BIO120H1 Chapter Part 3: Struggle for Existence - Part 3 (Distribution and Abundance as Things We Need to Explain)

• School: UTSG
• Department: Biology
• Course: BIO120H1
• Professor: Frederickson M. Wright S.

Document Summary

Bio120: struggle for existence, james d. thomson (part 3 . Distribution and abundance as things we need to explain) In association with lecture 13 & 14 and reading quiz 6. Species" ranges as a foundational component of ecology. Definition of the science of ecology: study of the factors determining the distribution and abundance of organisms. Most basic and coarsest formulation of a species" distribution is its geographic range comprised of areas of planet where species can be found; usually depicted as range maps. Global variation in climate is likely to draw outermost lines containing a species" range. Spatial variation in climate affects many organisms in parallel ways very different sets of characteristic organisms (biomes) in places with different climates. Understanding how climate varied and how it resulted in different biological communities was a significant intellectual breakthrough. Most general rules of biome level variation are simple: places with more precipitation develop vegetation that is taller, and usually more species.