Ecology lab report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ecology lab report - Essay Example This report looks at diversity of different species and draws conclusion about the findings. In community ecology, there is a study of how species interact within themselves in a given community. This study considers variables such as structure, abundance, distribution and demography. Further, some patterns of ecology like equitability, food web, productivity, and species richness and community assembly are considered in modern study of communities in ecology. Background History. In a community, species interact in different ways. There has been a cleavage on how community works in the field of ecology. There are different biotic and abiotic factors that affect the way species in a community interact. Competition, mutualism, parasitism, commensalism and predation are some of the biotic factors that affect the way a community exists. Depending on how the factors interplay, a community may change within a given time frame, thus looking different from the way it was before. Competition occurs when there are finite resources to be used by an increasing population of different species. Competition is a very important limiting factor in biomass, population size and richness of species. There exist different types of competition. Competition can happen between individuals in a direct manner, or between populations or species. Interference competition is that which happens when an individual of a species directly interferes with anothe r individual in other species. For example, if a hound makes a kill and is chased from it by a lion, this is called interference competition. (Hollar p 66). When Deers fight during a rut, this is a manifestation of competition in form of interference. This takes form of aggression between individuals. Individuals interfere with others through survival, foraging, preventing others from reproduction and physical prevention of others to establish a habitat. Exploitative

Strategic Analysis of the Body Shop International Research Paper

Strategic Analysis of the Body Shop International - Research Paper Example Based on the strategic internal analysis of the resources, capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses of the company and the analysis of the industry and global environments, it is reported that despite the highly competitive nature of the industry the company's performance can be stated to be more than satisfactory. Strategically the company would do well with the continuance of its own store design format and with the reduction of the dependence on the franchising mode of expansion. 1.0 Introduction While 'business strategy' represent the goal of the company to attain sustainable competitive advantage in one of the businesses of the company, 'corporate strategy' represents the objective of the company to manage multi-business activities to create corporate-wide advantage that will benefit each of the business the company owns and operates. The corporate strategy looks into the opportunities available to the company both internally and externally to enhance its competitive strengths and sustain its sales growth and profitability. A strategic analysis of any company thus includes assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the company on the basis of the internal environment as well as threats and opportunities that the company is subjected to because of its relative positioning in the market and the industry. This report on the Body Shop International Plc reports on the efforts of the company to enhance and to sustain its competitive advantages. 1.1 Global Cosmetic Industry - A Background The cosmetics and Toiletries Industry has registered an all round growth of 5 percent during the year 2006 as against the growth in the year 2005. This growth is the overall highest growth rate of... The cosmetics and Toiletries Industry has registered an all round growth of 5 percent during the year 2006 as against the growth in the year 2005. This growth is the overall highest growth rate of the industry since the year 2001. The growth of the industry is facilitated by the presence of strong macro economic factors signifying a worldwide increase in the consumer spending power. With the highest growth rate of 13 percent, Eastern Europe, and Latin America were the fastest growing regional markets. Western Europe accounts for less than 30 percent of the total market with a sales growth of just 3 percent in the year 2006. The sales in the North American region which include the United States Market were above $ 50 billion. The Asia Pacific region also has the characters of a key market with the potential linked to factors like large population, enhanced disposable income, modernized retail and distribution networks and increased consumer awareness – thanks to globalization. On the regional levels, Russia represented the largest market with a sale of $ 8.5 billion accounting for about 40 percent of the regional sales value. In the analysis of products, skin care products with the sales value of $ 60.1 billion in the year 2006 are the largest segment of all cosmetic and toiletries items which also is the fastest growing product of the industry. The market generally uses the distribution channels like supermarkets/hypermarkets, specialist stores, pharmacies and departmental stores.