Biotic and abiotic factors determine the population size of a species in an ecosystem.

What are some important biotic factors? Biotic factors include the amount of food that is
available to that species and the number of organisms that also use that food source.
What are some important abiotic factors? Space, water, and climate all help determine
a species population. When does a population grow? A population grows when the
number of births is greater than the number of deaths. When does a population shrink?
When deaths exceed births. What causes a population to grow? For a population to
grow there must be ample resources and no major problems. What causes a population
to shrink? A population can shrink either because of biotic or abiotic limits. An increase
in predators, the emergence of a new disease, or the loss of habitat are just three
possible problems that will decrease a population. A population may also shrink if it
grows too large for the resources required to support it. When the number of births
equals the number of deaths, the population is at its carrying capacity for that habitat. In
a population at its carrying capacity, there are as many organisms of that species as the
habitat can support. The carrying capacity depends on biotic and abiotic factors. If these
factors improve, the carrying capacity increases. If the factors become less plentiful, the
carrying capacity drops. If resources are being used faster than they are being
replenished, then the species has exceeded its carrying capacity. If this occurs, the
population will then decrease in size. Every stable population has one or more factors
that limit its growth. A limiting factor determines the carrying capacity for a species. A
limiting factor can be any biotic or abiotic factor: nutrient, space, and water availability.
The size of a population is tied to its limiting factor.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/sanjac-earthscience/chapter/human-populations/

https://www.iisd.org/ela/blog/commentary/lakes-stratify-turn-explain-science-behind-
phenomena/

Answer
1. Yes, because this activity made me more aware about how those certain factors limit
populations and communities within ecosystems.
2. I’m really happy because this kind of learning activity got really helped me to deepen
my knowledge about the ecosystem and I’m looking forward to gain more from the
upcoming modules and activities of the course.

Answer
1. In my opinion, Ecology is the study that deals with the interactions between
organisms and their environment, as well as the balances that exist between these
relationships.
2. A population is defined as all members of one species living in a certain area,
whereas a community is defined as all different species living together within a specific
area.
3. A biological community requires the coexistence of groups of different species. For
instance, if you consider all of the plants, animals, bacteria and humans in your school,
you have a community. Think of all the cats, dogs and people in your neighborhood,
that’s a community as well. When we include non-living things such as rocks, soil, or
water, we have an ecosystem, which is larger than a community.

Answer
1. Ways To Increase Organic Matter Supply In An Ecosystem
Crop residue management
Utilizing forage by grazing rather than by harvesting
Integrated pest management
Applying animal manure or other carbon-rich wastes
Compost
Mulch or permanent soil cover
2. It is possible for two ecosystems to support different plants despite having identical
rainfall and temperature. Both have tall trees, shrubs, ferns and other plant types, but
because they are in different geographical locations, the species of each plant type
might be different.
3. During summer stratification, the hypolimnion can become depleted of oxygen
without an oxygen intake due to bacterial breakdown of organic materials, which
consumes oxygen. The epilimnion begins to cool in the late summer and fall, and
temperature zonation begins to break down.
4. When a lake stratifies, three different layers typically form. The shallowest layer is
that warm surface layer, called the epilimnion. The epilimnion is the layer of water that
interacts with the wind and sunlight, so it becomes the warmest and contains the most
dissolved oxygen. Though dissolved oxygen doesn’t play a direct role in lake
stratification and turnover, it is important for all the aquatic organisms in a lake that
require oxygen to survive. The deepest layer is the cold, dense water at the lake
bottom, called the hypolimnion. The hypolimnion often remains around 4°C throughout
the year, rarely gets any direct warmth from the sun and is isolated from the air at the
surface of the lake. The hypolimnion contains the lowest amount of dissolved oxygen
and can often become anoxic (zero dissolved oxygen) while the lake is thermally
stratified. The middle layer is the transition zone of water between the warm epilimnion
and cold hypolimnion, called the metalimnion. The metalimnion is a place where the
shallowest of the cool waters in the hypolimnion gradually warm up until they mix into
the epilimnion. The point of greatest temperature difference (and therefore density
difference) is called the thermocline and occurs within the metalimnion.
5. It is possible that the lakes would be much less productive with many dead zones.