5.1 What is an ecosystem?
Biosphere is an area of earth inhabited by living organisms, ecosytems exist within the biosphere and have distinctive features that affect organisms there. The various population in an ecosystem or habitat make up a community. A niche is the requirements that an animal has to survive in a habitat.
Species in a habitat depend on factors ABIOTIC (non-living) and BIOTIC (living)
Abiotic Factors Biotic Factors
- Light Competition for resources
- Climate Grazing, Predation, Parasitism
- Altitude (where on species benefits from
- Oxygen availabilty another)
- pH Factors and soil textures(drainage) Mutualism (both species benefit)
- Catastrophes (fires, earthquakes etc)