Ecological factors, such as temperature or trophic relationships between organisms, influences the characteristics of a population in a certain habitat because they make it possible for organisms to have everything they need in the environment to feed, reproduce and survive.
An ecosystem is a system that groups together different populations of animal and plant species which share all the resources available in the same environment. Interactions develop between the elements of an ecosystem, such as energy exchange, food or trophic relationships and all this makes it possible to maintain life in the ecosystem. There are many natural habitats where an ecosystem develops, such as rivers, forests, swamps, deserts, among others. However, there are also artificial habitats created by humans, such as ponds. Ponds have fresh water like lakes, but are smaller (although it is important to consider that ponds can also be formed naturally by water retained or stagnant in a depression in the ground that is usually formed by rain water). Some of the organisms in this ecosystem live in ponds all their lives, while others are transient and visit them only to reproduce and/or feed. Ponds, being habitats where animal and plant species coexist, are susceptible to the influence of environmental factors.
Ecological factors influence the life of any living organism. They can be:
Abiotic: non-living pressurePresence of metals in the soilThe pH of the water
2. Biotic: living organisms
Presence of other species that can be preys, competitors, predators or parasites.
We have to consider that in a pond we can find microscopic algae that use sunlight and mineral substances in the water, perform photosynthesis and then are eaten by herbivorous animals such as fish, frogs and toads (which can also eat insects as do shrews). These, in turn, are eaten by carnivorous animals, such as herons.
It must be taken into account that for life to take place in a correct and natural way, it is necessary that all the ecological factors are correct. So, the presence and quantity of ecological factors influences how the habitat develops since, for example, with the necessary and sufficient amount of sunlight, plants survive by photosynthesizing and these plants are food for herbivorous animals that in turn will be food for other carnivorous animals. This would then alter the food chain, as the population of the different species would start to decrease because it represents a series of organisms that eat each other in such a way that energy and nutrients flow from one to another.
In addition, the temperature must be adequate for vegetation to grow and for animals to survive. Therefore, it is important that the environmental factors present in the habitat are the right ones and in the right quantity, otherwise the balance of the ecosystem can be lost and thus seriously threaten the survival of the species. In this way, any factor that is altered will affect the ecosystem of the pond.
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