Diploma of Environmental Monitoring & Technology
Study module 2
Ecological abiotic factors
MSS024003A
Environmental
principles (Ecology)
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Ecological Principles (Ecology)
Study module 2 - Ecological abiotic factors
INTRODUCTION
Water as an abiotic factor
2
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LIGHT AS AN ABIOTIC FACTOR
5
Other interesting light responses
6
TEMPERATURE
7
CLIMATE AS AN ABIOTIC FACTOR
7
GEOGRAPHICAL & GEOLOGICAL ABIOTIC FACTORS
8
Physiographic factors
Soil
8
8
PHYSIOCHEMICAL ABIOTIC FACTORS
10
NUTRIENTS
11
TIME
12
THE LIVING EDGE
13
Biomes
13
THE BIOGEOGRAPHICAL REGIONALISATION OF AUSTRALIA (BRA)
14
ASSESSMENT & SUBMISSION
18
Knowledge questions
Assessor feedback
Assessment & submission rules
References & resources
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Introduction
The word abiotic literally means ‘non-living’. An abiotic factor is any non-living parameter,
component, aspect or factor that controls the distribution (geographic spread) and
abundance (numbers of individuals) of biological organisms on Earth.
If you were planting new flowers in the garden, you would be constantly aware of the
requirements for the optimum growth of those flowers; sunlight, water and good fertile soil.
Without these requirements (and carbon dioxide), the flower would perish. The same
concept applies for all life on the planet. Organisms need certain abiotic factors in order to
survive. Furthermore, even when an organism has the basic factors to survive abiotic factors
also control how well an organism lives.
Think of this fact from your own perspective. Let’s assume you have the required factors to
live; oxygen, water and nutrients. Unfortunately it is only 14OC, which is not cold enough to
kill you, but is certainly cold enough to stop you living life to the fullest. You are not alone –
this problem exists for all organisms on Earth.
Abiotic factors can be broken down into two categories;
◗
Physical resources
◗
Physical factors
Physical resources are those abiotic factors that an organism requires to survive. For a plant,
it is sunlight, water, carbon dioxide and nutrients (and soil to a lesser extent). Physical
resources for animals include oxygen, water and nutrients. For animals and plants to lack
any one of these physical resources means death – they are absolute factors (you are
absolutely dead without oxygen).
Physical factors are those abiotic factors that limit the degree (quality) of life that can exist.
They also tend not to discriminate between plants or animals. Examples include the pH (acid
and base) of water, degree of salinity and temperature. When factors such as these
determine the presence or absence (as opposed to the life or death) of a species in an
environment, these factors are referred to as limiting factors.
Class Exercise 2.1
Use the table below to list as many physical factors that you can think of;
Enter text
Enter text
Enter text
Enter text
Enter text
Enter text
Enter text
Enter text
Enter text
Enter text
Enter text
Enter text
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Early studies by natural historians (the old name for ecologists and the like) realised the
importance of abiotic factors and the control they had over an organism’s existence.
Scientists such as Justus von Liebig (who developed the Law of the Minimum in 1840) and
Victor Shelford (who developed the Law of Tolerance in 1913) have made significant inroads
into our understanding of the science and effects of abiotic factors.
Liebig’s Law of the Minimum basically states that even though an organism might utilise
several abiotic factors, it is often only one of these factors that is truly limiting the
optimisation of the organism’s growth, and whatever this factor may be it is termed the
limiting factor. An example of this is found with the relationship between phosphorus (an
important nutrient) and algal blooms in waterways. Controlled experiments conducted at
the Experimental Lakes in America showed conclusively that you can put whatever nutrients
you want into a lake and you won’t get an algal bloom until there is enough bio-available
phosphorous to cause the bloom, which, in this case, makes the phosphorus the limiting
factor. Nutrients other than phosphorus can be the limiting factor.
Shelford added to Liebig’s law by stating that there are both upper and lower limits of
physical factors an organism can tolerate (whether they be the limiting factor or not). The
most obvious example of Shelford’s Law is temperature. No organism can live below zero,
and no organism can live above 100OC (extreme examples). The diagram below shows how
this works.
