BISC 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Ecosystem Ecology, Population Ecology, Hydrogen Sulfide
14 Mar 2020
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Document Summary
An overview of ecology: ecology is the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environments. Valuable insight can be gained from a discovery-based approach of watching nature and recording its structure and processes. Hypothesis-driven science performed in natural environments is fundamental to ecology. But ecologists also test hypotheses using laboratory experiments, where conditions can be simplified and controlled. Some ecologists take a theoretical approach, devising mathematical and computer models: many different factors can potentially affect an organism"s interaction with the environment. Biotic factors are all of the organisms in the area and the living component of the environment. Abiotic factors are the environment"s nonliving component and include chemical and physical factors, such as temperature, light, water, minerals, and air. An organism"s habitat is the specific environment it lives in and includes the biotic and abiotic factors of its surroundings.
