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2.01 Living Things and Their Environment

Well, that was quick! Before we take off, let's run down a few key terms that you will need to know as you study ecology. That way we will all be on the same foot, so to speak, when we get to our first destination.


The Big Picture

Ecologists have organized the biotic and abiotic factors on earth into groups to make studying them easier.

Let's start our discussion with the largest grouping - the biosphere. The biosphere is the part of earth and its atmosphere that can support life. This includes the lower levels of the atmosphere, the upper portion of the Earth's crust, and the entire surface, including water.

There are several additional levels. Take a side trip into the Levels of Biological Organization Interactivity to investigate the remaining levels.

  1. Open the interactivity by clicking the following link.
  2. Take time to investigate each grouping.
  3. This is important stuff! You may want to take notes.

Levels of Biological Organization Interactivity

Text-only version

It's all about relationships -- Everything is connected!

Each part of an ecosystem is very important. Within an ecosystem each living thing has two special things - a niche and a habitat.

  • A niche is an organism's contribution to its environment and community - it's like its job; the special thing that it does.
  • The habitat is where the organism lives or the place in the ecosystem that it inhabits.
Consider this example:

Earthworms live in the soil. Their life in the soil has benefits:

  • As they burrow they loosen soil, aerating it for plant roots.
  • They also eat the soil, digesting the food in it and as they excrete wastes, they add nutrients to the soil, enriching it.

The soil is the earthworms' habitat. Its niche is to loosen, aerate, and add nutrients to the soil. This makes the soil more fertile, benefiting plants.

Do you get it?

  • Niche is the job - what it does as a member of the community.
  • Habitat is where it lives in the community.

What's your niche; your habitat?

Continue to the Travel Log tab to continue the Extreme Eco Challenge.

British airways plane © Kenton Jacobsen 2006, rotating earth with plane © jupiterimages.com 2006

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