Ecosystem control, Biology

Assignment Help:

Ecosystem Control

Another important aspect of ecosystem functioning that is how it maintains its ecological balance. By now, it must be obvious to you that an ecosystem is a dynamic system, wherein a lot of events take place. For example, animals eat and in turn are eaten, moisture and nutrients flow in and out of the system, and weathers change. In spite of all these happenings the ecosystems persist and recover from the slight disturbances. This capacity of an ecosystem to self-regulate or self-maintain is called homeostasis. Isn't this ability of ecosystems to recover from certain perturbations remarkable? Let us take a simple example to see that how is this balance maintained in spite of the fight disturbances in the ecosystem.

Consider a grassland, when there is a drought, do not grow well. The mice that eat the grass become malnourished. When this happens, their birth rate decreases. And also the hungry mice retreat to their burrows and sleep. By doing so, they need less food and are less exposed to predators, so their death rates decrease. Their behaviour protects their own population balance as well as that of the grasses which are not being consumed while the mice hibernate. Such a mechanism is known as feedback regulation and is very important to maintain the ecological balance. It is the prime regulatory mechanism for the ecosystem as a whole. You may know that there are several kinds of organisms comprising an ecosystem. So all the organisms in an ecosystem are part of several different feedback loops. A feedback loop may be defined as relationship in which a change in some original rate, alters the rate of direction of further change. In the above example, we had deliberately taken a very small group of living beings that has primarily the mice and the plants.


Related Discussions:- Ecosystem control

Blood from the fetus circulates through the placenta, Blood from the fetus ...

Blood from the fetus circulates through the placenta. a) What substances pass (i) from the maternal to the fetal blood, (ii) from the fetal to the maternal blood?

Describe class ophiuroidea in general way, Describe Class Ophiuroidea in ge...

Describe Class Ophiuroidea in general way? Brittle stars have a central disc with five long, thin, flexible arms that can be detached from the body at will in times of danger.

Find the effective spring constant of the molecule, A Molecule of DNA is 2....

A Molecule of DNA is 2.17 um long. The ends of the molecule become strongly ionixed: negative on one end, positive on the other. The helical molecule acts like a spring and compres

Define genetic susceptibility factors for obesity, Define Genetic Susceptib...

Define Genetic Susceptibility Factors for Obesity? Some people inherit a tendency to become fat. Earlier, it was thought that genetic inheritance ranged from 66% to 80% but now

Mechanism of respiration in cockroach, MECHANIS M - Tergo-sternal m...

MECHANIS M - Tergo-sternal muscles are relaxed. Volume of cavity is increased and pressure is decreased. To full fill the pressure air comes through the passage & mixed

Which is structural isomers, Structural isomers: Select one: a. Have ...

Structural isomers: Select one: a. Have the same molecular weight b. Have the same connectivity c. Are mirror images d. All of the above e. None of the above

Define about the metabolism of copper, Define about the Metabolism of Coppe...

Define about the Metabolism of Copper? In food, most copper is present as Cu 2+ and some as Cu 1+ . This copper is bound to organic compounds especially protein. Gastric HCI p

How different is growth according to the biotic potential, How different is...

How different is the growth according to the biotic potential of a viral population from the growth according to the biotic potential of a bacterial population? The growth cur

Types of glials cells and their functions, Types of Glials Cells and their ...

Types of Glials Cells and their Functions In the nervous tissue, besides the nerve cells there is one other cell type -the neuroglia which is present in large numbers and occu

Which is the kind of nitrogen waste birds produce, Q Which is the kind of n...

Q Which is the kind of nitrogen waste birds produce? Why does this feature, besides being an adaptation to the terrestrial environment, also mean an adaptation to flight? Birds

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd