Agriculture Technology
Ecology and Wildlife Unit
Chapter 2 Notes
Agriculture:
The production of plants and animals in controlled environment for use by humans.
Agriculture does not destroy ecology, but it will change ecosystems.
The fundamental of ecology are:
- All living organisms are classified by using taxonomy.
- species
- genuses
- family
- orders
- classes
- phylum or division
- Organisms – individual living plant or animal.
- Populations – group of similar organisms in the same area.
- Community – all the various populations within a certain area.
- Ecosystem – a community of living organisms plus all of the nonliving features of the environment (water, soil, rocks, etc)
- Biosphere or ecosphere – all ecosystems put together.
Balanced ecosystems are when living organisms and non-living resources are maintained at a constant level.
An unbalanced ecosystem exists when the community of living things uses up nonliving resources faster than they can be replaced.
How agriculture affects ecosystems:
Agriculture has caused the change of or elimination of some habitats, and the misuse of chemicals (pesticides) has destroyed certain species of animals and plants.
Biological Succession
Is the change that occurs as one kind of living organism replaces another organism in an environment. It goes on all the time.
- Primary succession –occurs where organisms did not exist before.
- Secondary succession –occurs when an ecosystem is damaged or partly destroyed and remnants of the former community still exist.
A niche is a description of the role that an organism fulfills in an environment
Competitive advantage exists when one organism is better able to survive in an environment than another.
When two or more organisms require the same resource and that resource is scarce, ‘competitive exclusion principle’ enters. It states that these organisms cannot co-exist.
How well an organism can survive a change of its environment is called its range of tolerance.
Ecology and wildlife notes chapter 2page #1