ECOLOGY BEAL

BLENT ECEVT ANADOLU LSES

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CONTENTS
A. ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY .. 3

B. FACTORS AFFECTING THE DISTRIBUTION OF LIVING ORGANISMS ... 4

Abiotic Factors . 4
Biotic Factors 6

C. NUTRITION 10
Feeding Styles 10
Ecological Interactions between Organisms 11

D. ENERGY AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES . 13

Biogeochemical Cycles 14

E. HUMAN INFLUENCES ON THE ENVIRONMENT . 17

F. BIOMES 22
Terrestrial Biomes . 22
Aquatic Biomes .28
Factors Affecting the Distribution of Biomes . 33

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A. ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY
Ecology is a branch of biology that studies the interactions of living organisms with each
other and with their environment.

Terms used in Ecology

Biosphere: Part of the Earth and its atmosphere in which organisms can live from
bottom of the ocean to an altitude of 10,000 m.

Ecosystem: It is the place that organisms live with other organisms and their physical
environment.
Ex: Pond ecosystem, forest ecosystem, desert ecosystem.

Population: Group of individuals of the same species living in the same area.
Ex: Population of mice in my kitchen, anchovies in the Black sea, E. coli bacteria living in
intestine.

Community: A group of populations living together in the same area at any one time.
Ex: Anchovies and other living organisms living in the Black sea.

Habitat: The natural environment or place where an organism, population, or species

live best. It is shortly the address of the organism.
Ex: Habitat of paramecium is fresh water; habitat of ants is trees in the forest.

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Niche: The function of a particular species in the environment. It is shortly the job of the
organism.
Ex: Feeding, reproduction, protection, hiding, relationship with other organisms.

B. FACTORS AFFECTING THE DISTRIBUTION OF LIVING ORGANISMS

Ecosystems include living and non-living factors which affect the distribution of living
organisms. Some factors affect positively while some factors affect negatively. This makes a
balance in an ecosystem.

The environment includes abiotic factors (non-living factors) and biotic factors (living
factors).

1. Abiotic Factors
Abiotic factors are non-living, physical and chemical factors which affect living
organisms. They limit the habitats of living organisms. Light, temperature, soil and
minerals, water, pH, and climate are abiotic factors.

a. Light
Photosynthetic organisms convert light energy into chemical energy during
photosynthesis. So, the amount of light and its wavelength affects the rate of
photosynthesis.

Light also affects the movement and behavior of organisms. Day length
determines the reproduction period of some animals and flowering periods of some
plants. For example, chrysanthemum bloom in autumn, and most animals reproduce
during spring.
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Light can limits life in some ecosystems, such as deserts. During daytime, plants
will loss too much water, because of the high temperatures.

b. Temperature
Enzymes are essential for life. They work best in specific temperatures. The
structures of the enzymes are denatured in high temperatures (generally above
45oC). Also, in low temperatures, enzymes do not work well. So, the temperature
affects the enzyme activity.

High and low temperatures can limit the distribution and behavior of organisms.
In high temperatures most animals looks for dark places. Also, high temperatures
increase the water loss by transpiration in terrestrial organisms.

c. Soil and Minerals

Soil provides food and it is also a habitat for many organisms. Plants get minerals
needed for photosynthesis from the soil.

Physical structure of soil (granular structure, amount of salt, minerals and air,
water retention and pH) affects the distribution of plants and other organisms.

d. Water and pH
Water is the major component of the body. It is very important because many
metabolic reactions and physiological events use water. So, water is essential for life. For

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example, digestive system of animals uses water to digest food molecules and plants use
water as a hydrogen source in photosynthesis.

Water is a good solvent and it forms many solutions. A solution which has many OH-
it is called basic solution and a solution which has many H+ it is called acidic solution. So,
the amount of OH- and H+ affect the pH of the environment and also affects the organisms
because each organism has an optimum pH. Many organisms live in neutral pH.

