BIOL 371 Lecture 14: BIOL 371 - lecture 14
Document Summary
Biol 371 lecture 14 microbial ecosystems. Ecosystem: a dynamic complex of organismal (microbial, plant, animal) communities and their abiotic surroundings, all of which interact as a functional unit. Habitat: a part of the ecosystem best suited to one or a few populations. Hence, an ecosystem can be comprised of many different habitats. Many microbial habitats are unsuitable for plants and animals. Some ecosystems are mostly, if not exclusively microbial (hot springs, solid ice, acidic environments, hypersaline environments. A group of microorganisms of the same species that residue in the same place at the same time constitutes a microbial population & may be descendants of a single cell. The types and rates of microbial activities possible are a function of the species present, their population sizes, and physiological status. Diversity of microbial species in an ecosystem is expressed in 2 ways: species richness: total # of different species present, species abundance: proportion of each species in an ecosystem.
