Ecology interactions among organisms part 1 - 30th and 31st July

 Ecology is the study of how living things interact with each other and with their environment.

 Biosphere...

 ...is the life supporting zone where the 3 zones meet, interact & make life possible

Lithosphere, hydrosphere & atmosphere are non-living components of the environment and
are called Abiotic.

Lithosphere is the surface of the earth, including aquatic systems, which contains most of the life. It is the lower atmosphere.

Biotic components include plants, fungi, animals and microbes living on earth.
Constant interaction between the abiotic & biotic components enables the transfer of food and energy, making it a stable and dynamic system.

Important terms to note!

A habitat is the physical place where a plant or animal (population) lives. It must supply the needs of organisms, such as food, water, temperature, oxygen, and minerals. A population is a group of living organisms of the same kind living in the same place at the same time. All of the populations in the same habitat interact and form a community.

The community of living things interacts with the non-living world around it to form the ecosystem.

A niche is the role and position of an organism (species) in the community. No two species can occupy exactly the same niche.

Ecosystems is a complex interaction of living and nonliving processes e.g. as small as a puddle or as huge as the Earth.

It consists of a community of living organisms interacting with each other and their environment to form a self-sustaining unit.

The environment consists of the abiotic and biotic components.

Habitats that have similar climate and plants are called biomes.

Note that: Living things cannot exist alone, there must be a relationship between them. Living things are adapted to the environment where they live.