What is aestivation?

 It is an opposite process of hibernation. Some animals go under the ground during the dry season of summer. In zoology it is a state of inactivity and reduced metabolic activity that occurs during the dry season in species such as lungfish and snails. 

What are parasites?

Parasites are those animals or plants which live on the living plants and in the bodies of living animals. Parasites that live inside the host such as liver flukes and tapeworms are called entroparasites; those that live on exterior, such as fleas and lice are called ectoparasites. They are harmful for the host.

 


What are saprophytes?

The living beings that feed on dead or decayed organic matter are called saprophytes. Most saprophytes are fungi and bacteria which contain no chlorophyll. Many other animals eat dead plants and animal matter. They are useful scavengers and in sewage farms and refuse dumps break down organic matter into nutrients and easily assimilable by green plants. 

What is a food web?

When food chains are interconnected in an ecosystem they are called food webs. Sometimes one type of plant or animal is eaten by more than one kind of animal. In this way, two or more than two food chains get interconnected and form a food web. The more complex food web shows a greater variety of relationships. 

How do we define the term food chain?

 In ecology, a sequence showing feeding relationship between organisms in particular ecosystem is known as food chain. Each organism depends on the next lowest member of the chain for its food. For example, grass is eaten by a deer and deer is eaten by a lion. Other examples of food chains are algae-duck-otter and flower-butterfly-lizard-snake-peacock.

What are omnivores?

 Living beings which eat both plants and animals are called omnivores. Omnivores have digestive adaptions intermediate between those of herbivores and carnivores. They can digest variety of food stuffs. Human beings are omnivorous, because they eat meat, fish, vegetables and fruits. Other omnivorous animals are rats, pigs, bear and certain birds. 

What are carnivores?

The livings being which eat other animals are called carnivores such as lion bear, cat, dog, wolf, weasel etc. Carnivores have special teeth for tearing and chewing flesh. In other words all flesh eating animals are carnivores. They also produce special enzymes for digesting meat. 

What are carnivorous plants?

Apart from animals, there are some plants that capture insects for food. They are called carnivorous plants. Since they cannot prepare their own protein, they get it by eating worms and insects. Venus fly trap, pitcher plant, sundew plant etc. are some examples of carnivorous plants. Similarly a plant called ‘Indian pipe’ is found in the hills of Shimla also eats insects. 

What are herbivores?

Living beings which consume only plants are called herbivores. We sometimes call them vegetarians. Well-known herbivores are rabbits, deer, cows, sparrows, squirrels and honeybees. They have specially designed teeth and produce special enzymes to digest plant matter.

 



 



 


What are the four elements of an ecosystem?

The four elements of an ecosystem are: (a) The non-living environment, (b) Producers (green plants), (c) Consumers and (d) Decomposers. The non-living environment of an ecosystem includes sunlight, water, oxygen, minerals, dead plants and animal matter. The producers of an ecosystem are green plants. Animals, both herbivorous and carnivorous are the consumers of an ecosystem. Decomposers are bacteria, fungi and insects that decompose dead plants and animals.

What is the meaning of the term ecological balance?

The ability of nature to remain unchanged is called the balance of nature or ecological balance. The whole earth is an ecosystem, a system of give and take among plants, animals and their surroundings. In theory the ecosystem is a closed cycle but in practice the ecosystem is seldom in a state of balance. Gradual readjustment to the composition of a balanced community is continuously taking place. Man is often responsible for causing sudden ecological imbalance through activities like deforestation, polluting the atmosphere, destroying habitats, seas, lake and by rapid industrialization or sometimes through the out break of new disease. 

What is ecology?

Ecology is the branch of science that is concerned with the relationships of life forms with each other and with their surroundings. The word ecology was coined in 1866 by Ernst Haeckel. It is derived from two ancient Greek words meaning “study of the home”. The word ecology comes from the Greek word Oikos meaning ‘household’.