What is Ecology?Ecology is the study of an organism's interactions with other organisms and the interactions with their ecosystem.
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Levels of Areas/Location
In ecology, there are various levels of organization. The first one has to do with areas and locations. First comes the biosphere which is all environments that can sustain life. The biosphere consists of all of the ecosystems on Earth. Next comes biomes that are classified by their climate. Temperature and precipitation determine the climate which is based on the latitude of different places. As shown in the picture to the right, the places closest to 0 degrees latitude are the warmest. There's also a wind system in the world that causes rain and dryness. Within each biome there are specific flora (plants) and fauna (animals) that can survive and flourish there. There is the...
--- salt water such as the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, coral reefs, kelp forests, and deep sea --- mixes such as deltas, bays, and estuaries The next level is ecosystems which is made up of biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors. Components of an ecosystem include biodiversity (the variety of species in an ecosystem), succession (the process by which an ecosystem changes to another until a climax community is reached), energy flow (different trophic levels such as producers and consumers), population and community dynamics (the density, dispersion, and range of a population), and cycling of materials. The next level is a community which is two or more species that live in close proximity. Then comes population which is a group of organisms of the same species. Finally comes the individual. Community Interactions |
The first type of community interaction is competition. This is when organisms that are either of the same species or different species are fighting over the same resources such as food or water. For example, hippos fighting over water space is competition.
The next type of relationship is predator prey where an animal, known as a predator, captures and eats another animal, know as the prey. An example of this is the relationship between lions (predator) and antelope (prey). Symbiosis is a relationship between two different organisms that live together. It can either be helpful or harmful.
Indain Red Scorpion EcologyBiome:
Indian Red Scorpions live in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka in the savannah. Specifically, they live in the tropical savanna climate. The average temperature each month is about 64° F. There is a wet and dry season there. During the dry season, it rains even less than 60 mm a month. During the wet season, monsoons occur and it rains a lot. Ecosystem: Indian Red Scorpions live in vegetated lowlands. They stay hidden in rocks for most of the day because they're sensitive to the sunlight. They also tend to live in rural areas, often near humans. Small animals live near them such as lizards, rodents, and insect. Birds also live by them. As well, other species of scorpions often live near them. Habitat: They live in "a wide range of microhabitats, including scrubland and veld with stones, red and clack soil in cropland, loamy, grassy and stony hillslopes and black soil in mango orchards, eucalyptus plantations, and under tree bark" [1]. Niche: A niche is the role that an organism plays in an ecosystem. As the number of organisms in the same niche increases, so does competition. Indian Red Scorpions's role in their ecosystem is to eat insects such as spiders, lizards, and mice. They provide food for birds. Trophic Level: Trophic levels are the positions that organisms can be in an ecosystem. The first level is producers. These include plants that make their own food. Next comes primary consumers such as rabbits that are herbivores. The next level is secondary consumers such as foxes (carnivores) that eat herbivores. After that there are tertiary consumers (carnivores) that eat secondary consumers. Eagles are an example of tertiary consumers because they eat foxes. The Indian Red Scorpion is a secondary consumer. They are carnivores because they eat insects, rodents, and lizards. They are eaten by tertiary consumers (birds). Type of Feeder: The Indian Red Scorpion is a predator. They use predation to feed themselves. This involves killing other animals so they can eat and survive. |