To truly know a species, we must look beyond its physical characteristics and take into account its ecological context:
The ecological profile of an organism is a wide-ranging description of how it engages with the living and non-living elements of its ecosystem. This profile reveals the subtle and essential relationships that bind ecosystems together.
An organism's physical home. It is the specific environment in which it lives, feeds, reproduces, and finds shelter.
An organism occupies an ecological niche and its function within the ecosystem. This is its diet, pattern of activity, behavior, and how it interacts with other organisms.
Ex:
Two birds might use the same tree, yet if one bird consumes insects and the other bird sips nectar, they fill up different niches. The niche accounts for why various species can coexist without competition.
The red bird is eating insects and the blue bird is sipping nectar. They both play different roles.
Its place in the overall ecosystem.
Some species are pollinators, like bees that transfer pollen from flower to flower; others are decomposers, like fungi that recycle organic material. Seed dispersers, predators, and prey all have roles in energy flow and nutrient cycling and impact the structure and health of their ecosystems.
Each species thrives in the desired habitats, which have been pre-conditioned through evolutionary adjustments.
| Aquatic environments | support animals like algae, fish, and frogs |
|---|---|
| Subterranean habitats | Burrowing animals like moles and earthworms are suited best |
| Terrestrial habitats | support deer, ants, and other terrestrial life |
| Arctic and tundra | need extreme cold resistance, which can be found in polar bears and lichens |
Non-living elements of the environment that impact survival
Organisms use abiotic components of the organisms to survive in these environments.
Ex:
In food webs that occur locally, organisms occupy a series of trophic levels.
Producers like plants and algae use sunlight as their source of energy. Herbivores like rabbits and caterpillars eat plants, whereas carnivores like hawks or wolves feed on other animals. Omnivores like bears and humans eat plant and animal material. Decomposers like fungi and bacteria break down nutrients from dead organisms. Apex predators are at the head of food chains, and they have very few natural predators, with an essential function to stabilize population balance.
Long-term biological interactions that are mutually good, bad, or neutral.
| Mutualism | both forms of organisms profit, like bees going to flowers to pollinate them as they collect nectar |
|---|---|
| Parasitism | one form of organism profits but at the expense of the other, like fleas on a dog |
| Commensalism | One organism profits but the other is neither helped nor hurt, like barnacles attached to whales |
Tiny companions that live on or within them
Ex: