All living creatures that inhabit our planet live in certain conditions that correspond to the level of development, features of the organization and vital functions of organisms. Who inhabited the airborne environment? Features of the environment, which is the most populated, and much more will be considered in our article.
What is a habitat?
The habitat of organisms is called everything that surrounds them. And these are not only natural objects, but also what is created by man.
Ecologists distinguish several habitats. It is ground-air, water, soil. Living organisms can also be a habitat. For example, in the ducts of the intestines of mammalian animals, some species of flat and roundworms parasitize.
The totality of all habitats makes up the biosphere. This is the shell of the earth in which life is possible. But a person has transformed it so much with his activity that scientists single out another formation. It is called the noosphere. This is the shell of the planet created by human activity.
The main groups of environmental factors
All environmental conditions that, to one degree or another, affect organisms, are called environmental factors. They are quite diverse. But by the nature of the impact, they are divided into several groups.
- The first combines all the factors of inanimate nature. They are called abiotic. This is the amount of sunlight , air temperature, level of humidity and radiation, the directivity of the wind and the nature of the relief. For the inhabitants of the aquatic environment, this is salinity and type of currents.
- Biotic factors unite all types of influence of living organisms and their relationships. They can be mutually beneficial, neutral predatory, etc.
- Human activity that changes the environment is a group of anthropogenic factors.
Habitats of living organisms
Each habitat has its own unique features and characteristics. For example, water holds thermal energy better than all other substances, therefore temperature fluctuations in it are insignificant. And in the soil, the action of both light and heat is generally minimized. Some organisms lead a parasitic lifestyle, living in other bodies. The effect and significance of all environmental factors in such an environment is also minimized.
Features of the ground-air habitat are that it is the most diverse and complex. There is a natural explanation for this fact.
Features of the airborne living environment
The complexity of the structure and conditions of this environment is explained by the fact that it is at the junction of several geographical shells - hydro, lithium - and the atmosphere. Therefore, the organisms living in it are influenced by the factors of each of them. Their structural features allow them to withstand sudden changes in temperature, changes in the chemical composition of air and humidity.
Abiotic factors of the airborne environment
Features of the airborne habitat include several factors. Firstly, it is a low indicator of air density. The low density of air masses allows its inhabitants to easily move on the ground or fly.
The next feature is that the air is in constant motion. This "current" provides automatic movement of many inhabitants and their waste products. These are plant seeds, spores of fungi and bacteria, small insects and arachnids. At the same time, atmospheric pressure in this environment is characterized by a low indicator, which normally amounts to 760 mm Hg. A change in this value leads to a disruption in the physiological processes of the local inhabitants. So, when pressure drops with height, the ability of oxygen to dissolve in blood plasma decreases. As a result, it becomes smaller, breathing quickens, which leads to excessive loss of moisture.
Airborne organisms
One of the signs of all living things is the ability to adapt. The peculiarities of animals of the terrestrial-air environment, as well as other organisms, consist in the fact that all of them during the evolution acquired adaptations to a sharp temperature drop, climate and changing seasons.
For example, many plants to survive drought and cold weather have modifications of the root and shoot. Leek and tulip bulbs, carrot and beet root vegetables, aloe leaves store water and essential substances. Spores of bacteria and plants, cells of microscopic animals tolerate difficult conditions in a state of cyst. At the same time, they are covered with a dense shell, and all metabolic processes are minimized. When the unfavorable period ends, the cells divide and go on to an active existence.
Many animals of the above-ground air environment have a complex system of thermoregulation and heat exchange with the environment, due to which their body temperature remains constant regardless of the time of year.
The effect of anthropogenic factor
Mostly the terrestrial air environment has been changed by human activity. Features of the environment, which at first were natural, remained such, perhaps, only in the Arctic deserts. Low temperatures make this natural area unsuitable for life. Therefore, the characteristics of the organisms of the airborne-air environment also consist in the fact that they experience a greater influence of the anthropogenic factor in comparison with the inhabitants of other ecological niches.
A person transforms natural landscapes and relief, changes the gas composition of the atmosphere, the chemical basis of soils, and affects the cleanliness of water bodies. Not all living organisms manage to adapt to intensely changing conditions caused by the action of the anthropogenic factor. Unfortunately, the negative impact of man on the state of the ground-air environment currently prevails over all attempts to save life.
Global environmental issues in the airborne habitat
How did the airborne environment suffer from human hands? Features of the environment, its main physical indicators in most natural areas suitable for life, are changed. This has led to global environmental problems in the world. The activities of industrial enterprises caused a change in the gas composition of the atmosphere. As a result, a large concentration of carbon dioxide is created in the air, compared with the norm, sulfur and nitrogen oxides and freons accumulate. The result - global warming, the greenhouse effect, the destruction of the ozone layer of the earth, acid rain, smog over large cities.
As a result of irrational nature management, the total area of forests that are the "lungs" of our planet is reduced, providing all living things with oxygen. Over time, mineral resources are exhausted and soil fertility decreases.
So, the most diverse is precisely the ground-air environment. Features of the environment lie in its location at the junction of several natural geographical shells. Its main characteristics are low density, pressure and mobility of air masses, the constancy of the gas composition of the atmosphere, the inconstancy of the thermal regime, the change in climatic conditions and seasons. Of particular importance for normal life in the air-ground environment are indicators of humidity and air temperature.