Let’s Talk Trash!
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Ecosystems The plants and animals that are found in a particular location are referred to as an ecosystem. These plants and animals depend on each other to survive. In a delicate balance, these lifeforms help to sustain one another in regular patterns. Disruptions to an ecosystem can be disastrous to all organisms within the ecosystem. As an example, consider what happens when a new plant or animal is introduced into an ecosystem where it did not before exist. The new organism competes with the natural organisms from that location for available resources. These unnatural strangers can push other organisms out, causing them to become extinct. This can then affect still other organisms that depended on the extinct organism as a source of food. http://www.kidsgeo.com/geography-for-kids/0164-ecosystems.php What is an Ecosystem? An ecosystem includes all of the living things (plants, animals and organisms) in a given area, interacting with each other, and also with their non-living environments (weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, atmosphere). In an ecosystem, each organism has its own niche or role to play. Consider a small puddle at the back of your home. In it, you may find all sorts of living things, from microorganisms to insects and plants. These may depend on non-living things like water, sunlight, turbulence in the puddle, temperature, atmospheric pressure and even nutrients in the water for life. This very complex, wonderful interaction of living things and their environment, has been the foundations of energy flow and recycle of carbon and nitrogen.
Anytime a ‘stranger’ (living thing(s) or external factor such as rise in temperature) is introduced to an ecosystem, it can be disastrous to that ecosystem. This is because the new organism (or factor) can distort the natural balance of the interaction and potentially harm or destroy the ecosystem. Usually, biotic members of an ecosystem, together with their abiotic factors depend on each other. This means the absence of one member or one abiotic factor can affect all parties of the ecosystem. Unfortunately, ecosystems have been disrupted, and even destroyed by natural disasters such as fires, floods, storms and volcanic eruptions. Human activities have also contributed to the disturbance of many ecosystems and bionomes . http://eschooltoday.com/ecosystems/what-is-an-ecosystem.html
DEFINITIONS. . .
WHAT IS thermophilic - is an organism—a type of extremophile—that thrives at relatively high temperatures, between 41 and 122 °C (106 and 252 °F). Many thermophiles are archaea. Thermophilic eubacteria are suggested to have been among the earliest bacteria. Thermophiles are found in various geothermally heated regions of the Earth, such as hot springs like those in Yellowstone National Park and deep sea hydrothermal vents, as well as decaying plant matter, such as peat bogs and compost. Unlike other types of bacteria, thermophiles can survive at much hotter temperatures, whereas other bacteria would be damaged and sometimes killed if exposed to the same temperatures. Abiotic factors in an environment include such items as sunlight, temperature, wind patterns, and precipitation. Compare biotics A bionome is a formation of plants and animals that have common characteristics due to similar climates and can be found over a range of continents. Spanning continents, Biomes are distinct biological communities that have formed in response to a shared physical climate. Biomes are distinct from habitats, because any biome can comprise a variety of habitats.
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