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

THE NUTRIENT CYCLE 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.