Biology 2483A Lecture Notes - 2Degrees, Organism, Acclimatization
5 Dec 2013
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Tolerance: trees must tolerate extreme temperatures because they are immobile. Avoidance: animals can migrate when conditions get rough. Ecological success is its survival and reproduction. Geographical range of an organism is determine by its physical environment which influences an organisms ecological success in two ways. Actual geographic distribution of a species is also related to other factors, such as disturbance and competition. Plants don"t move, so they are good indicators of the physical environment. Aspen distribution can be predicted by climate. The predicted distribution (left) is based on climatic factors that affect their reproduction and survival. The actual distribution (right) is limited by low temps (flowers can"t easily survive frost) and drought. Physiological ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and the physical environments that influence their survival and persistence. Physiological processes such as growth or photosynthesis have optimal conditions for functioning. Deviations from the optimum reduce the rate of the process.
