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Herb

Unit 2 - Ecosystems & Ecology

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Globe Showing Europe Africa

Unit 1 - Foundations Of Environmental Systems & Societies

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Flexed Biceps

Unit 3 - Biodiversity & Conservation

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Writing Hand

Unit 4 -Water & Aquatic Food Production Systems & Societies

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Deciduous Tree

Unit 5 - Soil Systems & Terrestrial Food Production Systems & Societies

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Cloud

Unit 6 - Atmospheric Systems & Societies

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Thermometer

Unit 7 - Climate Change & Energy Production

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Briefcase

Unit 8 - Human Systems & Resource Use

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Bar-Chart

Internal Assessment

🎯 Main Concepts: Species, Habitat, Niche, Fundamental Niche, Realized Niche

A species is like a big family. It&#39;s a group of organisms that can breed with each other and have babies that can also have babies! One example is the lion (a.k.a Panthera leo). Imagine if humans could only have kids with people who liked the same ice cream flavor as them, that&#39;s kind of what a species is.

Habitat is the &#39;address&#39; of a species - the place where they hang out, live, and go about their daily life. It includes all the living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) parts of their environment. Lions, for example, are fans of grassland, savanna, dense scrub, and open woodland. 
 
Think of a habitat like the city you live in. Just like New York City, for example, has its unique skyscrapers, streets, people, and pizza, a lion&#39;s habitat has specific trees, animals, weather, and yes, even their own version of pizza (spoiler: it&#39;s gazelle).

A niche is more specific - it&#39;s like a species&#39; job or role in their habitat. It includes the interactions a species has with the living and non-living elements of its environment. So, a lion&#39;s niche would be hunting large prey, finding fresh water, avoiding parasites, etc.

 
Each species has its own niche, like a unique job title. Think of it like a lion being a &#39;Group Hunting Executive in the Savanna Department&#39;. There might be other cat species in the same &#39;company&#39; (habitat), but they have different roles, like the leopard being a &#39;Solo Stealth Specialist&#39;.

The fundamental niche is like a species&#39; dream job description - it&#39;s all the conditions under which a species could ideally exist. But in reality, due to competition and other ecological relationships, they can&#39;t live everywhere their dream job description would allow them to.

 
The &#39;real-world&#39; conditions where a species actually lives is called its realized niche. It&#39;s like if you dreamed of being a Broadway star (your fundamental niche), but due to factors like competition, you end up singing at your local theatre instead (your realized niche). And that&#39;s perfectly okay!

 
In short, the fundamental niche is the full range of environmental conditions under which an organism can exist, while the realized niche is where it really ends up existing due to ecological interactions.

 
Remember, these concepts are not just textbook theory, they play out in nature all around us. So, next time you see an animal in the wild or even a bird in your backyard, think about its habitat, niche, and whether it&#39;s living in its fundamental or realized niche.

 
Stay curious! 🌏🚀🐅

Eco Secrets: Species & Their Unique Worlds

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Standard Level

Environmental Systems & Societies SL

Unit 2 - Ecosystems & Ecology

Eco Secrets: Species & Their Unique Worlds

Table of content

Species🐾

Habitat🌳

Unlock the Full Content!

Unit 2 - Ecosystems & Ecology

Eco Secrets: Species & Their Unique Worlds

Table of content

Species🐾

Habitat🌳

Unlock the Full Content!