Physiological adaptation of animals, plants and humans: definition, types, mechanisms and examples. Adaptations (adaptations) Morphological adaptations examples of plants

The grandiose inventions of the human mind never cease to amaze, there is no limit to fantasy. But what nature has been creating for many centuries surpasses the most creative ideas and designs. Nature has created more than one and a half million species of living individuals, each of which is individual and unique in its forms, physiology, adaptability to life. Examples of organisms adapting to constantly changing living conditions on the planet are examples of the wisdom of the creator and a constant source of problems for biologists to solve.

Adaptation means adaptability or habituation. This is a process of gradual rebirth of the physiological, morphological or psychological functions of a creature in a changed environment. Both individual individuals and entire populations undergo changes.

A vivid example of direct and indirect adaptation is the survival of flora and fauna in the zone of increased radiation around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Direct adaptability is characteristic of those individuals who managed to survive, get used to and begin to multiply, some did not stand the test and died (indirect adaptation).

Since the conditions of existence on Earth are constantly changing, the processes of evolution and fitness in living nature are also a continuous process.

A recent example of adaptation is changing the habitat of a colony of green Mexican arating parrots. Recently, they have changed their habitual habitat and settled in the very mouth of the Masaya volcano, in an environment constantly saturated with high concentration sulfuric gas. Scientists have not yet given an explanation for this phenomenon.

Types of adaptation

A change in the whole form of an organism's existence is a functional adaptation. An example of adaptation, when changing conditions lead to mutual adaptation of living organisms to each other, is a correlative adaptation or co-adaptation.

Adaptation can be passive, when the functions or structure of the subject occur without his participation, or active, when he consciously changes his habits to match the environment (examples of people adapting to natural conditions or society). There are cases when the subject adapts the environment to his needs - this is an objective adaptation.

Biologists divide the types of adaptation according to three criteria:

• Morphological.
• Physiological.
• behavioral or psychological.

Examples of adaptation of animals or plants in their pure form are rare, most cases of adaptation to new conditions occur in mixed forms.

Morphological adaptations: examples

Morphological changes are changes in the shape of the body, individual organs or the entire structure of a living organism that have occurred in the process of evolution.

The following are morphological adaptations, examples from the animal and plant world, which we take for granted:

• The transformation of leaves into spines in cacti and other plants of arid regions.
• Turtle shell.
• Streamlined body shapes of inhabitants of reservoirs.

Physiological adaptations: examples

Physiological adaptation is a change in a number of chemical processes occurring inside the body.

• The release of a strong scent by flowers to attract insects contributes to dusting.
• The state of anabiosis, which the simplest organisms are able to enter, allows them to maintain their vital activity after many years. The oldest bacterium capable of reproduction is 250 years old.
• The accumulation of subcutaneous fat, which is converted into water, in camels.

Behavioral (psychological) adaptations

Examples of human adaptation are more associated with the psychological factor. Behavioral characteristics are characteristic of flora and fauna. So, in the process of evolution, a change in the temperature regime causes some animals to hibernate, birds fly south to return in the spring, trees shed their leaves and slow down the movement of juices. The instinct to choose the most suitable partner for procreation drives the behavior of animals during the mating season. Some northern frogs and turtles freeze completely for the winter and thaw, reviving with the onset of heat.

Factors causing the need for change

Any adaptation processes are a response to environmental factors that lead to a change in the environment. Such factors are divided into biotic, abiotic and anthropogenic.

Biotic factors are the influence of living organisms on each other, when, for example, one species disappears, which serves as food for another.

Abiotic factors are changes in the surrounding inanimate nature when the climate, soil composition, water availability, and solar activity cycles change. Physiological adaptations, examples of the influence of abiotic factors - equatorial fish that can breathe both in water and on land. They are well adapted to the conditions when the drying up of rivers is a frequent occurrence.

Anthropogenic factors - the influence of human activity that changes the environment.

Habitat adaptations

• illumination. In plants, these are separate groups that differ in the need for sunlight. Light-loving heliophytes live well in open spaces. In contrast, they are sciophytes: plants of forest thickets feel good in shaded places. Among the animals there are also individuals whose design is for an active lifestyle at night or underground.
• Air temperature. On average, for all living things, including humans, the optimal temperature environment is the range from 0 to 50 ° C. However, life exists in almost all climatic regions of the Earth.

Opposite examples of adaptation to abnormal temperatures are described below.

Arctic fish do not freeze due to the production of a unique anti-freeze protein in the blood, which prevents the blood from freezing.

The simplest microorganisms are found in hydrothermal springs, the water temperature in which exceeds the boiling point.

Hydrophyte plants, that is, those that live in or near water, die even with a slight loss of moisture. Xerophytes, on the contrary, are adapted to live in arid regions, and die in high humidity. Among animals, nature has also worked on adapting to aquatic and non-aquatic environments.

Human adaptation

Man's ability to adapt is truly enormous. The secrets of human thinking are far from being fully revealed, and the secrets of the adaptive ability of people will remain a mysterious topic for scientists for a long time to come. The superiority of Homo sapiens over other living beings lies in the ability to consciously change their behavior to meet the requirements of the environment or, conversely, the world around them to suit their needs.

