Ecological Amplitude Quiz: Understanding Tolerance Range in Species

Study Notes

Plants and Environment

Plants are the only living organisms capable of building up organic matter from inorganic material.
Animals depend on plants, either directly as herbivores or indirectly as predators.

Distribution of Plants

Plants are found in diverse environments, including high mountains, hot springs, riverbanks, deserts, and dry rocks.
The species that inhabit the earth vary from place to place, influenced by environmental differences.

Habitat and Environment

Environment refers to everything that surrounds a living organism and affects its life.
Habitat is a specific place or situation in which a plant grows, such as a stream bank or a salt marsh.

Ecological Success

A species' ecological success depends on its capacity to cope with the physical environment and associated species.
Key factors influencing ecological success include:
- Relations with the physical environment
- Relations among individuals of the same or different species

Plant Relations

Plants have essential requirements and ecological amplitudes (characteristic potentiality for growth within a limited range of environmental conditions).
Plants differ in:
- Competitive capacity
- Capacity of association
- Reproductive processes
- Resistance to grazing or other treatment
- Susceptibility to parasites
- Mutualistic and commensal relationships

Environmental Factors

Environmental factors influence plant growth, including:
- Water
- Light
- Humidity
- Heat
- Cold

Ecological Amplitude

Ecological amplitude refers to a species' characteristic potentiality for growth within a limited range of environmental conditions.
Ecological amplitude determines whether a species will be present in a certain habitat or community.
Phenological differences, such as flowering seasons, are often caused by variations in ecological amplitude.

Zonation

Zonation of plants is often caused by differences in ecological amplitude of species.
Factors influencing zonation include:
- Water content of the substratum
- Salt content of the soil
- Length of the growing season

Description

Test your understanding of ecological amplitude, also known as tolerance range, which refers to the range of environmental conditions in which a species can grow and survive. Learn how it affects the presence of a species in a particular environment.