Ecosystems, Biotopes, and Environmental Factors

Community, Biotope, and Ecosystems

Community and Biotope: All the living beings (or people) living in a given area constitute a community or biocenosis. A biotope is the physical medium occupied by a community.

Ecosystem: An ecosystem is the combination of the community (biocenosis) and the biotope.

The Science of Ecology

Ecology is the science that studies the interactions between living beings and others, and between them and the physical-chemical environment around them.

Environmental and Habitat Factors

The habitat of an organism or species is the type of place where it finds the conditions needed to live.

• Biotic factors: These are the factors that arise as a consequence of the presence of other living things, such as food, competition for space, or mutual aid.
• Abiotic factors: These are the factors that do not depend directly on living beings, although their activity can modify them, such as humidity, light, and temperature.

Living Organisms and Temperature

• Cold-blooded (Ectotherms): Their body temperature depends on external sources of heat, such as solar radiation.
• Endotherms: They can control their temperature by producing heat inside their bodies.

Humidity and Water Regulation

Humidity is defined as the ratio between the amount of water in its gaseous state contained in a volume of air and the maximum amount it might contain at the same temperature.

Living Creatures and Water

• Land animals lose water by evaporation or by eliminating waste. Since the proportion of water in the atmospheric air is always less than inside the organism, both values tend to match.
• Plants also lose water through their aerial parts.

Abiotic Factors of the Soil

• Texture: In sandy soils, large-sized particles predominate. In clay soils, very fine particle sizes predominate. Mixed soils have intermediate characteristics between the two previous types.
• Water and Air: Water needs are not the same for all organisms living in the soil. Air fills the soil pores that are not occupied by water and is in communication with the free atmosphere.
• Chemical Composition and pH: Salty soils have a specific flora and fauna, while neutral soils tend to be the preferred environment for most plants.