Discuss how the second law of thermodynamics applies to food chains/webs. Be sur

Question

Discuss how the second law of thermodynamics applies to food chains/webs. Be sure to include a discussion of trophic levels in your answer.

What role do genetic mutations play in evolution? Include an example in your answer.

What are endemic species? Why are they more vulnerable to extinction than other species?

What is carrying capacity? What factors might keep a population from reaching its carrying capacity? What are the possible outcomes when a population exceeds its carrying capacity?

What is ecological succession? Explain the basic difference between primary and secondary ecological succession.

Explanation / Answer

1- The second law of thermodynamics states that whenever energy is transformed, there is a loss energy through the release of heat. This occurs when energy is transferred between trophic levels aswe can see in a food web. When one animal feeds off another, there is a loss of heat or energy in the process. Additional loss of energy occurs during respiration and movement. Hence, more and more energy is lost as one moves up through trophic levels. This fact lends more credence to the advantages of a vegetarian diet.

2- Mutation gives new genetic material to progeny.So , that progeny survive betterly in continuing changing enviornment. It gives from different physical structure to different molecular & genetical arrangement to progeny. By this way , day by day progeny will be changed from their parents and stpwise evolution is going.

in other words it allows some of the parts of DNA or genes to be modifies, sometime its usefull like devloping hard shell in groundnutts,or harmfull like mutation in atomic bombing.

3- those spicies which are rare and are ristrected in small areas by them self they do produce in only soome of the area because of which they are vulnerable.They have incurred the greatest number of extinctions in the past 400 years. Changes in their habitat or losses to their populations can eliminate them. Many of these species were confined to areas that measured only a few square miles.

4- crrying capacity is the largest number of individuals of one species that an ecosystem can support over time. so for keeping a population from reaching its carrying capacity is population control and as well as saving resources of enviorment, if the population grows of an species it should be control before the time reaches to carrying capacity.

if it exceeds its carrying capacity then some individual will not have enough resources and will die or move to another location.

5- ecological succession is the natural development of a series of biotic communities at the same site, one after the other till a climax community devlops which is a more or less stable community that is in perfect harmony with the enviorment of the area.

primary succession-

-takes long time for completion arround 1000 year or more.

-it occurs in lifeless area.

- soil is absent in the begning of the process.

-it takes long time to reaching climax stage

-pioneer community somes from outside

-reproductive structures or propagules of any previous community are absent.

Secondary succession-

takes less time 50-200 years.

-it occurs in an area which has been denuded recently and previously inhabited.

-humans are present from the begning

-inter seral communities are a few compares to primary succession.

-pioneer community devlops partly from previous occupants and partly from migrants .

reproductive structures of the previous occupants are present in the area.

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