Some factories and burning fossil fuels release sulphur which causes acid rains. Acid
rain harms organisms.

e. Climate
Climate is the average values of atmospheric characteristics for an area. It is the
most important factor which affects the distribution of organisms. Sun rays, amount
of precipitation, wind and temperature are the factors of climate. There are different
climates found in Earth; Mediterranean climate, terrestrial climate, tropical climate,
and temperate climate.

Climates contain many small climates which is called microclimate. Microclimate

is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. An
area found under the trees in a forest is an example of microclimate. This kind of
area forms a habitat for newts, worms and insects.

2. Biotic Factors
Biotic factors are living factors which affects the living organisms. Biotic factors are;
producers, consumers and decomposers.
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a. Producers
Producers are autotrophs which can produce their own food. Most of them are
photosynthetic. Plants and algae are producers which produce organic materials
from inorganic materials. They have high biomass.

Producers are very important because consumers feed on producers and they give
out oxygen.

Figure 1. Plants Figure 2. Algae

b. Consumers
Consumers are organisms which feed on producers and other organisms. There
are three types of consumers;
- Primary Consumers: They feed on plants and algae.
- Secondary Consumer: They feed on primary consumers.
- Tertiary Consumer: They feed on secondary consumers.

Figure 2. Consumer

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Primary consumers are herbivores (such as rabbit), secondary consumers are

carnivores (such as fox), and tertiary consumers are carnivores too.

All organisms depend on each other as a food source. A chain which contains
producer and consumers is called food chain. Many food chains form food web. The
number of each species is very important because any change in their number affects
the food web. For example, illegal hunting causes a decrease in the number of
carnivores, this causes increase in the number of herbivores that they eat and also
the number of producers will change.

Figure 3. Food chain Figure 4. Simple food web

Figure 5. Complex food web

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c. Decomposers
Decomposers are organisms which convert organic materials into inorganic
materials and organisms which decompose waste and dead materials. They are also
called saprophytic organisms. Bacteria and fungi are examples for decomposers.
They secrete enzymes to decompose materials.

Figure 6. Leaves provide more decomposers to grow.

TERM PROJECT! Create an Ecosystem!

o Create a small ecosystem on your own which has the properties of an
original ecosystem.
o Bring at least two different organisms (a producer and a consumer)
which live in this ecosystem.
o Watch your ecosystem for 5 days and write your observations.

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C. NUTRITION
1. Feeding Styles
Two types of organisms found in ecosystems; autotrophs and heterotrophs.
Autotrophs can make their own organic foods by using inorganic molecules while
heterotrophs eat readymade foods.

Autotrophs have two different forms. Photoautotrophs produce food by using

sunlight. Plants, algae, cyanobacteria are the examples of photoautotrophs.
Chemoautotrophs produce food by using chemical bond energy found in inorganic
materials. Some of the bacteria which can make chemosynthesis are the examples of
chemoautotrophs.

Animals, fungi, some unicellular organisms and most of the bacteria are
heterotrophic organisms.

Holozoic nutrition is a method of nutrition by the ingestion of liquid or solid organic

material, as animals do. The mouth and jaw structure of these animals are adapted to
this type of nutrition.

Figure 7. Holozoic nutrition in animals.

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Animals are classified into three groups in order to their eating habits; carnivore,
herbivore and omnivore.

Carnivores: Organisms which eat other animals.

Ex: Fox, lion, cat, dog, hawk, shark and spider.

Herbivores: Organisms which eat plants.

Ex: Rabbit, horse, turtle, goat, cattle and gazelle.

Omnivores: Organisms which eat both plants and other animals.

Ex: Human, chicken, pig, crow and roach.

2. Ecological Interactions Between Organisms

Organisms who shares same ecosystem have various interactions between them.

Symbiosis: It is a close interaction between two or more organisms that lives

together. Generally, larger organism is called host, and the smaller one is called
symbiont, living in or on the host.

Ex: Some unicellular organisms and bacteria (symbiont) living in the cattles (host)
rumen to digest cellulose.

