Ecology Interview Question:

How does biological diversity relate to the characteristics of the abiotic factors of an ecosystem?

Submitted by: Administrator

The availability of abiotic factors, like light, moisture, mineral salts, heat and carbon dioxide, conditions more or less biodiversity of an ecosystem. Photosynthesis depends on water and light, and plants need mineral salts, carbon dioxide, and adequate temperature for their cells to work. In environments where these factors are not restrictive, the synthesis of organic material (by photosynthesis) is maximum, plants and algae can reproduce easier, the population of these beings increases, potential ecological niches multiply and new species emerge. The large mass of producers makes viable the appearing of a diversity of consumers of several orders. In environments with restrictive abiotic factors, like deserts, the producers exist in little number and less diversity, a feature that thus extends to consumers and conditions fewer ecological niches to be explored.
Submitted by: Administrator