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CS_Ch9_Environment 2/28/05 1:13 PM Page 536 A Vote for Ecology Part B: Animal Adaptations to the Environment 1. Review what you have learned about each of the organisms in Part A. By reading across the table, you should be able to compare and contrast the characteristics of the five animals you have studied. a) For each animal, select two functions it performs as part of its way of life. Describe how its structure enables it to perform these functions. BIODIVERSITY Organization in the Biosphere Bio Words biosphere: the area on Earth where living organisms can be found biotic: the living components of an ecosystem abiotic: the nonliving components of an ecosystem The biosphere is the area on Earth where living organisms can be found. Most are found in a narrow band where the atmosphere meets the surface of the land and water. Life forms are referred to as the biotic, or living, component of the biosphere.The abiotic, or nonliving, component is made up of items like rocks, soil, minerals, and factors like temperature and weather. ORGANIZATION IN THE BIOSPHERE population organism 536 Active Biology CS_Ch9_Environment 2/28/05 1:13 PM Page 537 Activity 1 Diversity in Living Things Just as you did in this activity, ecologists begin their studies with the organism.Their investigations are designed to explore how the individual interacts with its biotic and abiotic environment. However, an organism does not live on its own. It tends to form a group with others of the same species. (A species is a group of organisms that can reproduce successfully only with others of the same type.) These groups of species are called populations.When more than one population occupies an area, a community of organisms is created. The abiotic component as well as the community form a functional unit known as an ecosystem. The Importance of Biodiversity and the Human Threat In this activity you looked at some very different species of organisms. Scientists have discovered and named close to two million species.That would mean looking at a lot of different organisms.Yet, it may be less than 20 percent of the species that exist! There are thousands of organisms in the world that scientists know very little about. More than 750,000 species of insects have been identified.Yet, it is thought that at least twice that many exist. Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the sum of all the different types of organisms living on Earth. Bio Words organism: an individual living thing species: a group of organisms that can interbreed under natural conditions and produce fertile offspring population: a group of organisms of the same species occupying a given area community: all the populations of organisms occupying a given area ecosystem: a community and the physical environment that it occupies biodiversity: the sum of all the different types of organisms living on Earth ecosystem community 537 Coordinated Science for the 21st Century