There are three different types of symbiotic relationship between organisms.

1. Mutualism
2. Parasitism
3. Commensalism

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1. Mutualism
In this type of symbiosis, a symbiont and a
host both benefits from each other.

Ex: Lichen is a mutualist relationship

between fungi and algae. Alga makes
photosynthesis to provide food for fungi and
fungi gets mineral and water for alga.
Figure 8. Lichens

2. Parasitism
In this type of symbiosis, one organism benefit
which is called parasite and the other one get
harmed. Parasite organism feed on tissues and
tissue fluids of host organism.

Ex: Worms live in intestines of human.

Figure 9. Worms in intestine

3. Commensalism
In this type of symbiosis, one organism gets
benefits while the other one neither benefit nor
harmed.

Ex: Relationship between shark and pilot fish.

Pilot fish eats remains of the sharks prey. Pilot fish
gets benefit from this relationship while shark
neither benefit nor harmed. Figure 10. Commensalism between shark and pilot fish

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D. ENERGY AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES

Materials cannot be created or destroyed in chemical or biological reactions. They are
recycled within the ecosystem.

The main source of energy of the Earth is Sun. As you know, producers, produce food by
using sun light. Primary consumers eat producers to get this energy and materials,
secondary consumers get the energy and materials from primary consumers and tertiary
consumers get energy and materials from secondary consumers The remains and wastes
of all of these organisms decomposed and recycled by decomposers.

Only about 10 % of energy passed to the next trophic level in food chains. 90 % of
energy is lost as heat, or removed from the body as waste. As a rule, biomass is high in
producer level.

Figure 11. Energy transfer between trophic levels

It is more effective to eat producers which contain more proteins (such as soy beans)
rather that to eat cattles.

Toxic substances found in foods can removed from the body by excretion or egestion.
But sometimes those toxic substances accumulate in different tissues and pass to the next
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trophic levels. This is called bioaccumulation. Bioaccumulation is more concentrated in the

top level.

1. Biogeochemical Cycles
Materials recycled within the ecosystems.

a. Carbon Cycle
Fossil fuels, sediments in aquatic ecosystems, dissolved carbon compounds in
oceans, lime stones and organisms are sources of carbon. Burning of fossil fuels such
as petroleum and coal causes global warming. Because increased amount of CO2 trap
the light rays within the atmosphere and causes greenhouse effect. This causes
increase in the temperature.

Figure 12. Carbon cycle

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b. Water Cycle
Water is important and essential for all living organisms. Organisms use water to
make photosynthesis and for hydrolysis of organic compounds. Also, biochemical
reactions take place in water.
Terrestrial plants lose water by transpiration.
of Earth is covered with water. Evaporated water condenses in the atmosphere
and forms clouds.
After precipitation, some of the water mixes with water in seas and streams while
some of them forms ground water.

Figure 13. Water cycle

97% of water found in oceans, 2% of water found in ice fields and poles,
and 1% of water found in rivers and ground waters.
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c. Nitrogen Cycle
The amount of nitrogen gas found in the atmosphere is 78%. Nitrogen also found
in soil, lakes and seas.

Figure 14. Nitrogen cycle

NH3: Ammonia NH4+: Ammonium NO2-: Nitrite NO3-: Nitrate N2: Nitrogen gas

Many fertilizers, which contain nitrogen, supply nitrogen to the soil. Lightning also
fixes the nitrogen in the soil.

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E. HUMAN INFLUENCES ON THE ENVIRONMENT

- Spreading construction rubbish.
- Spreading home wastes.
- Cutting down many trees to build homes.
- Cutting down tropical rainforests.
- Overgrazing.
- Overhunting.
- Killing animals.
- Destroying habitats of many organisms to build cities.
- Polluting wetlands and lakes with factory wastes.
- Building airplanes and wind turbines which cause birds to change their migration
routes, and affect their feeding behavior and their life cycle.
- Because of soil pollution, underground water also becomes polluted.

