Biology Notes

Studying Ecosystems
An ecosystem is any environment containing living organisms that interacts with each other
and with the non-living parts of the environment
Ecosystems are largely self-sustaining because materials and energy are exchanged between
the organisms and their environment. Can be any size
The size of a population of organisms does not remain constant in an ecosystem.
Populations can increase or decline dramatically
The contributing factors for this variation include disease, predation, competition,
availability of resources, and increasing human activity and interference
Humans have often disturbed natural ecosystems to meet their own needs
The interactions between organisms and their environment are often complex and not
immediately obvious
The study of ecology enables us to understand these interactions
Studying a local ecosystem can give an insight into how other ecosystems function
The environment of an organism is its surroundings everything around it, both living and
non-living, that affects it
Environments have abiotic and biotic features.
Abiotic means non-living
Biotic means living
Abiotic features include physical and chemical factors such as the temperature, rainfall, type
of soil and the salinity of the water
Biotic features include all the living organisms, how many types there are, their numbers,
distribution and interactions.
The habitat of an organism is the place where it lives
The organisms which are found living together in a particular place form a community
The study of the relationships living organisms have with each other and with their
environment is called ecology
Terrestrial environments are environments on land
Differences in the climate, the topography of the land, the availability of water, and human
actions have produced many different terrestrial environments.
Organisms that live in water live in an aquatic environment
Aquatic environments may be freshwater or saltwater
Terrestrial and aquatic environments have very different abiotic characteristics. These
differences mean that, in order to survive, animals and plants living in an aquatic
environment will be very different from the animals and plants living in a terrestrial
environment
The distribution of a species describes where it is found.
No species is spread evenly through an entire natural ecosystem
Organisms occupy the areas where the biotic and abiotic features of the environment suit
them
They live where their chance of survival are high, where their requirements for survival are
met, and where they are able to avoid predators