Populations In Ecosystems - Populations And Ecosystems.

- Populations And Ecosystems - 

Ecology is the study of the inter relationships between organisms and their environment. Environments include both:

Non living // Abiotic factors

⇒ Examples: temperature, rainfall.

Living // Biotic factors

⇒ Examples: competition and predation.

Ecosystems - dynamics systems made up of community and all non living factors of it's environment.

An ecosystem can range in size -

1. Small scale ie Single tree 
2. Medium scale i.e. Football field
3. Large scale i.e. African grassland

Within the ecosystems there are two major processes to consider -

> Flow of energy through the system

> Cycling of elements within the system

Populations

⇒ A group of organisms of the same species that occupy the same habitat at the same time (potential to interbreed)

An ecosystem can support a certain size of the population ⇒ carrying capacity

• Effects of abiotic factors
• Interactions between the organisms (intraspecific and interspecific competition and predation)

Both can affect the size of the population.

Community

⇒ This is when all the populations of different species living occupying and interacting in a particular space at the same time.

An example would be the fish in the picture →

Habitat

⇒ This is a place where an organism normally lives and is characterised by physical conditions and the other types of organisms present.

Within the ecosystem there is a variety of habitats. Also within the habitat there are smaller units, each with their own micro-climate - microhabitats.

Ecological niche

⇒ This is how an organism fits into the environment, where the organism lives and what it does there including all the biotic and abiotic conditions which the organisms living in the niche adapted to in order to survive.

No two species can occupy exactly the same niche ⇒ competitive exclusion principle.