Conditions and Resources Flashcards
Conditions
- physical and chemical features of the environment
- activity of an organisms always alters the conditions in its immediate environment
Temperature
- direct effect on physiology
- adaptations in plants and animals
- indirect effect on physiology
Types of conditions
temperature pH salinity physical disturbance pollution humidity
Humidity
- evaporation loss in terrestrial organisms
- relative humidity influences the rate of water loss
- drier the environment the greater rate of water loss
- affects temperature control in all terrestrial organisms
pH
Influences nutrient availability plant species richness lower at extremes
Salinity
organisms become hypotonic and start to lose water by osmosis
drives vegetation zonation
Physical disturbance
- waves, wind, fire, bioturbation
- all reset conditions and or resource availability
Pollution
- by products of human activity
- nitrogen compounds, heavy metals, acid rain, oil, pesticides
Resources
- biotic and abiotic components of the environment
- resources are consumed by organisms. leading to competition
Plant resources
- autotrophic organisms
- light + atmospheric composition
- competition for light and soil resources
- water and mineral nutrients
Animal resources
- Heterotrophic organisms
- Food resource composition
- food chain
Space
- can be limited
- organisms must compete for space and is considered ‘consumed’ when occupied
Habitats
- actual places, providing a variety of conditions and resources that may satisfy the requirements of a range of species
- organisms live, provides many different niches
Ecological niche
- not a place, its an idea!
- tolerances and requirements, a set of conditions and resources
Fundamental niche
the entire set of optimum conditions that a species can occupy in the absence of other organisms