Figure 15. Fires, destroy forest ecosystem. Figure 16. A bird which is affected from tanker accident.

- It is irreversible when water sources are polluted with radioactive wastes and heavy
metals. This destroys ecosystems.
- Short waved light rays have high energy and ozone layer
prevents these rays to reach to the Earth. Oxygen
molecules are broken and three of them come together to
form ozone molecules. Some gases like CFC Figure 17. Sprays destroy ozone layer.

(chlorofluorocarbon), destroy ozone layer.

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- Destruction of ozone layer can cause several diseases in

humans and in other organisms. Gases used in fridges,
sprays destroy ozone layer.
- Unnecessary use of fossil fuels increases the amount of
poisonous gases in the atmosphere. This causes global
warming.
- Global warming affects life and reproduction of
organisms negatively.
- Entry of raw sewage into the seas provides perfect Figure 18. Burning of fossil fuels cause

reproduction medium for pathogen organisms such as air pollution.

Coli bacillus. Also some factories release their wastes into the seas and pollute seas
with heavy metals.

Figure 19. Fish hunting with trawl net destroys submarine and destroys habitats of many organisms.

- Because of overgrazing, the number of some organisms decreases and may become
extinct. For example fish hunting with trawl net decrease the number of some fish
species and harm them.
- The number of pathogen organisms is increased all over the world by human
activities.
- Pathogen organisms can be transported from one place to another by the infected
organism.

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Figure 20. Airports provide fast transportation of organisms to all over the world with humans.

Okuma paras

STLACI TRLERN VE PATOJENLERN NSAN ETKSYLE TAINMASI

nsanlar seyahat ettiklerinde bu trleri isteyerek ya da istemeyerek onlarn orijinal

alanlarnn dna tar. Bu egzotik trlerin (doal olmayan) bazlar istilacdr, yani onlar
hzlca rerler, geni bir ekilde yaylrlar ve bu blgenin doal trleri zerinde negatif
etkilere sahiptirler. Doal dmanlarnn olmad blgenin iine yerleen trler, ok yksek
poplasyon younluuna ulaabilirler. Dahas istilacnn yeni alanndaki yerli trler, bu yeni
antagonistik ve rekabetilere kar zgl savunmalar gelitiremeyebilir.

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stilac trler birok yolla yaylr. Deniz organizmalar, gemilerden balast suyu
vastasyla okyanuslar boyunca yaylr. Bu gemiler ayrld limanda deniz organizmalarn alr
ve hayvanlar ve bitki ieriiyle birlikte gittikleri limana boaltr. nl zebra midyesinin
(Resim 1) Kuzey Amerikaya bu ekilde ulat dnlmektedir.

Resim 1: Zebra midyesi Resim 2: Kahverengi aa ylan

Kahverengi aa ylan (Resim 2), kinci Dnya Savandan sonra ksa sre iinde uak
kargosunda Guama ulat. O zamana kadar Guamda bcek yiyen kck tek bir yland.
Kahverengi aa ylanlar nadiren bulunmasna ramen 1960larda oalmaya baladlar ve
gnmzde km2 de 5.000 birey kadar olacak ekilde yksek younlukta olduklar tespit
edildi. Bu ylan tr, tanesi sadece Guamda bulunan 15 ku trn yok etti.

Getiimiz 400 yl boyunca yeni ktalara yerleen Avrupallar, kendi benzer evrelerini
yeniden ina etme abas iinde bitkileri ve hayvanlar yeni evlerine getirdiler. Getirilen bu
trlerin ou yerli flora ve fauna zerinde korkun etkilere sahipti. Avustralyaya Avrupal
tavanlarn ve tilkilerin avclk iin; kedi ve kpeklerin evcil hayvan olarak getirilmesi, son
yzyl iinde orta byklkteki yerli keseli hayvanlarn tilkiler, kpekler ve kediler tarafndan
avlanmas nedeniyle ve ayrca tavanlarla rekabet sonucunda yaklak yars yok oldu. Baz
trlerin dier istilac trleri kontrol etmek iin kastl olarak getirilmesi, kendilerinin istilac
olmasna ve daha fazla probleme yol at. Bu blmn banda bahsedildii gibi yaban ars
paraziti olan Manduca sexta (Manduka sekta) bu durumun bir rneidir, dier bylesi bir

