Ecological Factors: Meaning And Classification Of Ecological Factors
- 1. Climatic Factors: These are temperature, rainfall, wind, pressure, sunlight or sunshine, humidity, etc.
- 2. Chemical Factors: These are made up of oxygen, carbon dioxide, mineral salts, water and nitrogen.
- 3. Edaphic Factors: These consist of soil, its water, chemical and physical composition, its pH, its nutrients, profile, structure and texture.
Full Answer
What factors are included in an ecosystem?
What are the six abiotic factors that affect the distribution of organisms in an ecosystem?
- light intensity.
- temperature.
- soil pH.
- soil moisture.
What does the term "environmental factors" mean?
Environmental factors Identifying and definitional attributes. Environmental factors make up the physical, social and attitudinal environment in which people live and conduct their lives. Collection and usage attributes. ... Source and reference attributes. ... Relational attributes
What is the factor that affect the ecology?
Which factors affect the biodiversity?
- Overexploitation. Overexploitation means harvesting species more rapidly than populations can replenish themselves or to do so at unsustainable levels. …
- Habitat Loss. …
- Invasive Species. …
- Climate Change.
What are all the biotic factors?
Biotic factors are all the plants, animals, fungi, protozoa and bacteria that in one way or another interact in a given physical space while Inert or abiotic factors are the conditions of light, temperature, minerals, soil and water, among others, found in a physical space that determine the existence of living beings.
Which are the ecological factors?
Some components can be seen, while others are invisible. Environmental factors include water, air, soil, climate, natural vegetation, and landforms. Pollution, deforestation, solid waste pollution, global warming, and climatic change are the top five ecological factors impacting human health and well-being.
What is the meaning of ecological factors?
Definition. An environmental factor that, under some definite conditions, can exert appreciable influence on organisms or their communities, causing the increase or decrease in the number of organisms and/or changes in the communities.
What are the five ecological factors?
Air, water, climate, soil, natural vegetation and landforms are all environmental factors. By definition, the environmental factors affect everyday living, and play a key role in bringing health differences across the geographic areas.
Which ecological factors are most important and why?
The most important environmental factor that effects atmospheric humidity is temperature. In the atmosphere, water is present in the form of water vapors. This is called atmospheric humidity. Evaporation of water from earth surface and transpiration from plants are the main cause of atmospheric humidity.
What are the four ecological factors?
The following points highlight the four types of ecological factors in plants. The types are: (1) Climatic Factors (2) Edaphic Factors (3) Physiographic Factors and (4) Biotic Factors.
What are examples of ecological?
For instance, the study of humans and their relationship with the environment gives us human ecology. Alternatively, studying a food chain in a wetland area gives wetland ecology while the study of how termites or other small organisms interact with their habitat brings about niche construction ecology.
What are the two main factors of ecology?
Biotic and abiotic factors Biotic factors include animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, and protists. Some examples of abiotic factors are water, soil, air, sunlight, temperature, and minerals.
What are the 6 factors of the environment?
Environmental factors include temperature, food, pollutants, population density, sound, light, and parasites.
What are ecological factors in business?
Ecological factors are natural forces that shape a macro environment. It is largely shaped by the ease of access to natural resources used in the production and distribution of a company's goods and services.
What are the importance of ecological factors to population of plants and animals?
State the importance of ecological factors to population of plant and animals (3 marks) Importance • They support metabolic activities: - Photosynthesis/nutrition - Respiration, etc • Supply of water is possible • Conducive environment for survival 2.
Why is soil considered as ecological factor?
Soils are key ecosystem components that provide rooting material for plants and are the habitat for the saprophytic organisms that recycle matter and nutrients through the decomposition process.
What are the 10 environmental factors?
10: Environmental FactorsOsmolarity.pH.Temperature.Oxygen Concentration.Pressure.Radiation. Key Words. Essential Questions/Objectives. Exploratory Questions (OPTIONAL)
What is ecological factors in business?
Ecological factors are natural forces that shape a macro environment. It is largely shaped by the ease of access to natural resources used in the production and distribution of a company's goods and services.
What are the two main factors of ecology?
Biotic and abiotic factors Biotic factors include animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, and protists. Some examples of abiotic factors are water, soil, air, sunlight, temperature, and minerals.
Why is soil considered as ecological factor?
Soils are key ecosystem components that provide rooting material for plants and are the habitat for the saprophytic organisms that recycle matter and nutrients through the decomposition process.
What are the importance of ecological factors to population of plants and animals?
State the importance of ecological factors to population of plant and animals (3 marks) Importance • They support metabolic activities: - Photosynthesis/nutrition - Respiration, etc • Supply of water is possible • Conducive environment for survival 2.
What are the two classes of factors that affect the behavior of a population?
Generally, they are classified into two classes: Abiotic and Biotic.
What are the factors that affect the remote environment?
The term ecology refers to the relationships among human beings and other living things and the air, soil, and water that support them. Threats to life-supporting ecology caused principally by human activities in an industrial society referred to as pollution. Specific concerns include global warming, loss of habitat and biodiversity, as well as air, water, and land pollution.
What are the three ecological factors that affect the growth of plants?
The three types of ecological factors are: (1) Climatic factors which include rainfall, atmospheric humidity, wind, atmospheric gases, temperature and light (2) Physiographic factors which include altitude, ...
What are the factors that determine the nature of vegetation?
Edaphic or soil factors play significantly important role in determining the nature of vegetation. These factors are mainly responsible for the more local differences between plant communities to be found in great climatic regions. As the plants depend upon soil for anchorage, water and mineral nutrients, edaphic factors go a long way to affect the vegetation.
