Anything required by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce
Inbiology andecology, aresource is a substance or object in the environment required by an organism for normalgrowth,maintenance, andreproduction. Resources can be consumed by one organism and, as a result, become unavailable to another organism.[1][2][3] Forplants key resources arelight,nutrients, water, and space to grow. Foranimals key resources are food, water, andterritory.
Key resources for plants
[edit]Terrestrial plants require particular resources forphotosynthesis and to complete their life cycle of germination, growth, reproduction, and dispersal:[4][5]
Key resources for animals
[edit]Animals require particular resources formetabolism and to complete their life cycle of gestation, birth, growth, and reproduction:[6]
Resources and ecological processes
[edit]Resource availability plays a central role in ecological processes:
- ^Miller, G.; Spoolman, Scott (2012).Living in the Environment Principles, Connections, and Solutions. Brooks/Cole.ISBN 978-0-538-73534-6.
- ^Ricklefs, R.E. 2005.The Economy of Nature, 6th edition. WH Freeman, USA.
- ^Chapin, F.S. III, H.A. Mooney, M.C. Chapin, and P. Matson. 2011. Principles of terrestrial ecosystem ecology. Springer, New York.
- ^Barbour, M.G. J.H. Burk, W.D. Pitts and F.S. Gilliam. 1998. Terrestrial Plant Ecology, 3rd ed. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco, CA.
- ^Craine, J.M. 2009. Resource strategies in wild plants. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
- ^Smith, T.M., and R.L. Smith. 2008. Elements of ecology, 7th ed. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco, CA.
