As the term indicates, biotope means place where life develops, since bio means life and mole is equivalent to earth. In other words, biotopes are spaces in which the development of some form of life is possible. In this sense, the idea of biotope is equivalent to the concept of habitat.
The study of biotopes is part of ecology
Ecology is a discipline that is part of biology and that focuses on the study of ecosystems, understanding by ecosystem the relationships between living beings and their natural environment. In ecosystems there are two main components: the biotope and the biocenosis. By the first we understand the physical environment and its characteristics (especially the climate, the relief of the terrain or the properties of the soil).
By biocenosis we understand the set of living beings that are part of an ecosystem. This implies that the concept of biotope refers to a geographic area and that biocenosis refers to the living beings that are part of a biotope and the relationships they have with each other.
The link between biocenosis and biotope is evident, since a living organism acquires its resources in the environment that surrounds it.
The fight for survival takes place in a certain place, the biotope
Living things that interact in order to survive are related in a biotope or habitat. The biotope is the abiotic (lifeless) part of an ecosystem.
The biotope has three dimensions: the environment, the substrate and environmental factors
- The environment is what surrounds the organisms and there are three media: terrestrial, aquatic or aerial.
- The substrate is the element on which living beings are located, for example, a rock, water, the body of other living beings or sand.
- Environmental factors (also called abiotic factors) refer to the physical-chemical characteristics of the environment (atmospheric pressure, degree of humidity, soil salinity, daylight hours or temperature).
Environmental factors have the particularity of presenting tolerance limits, that is, margins for each of the environmental conditions (beyond these margins the existence of life of most species is not possible).
Making a theatrical simile, we could say that the biotope is formed by the stage and the set, the actors would represent the biocenosis and all this forms a theatrical representation or ecosystem.
Photos: iStock - chuvipro / drmakkoy
