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ABIOTIC COMPONENTS. _____( 2009). Abiotic Components. Retrieved March 23, 2010, fromhttp://www.bcb.uwc.ac.za/Sci_Ed/grade10/ecology/abiotic/abiot.htm. ABIOTIC components. Non-living chemical or physical factors in the environment.
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ABIOTIC COMPONENTS • _____( 2009). Abiotic Components. Retrieved March 23, 2010, fromhttp://www.bcb.uwc.ac.za/Sci_Ed/grade10/ecology/abiotic/abiot.htm
ABIOTIC components • Non-living chemical or physical factors in the environment. • Solar energy provides practically all the energy for ecosystems. • Inorganic substances, e.g., sulfur, boron, tend to cycle through ecosystems. • Organic compounds, such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and other complex molecules, form a link between biotic and abiotic components of the system.
Light • Quality of light(wavelength or colour) • Light intensity( strength of the light) • Day length(length of the light period) • Climate - Includes the rainfall, temperature and wind patterns that occurs in an area. • Water • Water requirements of plants • Water requirements of animals • The water cycle in nature
Topography • Is the variety of shapes found on the landscape determined by slopes, elevation and aspects. • Soil • Soil texture • Soil air • Soil temperature • Soil water • Soil solution • pH • Natural disturbance -change of grasslands in many ways, adding to the diversity of these ecosystem. - flooding(broken trees, move soil); lighting storms (kill small trees).
Energy flow • Simplistically: • This pattern of energy flow among different organisms is the TROPHIC STRUCTURE of an ecosystem. heat Producers Consumers Decomposers heat
THEnutrientCYCLE IN ECOSYSTEM • In plants, these energy factories are called chloroplasts. They collect energy from the sun and use carbon dioxide and water in the process called photosynthesis to produce sugars. • Animals can make use of the sugars provided by the plants in their own cellular energy factories, the mitochondria. These produce a versatile energy currency in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This high-energy molecule stores the energy we need to do just about everything we do.
THE NUTRIENT CYCLE • Nutrients such as carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen exist in different forms. Unlike energy in ecosystems, these forms can be continuously recycled so that they can be used repeatedly by organisms.