Abiotic components

Temperature

• affects living things in 2 ways: (1) affects internal processes (2) affects behavior of an organism in ecosystem

• Living things function within temperature range of 0-50 degrees Celcius

Minimum temperature

• lower limit of temp. in which organisms can still function

Maximum temperature

• highest limit of temp. in which organisms can still function

Optimum temperature

• the temp. in which organisms functions best

Temperature in animals

In terms of the ability of animals to maintain their body temperature, they can be divided into:

Homeotherm- warm-blooded

1. maintain constant body temp. ex. birds & mammals

Poikilotherm- cold-blooded

1. they control their body temperature by external means; exs. fishes, amphibians & reptiles

Heterotherms

1. can be a homeotherm or a poikilotherm depending on environmental conditions; exs. bees, humming birds & bats

Temperature and Plants

Frostbite

Physiological drought

Physiological drought

• at very low temp. roots of plants become less permeable for water

Frost bite

• happens when ice crystals are formed in between cells

Water

Plants and animals must maintain a favorable water balance.

Xerophytes

1. plants growing in arid condition; possess succulent tissue

Hydrophytes

1. may be found submerge or floating in water; with air spaces in its body to float in water

1. Halophytes-

1. plants present in marine water; have a succulent body

Water Balance in Animals

Water intake

Water loss

Light

• main source of energy in all ecosystem

• important during photosynthesis

• for the formation of Vit. D in animals

shade tolerance

Photoperiodism

2 Ecological Characteristics of Light

Photoperiodism

1. reactions of living organisms to changes in day length

Shade tolerance

1. ability of plants to survive & grow in shade

Ozone

• protects the earth from too much solar radiation

Ozone depletion

• it is depleted by CFC's
  & NO

Short-day plants

Flowers when uninterrunted

darkness exceeds critical

night length

Long-day plants

Flowers when the period of

Darkness is less than critical

night length

Soil

• formed by mechanical or chemical weathering of rocks plus addition of humus

Soil texture

Clay- fine particles

Sand- coarse particles

Silt- medium sized

Loam

Mixture of clay sand slit soil

Soil moisture

• texture

• amount of rainfall

• slope of the land

• underlying rock types

Soil acidity

large amount of lime makes the soil basic while large amount of granite makes it acidic

Soil Structure

proper arrangement of soil particles; build up of larger soil

structure called peds which allows good drainage of water & gases

Soil color

1. iron is responsible for its reddish or brownish color; gray color lacks iron

Soil Profile

O-horizon: leaf litter, organic material

A-horizon: plough zone, rich in organic matter B-horizon: zone of accumulation

C-horizon: weathering soil; little organic material or life

R-horizon: unweathered parent material

Wind or air

• It is an agent pollination and seed dispersal

• Transpiration in plants proceeds faster because of wind
  Evaporation in animals proceeds faster in the presence of wind

• Very strong winds results to destruction of nature

food hunting and gathering

1. starving predator subjected to reduction in searching time for prey will lead to catastrophic results

reproduction & finding mate

1. organisms whose reproductive cycle is short needs to find a mate the fastest possible time

Locomotion

1. the speed of motion of an organism determines the distance it can travel in a unit time