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Living Environment and Ecological Factors

• The living environment encompasses all factors surrounding an organism
• It affects its growth, development, and survival
• Organisms and their environments influence each other

Types of Living Environments

• Aquatic environments
• Terrestrial environments
• Soil environments
• Organismal environments

Ecological Factors Defined

• Ecological factors are environmental elements directly or indirectly affecting an organism's life

Types of Ecological Factors

Abiotic Factors

• Includes non-living elements like climate, soil, and water
• These factors directly and comprehensively impact organisms, independent of population density

Biotic Factors

• Includes living organisms, including humans, and their relationships
• These factors have direct or indirect effects and depend on population density

Effects of Ecological Factors

• Light influences the intensity of photosynthesis and the length of day and night, affecting plant development
• Plants are classified into light-loving and shade-loving groups based on light requirements
• Light helps animals orient in space and influences their behavior and structure

Effects of Temperature

• Temperature affects metabolic processes, influencing the distribution, morphology, behavior, growth, and development of organisms
• Organisms are divided into poikilotherms and homeotherms based on their temperature regulation mechanisms

Interaction Between Organisms and the Environment

• Ecological factors affect organisms' shape, structure, and physiological state
• Light-loving and shade-loving plants differ in leaf structure, shape, and arrangement
• Organism activities can alter environmental factors like temperature, humidity, and air quality

Laws of Ecological Factors

• The ecological limit is the range of an ecological factor within which an organism can survive and thrive
• Survival is impossible if the impact of ecological factors exceeds the tolerance threshold

Distribution Considerations

• Species with broad ecological limits for many factors have wide distributions

Dependency

• Ecological limits depend on age and physiological state

Law of Combined Action

• At any moment, an organism experiences the combined effect of ecological factors

Law of Unequal Action

• Ecological factors affect different life activities

Biological Rhythms

• Biological rhythms are rhythmic responses of an organism to periodic changes, internal or external

Types of Biological Rhythms

External

• Changes are driven by external environmental factors
• Can vary daily, seasonally, monthly, or tidally
• Acacia tortuosa leaves open in the morning and close in the evening

Internal

• Changes relate to the physiological processes of an organism
• Cellular cycles, heart rate, and breathing patterns

Summary

• Biological rhythms are adaptations to periodic environmental change.
• These rhythms develop through natural selection to ensure organisms can adapt to environmental changes.
• Disrupted sleep patterns when traveling to different time zones
• Human physiological processes operate on daily rhythms, body temperature, heart rate, breathing