Net Primary Productivity (NPP) = The
total amount of energy transferred
from sunlight to chemical potential
energy (biomass) less any used in
respiration.
Succession = When changes
to the environment causes
the plant and animal
species to change.
Primary Succession: This is where life
has to re-establish from bare rock.
Secondary Succession: Disturbance but
the soil remains. This could be due to a
forest fire. Pioneer species come in, then
intermediate.
Climax stage: What happens
after succession.
Population Sustainability
A limiting factor is an environmental resource or constraint that limits
population growth. These are abiotic and biotic factors.
Population growth curve - This has three stages. Stage
1 - Lag phase where a small population is
reproducing. Here the birth rate is higher than the
death rate. This is a period of slow growth.
Log phase - A period of rapid growth.
The population increases exponentially.
Here there are no limiting factors.
Stationary phase - Population growth is prevented by
external constraints. Here population size is generally
stable but it can fluctuate.
Competition
Interspecific competition - competition between different species.
Intraspecific competition - competition between members of the same species.
Interspecific competition results in the decline in resources for both
populations. Therefore less energy for growth and reproduction.
The less adapted species will be outcompeted.
Intraspecific variation - The availability of the resource determines the population size.
Stage 1 - When a resource is plentiful , all organisms have enough of the resource to
survive and reproduce. Stage 2 - Increased population means there are many more
individuals sharing the same number of resources. So population decreases in size.
Stage 3 - Less competition means less competition for the same resources. So
population grows again.
Ecosystems
Ecology: The name given
to the study of
relationships between
organisms and their
environment.
An ecosystem is the
area where living
organisms and
non-living conditions
interact with each
other.