TOPIC 04-BALANCE OF NATURE
THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
• The natural environment is made up of all living and non – living thing that occur naturally on earth, it includes; air, water, animals, plants, micro – 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 – 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 – organisms
ABIOTIC FACTORS: Are the non – living components of the environment e.g. light, water, rocks and soil.
ECOLOGY – Is the branch of biology that deals with the study of the relationship between living things and their natural environment
POPULATION – Is the total number of a certain species of organisms in a community. Example; number of frogs in a pond
COMMUNITY – 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 – 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 – This is a natural unit made up of living and non – living thing whose interactions lead to a self – sustaining system
• 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 – This include: