Animal,
Vegetable, Mineral?
and their roles in the cycles of life
You may come across things on Chek Jawa that appear strange and unfamiliar.
Sometimes, it is not even obvious whether they are animals, plants
or something non-living. All of them play a part in life on Chek Jawa.
How are plants different from animals?
Most plants make their own food through photosynthesis, a process
that uses energy from the sun to create food from simple chemicals.
Plants are called producers because they make their own food. Animals
are called consumers because they can only take food from the environment.
Animals eat plants and other animals.
Are non-living things important?
Plants and animals take in non-living things as part of their life
processes. Some important non-living things include gases, such as
oxygen, and minerals, such as calcium.
Useful dead: Plants and animals
contribute to the ecosystem even after they die. Their bodies decay
and break down into smaller pieces or simpler substances that are
eaten or absorbed by living things in the ecosystem. Some living things
in fact get food by breaking down the remains of dead plants and animals
into simpler substances. These are called decomposers. Bacteria are
decomposers.
Every little thing counts: Living
and non-living things on Chek Jawa are so closely interconnected that
removing a living thing or some natural material could upset this
balance. For example, taking shells away from Chek Jawa not only deprives
hermit crabs of homes but also removes a source of calcium. Calcium
is needed by many animals to build shells and skeletons.
The human hand is not needed to maintain these cycles
of life; in fact, our intervention often sabotages it.
Why are lifeforms on Chek Jawa so weird?
Living things in the sea have had to adapt to conditions that are
different from those that live on land. Thus, sea creatures not only
appear strange but also behave strangely to us land dwellers. For
example, the seawater that surrounds marine dwellers supports their
body weight so they can take on shapes and sizes not often found on
land. Seawater is also much like a soup of living things. Drifting
in the water are countless plankton. Many marine creature simply filter
this soup for food. To do so, they have body structures and feeding
methods that may appear unusual to us.
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