Figure 2.1 – Shelford’s Law of Tolerance (Krohne 2000)
Water as an abiotic factor
Without doubt, all life on Earth needs water, and a good understanding of how water moves
around our planet is important. Water is cycled through the biosphere in what is called the
hydrological cycle. This cycle is how water is transported through all of the spheres of the
environment, and is also the source of waters purification process. This cycle is immensely
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important in ecology, because if the water wasn’t cycled, it would affect the current
availability, and without the purifying properties of the cycle, we would see many dirty
stagnant pools of water on Earth.
Freshwater is ‘distilled’ from salt water as it goes through the evaporation process in the
cycle as the sun's rays cause fresh water to evaporate from sea water and the salts are left
behind. Vaporised fresh water rises into the atmosphere, cools, undergoes condensation
and falls as rain over the oceans and the land, which start the whole process over again.
A smaller amount of water also evaporates from bodies of fresh water. Since land dries
above sea level, gravity eventually returns all fresh water to the sea, but in the meantime, it
is contained within the standing water bodies such as lakes and ponds, flowing water
(streams and rivers) and groundwater. When rain falls, some of the water sinks or
percolates into the ground and saturates the earth to a certain level. The top of the
saturation level is called the groundwater table or simply the water table. Groundwater is
also sometimes located in a porous layer, called an aquifer that lies between two sloping
layers of impervious rock.
Figure 2.2 – The hydrological cycle. Note that the numbers refer to water in trillions of liter’s
per day (Manahan 2000).
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Light as an abiotic factor
Sunlight is the primary source of energy in nearly all ecosystems. The entire food chain
starts with organisms that are photosynthetic (termed primary producers), and so without
sunlight, all life (excluding some microbes) dies, not just the plants. Light is a form of energy
of which there is a broad spectrum, called the Electro-Magnetic Spectrum (EMS). Our light
comes from the Sun which produces spectrum of light that is mainly in the form of visible
light and heat (infra-red, IR), with some ultra-violet (UV) and ‘traces’ of lower energy
radiation (microwaves, radio waves etc.).
As mentioned, the light the Earth receives is used by plants in photosynthesis, and is
therefore possibly the most important of all abiotic factors, as without photosynthesis there
is no oxygen produced and all respiring organisms could not live (although many microorganisms could live without oxygen). Light energy also affects other factors such as
temperature through interactions with water, land and air.
Figure 2.3 – The Electromagnetic Spectrum (Sturman & Tapper 2000)
Factors such as quality of light, intensity of light and the length of the light period (day
length) play an important part in an ecosystem.
Quality of light (i.e. the colour)
Plants absorb blue and red light during photosynthesis (the green is not absorbed, which is
why plants appear green!). In terrestrial ecosystems the quality of light does not change
much. In aquatic ecosystems, both blue and red light are absorbed by water, and as a result,
do not penetrate deeply into the water. To compensate for this, some algae have additional
pigments which are able to absorb other colours as well.
Light intensity ("strength" of light)
The intensity of the light that reaches the earth varies according to the latitude and season
of the year. The southern hemisphere receives less than 12 hours of sunlight during the
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period between the 21st March and the 23rd of September which is less intense than the 12
hours of sunlight during the following six months.
Day length (length of the light period)
Certain plants flower only during certain times of the year. One of the reasons for this is that
these plants are able to "measure" the length of the night (dark periods). Historically, it was
thought that it is the day length (light periods) to which plants reacted and this
phenomenon was termed photoperiodism. Photoperiodism can be defined as the relative
lengths of daylight and darkness that affect the physiology and behaviour of an organism
Other interesting light responses
◗
Phototropism - is the directional growth of plants in response to light.
◗
Phototaxis - is the movement of the whole organism in response to a unilateral light
source
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Photokinesis - Variation in intensity of locomotory activity of animals
◗
Photonasty - Photonasty is the movement of parts of a plant in response to a light
source, but the direction of the stimulus does not determine the direction of the
movement of the plant.
The absence of light
Light requirements of plants differ and as a result distinct layers, or stratification, can be
observed in an ecosystem. Plants which grow well in bright sunlight are called heliophytes
(Greek helios, sun) and plants which grow well in shady conditions are known as sciophytes
(Greek skia, shade). Stratification is often seen in tropical rainforest with a distinctive
canopy (top), mid storey and ground covering plants (understory).
