BALANCE OF NATURE

TOPIC THREE

BALANCE OF NATURE

Interactive of Organisms in the Environment

Ways in Which Living Organisms Interact with the Non Living Component

of the Environment

The following are the interaction of organism in the environment

1.     Ground water and water from rain flow into streams and rivers

2.     The stream and rivers flow into lakes and ocean

3.     Water evaporate into the atmosphere from lakes and ocean and from plants through transpiration

4.     The evaporated water precipitates to form water vapor which condenses to form clouds

5.     Wind causes clouds to move for example from above the ocean to above the land

6.     Rain fall and absorbed by plants or form grounds water, and the cycle begins again..

INTERACTION AMONG LIVING ORGANISMS

1.     Competition:That organisms must compete for limited resources in struggle for life. For an organism to survive in an ecosystem it must compete with partner for the limited resources

.Example lions and leopards both hunt zebra, and so they are competitors

2.     Predation:Is the system in which one organism utilize the other as food. The eater is a predator while the eaten is a prey and a number of predators and preys regulate each other. e,g cats eat mice

3.     Symbiosis:This is where there is a close relationship or association between organisms this association could take various forms like mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism

4.     Mutualism is a relationship where two organisms benefit each other for example the rhizobium bacteria in the root nodules of legumes fix nitrogen into nitrate to be used by the plant

5.     Adaptation:Adaptation has enabled organisms to survive. They may be an atomically structurally physiologically or behavioural. Example some organisms are poisoners to their predator while others while others develop warming coloration

6.     Commensalism is the interaction that is beneficial to one organism and is neutral to the other organism. For example when a bird builds a hole or a nest in a tree

7.     Parasitism is the association where one organism benefit while the other is harmed. Example plasmodium that cause malaria to human

Food Chain and Food Web

The Meaning of Food Chain and Food Web

FOOD CHAIN

Is the sequence of living things in which each organism is the food of the next in the sequence.

1.     Grass →Zebra→Lion

2.     Maize plant→grasshopper→Frog

FOOD WEB

Is made of interconnecting food chains

The Components of a Food Chain and Food Web

Producers

Are organism that can manufacture their own food for example green plants and green bacteria

Primary consumers

They are organisms that feed on producers for example rabbits, buffalo andsheep

Secondary consumer

They are organisms that feed on primary consumer

Decomposers

These organisms feed on dead matter and break it down thereby facilitating decomposition. For example bacteria and fungi

The Difference between Food Chain and Food Web

Distinguish food chain from food web

Differences between food chain and food web

Food chain                                                                                                    Food web

1.  It consists of the single straight pathway through which food energy travels in an ecosystem

2.   Usually members of the higher trophic level feed upon a single type of organisms of lower trophic level

1.   It consists of a number of inter connected food chains through which energy travels in an ecosystem

2.   Usually members of the higher trophic level feed upon many organisms of lower trophic level

3.  Isolated or separate food chains increases the instability of the ecosystem

4.  It does not have any effect on improving the adaptability and competitiveness of the organisms

3.  Presence of complex food webs increases the stability of the ecosystem

4.   More complex food webs improves the adaptability and competitiveness of the organisms

Diagrammatic Representation of a Food Chain and Food Web

Construct a diagrammatic representation of a food chain and food web

Food chain

Food chain example

1.     Grass →cow→human being

2.     Phytoplankton→fish→bird

Food web

The Significance of Food Chain and Food Web in Real Life Situation

The following are the significant of food chain and food web

1.     Food chains and webs help in the flow of energy from producers to consumers and from one trophic level to another, without which energy flow would be impossible.

2.     Food chain studies have had an important role in ecotoxicology studies tracing path ways and biomagnifications of environmental contaminants.

3.     Learning how the food chain works enable us to understand the importance living organisms that make up the food chain and how the ecology is balanced. This is crucial since any interruption in food chain could lead to ecosystem imbalance.

4.     Food chains and webs show the flow of energy through an ecosystem.

5.     Understanding the effect of polluting the natural environment enable us to avoid or control environmental pollution so as to maintain natural ecosystems.