Etosha

Etosha: Place of Dry Water Etosha is an ecosystem that contains many interacting species of organisms and their physical environment. As the seasons change, the temperature and climate affect the biotic and abiotic factors. Biotic factors are the living organisms that are affected by abiotic factors. Abiotic factors are the non-living or physical factor that directly affects the living organisms. Etosha displays all type of biotic and abiotic factors as the seasons change and the rainy seasons come again to start the cycle again.

A biotic factor is the predator and prey relationship. Etosha displays this through many of its organisms- turtle and dove, cheetah and zebra, lion and frog, and snake and frog respectively. The parasite and host relationship constitutes as a biotic factory. An example of this is the squirrel, the host and the fleas, the parasite. There exists mutualism in Etosha. The mother fox finds bugs on its young ones and this provides food for the mothers. The bugs use the mother to live on and to live off of. Therefore, each organism benefits from their relationship. Competition exists between male bullfrogs over the female bullfrogs for mating. They may go to the extent of eating one another. The male lions also fight one another over the female lioness for mating. An example of a food chain in Etosha starts with bugs. Then, the bullfrogs eat the bugs. Bullfrogs eat other bullfrogs for competition and a lion eats the bullfrog. The squirrel has a long tail to shade it from the sun, which is an example of adaptation. Another adaptation is the large ears of the bat ear fox, which allow it to hear sounds of the bugs in the ground for food. The bullfrog camouflage in the swamp by cryptic coloration. It is the same color as its environment. These are the major biotic factors, which exist in Etosha.

The abiotic factor that persists in Etosha is the soil, which turns dry from the heat and sun. It turns to a desert and many animals move away until the