hot and dry. Winds blow sand all around, so a camel has long eyelashes. It has nostrils that can open and close. The long eyelashes keep sand out of the camel's eyes. Thick eyebrows shield the eyes from the desert sun. Why does a camel have nostrils which can close? A camels nostrils can close so it doesn't get sand up its nose.

 1. A camel can go a week or more without water, and they can

last for several months without food. They can drink up to 32 gallons (46 litres) of water at one drinking session! 2. Camels store fat in the hump, not water. The fat can be metabolised for energy. 3. Unlike most mammals, a healthy camel's body temperature fluctuates (changes) throughout the day from 34C to 41.7C (93F-107F.) This allows the camel to conserve water by not sweating as the environmental temperature rises. 4. Camels feet are wide so they can walk on sand more easily. Their huge feet help them to walk on sand without sinking into it. 5. Camels have thick lips so they can eat the prickly desert plants with out feeling pain. 6. The colour of their bodies helps them to blend into their environment. 7. Camel's ears are covered with hair, even on the inside. The hair helps keep out sand or dust that might blow into the animal's ears.

 spines serve several uses, they guard

against most browsing herbivorous animals by making the plant difficult and dangerous to chew. The spines also help to shade the plant, helping keep internal heat down. Finally the spines also can channel the infrequent rains to the base of the plant.

 waxy coating that surrounds the plant over

the skin, this often has a bluish cast to it, and may be damaged by careless handling. This is called a 'glaucus bloom' and help to reduce evaporation by the plant, this holds in more of the precious moisture so rare in the desert. stomata close tighter than in most plants further reducing the loss of moisture in the heat of the day. Another thing these plants can do is to store up lots of water

 They trend to have roots that spread laterally for quite

a ways and may exist in a suspended state until the rains activate them, a small amount of moisture will cause the feeding roots to quickly grow out from the main roots, these feeders are what bring in the water and it's dissolved minerals and nutrients. After the rain is gone and as the soil dries these feeder roots die and disappear enabling the plant to live on it's stored water without having to spend energy and moisture keeping these roots alive that may not be needed for many many months.

Pollination
Flowering plants have several different parts

that are important in pollination. Flowers have male parts called stamens that produce a sticky powder called pollen. Flowers also have a female part called the pistil. The top of the pistil is called the stigma, and is often sticky. Seeds are made at the base of the pistil, in the ovule.

 Seed dispersal is likely to have several

benefits for plant species. First, seed survival is often higher away from the parent plant. This higher survival may result from the actions of density-dependent seed and seedling predators and pathogens, which often target the high concentrations of seeds beneath adults. Competition with adult plants may also be lower when seeds are transported away from their parent.

 Ecological succession, is the phenomenon or

process by which a community progressively transforms itself until a stable community is formed. It is a fundamental concept in ecology, refers to more or less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ecological community. Succession may be initiated either by formation of new, unoccupied habitat (e.g., a lava flow or a severe landslide) or by some form of disturbance (e.g. fire, severe windthrow, logging) of an existing community. Succession that begins in areas where no soil is initially present is called primary succession, whereas succession that begins in areas where soil is already present is called secondary succession.

 The climax ecosystem is

balanced. There is equilibrium between gross primary production and total respiration, between energy used from sunlight and energy released by decomposition, between uptake of nutrients from the soil and the return of nutrient by litter fall to the soil. The vegetation is tolerant of environmental conditions. It has a wide diversity of species, a well-drained spatial structure, and complex food chains.

Producers
In an ecosystem, producers are those organisms that

use photosynthesis to capture energy by using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to create carbohydrates, and then use that energy to create more complex molecules like proteins, lipids and starches that are crucial to life processes. Producers, which are mostly green plants, are also called autotrophs.

 consumers are organisms (including us humans) that

get their energy from producers, regarding the flow of energy through an ecosystem. For example, producers, (such as plants), make their own food by the process of photosynthesis. If we were to say, an organism at e this plant, than it would be a primary consumer. The animal that eats this animal is known as the second order consumer. And so on and so forth. Scientifically, all consumers are either herbivores, carnivores, omnivores or detrivores (decomposers and other organism that break down organic matter