By Fawne Andreoli, Jarod Russell, Jasmine Gallegos, Neil Drummond.

SCIENCE!

All biotic (Living) things require certain things in order to retain survival at a healthy rate. Things such as Food, Water, Shelter, and Strong Mates for reproduction are needed in order to survive and continue the survival of the race as a whole.

An Organisms Basic Needs

Of course, all species are different in the way they eat, what they eat, and so on. For example, species are named by what they eat. Humans are known as Omnivores, specifically because they eat both Plants and other species. However, a creature such as a Tyrannosaurus Rex is known as a Carnivore, because it eats only other species. And then, there are species that exist off of a diet plainly made of plants. These species are known as Herbivores. In this case, a Rabbit could be labeled as a Herbivore. This tends to vary quite a bit, as there are so many different species that eat many different things.

What Are The Specifics?

Another subject specifically labeled as a necessity would be water. No species is generally that different in the way that it acquires water, nor is it really too different in the way that it consumes water. In general, all species just take from the water around them, acquiring and consuming as they please. Water is a huge requirement for survival, and so it is consumed by all species.

Specifics Continued (Water)

All species, whether they be Omnivore, Herbivore, Carnivore or any other type of something-vore that I haven’t covered require shelter, or habitat, or in simplicity… a home. In order to survive and protect themselves from the natural occurrences around them, They need to be able to create a home.

Specifics Continued (Shelter)

Yet another interesting survival component that species need for existence for be that of mating. All species that produce sexually must be able to find a mate that would be able to bear a child or help to create it. Of course… how else would a species continue to exist if it couldn’t create offspring to continue the cycle of life?

Specifics Continued (Mating)

In order to successfully live a happy, healthy life, an organism also requires teamwork. While some animals are more of “Lone Wolves”, Most animals exist in large numbers, co-existing in order to provide survival for themselves as well as the other species in their herd or pack.

Specifics Continued (Teamwork)

Animals, whether they are carnivore, omnivore, or herbivore, require nutrients that can be obtained by eating or consuming other living things, thus being labeled “Consumers”.

Stuff with Animals (Relevant)

Also… Did you know that animals obtain energy by eating a plant or animal that has eaten a plant?

Stuff with Animals (Continued)

Carnivores are complex and cunning creatures that hunt depending on the type of climate they live in, their prey, and the competition. Herbivores are much simpler animals that usually consist of complex family systems, and are usually the first to die out when a natural disaster occurs.

Stuff with Animals (Relevant) Continued

Plants also adapt to suit their needs like developing defense mechanisms to prevent animals from eating them such as thorns and poisons. Some plants, like the cactus, even evolved to store and conserve water in a water deprived environment such as hot dry deserts, and are fed upon by many animals as a substitute for that resource.

Animals AND Plants

Predator and prey adapt and evolve to counter each other but are still successful in keeping the natural order in check, such is natures will.

Predatorssss

When a usually warm and sunny ecosystem experiences a seasonal change such as a cold and snowy winter the plants and animals must physically adapt to survive the change. Plants usually just die from frost bite and the lack of sun light, but some plants just remain dormant until spring melts all of the ice and they begin to wake up and start to grow again. Some mammals, such as bears and some rodents, hibernate during the winter in their homes and survive by slowing their heart rate, they do not eat or drink anything throughout the entire winter. Mammals have adapted to cold harsh climates by going through physical changes during the winter, for example, some animals coats will change from their usual color to snowy white, which also helps the predators to that experience this change blend into the snow while hunting, and also hide and evade rival predators. Fish survive in frozen lakes by living under the ice where oxygen is trapped; some fish also prevent themselves from freezing by reducing their metabolic rate while producing anti-freezing molecules called glycoprotein to reduce the freezing point of their body fluids.

Stuff with Animals (Relevant) Continued

Plants are producers in the way that plants are effectively consuming nutrients from the sun and from the Earth in order to produce survival for themselves. But, the productive part comes in when speaking of the part they play in the cycle of life. Plants are the very beginning of the food chain, as they start out as beings that attempt to live and do not consume the other animals. Herbivores eat the produce from the plants, and after Herbivores consume the plants, Carnivores attempt to consume the herbivores.

Plants Are Producers

All plants are expected to adapt in certain ways in order to attain survival. A great example for the state of AZ would be the cactus, very commonly known in the valley of the sun. A Cactus has specific adaptations, such as spines for defense and water being stored in its stem. But, one rather uncommon adaptation that most plants including the cactus hold for their survival. That would be the fact that plants intelligently slow growth in the desert. Cleverly finding a way to allow for lesser loss of water and food nutrients that are scarce in the dry lands of the desert, they slow growth in order to survive for a longer period of time.

Adaptations (Plantssssssss are MLG)

Not only do plants respond to their environment, but they also respond to seasonal occurrences. The Earth is naturally prone to what we consider disaster, but it is also prone to the change of temperature and sunlight provided over periods of time that we have determined to be labeled “Seasons”. And plants have to adapt to this as well. For example, during fall and winter, trees shed their leaves, so as to not entirely die out over the season, and go in bloom during spring and summer, where they can blossom with more nutrients and sunlight.

Adaptations (Continued)

Another adaptations that plants have made in order to retain survival is the use of seeds in reproduction. Seeds are an extremely effective adaptation in the way that they provide a powerful shell for the offspring of the plant that they come from, filled with nutrients that will allow survival from the deteriorating powers of time while protected from the harsh elements around it. Originally, spores were effective in this sense, but in the years that have come, Seeds are an effect adaptation that have occurred.

Seeds

Originally, spores were effective in this sense, but in the years that have come, Seeds are an effect adaptation that have occurred.

Seeds (Continued)

Things such as Limiting factors (Variable that limits growth of a population) or Carrying Capacity (The maximum number of individuals that an ecosystem can support) strongly affect ecosystems and their populations within.

Variables of Ecology

Ecological systems are extremely good at adapting to the things around them, and the animals within are even more so. All creatures, whether they be animals or plants, and the systems they live in are extremely complex beings that adapt and survive in many ways, and will continue to adapt and become even more complex in the future.

Overall…