Figure 2.4 – Stratification of terrestrial vegetation (Comprehensive Plant Survey Methods)
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Temperature
The distribution of plants and animals is greatly influenced by extremes in temperature, for
instance the difference between summer and winter, or even day and night. As well as
temporal differences, temperature is also controlled by latitude (it is colder towards the
poles) and altitude (it is colder at higher altitudes). The following are examples of
temperature effects with ecosystems:
◗
the opening of some flowers
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the seed of some plants (biennials) normally germinate in the spring or summer
◗
deciduous trees lose their leaves in winter and enter into a state of dormancy
◗
Cold blooded and warm blooded animals
◗
in desert conditions many cacti flower at night and are pollinated by nocturnal insects
◗
hibernation in winter is common in reptiles and some mammals
◗
some animals collect fat or other resources during favourable periods
◗
seasonal movements occur in some animals (migration)
Climate as an abiotic factor
Climate is the long term average of several meteorological parameters, such as rainfall,
temperature, humidity and wind speed. Differences in climates at various locations around
the Earth are the primary cause of the different patterns of vegetation we see.
As plants are very limited by availability of water, it makes sense that the distribution and
abundance of plants is controlled by water availability, as a result, the most important
factors to consider when dealing with climate are the distribution of temperature and
moisture. Significant climatic conditions that affect the ecology of an area include;
◗
El Nino and La Nina
◗
Mid latitude desertification
◗
Altitude and latitude
◗
Maritime and continental climates
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Rain shadow
◗
Slope effects
Class Exercise 2.2
Your teacher will hand out an outlined map of Australia. Use the map to identify the major
climatic zones in Australia. Go to www.bom.gov.au for details of the Koppen Classification of
climates.
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Geographical & geological abiotic factors
There are several factors in this class, including altitude, latitude, longitude (to a lesser
extent), and the relative position of landmass to sunlight, water catchment capacity, soil
conditions and groundwater behaviour.
Physiographic factors
These factors are those associated with the physical nature of the area, such as altitude,
latitude, slope of land and the position of the area in relation to the sun or rain-bearing
winds. As mentioned, altitude plays a role in vegetation zones as nothing grows above a
height of about 4000 meters. Latitude creates similar zones and gradients as it is colder
towards the poles
Slopes are important when considering the temperature of the soil surface on land with a
northern slope, on level and on land with south facing slopes. Slopes that face the rainbearing winds are covered with forest, whilst the slopes on the ‘dry’ side are in a rainshadow and dry scrub is often found growing on these slopes
Soil
The abiotic factors in soil include soil texture, soil gases, soil temperature, soil water, and
soil acidity / basicity etc. Also included are the chemicals that make up the soil (such as
minerals and carbon)
Soil texture
The size of soil particles varies from microscopic particles called clay to larger particles called
sand. Loam soil is a mixture of sand and clay particles Sandy soils are suitable for growing
plants because they are well aerated, excess water drains away quickly, they warm up
quickly during the day and is easy to cultivate. Clay soils are suitable for plant growth
because they hold large quantities of water and are rich in mineral nutrients. They are
unsuitable in that they are badly aerated, soon becomes waterlogged and is difficult to
cultivate; it also cold during winter. Loam soils possess desirable properties of both sand
and clay - it has a high water retaining capacity, good aeration, good nutrient content and is
easily cultivated.
Soil Gases
Soil air is found in those spaces between the soil particles that are not filled with soil water.
The amount of air in a soil depends on how firmly the soil is compacted. In well-aerated soil
at least 20% of its volume is made up of air.
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Soil temperature
Soil temperature is an important ecological factor. It has been found that the temperature
of soil below a depth of about 30cm is almost constant during the day but seasonal
temperature differences do occur. At low temperature there is less decay by
microorganisms.
Soil water
Soil water can be classified into three types, namely hygroscopic, capillary and gravitational
water. Hygroscopic water occurs as a thin film of water around each soil particle. Capillary
water is that water held in the small spaces between the soil particles and gravitational
water is the water which drains downwards through the soil.
Acidity or alkalinity of soil (the pH of the soil) influences the biological activity in soil and the
availability of certain minerals. Thus the pH of soil has a greater influence on the growth and
development of plants.
Figure 2.5 – Important soil factors [source]
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Physiochemical abiotic factors
This class refers to all of the physical and chemical properties of the matter of the Earth.
