How does the environment affect the organism?

1. LAlawMedMBA says:

   October 20, 2009 at 11:45 am

   The environment affects the organisms in its ecosystem. An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms (biotic factors) in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical (abiotic) factors of the environment.

   Central to the ecosystem concept is the idea that living organisms are continually engaged in a highly interrelated set of relationships with every other element constituting the environment in which they exist. Eugene Odum, one of the founders of the science of ecology, stated: “Any unit that includes all of the organisms (ie: the “community”) in a given area interacting with the physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity, and material cycles (ie: exchange of materials between living and nonliving parts) within the system is an ecosystem.”

   Organisms have some impact upon the environment in which they live. For example, beavers produce dams that block streams and create ponds; bears raid bee hives by tearing open tree trunks and sometimes gorging on an entire honeycomb; woodpeckers remove beetles and grubs from tree bark.

   Humans have caused mostly bad effects upon natural environments. Human overpopulation and overdevelopment have depleted environmental resources, primarily through air pollution (e.g., greenhouse gases), water pollution (e.g., phosphate detergent eutrophication and algal blooms), soil erosion (caused by runoff from farmland), and deforestation (from slashing and burning to open land to agriculture). Humans have caused the destruction of ecosystems and massive extinction of wildlife.