The flexibility of human behavior is manifested daily. If you give the task: "give examples of people's adaptation", the majority begins to recall exceptional cases of survival in these rare cases, and in new circumstances it is typical of a person every day. We try on a new environment at the moment of birth, in kindergarten, school, in a team, when moving to another country. It is this state of accepting new sensations by the body that is called stress. Stress is a psychological factor, but nevertheless, many physiological functions change under its influence. In the case when a person accepts a new environment as positive for himself, the new state becomes habitual, otherwise stress threatens to become protracted and lead to a number of serious diseases.

Human adaptation mechanisms

There are three types of human adaptation:

• Physiological. The simplest examples are acclimatization and adaptability to changing time zones or the daily regime of work. In the process of evolution, various types of people were formed, depending on the territorial place of residence. Arctic, alpine, continental, desert, equatorial types differ significantly in physiological parameters.
• Psychological adaptation. This is the ability of a person to find moments of understanding with people of different psychotypes, in a country with a different level of mentality. A reasonable person tends to change his established stereotypes under the influence of new information, special cases, stress.
• Social adaptation. A type of addiction that is unique to humans.

All adaptive types are closely related to each other, as a rule, any change in habitual existence causes a person to need social and psychological adaptation. Under their influence, the mechanisms of physiological changes come into action, which also adapt to new conditions.

Such a mobilization of all body reactions is called an adaptation syndrome. New body reactions appear in response to sudden changes in the environment. At the first stage - anxiety - there is a change in physiological functions, changes in the work of metabolism and systems. Further, protective functions and organs (including the brain) are connected, they begin to turn on their protective functions and hidden capabilities. The third stage of adaptation depends on individual characteristics: a person either joins a new life and enters the usual course (in medicine, recovery occurs during this period), or the body does not accept stress, and the consequences are already taking a negative form.

Phenomena of the human body

In man, nature has a huge margin of safety, which is used in everyday life only to a small extent. It manifests itself in extreme situations and is perceived as a miracle. In fact, the miracle is inherent in ourselves. An example of adaptation: the ability of people to adapt to a normal life after the removal of a significant part of the internal organs.

Natural innate immunity throughout life can be strengthened by a number of factors or, conversely, weakened by an incorrect lifestyle. Unfortunately, addiction to bad habits is also the difference between a person and other living organisms.

Behavioral adaptations - these are the features of behavior developed in the process of evolution that allow them to adapt and survive in the given environmental conditions.

Typical example- winter dream of a bear.

Also examples are 1) the creation of shelters, 2) movement in order to select the optimum temperature conditions, especially in conditions of extreme t. 3) the process of tracking down and pursuing prey from predators, and from prey - in response reactions (for example, hiding).

common for animals way of adapting to bad times- migration. (Saiga saigas annually leave for the winter in the snowless southern semi-deserts, where winter grasses are more nutritious and accessible due to the dry climate. However, in summer, semi-desert herbage quickly burns out, therefore, during the breeding season, saigas move to more humid northern steppes).

Examples 4) behavior when searching for food and a sexual partner, 5) mating, 6) feeding offspring, 7) avoiding danger and protecting life in case of a threat, 8) aggression and threatening postures, 9) care for offspring, which increases the likelihood of cub survival, 10) uniting in flocks, 11) imitation of injury or death in the event of a threat of attack.

21. Life forms, as a result of the adaptation of organisms to the action of a complex of environmental factors. Classification of life forms of plants according to K.Raunkier, I.G.Serebryakov, animals according to D.N.Kashkarov.

The term "life form" was introduced in the 80s by E. Warming. He understood life form as "a form in which the vegetative body of a plant (individual) is in harmony with the external environment throughout its life, from cradle to coffin, from seed to death." This is a very deep definition.

Life forms as types of adaptive structures demonstrate: 1) a variety of ways to adapt different plant species even to the same conditions,

2) the possibility of similarity of these paths in plants that are completely unrelated, belonging to different species, genera, families.

-> The classification of life forms is based on the structure of vegetative organs and reflects II and convergent paths of ecological evolution.

According to Raunkier: applied his system to find out the relationship between life forms of plants and climate.

He singled out an important feature that characterizes the adaptation of plants to the transfer of an unfavorable season - cold or dry.

This sign is the position of the renewal buds on the plant in relation to the level of the substrate and snow cover. Raunkier attributed this to protecting the kidneys during unfavorable times of the year.

1)phanerophytes- the buds hibernate or endure the dry period "open", high above the ground (trees, shrubs, woody vines, epiphytes).

-> they are usually protected by special bud scales, which have a number of devices to preserve the growth cone and young leaf primordia enclosed in them from moisture loss.

2)chamephites- the buds are located almost at the level of the soil or not higher than 20-30 cm above it (shrubs, semi-shrubs, creeping plants). In cold and dead climates, these kidneys very often receive additional protection in winter, in addition to their own kidney scales: they hibernate under the snow.

3)cryptophytes- 1) geophytes - buds are located in the ground at a certain depth (they are divided into rhizomatous, tuberous, bulbous),

2) hydrophytes - buds hibernate under water.

4)hemicryptophytes- usually herbaceous plants; their renewal buds are at the level of the soil or are sunk very shallowly, in the litter formed by leaf waste - another additional "cover" for the buds. Among the hemicryptophytes, Raunkier distinguishes " irotogeiicryptophytes"with elongated shoots, dying off annually to the base, where the renewal buds are located, and rosette hemicryptophytes, in which shortened shoots can overwinter at the entire soil level.

5)terophytes- special group; these are annuals in which all vegetative parts die off by the end of the season and there are no overwintering buds - these plants renew the next year from seeds that overwinter or survive a dry period on the soil or in the soil.

