What is Ecology?
Ecology is the study of environments, or ecosystems and the organisms that live in the environments. An ecosystem is an area that contains interacting populations. To create an ecosystem, biodiversity, succession, energy flow, population and community dynamics, and cycling of materials is needed. There are a variety of ecosystems on Earth because different organisms are accustomed to live in different climates and biomes. Biomes are defined by areas with the same or similar climatic conditions; meaning that they will also have the same plants and animals. Community interactions are how the populations in an area interact with each other. The three types of community interactions are predator and prey, competition which occurs when species have the same niche, and symbiosis. There are three types of symbiosis which are parasitism, when one species is affected in a bad way while the other benefits, commensalism when one species benefits but the other is not affected and mutualism when both benefit.
Manta Rays Habitat
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Manta Rays can be found in coral reefs, temperate, tropical, and subtropical waters . They live in surface ocean waters with the maximum depth of 120 meters, and they prefer to be closer to the shore where there is more food and it is warmer. [1] It has also been proven that Manta Rays love being in the open sea; as long as the water is warm and they have enough food Manta Rays don't mind. Manta Rays are filter feeders, meaning that they absorb all the water and then filter out the plankton and nutrients in the water. They are secondary consumers because they feed on plankton and plankton is a primary consumer. A niche is an organisms position or roll in the ecosystem. The Manta Rays role is an open sea filter feeder. Manta Rays of course interact with each other when feeding, mating or in cleaning stations but they also interact with other animals in the water. Tiny parasites have become dependent of the Manta Rays and attach themselves to the body of the rays, saving them energy while traveling.