ABIOTIC COMPONENTS
description
Transcript of ABIOTIC COMPONENTS
ABIOTIC COMPONENTS
_____( 2009). Abiotic Components. Retrieved
March 23, 2010,fromhttp://www.bcb.uwc.ac.za/Sci_Ed/grade10/ecology/abiotic/abiot.htm
ABIOTIC COMPONENTS
Non-living chemical or physical factors in the environment.
Solar energy provides practically all the energy for ecosystems.
Inorganic substances, e.g., sulfur, boron, tend to cycle through ecosystems.
Organic compounds, such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and other complex molecules, form a link between biotic and abiotic components of the system.
Light Quality of light(wavelength or colour) Light intensity( strength of the light) Day length(length of the light period)
Climate- Includes the rainfall, temperature and wind
patterns that occurs in an area.
• Water Water requirements of plants Water requirements of animals The water cycle in nature
Topography- Is the variety of shapes found on the landscape
determined by slopes, elevation and aspects.
Soil Soil texture Soil air Soil temperature Soil water Soil solution pH
Natural disturbance-change of grasslands in many ways, adding to the
diversity of these ecosystem.- flooding(broken trees, move soil); lighting storms (kill
small trees).
ENERGY FLOW Simplistically:
This pattern of energy flow among different organisms is the TROPHIC STRUCTURE of an ecosystem.
heat
Producers Consumers
Decomposers
heat
THE NUTRIENT CYCLE IN ECOSYSTEM
In plants, these energy factories are called chloroplasts. They collect energy from the sun and use carbon dioxide and water in the process called photosynthesis to produce sugars.
Animals can make use of the sugars provided by the plants in their own cellular energy factories, the mitochondria. These produce a versatile energy currency in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This high-energy molecule stores the energy we need to do just about everything we do.
THE NUTRIENT CYCLE
Nutrients such as carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen exist in different forms. Unlike energy in ecosystems, these forms can be continuously recycled so that they can be used repeatedly by organisms.