According to Serebryakov:

Using and summarizing the classifications proposed at different times, he proposed to call a life form a kind of habitus - (characteristic form, appearance of an org-ma) of plant opgroups that arise as a result of growth and development in def conditions - as an expression adaptation to these conditions.

The basis of its classification is a sign of the lifespan of the whole plant and its skeletal axes.

A. Woody plants

1. Trees

2. Shrubs

3. Shrubs

B. Semi-woody plants

1.Subshrubs

2.Subshrubs

B. Ground grasses

1.Polycarpic herbs (perennial herbs, bloom many times)

2. Monocarpic herbs (live for several years, bloom once and die off)

D. Water grasses

1. Amphibious herbs

2.Floating and underwater grasses

The life form of a tree turns out to be an extrusion of adaptations to conditions that are most favorable for growth.

IN forests of the humid tropics- the most tree species (up to 88% in the Amazon region of Brazil), and in the tundra and highlands there are no real trees. In the region of taiga forests trees are represented by only a few species. No more than 10–12% of the total number of species are trees and in the flora of the temperate forest zone of Europe.

According to Kashkarov:

I. Floating forms.

1. Purely aquatic: a) nekton; b) plankton; c) benthos.

2. Semi-aquatic:

a) diving b) not diving; c) only getting food from the water.

II. Burrowing forms.

1. Absolute excavators (who spend their whole lives underground).

2. Relative excavations (coming to the surface).

III. ground forms.

1. Not making holes: a) running; b) jumping; c) crawling.

2. Making holes: a) running; b) jumping; c) crawling.

3. Animals of rocks.

IV. Wood climbing forms.

1. Not descending from the trees.

2. Only climbing trees.

V. Air forms.

1. Obtaining food in the air.

2. Searching for food from the air.

In the external appearance of birds, their confinement to specific types of habitats and the nature of movement when obtaining food are manifested to a significant extent.

1) woody vegetation;

2) open land areas;

3) swamps and shoals;

4) water spaces.

In each of these groups, specific forms are distinguished:

a) getting food by climbing (pigeons, parrots, woodpeckers, passerines)

b) foraging in flight (long-winged, in the forests - owls, nightjars, over water - tube-nosed);

c) feeding while moving on the ground (in open spaces - cranes, ostriches; forest - most chickens; in swamps and shallows - some passerines, flamingos);

d) those who obtain food by swimming and diving (loons, copepods, gooses, penguins).

22. The main environments of life and their characteristics: land-air and water.

ground-air- most animals and plants live.
It is characterized by 7 main abiotic factors:

1.Low air density makes it difficult to maintain the shape of the body and provokes the image of the support system.

EXAMPLE: 1. Aquatic plants do not have mechanical tissues: they appear only in terrestrial forms. 2. Animals must have a skeleton: a hydroskeleton (in roundworms), or an external skeleton (in insects), or an internal skeleton (in mammals).

The low density of the medium facilitates the movement of animals. Many terrestrial species are capable of flight.(birds and insects, but there are also mammals, amphibians and reptiles). The flight is associated with the search for prey or resettlement. The inhabitants of the land spread only on the Earth, which serves as their support and attachment point. In connection with active flight in such organisms modified forelimbs And developed pectoral muscles.

2) Mobility of air masses

*Provides the existence of aeroplankton. It consists of pollen, seeds and fruits of plants, small insects and arachnids, spores of fungi, bacteria and lower plants.

This ecological group of org-in adapted due to the large variety of wings, outgrowths, cobwebs, or due to very small sizes.

* method of pollination of plants by wind - anemophilia- Har-n for birches, firs, pines, nettles, grasses and sedges.

* settling with the help of the wind: poplars, birches, ash trees, lindens, dandelions, etc. The seeds of these plants have parachutes (dandelions) or wings (maple).

3) Low pressure, norm=760 mm. The pressure drops, compared with the aquatic habitat, are very small; thus, at h=5800 m it is only half of its normal value.

=> almost all land inhabitants are sensitive to strong pressure drops, i.e. they are stenobionts in relation to this factor.

The upper limit of life for most vertebrates is 6000 m, because pressure drops with height, which means that the solubility of o in the blood decreases. To maintain a constant concentration of O 2 in the blood, the respiratory rate must increase. However, we exhale not only CO2, but also water vapor, so frequent breathing should invariably lead to dehydration of the organism. This simple dependence is not characteristic only for rare species of organisms: birds and some invertebrates, ticks, spiders and springtails.

4) Gas composition has a high content of O 2: it is more than 20 times higher than in the aquatic environment. This allows the animals to have very high metabolic rates. Therefore, only on land could arise homoiothermy- the ability to maintain a constant t of the body due to internal energy. Thanks to homoithermy, birds and mammals can remain active in the most severe conditions.

5) Soil and relief are very important, first of all, for plants. For animals, the structure of the soil is more important than its chemical composition.

*For ungulates that make long migrations on dense ground, the adaptation is a decrease in the number of fingers and => a decrease in the S-support.

* For the inhabitants of free-flowing sands, an increase in Spov-ti support (fan-toed gecko) is characteristic.

* Soil density is also important for burrowing animals: prairie dogs, marmots, gerbils and others; some of them develop digging limbs.

6) Significant water shortage on land provokes the development of various adaptations aimed to conserve water in the body:

The development of respiratory organs capable of absorbing O 2 from the air environment of the integument (lungs, trachea, lung sacs)

Development of waterproof covers

The change will highlight the system and metabolic products (urea and uric acid)

Internal fertilization.

