“Ecology Interview Questions and Answers will Guide us now that the Ecology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and their interactions with their environment. Learn more basic and advance concepts or get preparation of Ecology based jobs interview by our Ecology Interview Questions and Answers Guide.”
The sun can be considered the motor of the water cycle because upon its energy the transformation of liquid water into water vapor depends. Therefore, the sun is the energy source that makes water to circulate in nature.
Fossil fuels, like oil, gas, and coal, form when organic material is preserved from the complete action of decomposers, generally buried deep and under pressure during millions of years. Under such conditions, the organic material transforms into hydrocarbon fuels.
Fossil fuels are natural reservatory of carbon. When oxygen is present, these fuels can be burned and carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are released to the atmosphere.
Part of the organic material synthesized by the producers is consumed as energy source for the metabolism of the own producer individual. Other part is incorporated (into the body) and become available to heterotrophic beings of the ecosystem. In each following tropic level part of the organic material is used in the metabolism of the individuals of the level, other part is eliminated as waste and only a fraction is incorporated and become available as food for the following level.
Water is the main solvent of the living beings and it is necessary practically for all biochemical reactions, including as reagent of photosynthesis. Many properties of water are very important for life.
Carbon is the main chemical element of organic molecules; carbon dioxide is also reagent of photosynthesis and product of the energetic metabolism of the living beings.
Nitrogen is a fundamental chemical element of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins that in their turn are the main functional molecules of the living beings; nitrogen is also part of the nucleic acid molecules, the basis of reproduction, heredity, and protein synthesis.
Most living beings cannot use molecular nitrogen to obtain nitrogen atoms. Producers fix nitrogen mainly from nitrate (NO3-). Some plants also fix nitrogen from ammonia. Consumers and decomposers acquire nitrogen through digestion of mainly proteins and nucleic acids from the body of other living beings.
The most abundant nitrogen-containing molecule found in nature is molecular nitrogen (N2). The air is 80% constituted of molecular nitrogen.
Leguminous crop rotation and other crop rotations are used in agriculture because in these plants many bacteria important for the nitrogen cycle live. The leguminous crop rotation (or conjointly with the main crop) helps the soil to become rich in nitrates that then are absorbed by the plants.
Green manure, the covering of the soil with grass and leguminous, is a way to improve the fixation of nitrogen and it is an option to avoid chemical fertilizers.
The nitrogen cycle represents the circulation and recycling of the chemical element nitrogen in nature.
The nitrogen cycle depends on the action of some specialized bacteria. Bacteria of the soil called nitrogen-fixing bacteria present in plant roots absorb molecular nitrogen from the air and liberate nitrogen under the form of ammonia. The decomposition of organic material also produces ammonia. In the soil and roots (mainly of leguminous), a first group of chemosynthetic bacteria called nitrifying bacteria, the nitrosomonas, produces energy consuming ammonia and releasing nitrite (NO2). The second group of nitrifying bacteria, the nitrobacteria, uses nitrite in chemosynthesis releasing nitrate (NO3). In the form of nitrate, nitrogen is then incorporated by the plants to be used as constituent of proteins and nucleic acids and the element then follows along the food chain. Nitrogen returns to the atmosphere by the action of denitrifying bacteria that use nitrogen-containing compounds from the soil and release nitrogen gas (molecular nitrogen).
Image Diversity: the nitrogen cycle
The availability of abiotic factors, like light, moisture, mineral salts, heat and carbon dioxide, conditions more or less biodiversity of an ecosystem. Photosynthesis depends on water and light, and plants need mineral salts, carbon dioxide, and adequate temperature for their cells to work. In environments where these factors are not restrictive, the synthesis of organic material (by photosynthesis) is maximum, plants and algae can reproduce easier, the population of these beings increases, potential ecological niches multiply and new species emerge. The large mass of producers makes viable the appearing of a diversity of consumers of several orders. In environments with restrictive abiotic factors, like deserts, the producers exist in little number and less diversity, a feature that thus extends to consumers and conditions fewer ecological niches to be explored.
Biological diversity is the variety of species of living beings of an ecosystem. In ecosystems, more biodiverse, like tropical forests, a great variety of plants, microorganisms, and animals live; in ecosystems less biodiverse, like deserts, there are less variety of living beings.
Image Diversity: variety of life on Earth
Classical examples are the parasites of humans (host), like the trypanosome that causes Chagas' disease, the HIV virus (AIDS), the bacteria that causes tuberculosis, the schistosome that causes schistosomiasis, the hookworms, etc. Other examples are tree (host) and parasitic helminths (parasite), dog (host) and lice (parasite), cattle (host) and tick (parasite), etc.
Monoculture means that in a large area a single crop (only one species of plant) is cultivated. Therefore, monoculture does not contribute to the formation of a community with great variety of species in the area. Since there is only a single type of producer the types of consumers that can live in the area are also restricted.
The natural soil of the Amazon Rainforest is not too fertile but it is enriched by the vegetal covering made of leaves and branches that fall from the trees. Deforestation reduces this enrichment. In deforestation zones, the rain falls directly on the ground causing erosion, "washing" large areas (leaching) and contributing to make the soil even less fertile. Besides that, the deforestation disallows the recycling of essential nutrients for plants, like nitrogen. In this manner, those regions and their neighboring regions undergo desertification.
Image Diversity: Amazon Rainforest
In ecosystems with more biodiversity, the food webs and ecological interactions among living beings are more complex and diverse. In these ecosystems, environmental changes can easier be compensated by the multiplicity of available resources, foods, and survival options.
In ecosystems with less biodiversity, the individuals are more dependent on some beings that serve them as food and they interact with a small number of different species. In these ecosystems, generally, abiotic factors are restrictive and the species are more specialized to such conditions and more sensitive to environmental changes. Even small environmental harms can cause big disturbances in the equilibrium of the ecosystem.
Inharmonious, or negative, ecological interaction is that in which at least one of the participating beings is harmed.
Ecological interactions are classified as intraspecific or interspecific interactions and as harmonious or inharmonious interactions.
Intraspecific ecological interactions are those between individuals of the same species. Interspecific ecological interactions are ecological interactions between individuals of different species.
The main harmonious intraspecific ecological interactions are colonies and societies. The main inharmonious intraspecific ecological interactions are intraspecific competition and cannibalism.
Symbiosis and Other Interactions - Image Diversity: colonies animal societies
Colonies are functional integrated aggregates formed by individuals of the same species. Colonies are often confounded with a single individual. Examples are the coral reefs, by-the-wind sailors, and filamentous algae.
Societies are interactions for labor division and collaboration among individuals of the same species. Human societies are examples of ecological societies; other species, like bees, ants, termites, wolves and dolphins form societies.
Intraspecific competition practically occurs in all species, for example, the competition of humans for a job.
rendc.org
Whether it is technological solutions or user-oriented innovations, We have put together for you the best sources of HR Interview Questions and Answers, Tech Ideas, and Programming Tutorials."
Get all the latest information on rendc.org
© 2022 | All rights reserved.
RENDC
welcome to www.rendc.org
