Ecological Amplitude and Tolerance Range in Species

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