In addition to providing water, precipitation also plays an ecological role.

*Snow value reduces fluctuations in t at depths of 25 cm. Deep snow protects plant buds. For black grouse, hazel grouse and tundra partridges, snowdrifts are a place to spend the night, i.e. at 20–30 o below zero at a depth of 40 cm, it remains ~0 °С.

7) Temperature regime more variable than water. ->many land dwellers eurybiont to this f-ru, i.e., they are able to exist in a wide range of t and demonstrate very different ways of thermoregulation.

Many animal species that live in areas where winters are snowy molt in autumn, changing the color of their coat or feathers to white. It is possible that such a seasonal molt of birds and animals is also an adaptation - a camouflage coloration, which is typical for the hare, weasel, arctic fox, tundra partridge and others. However, not all white animals change color seasonally, which reminds us of the neopremism and the impossibility of considering all the properties of the body as beneficial or harmful.

Water. Water covers 71% of the S of the earth or 1370 m3. The main mass of water - in the seas and oceans - 94-98%, polar ice contains about 1.2% of water and a very small proportion - less than 0.5%, in fresh waters of rivers, lakes and swamps.

About 150,000 species of animals and 10,000 plants live in the aquatic environment, which is only 7 and 8% of the total number of species on Earth. So on land, evolution was much more intense than in water.

In the seas-oceans, as in the mountains, is expressed vertical zoning.

All inhabitants of the aquatic environment can be divided into three groups.

1) Plankton- countless accumulations of tiny organisms that cannot move on their own and are carried by currents in the top layer of sea water.

It consists of plants and living organisms - copepods, eggs and larvae of fish and cephalopods, + unicellular algae.

2) Nekton- a large number of org-in freely floating in the thickness of the oceans. The largest of them are blue whales and giant sharks that feed on plankton. But there are also dangerous predators among the inhabitants of the water column.

3) Benthos- the inhabitants of the bottom. Some deep-sea inhabitants are deprived of the organs of vision, but most can see in dim light. Many residents lead an attached lifestyle.

Adaptations of aquatic organisms to high water density:

Water has a high density (800 times the density of air) and viscosity.

1) Plants have very poorly developed or absent mechanical tissues- they are supported by the water itself. Most are buoyant. Har-but active vegetative reproduction, the development of hydrochory - the removal of flower stalks above the water and the spread of pollen, seeds and spores by surface currents.

2) The body has a streamlined shape and is lubricated with mucus, which reduces friction when moving. Adaptations for increasing buoyancy have been developed: accumulations of fat in tissues, swim bladders in fish.

In passively swimming animals - outgrowths, spikes, appendages; the body flattens, reduction of skeletal organs occurs.

Different modes of transportation: bending of the body, with the help of flagella, cilia, jet mode of locomotion (cephalomolluscs).

In benthic animals, the skeleton disappears or is poorly developed, the size of the body increases, the reduction of vision is common, and the development of tactile organs.

Adaptations of hydrobionts to water mobility:

Mobility is caused by ebbs and flows, sea currents, storms, different levels of elevations of river beds.

1) In flowing waters, plants and animals are firmly attached to stationary underwater objects.. The bottom surface for them is primarily a substrate. These are green and diatom algae, water mosses. Of the animals - gastropods, barnacles + hide in crevices.

2) Different body shapes. In fish flowing through the waters, the body is round in diameter, and in fish living near the bottom, the body is flat.

Adaptations of hydrobionts to water salinity:

Natural reservoirs are characterized by a certain chemical composition. (carbonates, sulfates, chlorides). In fresh water bodies, the salt concentration is not > 0.5 g /, in the seas - from 12 to 35 g / l (ppm). With a salinity of more than 40 ppm, the reservoir is called g hyperhaline or oversalted.

1) * In fresh water (hypotonic environment) osmoregulation processes are well expressed. Hydrobionts are forced to constantly remove the water penetrating into them, they homoiosmotic.

* In salt water (isotonic medium), the concentration of salts in the bodies and tissues of hydrobionts is the same as the concentration of salts dissolved in water - they poikiloosmotic. -> Inhabitants of salt water bodies have not developed osmoregulatory functions, and they could not populate fresh water bodies.

2) Aquatic plants are able to absorb water and nutrients from the water - "broth", the entire surface, therefore, their leaves are strongly dissected and conductive tissues and roots are poorly developed. The roots serve to attach to the underwater substrate.

Typically marine and typically freshwater species - stenohaline, cannot tolerate changes in salinity. Euryhaline species a little. They are common in brackish waters (pike, bream, mullet, coastal salmon).

Adaptation of hydrobionts to the composition of gases in water:

In water, O 2 is the most important environmental factor. Its source is atm-ra and photosynthetic plants.

When water is stirred and t decreases, the O 2 content increases. *Some fish are very sensitive to O2 deficiency (trout, minnow, grayling) and therefore prefer cold mountain rivers and streams.

*Other fish (crucian carp, carp, roach) are unpretentious to the content of O 2 and can live at the bottom of deep water bodies.

* Many aquatic insects, mosquito larvae, lung mollusks are also tolerant to the content of O 2 in water, because from time to time they rise to the earth and swallow fresh air.

There is enough carbon dioxide in water - almost 700 times more than in air. It is used in plant photosynthesis and goes to the formation of calcareous skeletal formations of animals (mollusk shells).

