A Brief Note On Ecology And The Enviroment

I will be conducting a computer simulation called “Rabbits and Wolves”. In this experiment I will be interaction with a simple forest ecosystem model that will simply take into account three organisms: rabbits, wolves, and grass.

This experiment was a success. The experimental procedure from the lab manual was followed. The right materials needed for this experiment was also used. Each group recorded the data of the name of species and percent cover for species in the three transects. After, the class data was assembled, pie-charts and bar graph were drawn from the data using excel.

Explain how the ecosystem was affected by the missing species for each round of the demonstration.

An ecosystem is a community of interacting organisms and their environment. If one of the organisms is disturbed, it can change the trophic cascade which is a sequence of impacts down the food chain. Hannibal supports this statement by writing “keeping these connections going ensures healthy, functioning ecosystems, which in turn support human life.”(578) An example of this is if all of the beavers died the other organisms would go somewhere else or die due because they no longer will have dams to support their ideal habitat.

Read "Lab 3: Biodiversity." This lab will allow you to investigate how various organisms alter their environments. Additionally, it will allow you to

Ecosystems is the dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment that work together to form a functional unit and they are constantly changing due to the fluctuating equilibrium from natural stress and human action which has had adversarial impacts on ecosystems. This is evident in Minnamurra rainforest as human induced modifications and environmental stresses had resulted in a vulnerable ecosystem. Furthermore, the removal of factors that contribute to the vulnerability of an ecosystem is important as it affect the functioning of the ecosystem as processes are accelerated, biodiversity is decreased which greatly affects humans. Despite the negative effects caused by humans, they have discovered that ecosystems are susceptible from harm caused by natural environmental factors or human impacts and realised the importance of protecting and managing ecosystems therefore have implemented management strategies that are supposed to prevent further detriment and as a consequence may induce resiliency.

* Pass around some interesting photographs relating to ecological systems to help gain some interest and motivation around the topic.

Ecology is the branch of biology that studies the interactions of organisms with each other, and with their physical and chemical environments. Another main topic discussed in this chapter is ecosystems. Ecosystems are habitats or areas that consists of two basic components. Ecosystems include such things as biotic and abiotic components. Biotic components are living organisms within an ecosystem and abiotic components are things like sunlight, temperature, and rainfall. Within an ecosystem are producer and autotrophs. Producers and autotrophs consist of plants, algae, and bacteria. These two organisms obtain food from inorganic materials and light energy. As to where consumer and heterotrophs obtain energy by eating plants or the animals that eat the plants. An ecosystem is made up of several different parts. Each part of an ecosystem is different from the other. None of these parts within the ecosystem rely on the other. They are all interdependent being either predators or

We also had a measuring tape and measured up to 25 meters and cut into several parts at each 5 meters leaving in middle 10 meter between both areas of interest or between two different groups working. We were divided into two different groups, one working on low latitude and the other group working on high latitude and repeated the same thing on both side of the mountain. After cutting transect, we recorded each plant species we saw at the field and made some approximation of grasses in percent based on area

-I can use a diagram to show the relationship between the amount of available energy and the size of different trophic levels.

In the ecosystem organisms rely on each other for food and protection. The Food chain is like a pyramid you have the producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, and quaternary consumers. It’s an almost perfect balance and if any level were to just stop existing then the food chain would be destroyed. An example of organisms relying on others is an issue of isle royale were the wolves and moose population are in jeopardy. This relationship is important because without the other animal the population would die.

NGSS 2-LS4-1 Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

Ecology today can be defined as “the study of the interrelationships between living things and their environment”. It is important to understand that when we say that ecology includes the “environment”, we are talking about everything that is external to an organism, all the biotic and abiotic. Nowadays it also attempts to understand and explain the how and why of the origins and mechanisms of interactions.

Leaves of different species were weighed in mg and recorded, then placed into a mesh bag in three separate areas of bag, separated by plastic string weaved through mesh. Rock was placed into middle segment to weigh bag down over the three areas.

A photograph of Earth reveals a great deal, but it does not convey the complexity of our environment. Our environment (a term that comes from the French environner, “to surround”) is more than water, land, and air; it is the sum total of our surroundings. It includes all of the biotic factors, or living things, with which we interact. It also includes the abiotic factors, or nonliving things, with which we interact. Our environment includes the continents, oceans, clouds, and ice caps you can see in the photo of Earth from space, as well as the animals, plants, forests, and farms that comprise the landscapes around us. In a more inclusive sense, it also encompasses our built