Studying Organisms in Ecosystems

1. Studying Organisms in Ecosystems Mohamed, Honour, Bob , Mack

2. Climates & Biomes • Climate refers to the average weather conditions in a particular region over time; usually 30 years or more.Unequal heating of the earth’s atmosphere causes major climate zones from the tropics near the equator through the temperate zones. The earth is struck by sunlight unevenly.

3. Habitats • Within a biome, there can be a tremendous amount of variation. • Habitat- is a place or area with a particular set with a particular set of characteristics, both biotic and abiotic.

4. Habitats Example

5. Range • The range of populations of species is defined as the geographical area where the population or species is found. • The limit of species range is generally determined by its habitat requirements.

6. The ecological niche involves both the place where an organism lives and the roles that an organism has in its habitat. Example: The ecological niche of a sunflower growing in the backyard includes absorbing light, water and nutrients (for photosynthesis), providing shelter and food for other organisms (e.g. bees, ants, etc.), and giving off oxygen into the atmosphere.

7. Biodiversity • Biodiversity is simply the number of different species within an area and also the genetic variation that exists within each species. It also includes the range of habitats and communities that are present in an area. • For Example some places like Madagascar are a biodiversity hotspot because of their high biodiversity. They have a large variety of species many of which are unique to the area and other places that have less amount of species have a lower biodiversity.

8. Limiting Factor • A limiting factor are external factors such as sunlight and humidity that have a key role in the development of a certain organism or a metabolic pathway or process. • Light intensity is a limiting factor of photosynthesis. This is because the process is the fixation of light's energy into an organic compound (sugars) by transforming it to chemical energy.

9. Transect • A transect is a path along which one counts and records occurrences of the phenomena of study (e.g. plants). • It requires an observer to move along a fixed path and to count occurrences along the path and, at the same time, it obtain the distance of the object from the path. This results in an estimate of the area covered and an estimate of the way in which detestability increases from probability 0 (far from the path) towards 1 (near the path). Using the raw count and this probability function, one can arrive at an estimate of the actual density of objects.

10. Samples • A small part of a larger specimen used to help identify characteristics of the specimen as a whole. The characteristics can be its cell structure, its DNA, hair molecules, and other such things to small to see on a large scale.

11. Quadrant • An area of land cut off from the rest of the surrounding area for ecologist to study species, habitats, or individual organisms.

12. Density • In the case of biology, density refers to the amount of organisms in an ecosystem that occupy a certain amount of area in an ecosystem.

13. Thought Lab  • PG 102 #1,2,3,4 Thanks for paying attention!