Building Benefits

These are the optimal proportions of the body, the location and density of the hair or feather cover, etc. The appearance of an aquatic mammal - a dolphin - is well known. His movements are light and precise. Independent speed in water reaches 40 kilometers per hour. The density of water is 800 times that of air. The torpedo-shaped shape of the body avoids the formation of eddies of water flows around the dolphin.

The streamlined shape of the body contributes to the rapid movement of animals in the air. Flight and contour feathers covering the bird's body completely smooth its shape. Birds are deprived of protruding auricles, in flight they usually retract their legs. As a result, birds are far superior to all other animals in terms of speed of movement. For example, the peregrine falcon dives on its prey at speeds up to 290 kilometers per hour.
In animals that lead a secretive, lurking lifestyle, adaptations are useful that give them a resemblance to environmental objects. The bizarre body shape of fish living in thickets of algae (rag-picker seahorse, clown fish, sea needle, etc.) helps them successfully hide from enemies. Resemblance to objects of the environment is widespread in insects. Beetles are known, their appearance resembling lichens, cicadas, similar to the thorns of those shrubs among which they live. Stick insects look like a small

a brown or green twig, and orthopterous insects imitate a leaf. A flat body has fish leading a benthic lifestyle (for example, flounder).

Protective coloration

Allows you to be invisible among the surrounding background. Thanks to the protective coloration, the organism becomes difficult to distinguish and, therefore, protected from predators. Bird eggs laid on sand or on the ground are gray and brown with spots, similar to the color of the surrounding soil. In cases where eggs are not available to predators, they are usually devoid of coloration. Butterfly caterpillars are often green, the color of the leaves, or dark, the color of the bark or earth. Bottom fish are usually painted to match the color of the sandy bottom (stingrays and flounders). At the same time, flounders also have the ability to change color depending on the color of the surrounding background. The ability to change color by redistributing the pigment in the integument of the body is also known in terrestrial animals (chameleon). Desert animals, as a rule, have a yellow-brown or sandy-yellow color. Monochromatic protective coloration is characteristic of both insects (locusts) and small lizards, as well as large ungulates (antelopes) and predators (lion).

Warning coloration

Warns a potential enemy about the presence of protective mechanisms (the presence of poisonous substances or special protection organs). Warning coloring distinguishes from the environment with bright spots or stripes of poisonous, stinging animals and insects (snakes, wasps, bumblebees).

Mimicry

The imitative resemblance of some animals, mainly insects, to other species, providing protection from enemies. It is difficult to draw a clear line between it and the patronizing color or form. In the narrowest sense, mimicry is the imitation by a species, defenseless against some predators, of the appearance of a species avoided by these potential enemies due to inedibility or the presence of special means of protection.

Mimicry is the result of homologous (same) mutations in different species that help unprotected animals survive. For mimic species, it is important that their numbers be small compared to the model they imitate, otherwise the enemies will not develop a stable negative reflex to warning coloration. The low number of mimic species is supported by a high concentration of lethal genes in the gene pool. In the homozygous state, these genes cause lethal mutations, as a result of which a high percentage of individuals do not survive to adulthood.

The identification of limiting factors is of great practical importance. First of all, for growing crops: applying the necessary fertilizers, liming the soil, reclamation, etc. allow to increase productivity, improve soil fertility, improve the existence of cultivated plants.

1. What does the prefix "evry" and "steno" mean in the species name? Give examples of eurybionts and stenobionts.

Wide tolerance limit of the species in relation to abiotic environmental factors, denoted by adding prefixes to the name of the factor "evry. The inability to tolerate significant fluctuations in factors or a low endurance limit is characterized by the prefix "steno", for example, stenothermic animals. Small temperature changes have little effect on eurythermal organisms and can be fatal for stenothermic ones. The species adapted to low temperatures is cryophilic(from the Greek krios - cold), and to high temperatures - thermophilic. Similar patterns apply to other factors as well. Plants may be hydrophilic, i.e. demanding on water and xerophilous(dry-hardy).

In relation to content salts in the habitat, eurygales and stenogals are distinguished (from Greek gals - salt), to illumination - euryphotes and stenophots, in relation to to the acidity of the environment- Euryionic and stenionic species.

Since eurybionty makes it possible to populate a variety of habitats, and stenobiontism sharply narrows the range of places suitable for the species, these 2 groups are often called evry - and stenobionts. Many terrestrial animals living in a continental climate are able to withstand significant fluctuations in temperature, humidity, and solar radiation.

Stenobionts include- orchids, trout, Far Eastern hazel grouse, deep-sea fish).

Animals that are stenobiont simultaneously with respect to several factors are called stenobionts in the broad sense of the word ( fish that live in mountain rivers and streams, do not tolerate too high temperatures and low oxygen content, inhabitants of the humid tropics, unadapted to low temperatures and low air humidity).

The eurybionts are Colorado potato beetle, mouse, rats, wolves, cockroaches, reeds, wheatgrass.

1. Adaptation of living organisms to environmental factors. Types of adaptation.

adaptation ( from lat. adaptation - adaptation ) - this is an evolutionary adaptation of the organisms of the environment, expressed in a change in their external and internal features.

Individuals that for some reason have lost the ability to adapt, in the conditions of changes in the regimes of environmental factors, are doomed to elimination, i.e. to extinction.

Types of adaptation: morphological, physiological and behavioral adaptations.

Morphology is the doctrine of the external forms of organisms and their parts.

