Bio Ecology
Ecosystems
Have the potential to be sustainable for a long lime
Three requirements for sustainability in ecosystems.
Nutrient availability
Detoxification of waste products
Energy availability.
Nutrients
Nutrients can be recycled indefinitely and if this is done effectively, there should not be a shortage of chemical elements.
Detoxification of waste products
The waste product of one species are usually exploited as a resource by another species. For e.g. ammonium ions released by decomposers are absorbed and used as an energy source for the Nitrosomonas bacteria.
Energy availability
The sun is the source of energy for most ecosystems.
Mount Tambora eruption in 1815 –Dust caused the intensity of sunlight to decrease thereby causing massive crop failures. This is a temporary phenomenon.
How to obtain data by quadrat sampling
We can find out the distribution of organisms by random sampling using a quadrat
H0 (nul) hypothesis
The two species of angiospermophyta are found independent of each other. The plant species are distributed independently and there is no association between them
HA (alternet) hypothesis
The two species of plants are associated with each other (either positively or negatively)