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durum dev kara kurbaasnn eker kam zararllarn kontrol etmek iin Avustralyaya
getirilmesiydi.
stilac bitkiler de ekosistem zerinde negatif etkiye sahiptir. Yerli bitkiler, enerjilerinin
ve kaynaklarnn ounu yerli herbivorlara kar kendilerini korumak iin kullanmak zorunda
kalrken, istilac bitkiler saldrya daha az meyillidir. nk onlarn doal dmanlar
geldikleri yerde kalmtr. Bylece istilac bitkiler, kaynaklarn koruyucu sekonder bileikler
retmek yerine bymeye ve yenilenmeye ayrabilir.

Ayrca dardan getirilmi patojenler de Hawaii Adalarnda ku stmasnn etkilerinin

gsterdii gibi yerli trler arasnda hasara yol aabilir. Avrupallar gelmeden nce, adann
hibir yerinde sivrisinek yoktu. lk sivrisinek tr 1827de bulundu ve gelecek yzyl boyunca
dierleri onu izledi. 20. Yzyln balangcnda ithal edilmi kafes kular tarafndan tanan
ku stmasna neden olan mikrobiyal patojen getirildi. Onlarn evrimsel sreleri boyunca
stmaya hi yakalanmam olduklarndan dolay, Hawaiinin birok endemik ku tr
enfeksiyona kar olduka hassast. Bugn, sivrisinek vektrlerinin yaama aralnn st
snr olan 1500 m yksekliin altnda yaayan hemen hemen btn trler, ku stmas
tarafndan ortadan kaldrlmtr. Daha yksek yerlerde yaayan trler daha iyi artlarda
yaamaktadr, fakat sivrisineklerin grnme aral iklim sndka hayatta kalan endemik
trleri tehdit ederek yukar doru genilemektedir.

Kaynak; Sadava, D. Hillis, D.M., Heller, H.C. & Berenbaum, M. (2011). Life: The Science of Biology. Ninth Edition. Sunderland: Sinauer
Associates Inc. 59. blmden alntdr.

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F. BIOMES
The biosphere can be divided into regions called biomes. A biome is a large region that
has a specific combination of plants, animals and climate.

Biomes contain ecosystems. There are two basic categories of biomes: terrestrial biomes
and aquatic biomes.

Figure 21. Distribution of biomes

1. Terrestrial Biomes
Terrestrial biomes are named according to its dominant vegetation. They also have a
specific combination of plant, animal and climate.

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Terrestrial biomes include many communities. Even though, there isnt any sharp
boundary between two adjacent communities, there is a transition area between two
adjacent communities which is called ecotone.

Terrestrial biomes are tundra, taiga, deciduous forests, tropical forests, deserts and
grasslands.

a. Tundra
Climate: Gusting winds, cold average temperatures (average -30 during winter and
below 10 during summer)
Location: Northern North America, Europe and Asia below ice-caps.
Flora: Frost resistant small perennial herbs, low shrubs, trees and lichens.
Fauna: Musk ox, bear, fox, reindeer.
Soil: Frozen.
Variation: Few different species, high number of individuals.

Figure 22. Tundra

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Many flies live in there. Shore and water birds, which eats flies, make nests there
during summer and migrate to south during winter.

Human influences: Oil drilling in tundra is very popular. People, who come there for
oil drilling, damage the habitats for many organisms. Drilling also destroys the
surface and causes many plants to become extinct. Oil spill spread around and
pollute animals and water.

Figure 23. Reindeer

b. Taiga
Climate: Very cold in winters like tundra, but has higher temperatures than tundra
during summer.
Location: North Black sea, North Asia, North Amerika
Flora: Evergreen coniferous forests which contain plants like pine, spruce and fir.
Fauna: Deer, grizzly bear, lynx, weasel, porcupine, rodents and insects.