1.Morphological adaptation- this is an adaptation that manifests itself in adaptation to fast swimming in aquatic animals, to survival in conditions of high temperatures and moisture deficiency - in cacti and other succulents.

2.Physiological adaptations consist in the features of the enzymatic set in the digestive tract of animals, determined by the composition of the food. For example, the inhabitants of dry deserts are able to provide the need for moisture due to the biochemical oxidation of fats.

3.Behavioral (ethological) adaptations appear in a variety of forms. For example, there are forms of adaptive behavior of animals aimed at ensuring optimal heat exchange with the environment. Adaptive behavior can be manifested in the creation of shelters, movement in the direction of more favorable, preferred temperature conditions, the choice of places with optimal humidity or light. Many invertebrates are characterized by a selective attitude towards light, which manifests itself in approaching or moving away from the source (taxis). Diurnal and seasonal migrations of mammals and birds are known, including migrations and flights, as well as intercontinental movements of fish.

Adaptive behavior can manifest itself in predators in the process of hunting (tracking and chasing prey) and in their prey (hiding, confusing the trail). The behavior of animals during the mating season and during the rearing of offspring is exceptionally specific.

There are two types of adaptation to external factors. Passive way of adaptation- this adaptation by the type of tolerance (tolerance, endurance) consists in the emergence of a certain degree of resistance to this factor, the ability to maintain functions when the force of its influence changes .. This type of adaptation is formed as a characteristic species property and is realized at the cellular and tissue level. The second type of fixture active. In this case, the body, using specific adaptive mechanisms, compensates for the changes caused by the influencing factor, so that the internal environment remains relatively constant. Active adaptations are adaptations of a resistant type (resistance) that maintain the homeostasis of the internal environment of the body. An example of a tolerant type of adaptation is poikiloosmotic animals, an example of a resistant type is homoyosmotic .

1. Define a population. Name the main group characteristics of the population. Give examples of populations. Growing, stable and dying populations.

population- a group of individuals of the same species that interact with each other and jointly inhabit a common territory. The main characteristics of the population are as follows:

1. Number - the total number of individuals in a certain area.

2. Population density - the average number of individuals per unit area or volume.

3. Fertility - the number of new individuals that appeared per unit of time as a result of reproduction.

4. Mortality - the number of dead individuals in the population per unit of time.

5. Population growth - the difference between fertility and mortality.

6. Growth rate - average growth per unit of time.

Populations are characterized by a certain organization, the distribution of individuals over the territory, the ratio of groups by sex, age, and behavioral characteristics. It is formed, on the one hand, on the basis of the general biological properties of the species, and on the other hand, under the influence of abiotic environmental factors and populations of other species.

The structure of the population is unstable. The growth and development of organisms, the birth of new ones, death from various causes, changes in environmental conditions, an increase or decrease in the number of enemies - all this leads to a change in various ratios within the population.

Increasing or growing population- this is a population dominated by young individuals, such a population is growing in number or is being introduced into the ecosystem (for example, countries of the "third" world); More often, there is an excess of births over deaths and the population grows to such an extent that an outbreak of mass reproduction may occur. This is especially true for small animals.

With a balanced intensity of fertility and mortality, a stable population. In such a population, mortality is compensated by growth and its number, as well as its range, are kept at the same level. . Stable population - this is a population in which the number of individuals of different ages varies evenly and has the character of a normal distribution (as an example, we can name the population of Western Europe).

Decreasing (dying) population is a population in which the death rate exceeds the birth rate . A declining or dying population is a population dominated by older individuals. An example is Russia in the 1990s.

However, it cannot shrink indefinitely either.. At a certain level of abundance, the intensity of mortality begins to fall, and fecundity increases. . Ultimately, a declining population, having reached a certain minimum number, turns into its opposite - a growing population. The birth rate in such a population gradually increases and at a certain moment levels off with mortality, i.e., the population becomes stable for a short period of time. Decreasing populations are dominated by old individuals that are no longer able to reproduce intensively. This age structure indicates unfavorable conditions.

1. Ecological niche of the organism, concepts and definitions. Habitat. Mutual arrangement of ecological niches. The ecological niche of man.

Any kind of animal, plant, microbe is able to normally live, feed, reproduce only in the place where it has been "registered" by evolution over many millennia, starting from its ancestors. To refer to this phenomenon, biologists have borrowed term from architecture - the word "niche" and they began to say that each type of living organism occupies its own, unique ecological niche in nature.

Ecological niche of an organism- this is the totality of all its requirements for environmental conditions (composition and regimes of environmental factors) and the place where these requirements are met, or the totality of the set of biological characteristics and physical parameters of the environment that determine the conditions for the existence of a particular species, its transformation of energy, the exchange of information with environment and others like them.

The concept of an ecological niche is usually used when using the relationships of ecologically close species belonging to the same trophic level. The term "ecological niche" was proposed by J. Grinnell in 1917 to characterize the spatial distribution of species, that is, the ecological niche was defined as a concept close to the habitat. C. Elton defined an ecological niche as the position of a species in a community, emphasizing the particular importance of trophic relationships. A niche can be thought of as part of an imaginary multi-dimensional space (hypervolume), the individual dimensions of which correspond to the factors necessary for the species. The more the parameter varies, i.e. the adaptability of a species to a certain environmental factor, the wider its niche. The niche can also increase in the case of weakened competition.

habitat of the species- this is the physical space occupied by a species, organism, community, it is determined by the totality of the conditions of the abiotic and biotic environment, providing the entire development cycle of individuals of the same species.

