Communities
A community is all the populations in a habitat. Organisms compete for resources. Abiotic factors include light, temperature, moisture and soil pH. Biotic factors include food, new predators, new pathogens and competition.
Adaptations can be structural, behavioural or functional. Extremophiles live in very harsh conditions.
Organisation of ecosystems
Photosynthetic organisms are producers. Food chains show feeding relationships. Sampling uses quadrats and transects. Carbon is cycled by photosynthesis, respiration, combustion and decomposition. Water evaporates, condenses and precipitates.
Biodiversity and humans
Biodiversity is the variety of living organisms. Pollution, land use, deforestation and global warming reduce biodiversity. Maintaining biodiversity matters for resources, medicine and climate stability. Land, water and air can all be polluted; peat destruction and deforestation release carbon dioxide.
Taught with support from Joseph Danso, Science Lecturer in London. Book a session.