Understanding Ecology: Key Concepts and Adaptations
Ecology: Organisms and Their Environment
Ecology: The study of the interactions of organisms with each other and the environment.
Ecological Factors
Ecological factors: These are the characteristics of the environment that affect living things. They can be abiotic or biotic.
Limiting Factors
Limiting factor: The one that is closest to the value at which an organism cannot develop properly.
Adaptation
Adaptation: The evolutionary adaptation of organisms to a given environment. Eurioic agencies and organizations are examples.
Adaptations to Water Shortages
- Water storage in special tissues.
- Drought-resistant seeds.
- Leaves with few stomata.
- Extensive and profound root systems.
- Small, hard leaves.
Adaptations to Temperature Changes
- Production of sweat.
- Inactivity during the day.
- Nocturnal life.
- Panting.
- Subterranean habits.
Adjustments to Salt Concentration
- Some shrubs secrete salts and deposit selected salts in the soil.
- The cells of invertebrates have the same concentration of salts as the external environment.
- Osmotic regulation in freshwater fish.
- Osmotic regulation in saltwater bony and cartilaginous fish.
- Seabirds expel salt through salt glands.
Adaptations to Lack of Oxygen
- Increasing the number of red blood cells and hemoglobin.
- Increase in pulmonary ventilation.
Adaptations to Lack of Food
- Storage of reserves in the body.
- Storage of food in hidden places.
- Migration in search of food.
Environmental Changes and Living Things
Living organisms produce changes in the environment. They also produce changes in the environment due to biological action. Vegetation has a major influence on climate. There are also changes in the field produced by some living things.
Populations
Population: A group of organisms belonging to the same species living in the same territory and able to interbreed.
Types of Populations:
- Colonial: Organisms are interconnected and reproduce asexually.
- Family: Descendants come from a pair of animals and remain together.
- State: Populations originate from a female founder, with anatomical and physiological differences.
- Gregarious: Living together to help each other.
Dynamics of Populations
Biotic Potential: The difference between the birth rate and death rate.
Pyramid of Age: A graphical representation of the age distribution of individuals in a population.
Communities
Community: A group of organisms living in the same area and interacting with each other.
Biodiversity: Variety of species in a community.
Community Dynamics
Ecological Succession: A sequence of communities that occur over time.
Primary Succession:
- An uninhabited area is colonized by pioneer species with minimal nutritional requirements.
- The soil is enriched, progressively increasing biodiversity.
- Evolution ends, resulting in a progressive community with a maximum degree of stability, called climax.
Secondary Succession:
When a community loses an important part of its populations, it is said to have suffered a regression. After the regression, a new evolutionary process starts.
Soil
Soil: The medium where plants grow and animals live. The soil is a mineral component interacting with other organic components.
Interspecific Relations
- Predation: An organism feeds on another that it kills.
- Parasitism: An organism lives off another, obtaining food and harming it.
- Competition: Two species strive for the same resource.
- Phoresy: A special type of parasitism where one species takes advantage of another, but not for food.
- Commensalism: One species obtains food from debris left by another.
- Inquilism: One species finds protection or shelter in another of a different species.
- Symbiosis: Two species are mutually beneficial.
- Mutualism: A biological interaction similar to symbiosis, but the union is not permanent and essential.