Theory of plate tectonics explains the movement of plants and geologic processes, developed from idea of continental drift . Produces the variety of landforms and sedimentary environments Figure 9-7 . Soil -complex mixture of eroded rock, mineral nutrients, decaying organic matter, water, air, and billions of living organisms.
Dark color indicates soil contains much nitrogen and organic matter.
Five important soil types, each with a distinct profile that varies in color, content, pore size, acidity, and depth. Figure 20-8 . The goal of ecology is to understand interactions, to study relationships -how living biotic organisms interact with one another and with the nonliving abiotic environment. Therefore, we are interested in factors that control the flow of energy and the cycling of matter within and between ecosystems. We know from the discussion of energy and trophic levels, that the earth's total NPP is the upper limit determining the planet's carrying capacity for all species and knowing about energy conversion and the laws of thermodynamics, the potential chemical bond energy available is determined in part by the rate of photosynthesis, which in turn is obviously dependent on solar energy input into the system.