Adaptations, Interdependence and Competition

- an ecosystem is the interaction of a community of living organisms with the non-living (abiotic) parts of their environment

- organisms require materials from their surroundings and other living organisms to survive and reproduce

- within a community, each species depends on other species for food, shelter, pollination, seed dispersal etc. 

    ...if one species is removed it can affect the whole community, this is called interdependence

- a stable community is one where all the species and environmental factors are in balance so that population sizes remain fairly constant

- abiotic factors that may affect communities of organisms include:

    ...light intensity, temperature, moisture levels, soil pH and mineral content, wind intensity and direction, the carbon dioxide levels for plants and the availability of oxygen for aquatic animals

- biotic factors that may affect communities of organisms include:

    ...availability of food, new predators arriving, new pathogens and new competitors

- a range of experimental methods using transects amd quadrats is used by ecologists to determine the distribution and abundance of species in an ecosystem

- you sample quadrats along a transect to see a change in species distribution in a line from A to B

    ...you sample quadrats on coordintes from a random number generator to count the number of  a species in an area

- animals compete with each other for food, territories and mates

- animals have adaptations that make them successful competitors

- plants often compete with each other for light, space, water and mineral ions from the soil

- plants have many adaptations that make them good competitors

- to survive and reproduce, organisms need a supply of materials from their surroundings and from the other living organisms in their habitat

- organisms including microorganisms have features (adaptations) that enable them to survive in the conditions in which they normally live

- extremophiles have adaptations that enable them to live in environments with extreme conditions of salt, temperature or pressure 

- organisms including animals have features (adaptations) that enable them to survive in the conditions in which they normally live

- these adaptations may be structual, behavioural or functional

- organisms including plants have features (adaptations) that enable them to survive in the conditions in which they normally live

- these adaptations may be structural, behavioural or functional