Angelina Post 4

Some abiotic factors our plants depend on for their survival are climate, air, water, space, temperature, light, and soil. These help our plants to grow and be healthy. If there are not enough of these factors, too much of them, or they don’t meet our plants’ needs, then our plants will die. Some biotic factors that affect our plants are pests, insects, diseases, and weeds. These factors slow down their growth. Pests cause damage to our crops by feeding on them. Weeds reduce our plants’ resources by competing for nutrients and light.

Our plants are engaged in competition because sometimes there are not enough resources for them. Because of this, our plants have to compete against the same species and other types of plants to obtain the resources they need to survive. They compete for nutrients, air, water, sunlight, and space.

The “winners” in the competition are the plants that are more like generalists. This means that they are able to thrive in a wide variety of skills in competition. The “losers” are the plants that are not strong competitors in many skills. It is alway so clear cut who “wins” and who “loses”, because the plants that have all the skills to compete will win over the ones that don’t. Sometimes it is harder to determine the winners and losers when they both have the same level of skills and can compete about the same.

Another interaction our plants are involved in is communication with each other. They communicate through the air by releasing odorous chemicals called volatile organic compounds. Our plants also communicate through the soil by releasing soluble chemicals into the rhizosphere and transporting them along thread-like networks formed by soil fungi. This interaction of communication helps plants know how far they are from each other and transmit information. Another interaction is between plants and animals. Our plants depend on animals for nutrients, pollination, and seed dispersal. Animals depend on our plants for oxygen and shelter.

Succession is occurring in the garden ecosystem because the types of species are slowly evolving over time. The plants started out small and are now growing taller and larger. There are also new plants growing. This is secondary succession because the plants were grown in a place that already had soil. This is not primary succession, because primary succession occurs in essentially lifeless areas where soil is incapable of sustaining life.