TOPIC 04-BALANCE OF NATURE
THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
โข The natural environment is made up of all living and non โ living thing that occur naturally on earth, it includes; air, water, animals, plants, micro โ organism, stones, cloud and rock soil.
IMPORTANCE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
It is a source of food for organisms.
Provides shelter and security for organisms.
It provides an appropriate setting for organism to reproduce and increase in number 4) It allows living and non โ living things to interact.
THE COMMONS TERMS IN STUDYING THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
BIOTIC FACTORS: Are all the living components of the environment. They are plants, animals and micro โ organisms
ABIOTIC FACTORS: Are the non โ living components of the environment e.g. light, water, rocks and soil.
ECOLOGY โ Is the branch of biology that deals with the study of the relationship between living things and their natural environment
POPULATION โ Is the total number of a certain species of organisms in a community. Example; number of frogs in a pond
COMMUNITY โ This refers to the populations of different organisms living in a specific area called a habitat. Example a grass land community could include grass, acacia trees, lions, antelope, giraffe and cheetah.
HABITAT โ Is a specific area with a specific set of conditions that is appropriate for a
certain community and where the community ties or it is the home of living organisms. Example; tropical rain forest, a desert, a swamp, a pond, a grassland and ocean
ECOSYSTEM โ This is a natural unit made up of living and non โ living thing whose interactions lead to a self โ sustaining system
โข An ecosystem is made up of communities.
BIOTIC FACTORS
Biotic factors are the living components in the environment. They can either be population factors or community factors.
1. POPULATION FACTORS โ This include: