The Formation of Biomes
Biomes are classified in different types of ways. the five major biomes include aquatic, deserts, forests, grasslands, and Tundra. Biomes change throughout the years. For example, in a forest there are pioneer species such as shrubs, bushes, and trees. They grow over time and the trees become taller. There are two different types of growth. Exponential growth (a growth that is proportional with the increasing number) which usually happens in humans and logistic growth(population growth in which the growth rate decreases with increasing number) which has limits.
What is Ecology?
Ecology is the relationship between organisms with one another and their surroundings. This includes how the organism interacts with other species and the environment. Community interactions include competition, predator prey relationship, Symbiosis: Commensalism, Mutualism, and Parasitism.
Competition is when two species compete for the same resources. This usually happens when there are only a limited amount of resources. It is possible that during the competition for the resources no one wins. Both species can die.
Predator- Prey relationship is like predation. An organism eats another organism. An example would be a bear eating a fish or an eagle eating a pygmy sloth. The eagle would be the predator and the prey would be the sloth.
Commensalism is when a species can benefit from a relationship and not hurt the other. Its like me having a coral in a fish tank and then a clown fish decides to live in it. The clown fish benefits but it doesn't hurt me at all.
Mutualism is when two species live together happily. Its when both can benefit by working together. Like a bee and a flower, the bee uses the flower for nectar and pollen as food. Then the bee gets pollen on its legs and shares it with other flowers, allowing the flowers to reproduce. Both benefit from each other.
Parasitism is when a species helps no one but itself. This includes mosquitoes who feed off a host (or human) not killing it right away but slowly ending its life.
Sloth Moths & Symbiosis
There is a big mystery with sloths. When they are going to use the bathroom they go to the forest floor to do their business. Ecologists are trying to figure out why sloths get down from the tree dig a hole just to pee and poop. This doesn't make sense since it makes them more visible to their predators. Ecologist Jonathan Pauli and his team believe it all happens because of symbiosis. Sloths have fur that contain algae (have chlorophyll which gives sloths that green pigment on their skin) and moths. Moths?! After research, scientists found moth eggs in the sloth's poop. Presumably, when sloths go to the ground the moths in its fur crawl off and lay the eggs in the sloth's poop. In conclusion the team tested to see how the sloth moth relationship benefited the host. Pauli noted that the more moths present in the sloth's fur, the more algae they had. The supply of poop benefited the moth eggs, so in return they help create more algae in the fur. Then the sloth eats the algae, which contains more fats than their regular diet.