Being a little bit more specific, includes the physical properties of water (melting points,
boiling points and waters ability to dissolve certain materials) as well as the chemical
properties, such as the acid or base nature of the water.
The following parameters are considered important physiochemical abiotic factors;
◗
pH (i.e. acidic or basic)
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Surface area
◗
Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and other dissolved gases (e.g. CO2)
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Turbulence
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Average wind speed
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Dissolved salts (such as NaCl, or table salt, but there are many others!)
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Sands, silts and clays
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Temperature
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Humidity
At this point, ecologists will frequently ask important questions regarding the response of
organisms to these abiotic factors. Every organism in its environment has needed to adapt
to deal with the abiotic conditions it faces. The ability of species to adapt is directly related
to the concept of ‘ecological fitness’.
Class Exercise 2.3
Examine the list above and identify which abiotic factors are physical and which are
chemical.
Abiotic factor
Physical or chemical
pH
Click here to enter text.
Surface area
Click here to enter text.
Dissolved gases
Click here to enter text.
Turbulence
Click here to enter text.
Average wind speed
Click here to enter text.
Dissolved salts
Click here to enter text.
Sands, silts and clays
Click here to enter text.
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Nutrients
Nutrients are defined loosely as “any substance that aids the growth of an organism”, but in
this instance, we are referring to those nutrients that are not ‘organic’, so we are interested
in nutrients such as salts, metals, non-metals and the like. We will deal with organic
nutrients in another part of these notes. Nutrients are discussed in great detail in a later
chapter, so at this stage you only need to know the basics.
Generally, inorganic nutrients are divided into two groups;
◗
macro-nutrients
◗
micro-nutrient
We are only interested in the basic macro-nutrients which form the major cycles in nature.
These are listed below (note that Carbon is dealt with later);
◗
Nitrogen
◗
Sulfur
◗
Phosphorus
◗
Potassium
These are critical abiotic factors (physical resources) as they are in essence the ‘tools’ by
which the ecosystem uses and transfers energy, as well as performing a wide range of other
functions. The word nutrient effectively means food (as we eat food to assimilate the
nutrients within the food).
Class Exercise 2.4
Visit the following website, http://www.ozcoasts.org.au/glossary/def_i-l.jsp and answer the
following questions about nutrients in our environment.
(a)
What is a limiting nutrient?
Click here to enter text.
(b)
What species other than Nitrogen can be a limiting nutrient?
Click here to enter text.
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Time
If we can call time an abiotic factor (it is difficult to define, and the consequences could be
placed in other classification), then time plays an essential role as an abiotic factor in
ecology. Time has significant variation of scale, from seconds to eons and everything inbetween. When discussing the role of timescales in ecology you will arrive at many obvious
and somewhat logical conclusions. Listed below are some common timeframes.
Less than 12 hours
In ecology, very little happens in time periods under one day. Certain plants exhibit
movements that do occur in short times, such as flowers opening, but generally speaking,
less than twelve hours is irrelevant in ecology (more relevant in plant physiology).
Daily scales (night/day)
The concept of the day-night cycle is of massive importance in ecology, as two common
words come into play; diurnal (sleeps during night, like us) and nocturnal (sleeps during day,
like possums). There are also two in-between categories; metaturnal (sleeps partly during
day and partly during night, such as cats), and crepuscular (active during dusk and dawn, like
mice and many insects)
Plants need light, and therefore can only access this vital abiotic factor for approximately
twelve hours a day (depending upon their location and the season). As a result, most plants
have undergone considerable adaptations to cope with this interrupted exposure, such as
flowers that close, and plants that bend toward the light.
Seasons
The concept of seasons is also massively important in ecological terms. For most nonequatorial areas, there are four seasons (summer, autumn, winter and spring), but for the
majority of the equatorial regions (termed tropical) there is merely dry or wet seasons (such
as found in northern Australia). The tropical areas are commonly associated with monsoonal
like climates found between the two tropics; cancer and Capricorn.
Years
Obviously the timeframe of years is important to long lived organisms (we all want to grow
old), but ecologically, yearly changes occurs mainly in disturbed areas through a process
known as succession (discussed in later chapters).
Ages, Eons and longer times
Longer timeframes play even greater roles and can involve ice ages and the like. Obviously
the ecosystem will change, and we are in the most rapid time of change the world has ever
seen. Unlike time of ice ages, we are experiencing global warming, and as there is no
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geological record of this happening in the past, we simply don’t know what will happen to
the ecosystems of Earth in the future.
