My Research - Post 1

The scope of my research covers the following areas:

1)         The definitions of a biome and a habitat

2)         The definition of a pond habitat

3)         The various roles and inter-relationship of organisms in the food web

4)         Energy flow in the ecosystem

Definition of Biome and Habitat                                 

A biome is a geographical area that covers a rather large region. There are a few biomes, namely freshwater biome, marine biome, desert biome, forest biome, grassland biome and tundra biome.

A habitat is the natural home of animals and plants. There are many different types of habitats, such as seashore habitat, pond habitat, field habitat, garden habitat and tree habitat. Our group settled on the freshwater pond habitat.

Definition of Pond Habitat

My research shows that the pond habitat is not only restricted to the water body itself but covers an area which stretches a few meters from the edge of the pond. Some of the conditions of our pond habitat are:

1)         As our pond is a freshwater pond, there is low salt content in the pond, resulting in the water in the pond having a higher water potential as compared to the organisms living in the pond. Hence, the organisms living in the pond have to adapt to the salinity of the pond.

2)         Given the cold climate of the pond habitat in Tundra biome, the water in the pond tends to freeze during winter period. Therefore, the organisms living in the pond habitat must be well adapted to this condition. For example, the plant in our food web can remain dormant under the icy surface of the pond.  The herbivore that feeds on the plant in our food web hibernates during the winter period when food is scarce.

Various Roles and Inter-relationship in the Food Web

A food web is an interconnected food chains in ecosystem. It shows how the organisms in an environment depend on one another for food. A food web can consist of producer(s), decomposer(s), herbivore(s), carnivore(s) and omnivore(s).

The consumers in a food web can be categorized into 3 groups, namely, primary consumer, secondary consumer and tertiary consumer. Herbivores are primary consumers as they feed on the producer (plant) or decomposer (fungus). Carnivores are those organisms that prey on other animals only and can be either secondary consumers (feed on herbivores) or tertiary consumers. Omnivores which feed on both plants and animals can be both primary consumers and tertiary consumers or both primary consumers and secondary consumers.

Consumers play an important role in the ecosystem as they ensure that the population of the animals are kept in balance and that the food web is sustainable.

Energy Flow in the Ecosystem

Energy is transferred along a food chain as follows:

 

Energy is lost at each link of the food chain due to:

• Undigested food which is egested by the consumer;
• Energy that is used up by the organism for carrying out life processes such as respiration.
• Uneaten body parts of the prey

The following pyramid of number shows that the number of consumers become smaller at each successive trophic level.