Figure 25. Some animals which live in taiga.

Figure 24. Taiga.

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c. Deciduous Forests
Climate: Climate changes from north to south. Temperature is around 0 oC during
winter and 30 oC during summer. Winters are drought and summers are rainy.
Location: Most of the middle Europe, East America, Turkey (Mediterranean and
Aegean Region and ukurova).
Flora: Broad-leaved deciduous forests (maples, oaks, elms, eucalyptus)
Fauna: Hibernating animals, migrating birds and insects.

Figure 26. Deciduous forest

d. Tropical Forests
Climate: Annual rainfall is high and regular. Temperatures are high (25-29 oC).
Location: Middle and South America, Africa, Australia and Asia (near equator).
Flora: Broad-leaved, evergreen trees which are 25-35m tall.
Fauna: Hibernating and migrating animals. Bats, birds, monkeys, frogs, snakes,
pumas, jaguars.
Plants live in tropical forests generally compete for light.
There are many different species found in tropical rainforests. Ex: 450 different tree
species, 1000 different plant species, 58 different bat species and 130 different
amphibian species can be found in 13m2 tropical forest.

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Figure 27. Tropical rainforest.

e. Temperate Zone Grasslands

Climate: Rainfall is less than in the deciduous forests but is enough for grassland.
Annual rainfall is around 25-30 cm.
Location: Turkey (Gelibolu Peninsula, Aegean and Mediterranean Region)
Flora: Few trees, pastures, legume plants, grasses and wheat.
Fauna: Bison, antelope, gazelle, prairie dog, many rodents.

Figure 28. Temperate zone grasslands

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f. Deserts
Climate: Annual rainfall is less than 25cm. In hot deserts, temperature is very high
(above 50 oC) during the day and falls suddenly at night. Temperature in cold
deserts is under -30 oC.
Location: Most deserts can be found generally in the 30o North and South of the
Equator and inner parts of continents. Large deserts found on Earth: Deserts found
around poles (Antarctic Desert), Sahara Desert (North Africa) (largest desert in the
world), Kalahari Desert (South Africa), Gobi Desert (Asia), Atacama Desert (South
America).
Flora: Plants which are resistant to hot weather and drought such as cactus, shrubs
and mole plants. Desert plants have adapted to survive under desert conditions.
Some of these adaptations are: needle-like leaves and succulent stems, roots or
leaves.
Fauna: Snakes, scorpions, beetles, ants, migrating birds. They hide in the holes
under the soil, shadows under plants during the day. They are active at night.

Figure 29. Desert plants are adapted to survive.

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2. Aquatic Biomes
Many communities live in aquatic biomes rather than terrestrial biomes. Physical and
chemical differences separate sea and fresh water biomes from each other. Salt
concentration of seas is 3% while it is lower than 0,1% in fresh water.

Figure 31. Distribution of aquatic biomes on Earth.

a. Oceans
75 % of Earth is covered with oceans. Oceans are habitat for many organisms.
They can be 10.000 m deep. Temperature decreases and the amount of oxygen and
nutrients vary depending to the depth of oceans and other deep aquatic systems.

Oceans are rich in biological diversity. Phytoplanktons, zooplanktons, various

invertebrates and fish species, sea turtles and marine mammals live in oceans.
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Figure 31. Ocean zones.

Oceans are separated into different zones: Benthic zone, pelagic zone, photic
zone, neritic zone and oceanic zone.

Benthic zone: It is the floor of ocean composed of inorganic and organic materials.
Pelagic zone: Part of the ocean that is not near the coast or sea floor.
Photic zone: Surface layer of the ocean that receives sunlight.
Aphotic zone: Water below 200m. There is little or no sunlight.
Neritic zone: Part of the ocean that lies over the continental shelf.
Oceanic zone: It is the open ocean, out of the continental shelf.

