2009 4th July Biology Ecology and Nutrient Cycle of the Ecosystem Post ONE This is the first, and foremost post for the Biology Journal. Firstly, allow me to summarize what is going to happen in the next few post over these two weeks. In this first post, I will be talking about the Ecosystem, the history of the word and how ecologists study the Ecosystems and what they do during their course of study. Of course, researching the topic of Ecosystem, some things cannot be missed, things like the Food Web, the Nutrient Cycle, and last but not least, the Ecology of an Ecosystem. All of these will be covered in my next few posts. A summarized view. (Highlighted represents what I'm covering today)
This is not the final and confirmed skeleton that I will be following. You may, or may not have heard of the word, Ecosystem, and I believe, before I start my researching for my topic, it is crucial to know what the word, Ecosystem, means, and where does it come from. To understand the word, we would have to date back all the way to the 1930s. That is when Botanist Arthur Roy Clapham coined the word, Ecosystem. He used it to describe the combined physical and biological components of an environment, or in short, how they interact with each other. Also, at that same year, Ecologist Arthur Tansley redefined the term Ecosystem as not only the interaction between the physical and biological components, but also the different parts of phychical factors, forming what we know as the environment. Later, Transley also defined Ecosystems and "mental isolates", a place where the physical and biological components can live co-independently. He also used the word, ecotope, to describe the Ecosystem. The Ecosystems around the world contributes a great part to the study of ecology. When other people study Ecosystems, they basically study two main things, processes or any links between the biotic and abiotic in a certain Ecosystem. Main processes that people study would be energy transformation and biogeochemical cycling, which I will talk about in later posts. Other than studying what I have mentioned above, people also study Ecosystems in three different ways. They study the individuals (single plants and animals) that exists in a particular Ecosystem, they study the populations (different species of plants and animals) that exists in a particular Ecosystem, and last but not least, they study the communities (how different species interact with each other) that exists in the Ecosystem. When ecologists study individuals presence in the Ecosystem, they normally study on the psysiology, how they reproduce, their development, behaviour, best condition to live in, etc. When ecologists study populations presence in the Ecosystem, they would focus on the population growth, group behaviours, where do they live in (or their habitat), their rescource needs and lastly, what could cause them to go extinct. When ecologists study communities presence in the Ecosystem, they would examine how different populations and/or species interact with each other, which type of species are competiting for the same needs and rescource, or the predators and prey (the Food Web). I will zoom in more to the parts and components of the Ecosystem and the processes that happens in an Ecosystem in the next post. Meanwhile, do check for any updates! Bye! =) Link One Link Two Physical Parts of the Ecosystem that does not include living things, examples like soil, temperature or light. Biological Parts of the Ecosystem that are made up of living things, examples like plants and animals. Enviroment The place we live in that is around us. Ecotope The spacial extent of a certain species' relationship to the enviroment around it. Biotic Same definition as Biological. Abiotic Same definition as Physical. Physiology The study of life. Extinct Completely wiped out. |
By Zhan Peng from 2-6 Catholic High School Class 2-6 One Golden Rule NOTHING |