Q.Write an essay on temperature as an ecological factor.

Temperature governs the rate of virtually every biochemical reaction in a living organism, making it one of the most powerful of all abiotic factors. Van't Hoff's rule captures this directly: the rate of a physiological reaction roughly doubles (or more) for every 10°C rise in temperature within the tolerable range. This is why cold-blooded (ectothermic) organisms become sluggish in cold conditions and much more active as temperature rises — their internal reaction rates are directly coupled to the surrounding temperature in a way that warm-blooded organisms, which actively regulate their internal temperature, are largely insulated from.

Every species has three defining temperature points: a minimum effective temperature below which metabolism effectively ceases, a maximum effective temperature above which proteins denature and vital functions fail, and an optimum effective temperature at which growth and physiological efficiency are highest. Together these three points define a species' thermal tolerance range, which in turn strongly constrains its geographic distribution. …