The living edge
We have learnt that even without life, even with only the three phases of matter; solid,
liquid and gas, there is a variety of processes occurring on Earth, each of which have the
potential to control (or at least influence) the distribution and abundance of organisms.
Furthermore energy is flowing and moving all over the place in a variety of different forms
which have a profound effect upon living things. There are major gradients over the planet
such as energy, temperature, pressure and moisture, and when you add living things to a
planet with so many Abiotic Factors, you see the world as we know it?
Biomes
Observing the gross vegetation patterns on maps such as in figure 2.5 above allows us to
indirectly observe the influence of abiotic factors. We can see the wet and dry, hot and cold
areas, as well as polar influences and equatorial. This abiotic diversity has resulted in a wide
variety of vegetation forms to evolve, which of course we need to classify.
The vegetation that is scattered somewhat haphazardly over the surface of the Earth has
been broken down into various classifications over the years, but the most common
classification in use today is the biome. A biome is defined as a major terrestrial unit of
vegetation and is characterised by a specific form of vegetation. There are nine major biome
classifications (and therefore specific forms of vegetation) in use today;
◗
Tundra
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Evergreen coniferous forest
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Temperate deciduous forest
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Temperate grassland
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Chaparral
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Desert
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Evergreen broadleaf forest
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Tropical savannah
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Mountains (complex zonation)
So what can we observe from such maps. Well, if we look at the equatorial regions, we can
see that they are rich in tropical rain forest, temperate forest and grassland. There is lots of
water here because of the heat from the sun, and rain that forms from adiabatic cloud
formation
As a direct result of the air rising at the equator, and the adiabatic loss of water via
condensation and precipitation, dry air moves north and south from the equator and falls
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over the mid latitudes (approximately 30O north and south. Note that true ‘mid latitudes’
would be at 45O N & S, but 30O is the convention as it is the middle of the habitable zone).
This results in deserts: the mid latitude desertification.
Figure 2.6 – The biomes of the world. (Addison Wesley Longman Publishing)
Generally, we can observe lateral global stratification of vegetation types which is indicative
of abiotic change as we move towards the poles. But also some anomalies: Indian tropics
(monsoonal influence), and no southern tundra. Overall terrestrial vegetation patterns are
governed by abiotic factors, and as vegetation forms the bottom of the food chain, all life is
governed by abiotic factors. As ecology is the study of the distribution, abundance and
interactions of organisms, an understanding of abiotic factors is critical in understanding
ecology. Furthermore, as environmental technicians, most of the measurements you take
will be abiotic and not biotic.
The Biogeographical Regionalisation of Australia (BRA)
The latest method of examining vegetation patterns is to use biogeographical methods.
Again, we are introduced to the concepts of scale. Biogeographic scales are global, synoptic
and regional. Traditional classification included methods such as using climate types, rainfall
patterns, soil types, and temperature gradients, but they were used individually.
Biogeographical methods are landscape based models including climate, geomorphology,
landform, lithology, as well as including the dominant flora and fauna of an area.
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These new methods are considered far more accurate and meaningful to people that use
the information (as you will later!). To highlight this, outlined below are the biomes and
biogeographic maps at different scales: the global biomes, the Australian BRA, the NSW BRA
and the Hunter valley BRA. As you examine each of the different scales, you will notice how
much detail there is missing from each one. This places further emphasis on the importance
of scale in examining ecological systems.
Figure 2.7 – The Biogeographic Regions of Australia (IBRA 2000)
Comparing the IBRA image (Fig 2.7) to that of global biome imagery (Fig 2.6), we can clearly
observe the unique biogeographical characteristics of our country, and it highlights just how
complex the Australian ecology really is. So what can we see in this map?
We can clearly see the mountain influence on the east coast, and the tropical influence up
north (which are all dark areas on the black & white image above). The arid regions (which
are the lighter colours) are also clearly visible.
If we zoom in on the vegetation patterns of NSW, we can see even more detail. In Figure 2.9
below, we can see the even distribution of vegetation in the Western Plains region, the
complex vegetation zones of the Great Dividing Range, and a distinct change in vegetation
patterns on the coast (north and south of the Hunter River).
