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ECOLOGY
SYMBIOSIS
What is Ecology?
Ecology is the study of what lives where and why. It is the study of the relationships between living things and how they interact with their environment.
What is an Ecosystem?
An ecosystem is made up of living and non-living things that interact with each other and their environment. Living organisms include all the plants and animals that live or visit a particular region.
- A close association or interaction between two or more different organisms where at least one of them benefits. The three main types of symbiosis are mutualism, commensalism and parasitism.
Parasitism - an interaction where one species (the parasite) lives in or on another species for all or most of the host's life. The parasite obtains food, shelter and other requirements from the host.
Commensalism - an interaction where one species benefits, while the other is neither helped nor harmed.
Mutualism - a type of interaction in which both participating organisms benefit.
FOOD CHAINS! :)
WHAT ARE DECOMPOSERS?
Biodiversity refers to the number of different species in a community. High biodiversity is when many different species of plants and animals live together. Low biodiversity refers to communities with a small number of different species. A community with high biodiversity is more able to survive changes in the environment as there are alternative food sources.
Decomposers are nature's recyclers as they break down the organic matter found in the dead bodies of plants and animals. They are chiefly the micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi in the form or yeasts and moulds that break down bodies of dead organisms and release compounds that can be used by producers
BIODIVERSITY !?
A simple pathway of the flow of nutrients in an ecosystem is called a food chain. It is called a 'chain' because each living organism provides a link in the chain and each organism depends on the organism that comes before it. One organism will feed upon another in a sequence of food transfers. Food chains rarely have more than six links or trophic levels and usually start with a primary producer and end with a predator.
An example of a food chain :
grass -> grasshopper -> frog -> snake -> kookaburra.
FOOD WEBS...
Each organism living in an ecosystem may have various food sources. The food web of an ecosystem where the frog, snake and kookaburra live might also consist of other living species such as plants, beetles, flies, ladybirds, lizards, mice, magpies and cats. Each organism interacts with others and if one of the organisms is removed, all other organisms are affected and the food web becomes unbalanced. Food webs also become unbalanced if a new organism is introduced.