Planktons and fish species are found in photic zone. Few organisms live in aphotic
zone. There are various species of algae live in neritic zone.

Coral reefs are made up of calcium carbonate. They are found in littoral zone in
equatorial region and near islands. Coral reefs are habitat for too many organisms such as
some fish species and various invertebrates. They form a mutualistic relationship with
zooplanktons and photosynthetic algae. It is important to protect coral reefs in order to
protect ecological balance.

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Figure 32. Coral reefs are habitat for various species.

b. Lakes
Lakes are standing bodies of water which forms only about 2 % of terrestrial
regions while forms 87 % of fresh water.

Figure 33. Lakes are habitat for many fresh water animals and aquatic plants.

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Amount of water, salt, nutrient and oxygen can vary from season to season.
Lakes can be categorized on the basis of their salt amount: salt lakes, fresh water
lakes and bitter lakes.

Sources of lakes are surface and groundwater flows. These flows change the
level of lakes.

Lakes can be categorized on the basis of their richness in nutrients. Nutrient-

poor, but generally oxygen rich lakes are called oligotrophic lakes. Lakes which are
rich in nutrients are called eutrophic lakes.

Phytoplanktons, cyanobacteria, aquatic plants are found in lakes as a producer.

Many fish species and amphibians also live in lakes.

c. Wetlands
Wetlands are lands that are saturated with water which forms a habitat for many
plants and animals adapted to live in wet conditions such as various bird species,
invertebrates, aquatic insects, otters, frogs and dragonflies. Lake lilies, reeds and
sedges live in wetlands, marsh plants live in marshes and peats live in peat bogs.

Figure 34. Wetlands.

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d. River and Streams

Rivers and streams are flowing-water ecosystems. Larger ones called rivers and
smaller ones called streams. Surface and groundwater flows and melted polar
icecaps are sources of rivers and streams.

Most rivers and streams reach to seas, lakes or another river or streams while
some of them not.

Rivers flowing downhill, from river source to river mouth. Oxygen amount and
temperature of a river or a stream can change from source to the mouth. For
example the temperature is cooler at the source than it is at the mouth.

Phytoplanktons, aquatic plants, many fish species, invertebrates, reptiles and

amphibians can be found in rivers and streams.

Figure 35. Rivers and streams.

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Rivers and streams are polluted and dried by human influences. Factory wastes
drained into rivers/streams this pollute them and also reduce the variety of
organisms. Sometimes humans can change the stream bed to build roads or to build
buildings. This harms the habitats of organisms.

e. Marine Benthic Zone

Marine benthic zone is the lowest level of a see. There are few photosynthetic
organisms because little or no sunlight reaches to the benthic zone.
Chemoautotroph organisms live in benthic zone and produce food. Organisms
which are resistant to high pressure and cold live in benthic zone.

Figure 36. Marine benthic zone.

Unconscious hunting and pollution (especially tanker accidents pollute seas)

decrease the number of individuals live in benthic zone.

3. Factors Affecting the Distribution of Biomes

The relationship between temperature, amount of precipitation per month,

humidity, wind, latitude and altitude differences and topography affects the distribution
of biomes on Earth. Because of that each biome has specific fauna and flora.

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Organisms need certain temperatures to live. The optimum temperature for most
organisms is around 35oC. The temperature decreases from the equator to the poles so
the vegetation is also decreases from the equator to the poles.

In the places where the amount of evaporation is high, the amount of precipitation is
high too. Amount of precipitation, directly controls the distribution of plants. In the
equatorial region the rainfall is high, so the tropical rain forests are located in this
region. In the 30o north and south of the Equator the rainfall decreases, so the deserts
are located in this region.

The ocean currents change the weathers by heating or cooling the air pass through
the lands. Because of this coasts are humid and have different temperatures than
inlands.

The temperature at high latitudes and high altitudes are lower than in low latitudes
and altitudes. The temperature changes observed in the 100 m altitude are the same as
the temperature changes observed in the 50 km changes in the latitude.

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