The habitat of the species can be designated as "spatial niche".

The functional position in the community, in the ways of processing matter and energy in the process of nutrition, is called trophic niche.

Figuratively speaking, if a habitat is, as it were, the address of organisms of a given species, then a trophic niche is a profession, the role of an organism in its habitat.

The combination of these and other parameters is commonly called an ecological niche.

ecological niche(from the French niche - a recess in the wall) - this is the place occupied by a biological species in the biosphere, includes not only its position in space, but also its place in trophic and other interactions in the community, as it were, the “profession” of the species.

Niche ecological fundamental(potential) is an ecological niche in which a species can exist in the absence of competition from other species.

Ecological niche realized (real) – ecological niche, part of a fundamental (potential) niche that a species can defend in competition with other species.

According to the relative position of the niches of the two types, they are divided into three types: non-contiguous ecological niches; contiguous but not overlapping niches; contiguous and overlapping niches.

Man is one of the representatives of the animal kingdom, a biological species of the class of mammals. Despite the fact that it has many specific properties (mind, articulate speech, labor activity, biosociality, etc.), it has not lost its biological essence and all the laws of ecology are valid for it to the same extent as for other living organisms. . Man has his own, only his own, ecological niche. The space in which the human niche is localized is very limited. As a biological species, a person can live only within the land of the equatorial belt (tropics, subtropics), where the hominid family arose.

1. Formulate the fundamental law of Gause. What is a "life form"? What ecological (or life) forms are distinguished among the inhabitants of the aquatic environment?

Both in the plant and in the animal world, interspecific and intraspecific competition is very widespread. There is a fundamental difference between them.

Rule (or even law) Gause: two species cannot occupy the same ecological niche at the same time and therefore necessarily crowd out each other.

In one of the experiments, Gause bred two types of ciliates - Paramecium caudatum and Paramecium aurelia. As food, they regularly received one of the types of bacteria that does not multiply in the presence of paramecium. If each type of ciliate was cultivated separately, then their populations grew according to a typical sigmoid curve (a). At the same time, the number of paramecia was determined by the amount of food. But when coexisting, paramecia began to compete, and P. aurelia completely replaced its competitor (b).

Rice. Competition between two closely related species of ciliates occupying a common ecological niche. a - Paramecium caudatum; b - P. aurelia. 1. - in one culture; 2. - in a mixed culture

With the joint cultivation of ciliates, after a while only one species remained. At the same time, ciliates did not attack individuals of another type and did not emit harmful substances. The explanation lies in the fact that the studied species differed in unequal growth rates. In the competition for food, the fastest breeding species won.

When breeding P. caudatum and P. bursaria there was no such displacement, both species were in equilibrium, the latter being concentrated on the bottom and walls of the vessel, and the former in free space, i.e., in another ecological niche. Experiments with other types of ciliates have demonstrated the regularity of the relationship between prey and predator.

Gauze principle is called the principle elimination competitions. This principle leads either to the ecological separation of closely related species, or to a decrease in their density where they are able to coexist. As a result of competition, one of the species is ousted. The Gause principle plays a huge role in the development of the concept of a niche, and also forces ecologists to look for answers to a number of questions: How do similar species coexist? How big must be the differences between species in order for them to coexist? How do you avoid competitive exclusion?

The life form of the species it is a historically developed complex of its biological, physiological and morphological properties, which determines a certain reaction to the influence of the environment.

Among the inhabitants of the aquatic environment (hydrobionts), the classification distinguishes the following life forms.

1.Neuston(from the Greek neuston - able to swim) – collection of marine and freshwater organisms that live near the surface of the water , for example, mosquito larvae, many protozoa, water strider bugs, and from plants, the well-known duckweed.

2. Closer to the surface of the water inhabits plankton.

Plankton(from Greek planktos - soaring) - floating organisms capable of making vertical and horizontal movements mainly in accordance with the movement of water masses. Allocate phytoplankton photosynthetic free-swimming algae and zooplankton- small crustaceans, larvae of mollusks and fish, jellyfish, small fish.

3.Nekton(from the Greek nektos - floating) - free-floating organisms capable of independent vertical and horizontal movement. Nekton lives in the water column - these are fish, in the seas and oceans, amphibians, large aquatic insects, crustaceans, also reptiles (sea snakes and turtles) and mammals: cetaceans (dolphins and whales) and pinnipeds (seals).

4. Periphyton(from Greek peri - around, about, phyton - plant) - animals and plants attached to the stems of higher plants and rising above the bottom (mollusks, rotifers, bryozoans, hydras, etc.).

5. Benthos ( from the Greek benthos - depth, bottom) - benthic organisms leading an attached or free lifestyle, including: living in the thickness of the bottom sediment. These are mainly molluscs, some lower plants, crawling insect larvae, and worms. The bottom layer is inhabited by organisms that feed mainly on decaying remains.

1. What is biocenosis, biogeocenosis, agrocenosis? The structure of biogeocenosis. Who is the founder of the doctrine of biocenosis? Examples of biogeocenoses.

Biocenosis(from Greek koinos - common bios - life) is a community of interacting living organisms, consisting of plants (phytocenosis), animals (zoocenosis), microorganisms (microbocenosis) adapted to coexist in a given territory.

