Ecosystems: Biocenosis, Biotope, and Ecological Factors
Ecosystems: Biocenosis, Biotope, and Their Interactions
Key Components of an Ecosystem
- Ecosystem: The combination of the biocenosis, the biotope, and the relationships established between them, as well as the relationship between the biotope and biocenosis.
- Community or Biocenosis: The whole population that shares a territory and establishes relations between them. It is composed of all living things.
- Biotope: The territory occupied by a biocenosis, presenting specific physical and climatic characteristics. It can be aquatic or terrestrial and represents the physical environment.
Abiotic and Biotic Factors
- Abiotic Factors: Variables that characterize the biotope or physical environment, as well as the influences between them and, above all, living beings.
- Biotic Factors: Living organisms in the ecosystem, the relationships established between them, and the influences these have on the environment.
The Physical Environment: Abiotic Factors
Temperature
Temperature has a crucial influence on the development of life. Below certain limits, freezing occurs, preventing any cellular activity.
Water: Fundamental Ecological Factor
- Great Solvent: Involved in multiple functions associated with the life of ecosystems.
- Photosynthesis: Plants absorb mineral salts dissolved in water and transport nutrients in solution throughout their interior.
- Respiration: Fish and other aquatic animals take oxygen dissolved in water for respiration.
- Temperature Regulation: Water heats or cools slower than air or land, regulating temperature.
- Density: Reaches its maximum density in a liquid state, unlike the majority of chemicals.
- Structural Support: Acts as a skeleton in many living beings, providing body shape (e.g., jellyfish).
Intraspecific Associations
- Occur in individuals of the same species.
- Family: One male and one female of the same species whose purpose is to procreate and care for their children.
- (Male + female) = monogamous family.
- (Male + several females) = polygamous family.
- Population: An association of several individuals of the same species occupying a given territory.
The Most Important Populations
- Colonies: Formed by bodies joined together and interconnected, caused by a progenitor (e.g., coral colony).
- Gregarious: Individuals formed by distinct families that come together to achieve a specific objective (e.g., schools of fish).
- State: Individuals present anatomical and physiological differences, and a division of labor is established between them (e.g., bees).
Interspecific Associations
Established between individuals of different species:
- Symbiosis: Two or more individuals of different species are associated, living in an intimate relationship of mutual benefit.
- Competition: Two individuals of different species compete to make a profit.
- Commensalism: One species (commensal) benefits from feeding on leftover food from another (host) without the host being affected by their presence or action.
- Predation: An individual of one species (predator) eats another individual of a different species (prey) to feed.
- Parasitism: An individual (parasite) lives at the expense of another individual (host), which is seriously undermined.
- Inquilinism: An individual (tenant) is associated with another individual of a different species for accommodation.
Adaptation to Living in the Environment
Adaptation: The adjustment between the various bodies and their environment.
- Morphological Adaptations: Affect the shape of some body parts or the general anatomy.
- Physiological Adaptations: Affect the functioning of some organs that generate substances to facilitate survival.
- Behavioral Adaptations: Affect certain habits that living beings acquire or communicate to survive.
Ecosystem Trophic Levels
Trophic Level: All living things in an ecosystem that obtain matter and energy in a similar way.
- Producers: Autotrophs that capture solar energy and use it to convert inorganic matter into organic matter through photosynthesis.
- Consumers: Heterotrophs that get matter and energy by feeding on other organisms or decomposing organic matter.
- Primary Consumers (Herbivores): Eat producers directly.
- Secondary Consumers (Carnivores): Feed on primary consumers.
- Tertiary Consumers: Eat secondary consumers.
- Decomposers: Bacteria and fungi that decompose organic and inorganic remains of other living beings and transform them into useful material for producers.
Biomass: The matter generated as a result of the activities of animals and plants.
Environmental Concerns
Water Pollution
Urban wastewater, industrial waste, misuse of fertilizers and pesticides, and oil dumping at sea, causing oil slicks.
Soil Contamination
Atmospheric pollutants carried by rainwater to the soil, sewage that contaminates soil when used as irrigation water, and solid waste accumulated in landfills, causing soil deterioration.
Sustainable Development: Guaranteeing the needs of present generations without jeopardizing those of future generations.