Why do plants die in industrial areas?
In industrial area, sometimes plants die due to excess of smog. Plants on the road sides contain dust particles on then leaf surface. These particles influence photosynthesis and respiration, due to which growth is stopped and sometimes plants die.
What plants grow where nitrogen is deficient?
Insectivorous plants, such as Drosera (Sundew), Dionea (Venus fly-trap), Utricidaria (Bladder wort). Nepenthes (Pitcher Plant), grow where nitrogen is deficient. They make up the deficiency of nitrogen by eating the insects. Leaves of these plants are usually modified to capture insects, and they also secrete proteolytic enzymes to digest the insects and make nitrogen available to the plant.
Is light an ecological factor?
Light is the primary factor in photosynthesis and flowering. It is evident, therefore, that light has a very profound ecological importance. The study of light as an ecological factor is complicated by the fact that the sun emits not only the light rays used for assimilation, but in addition heat rays and ultraviolet rays, both of which influence many other processes in the plant. The table given below gives some idea of the action of different parts of the spectrum upon the living plant.
Is aeration a factor of ecology?
An excess of carbon dioxide, moreover, is poisonous to the plant. It is clear, then that aeration is a factor of the first importance in ecology.
What are the four types of ecological factors?
The following points highlight the four types of ecological factors in plants. The types are: (1) Climatic Factors (2) Edaphic Factors (3) Physiographic Factors and (4) Biotic Factors.
What are the edaphic factors?
While climatic factors determine the general layout of vegetation, the edaphic factors are primarily responsible for local differences found within the same climatic regions. With the very beginning of agriculture, the important part which soil plays in plant growth, was recognised and appreciated.
What are the factors of soil?
Thus the factors of the soil, the edaphic factors, are of supreme importance to the ecologist not only due to this intimacy of contact between the plant and the soil, which are strongly influenced by each other, but also due to the tremendous complexity of the structure of the soil. While climatic factors determine the general layout of vegetation, the edaphic factors are primarily responsible for local differences found within the same climatic regions.
Why is the presence of a continuous air system essential to the respiratory activity of underground plant organs and of the soil?
The presence of a continuous air system which ramifies all but waterlogged soils is essential to the respiratory activity of underground plant organs and of the soil microorganisms. Decay of roots, leaves the soil full of minute channels and borrowings also by worms and insects create minute passages through which oxygen can enter from atmosphere and the respiratory CO 2 passes out readily.
How does rain affect the environment?
Rainfall operates indirectly through the medium of other habitat factors, its direct importance being connected with its influence on the available water in the soil. Rain is also important in regard to its effect on humidity of the atmosphere.
Why is water important to plants?
The water content of the soil is more important than any other single ecological factor in causing differences between plant communities. Soil water is not only important in connection with direct water requirements of plants, it is, as far as it is known, also the medium by which mineral salts essential for plant nutrition enter the plants. Water is also responsible, as we have seen before, for most of the actual soil-forming processes.
How does wind affect plant growth?
If the wind velocity is high, the plant communities are frequently in danger of being uprooted and blown away by strong winds. The result is that in those regions, the vegetation is largely composed of species which have prostrate habit of growth and a very tenacious underground root or rhizomatous stem.
Ecological Factors Affecting Terrestrial Habitats
Topographic Factors: These factors are associated with the structure of the habitats e.g. effects of hilts, valleys, plains mountains and rivers. These factors bring about variation in the vegetation and types of animals in an area.
Ecological Factors That Affect Aquatic Habitats
Salinity: This refers to the concentration of salts in the water. Salinity affects the movement of water and salts across the body tissues of aquatic organisms. Salinity is low in fresh water, high in sea water and moderate in brackish water.
Ecological Factors Common To All Habitats
The ecological factors that affect both the terrestrial and aquatic habitats are mainly climatic e.g. temperature, rainfall, relative humidity, wind, high intensity hydrogen ion concentration (pH) and pressure. Of these factors temperature and rainfall determine the type of vegetation in a region.
Biotic Factors Affecting the Ecosystem
Biotic factors refer to the effects of plants and animals on themselves or one another. The biotic factors include:
What is the unit of ecological footprint?
The units for ecological footprint are global hectares (gha), which measure the amount of biologically productive land with a productivity equal to the world average.
What is the equivalence factor for corn and carrots?
The equivalence factor for your corn and carrots are both 2.52 gha/wha.
How to know if a farm is sustainable?
To see if your farm is sustainable, you should check whether the ecological footprint you calculated is less than the biocapacity of the land you are growing your crops on. If so, your farm is producing crops at a rate that the land can handle.
What is biologically productive land?
Biologically productive land and water can include arable land, pastures, and parts of the sea that contain marine life. The units for ecological footprint are global hectares (gha), which measure the amount of biologically productive land with a productivity equal to the world average. This land area is measured in terms of hectares, ...
What is the difference between yield and equivalence?
Equivalence factors, which differ depending on land use and year, help convert a specific land area into the appropriate number of global hectares . Yield factors take into account how different types of land can have smaller or larger impact on an ecological footprint calculation that factors in many types of products.
How to measure sustainability?
One way of measuring sustainability is the ecological footprint, which is a method of gauging humans’ dependence on natural resources. It calculates how much of the environment is needed to sustain a particular lifestyle.
How much land do you need to grow crops?
This means that in order to grow your crops, you would need 1.78 hectares of biologically productive land with a productivity equivalent to the world average. You can add in more terms to take into consideration other factors, like how much electricity you might need to run your farm.