The concept of "biocenosis" - conditional, since organisms cannot live outside the environment of existence, but it is convenient to use it in the process of studying ecological relationships between organisms. Depending on the area, the attitude to human activity, the degree of saturation, usefulness, etc. there are biocenoses of land, water, natural and anthropogenic, saturated and unsaturated, full-membered and non-full-membered.

Biocenoses, like populations - this is a supra-organismal level of life organization, but of a higher rank.

The sizes of biocenotic groups are different- these are also large communities of lichen pillows on tree trunks or a rotting stump, but this is also a population of steppes, forests, deserts, etc.

The community of organisms is called biocenosis, and the science that studies the community of organisms - biocenology.

V.N. Sukachev the term has been proposed (and generally accepted) to refer to communities biogeocenosis(from Greek bios - life, geo - Earth, cenosis - community) - it is a set of organisms and natural phenomena characteristic of a given geographical area.

The structure of biogeocenosis includes two components biotic - community of living plant and animal organisms (biocenosis) - and abiotic - a set of non-living environmental factors (ecotope, or biotope).

Space with more or less homogeneous conditions, which occupies a biocenosis, is called a biotope (topis - place) or ecotope.

Ecotop includes two main components: climatetop- the climate in all its diverse manifestations and edaphotop(from the Greek edafos - soil) - soil, relief, water.

Biogeocenosis\u003d biocenosis (phytocenosis + zoocenosis + microbocenosis) + biotope (climatotop + edaphotop).

Biogeocenoses - these are natural formations (they contain the element "geo" - the Earth ) .

Examples biogeocenoses there may be a pond, a meadow, a mixed or single-species forest. At the level of biogeocenosis, all processes of transformation of energy and matter in the biosphere take place.

Agrocenosis(from Latin agraris and Greek koikos - common) - a community of organisms created by man and artificially supported by him with increased productivity (productivity) of one or more selected plant or animal species.

Agrocenosis differs from biogeocenosis main components. It cannot exist without human support, as it is an artificially created biotic community.

1. The concept of "ecosystem". Three principles of functioning of ecosystems.

ecological system- one of the most important concepts of ecology, abbreviated as an ecosystem.

Ecosystem(from the Greek oikos - dwelling and system) - this is any community of living beings, together with their habitat, connected inside by a complex system of relationships.

Ecosystem - these are supra-organismal associations, including organisms and inanimate (inert) environment, which are in interaction, without which it is impossible to maintain life on our planet. This is a community of plant and animal organisms and an inorganic environment.

Based on the interaction of living organisms that form an ecosystem, with each other and with their habitat, in any ecosystem, interdependent aggregates are distinguished biotic(living organisms) and abiotic(inert or inanimate nature) components, as well as environmental factors (such as solar radiation, humidity and temperature, atmospheric pressure), anthropogenic factors and others.

To abiotic components of ecosystems include inorganic substances - carbon, nitrogen, water, atmospheric carbon dioxide, minerals, organic substances found mainly in the soil: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, humic substances, etc., which have entered the soil after the death of organisms.

To the biotic components of the ecosystem include producers, autotrophs (plants, chemosynthetics), consumers (animals) and detritophages, decomposers (animals, bacteria, fungi).

Kazan physiological school. F.V. Ovsyannikov, N.O. Kovalevsky, N.A. Mislavsky, A.V. Kibyakov

Adaptations (devices)

Biology and genetics

The relative nature of adaptation: according to a specific habitat, adaptations lose their significance when it changes; hare hare is noticeable against the background of arable land and trees during a delay in winter or during a thaw in early spring; aquatic plants die when water bodies dry up, etc. Examples of adaptation Type of adaptation Characteristics of adaptation Examples Special shape and structure of the body Streamlined body shape gills fins Pinniped fish Protective coloration Sometimes continuous and dissecting; is formed in organisms living openly and makes them invisible ...

Adaptations (devices)

Adaptation (or adaptation) is a complex of morphological, physiological, behavioral and other features of an individual, population or species that ensures success in competition with other individuals, populations or species and resistance to environmental factors.

■ Adaptation is the result of the factors of evolution.

The relative nature of adaptation: corresponding to a specific habitat, adaptations lose their significance when it changes (the white hare during a delay in winter or during a thaw, in early spring it is noticeable against the background of arable land and trees; aquatic plants die when water bodies dry up, etc.).

Adaptation examples

Type of adaptation	Adaptation characteristic	Examples
The special shape and structure of the body	Streamlined body shape, gills, fins	Fish, pinnipeds
Protective coloration	It happens continuous and dismembering; is formed in organisms living openly, and makes them invisible against the background of the environment	Gray and white partridges; seasonal change in the color of the fur of a hare
Warning coloration	Bright, noticeable against the background of the environment; develops in species with protective means	Poisonous amphibians, stinging and poisonous insects, inedible and burning plants
Mimicry	Less protected organisms of one species are similar in color to protected poisonous ones of another species.	Some non-venomous snakes are similar in coloration to venomous ones.
Disguise	The shape and color of the body makes the body look like objects of the environment.	Butterfly caterpillars are similar in color and shape to the knots of the trees where they live.
Functional fixtures	Warm-blooded, active metabolism	Allow to live in different climatic conditions
Passive Defense	Structures and features that determine the greater likelihood of life saving	Turtle shells, mollusk shells, hedgehog quills, etc.
instincts	Swarming in bees when a second queen appears, caring for offspring, searching for food
habits	Behavior changes in moments of danger	The cobra puffs out its hood, the scorpion lifts its tail

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