provision of abiotic habitat features

• water -

  • providing water such as pond will allow birds and mammals to drink, amphibians to breed and provide a habitat for aquatic plants and animals
• dissolved oxygen -

  • the lack of turbulence in slow moving rivers often produces low dissolved oxygen levels as less oxygen dissolves from the air
  • making a river narrower will increase flow rates and turbulence which allows more oxygen to dissolve
  • this creates suitable conditions for fish such as trout and insect species such as mayfly larvae both of which require high dissolved oxygen levels
• Temperature -

  • warm temperatures are needed for the development of the eggs of many species
  • areas of shallow warm water warm up rapidly and allow the eggs of fish, newts and frogs to develop more quickly
  • clearings where vegetation has been removed provide warmer areas of soil or sand where lizards may lay their eggs
• Light levels -

  • most plants require specific light levels. Creating clearings provides suitable conditions for the plants that need higher light levels, while retaining a dense tree canopy will provide the shaded conditions needed by others
  • light is essential for photosynthesis so energy can be captured and converted to the chemical energy that drives metabolic processes. The pigment chlorophyll mainly absorbs red and blue wavelengths of light while most green light passes through
• Light levels continued -

  • plants that live beneath the canopy vegetation in forests often have difficulty photosynthesising because the chlorophyll in the canopy has absorbed most of the blue and red light
  • forest floor plants often have additional pigments such as anthocyanins and carotenoids which can absorb wavelengths of light that have passed through the chlorophyll of the canopy vegetation
  • these pigments also protect plants that live in bright sunlight from damaging UV light and high light levels
• pH -

  • many plants cannot survive in acidic soils, this may be because there are few nitrogen-fixing bacteria which make nitrates available for plant growth
  • those plants that can survive the acidic conditions may have few competitors so even small plants can survive without being overshadowed by taller plants
  • many plants that live in acidic, nitrate deficient soil capture insects which they digest to gain nitrogen nutrients
  • a high or low pH can denature the proteins of the cells of exposed tissues such as lungs, gills and root hairs
• Mineral nutrients -

  • some plants can live in nutrient deficient soils where there is less competition with taller plants for factors such as light
  • they may not be able to compete in areas with fertile soils so the creation of a suitable habitat for these species may involve the removal of fertile topsoil or not adding fertilisers
• Salinity -

  • some aquatic species require water of a specific salinity
  • The Opussum Shrimp is normally found in inter tidal habitats which are more saline than freshwater but not as saline as seawater
  • controlling the salinity of the water can increase these shrimp numbers and provide food for bird species