BLG 144 Chapter Notes - Chapter 50: Ecological Study, Biome, Estuary
17 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
Ecology: study of how organisms interact with the environment. Goal: to understand the distribuion and abundance of organisms. 4 levels of ecology used in conservaion biology: efort to study, preserve, and restore threatened populaions, communiies, and ecosystems. Ecologists study how interacions between organisms and their environments result in a paricular species being found in a paricular area at a paricular pop size. These biologists then apply these date to preserve and restore species. Abioic: physical, ex: temperature, precipitaion, sunlight, wind. Bioic: living components, members of the same or diferent species. In freshwater and salt water, 3 physical factors afect the distribuion and abundance of organisms. Nutrient availability: important b/c they limit growth rates in the photosyntheic organisms that provide food for other species. Water flow: water movement critical, sweeps organisms away. Water depth: water absorbs and scaters light, amount and types of wavelengths available to organisms change dramaically as the depth increases.
