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Abiotic components include physical conditions and non-living resources that affect living organisms in terms of growth, maintenance, and reproduction. Resources are distinguished as substances or objects in the environment required by one organism and consumed or otherwise made unavailable for use by other organisms.
Ecosystems may be habitats within biomes that form an integrated whole and a dynamically responsive system having both physical and biological complexes. Ecosystem ecology is the science of determining the fluxes of materials (e.g. carbon, phosphorus) between different pools (e.g., tree biomass, soil organic material).
Ecosystem – Community of living organisms together with the nonliving components of their environment, or Biome – Biogeographical unit with a particular biological community Community (ecology) – Associated populations of species in a given area, or Biocoenosis – Interacting organisms living together in a habitat
Ecosystem ecology is the integrated study of living and non-living components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components such as chemicals , bedrock , soil , plants , and animals .
A rock, seen at low tide, exhibiting typical intertidal zonation. A specimen of the shell Pinna nobilis exposed by low tide. Because intertidal organisms endure regular periods of immersion and emersion, they essentially live both underwater and on land and must be adapted to a large range of climatic conditions.
Ecosystem diversity deals with the variations in ecosystems within a geographical location and its overall impact on human existence and the environment. Ecosystem diversity addresses the combined characteristics of biotic properties which are living organisms ( biodiversity ) and abiotic properties such as nonliving things like water or soil ...
The Earth was formed at 4.54 Gya, and the earliest evidence of life on Earth dates from at least 3.8 Gya from Western Australia. Some studies have suggested that fossil micro-organisms may have lived within hydrothermal vent precipitates dated 3.77 to 4.28 Gya from Quebec, soon after ocean formation 4.4 Gya during the Hadean.
Lentic ecosystems can be compared with lotic ecosystems, which involve flowing terrestrial waters such as rivers and streams. Together, these two ecosystems are examples of freshwater ecosystems. Lentic systems are diverse, ranging from a small, temporary rainwater pool a few inches deep to Lake Baikal, which has a maximum depth of 1642 m. [2]