Effects of different Climatic Factors on the living organism are given below:
1. Light:
Light plays a vital role for both plants and animals. Sunlight is the ultimate source of energy for the biological world.
Light is highly essential for photosynthesis, plays important role in respiration and transpiration, regulates hormones in plants thereby modifying the shape and size and influences the growth and development of flowers, fruits, germination and distribution of plants.
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As far as animals are concerned, light influences reproduction and metabolism.
2. Heat:
Like light, heat exerts a profound influence on the physiological and biochemical activities of organisms. Generally, organisms prefer to conduct their activities in a temperature region of 4 C to 45 C.
The physiological effects of temperature are the mineral absorption in plants, water uptake, growth, germination in plants and distribution, migration, hibernation and reproductive activities in animals.
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Both organisms exhibit morphological, ecological and physiological adaptation to the variation in temperature. The biochemical effects are due to enzymes and hormonal changes and are related to the temperature.
3. Water:
Water is one of the most important materials necessary for life. All the physiological processes take place in water. The availability of water in an eco-system affects the distribution, growth and other activities of its organisms.
4. Rainfall:
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Rainfall (precipitation) determines the type of vegetation in any region. The evergreen forest in tropical regions is due to heavy rainfall throughout the year.
The grasslands are found in regions where there is heavy rainfall in summer and low rainfall in winter. Due to changes in vegetation, the animals and birds in the various regions also differ.
5. Wind:
Wind brings physical, anatomical and physiological changes to plants. Excessive transpiration due to wind leads to desiccation and death of apical mersistems. Thus, the plants become dwarf; contain small leaves and more branches.
On the mountains, due to the danger of uprooting, the vegetation is composed of species having prostrate growth, with long underground roots. This is known as growth of rhizome type.
6. Humidity:
The physiological activities of organisms, like transpiration, absorption of water, etc., are greatly influenced by humidity. Thus, humidity plays an important role in the life of plants and animals.
7. Atmospheric Gases:
Gases like nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapour and inert gases are essential for sustaining life. However, gases like sulphur dioxide (S02), nitrogen dioxide (N02), hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and smoke particles from the industries have a major influence on the environment and lead to various physiological changes in plants and animals.
8. PH :
PH can be a deciding factor in aquatic eco-system, as far as distribution of organisms is concerned. For aquatic animals as well as for organisms on land, the pH should not be too acidic or too alkaline. For every species, there is an optimum pH level at which they can survive.
Large scale industrialization and the discharge of effluents into water bodies or the soil, change the pH level to a great extent, endangering the lives of organisms.