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Figure 2.8 – Biogeographic regionalisation of NSW (IBRA 2000)
Figure 2.9 – Vegetation map of the Hunter Valley (IBRA 2000)
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Finally, we zoom in even closer. In the map of the Hunter Valley (Figure 2.10), we can clearly
observe distinct vegetation gradients in all directions (although you do have to look!). North
of the Hunter River we see wet schlerophyl forest, with either grass or shrub understory.
West we see open grass based woodlands. South we see a strong dominance of dry
schlerophyl forest.
The four images that we have examined here show how abiotic factors control the
distribution and abundance of life on Earth at all scales.
Class Exercise 2.5
For each of the ecological characteristics found in the Hunter Valley listed below, identify
both the dominant abiotic factors and the potentially limiting factor for that characteristic.
(a)
Wet sclerophyll forest to the north
Click here to enter text.
(b)
Dry sclerophyll forest to the south
Click here to enter text.
(c)
Open woodlands to the west
Click here to enter text.
(d)
Mallee and heath in the north-west
Click here to enter text.
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Assessment & Submission
This section provides formative assessment of the theory. Answer all questions by typing
the answer in the boxes provided. Speak to your teacher if you are having technical
problems with this document.
Knowledge questions
◗
Type brief answers to each of the questions posed below.
◗
All answers should come from the theory found in this document only unless the
question specifies other.
◗
Marks shown next to the question should act as a guide as to the relative length or
complexity of your answer.
1. List three tasks you might perform when assessing a site. 1mk
Click here to enter text.
Mark ☐
☐
2. What is an abiotic factor? 1mk
Click here to enter text.
Mark ☐
☐
3. Define the term physical resource and provide one example for both plants and animals.
3mk
Click here to enter text.
Mark ☐
☐
4. Define the term physical factor and provide one example for both plants and animals.
3mk
Click here to enter text.
Mark ☐
☐
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5. How does the Law of the Minimum differ from the Law of Tolerance? 4mk
Click here to enter text.
Mark ☐
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6. In very simple terms, explain how the water cycle works. 4mk
Click here to enter text.
Mark ☐
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7. Provide three examples of how light behaves as an abiotic factor. 3mk
Click here to enter text.
Mark ☐
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8. Provide three examples of how temperature behaves as an abiotic factor. 3mk
Click here to enter text.
Mark ☐
☐
9. Provide three examples of how climate behaves as an abiotic factor. 3mk
Click here to enter text.
Mark ☐
☐
10. Explain how latitude and altitude behave as abiotic factors. 2mk
Click here to enter text.
Mark ☐
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Ecological Principles (Ecology)
Study module 2 - Ecological abiotic factors
11. Provide three examples of how soil acts as an abiotic factor. 3mk
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12. Choose two physiochemical factors and use Shelford’s Law of Tolerance (fig 2.1) to
explain how the distribution and abundance of a hypothetical organism are affected.
6mk
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13. Define the term nutrient. 2mk
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14. Provide three examples of how time behaves as an abiotic factor. 3mk
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15. What is a biome? 1mk
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16. List the names of three biomes. 1mk
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Ecological Principles (Ecology)
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Study module 2 - Ecological abiotic factors
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Ecological Principles (Ecology)
Study module 2 - Ecological abiotic factors
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References & resources
Resources
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http://www.environment.gov.au/parks/nrs/science/bioregionframework/ibra/index.html
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http://www.environment.gov.au/
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http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/sci_ed/grade10/ecology/abiotic/abiot.htm
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http://www.umanitoba.ca/institutes/fisheries/
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http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/9e.html
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Ecological Principles (Ecology)
Study module 2 - Ecological abiotic factors
References
Note that some of these resources might be available from your teacher or library
Krohne.D.T. 2001. General Ecology 2nd Ed. Brooks Cole Publishing. Pacific Grove CA USA.
Manahan, S.E. 1999. Environmental Chemistry 7th Ed. CRC Press LLC. Boca Raton. USA.
Sturman. A. Tapper. N. The Weather & Climate of Australia & New Zealand. Oxford
Publishing, Melbourne, Australia.
Carlton, C. Chalson J. 2002. Plant Survey Methods (Comprehensive). NPWS (National Parks
Association of NSW inc. Canberra. Australia.
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