Biomes Reading

Temperate Forest: The Intimate Wild

Quote: "Ernst had grown up hunting in the Ozark National Forest."
Question: Was/is it legal to hunt in a national forest?
Comment: I found this quote interesting because I always thought that it was illegal to hunt in a national forest. There could be endangered species in the forest and hunting in it could cause damage to the surrounding area itself.

Grassland: Grassland Kingdom

Quote: "...1,800 Asiatic wild buffalo, the largest remaining population anywhere..."

Question: Does this mean in all of the world or just in that particular area?

Comment: I was just wondering if this means that this particular species was endangered or almost extinct.

Freshwater: Reuniting a River

Quote: "...But when the weather turned sunny and hot, the fish, wearied by the false start and weakened by infections, didn't get far: At least 30,000 chinook salmon died in the lower 40 miles."

Question: What types of infections did the fish get and how did they develop?

Comment: I couldn't find any information on what infections the fish had. I wonder if it came from the pesticides the farmers used or if it came from another source.

Extra Article: Black Smokers, Cold Seeps, Whale Falls

Quote: "Smith finds that when whales die their soft parts are eaten, but the bones linger for decades."

Question: What happens to the bones, are they a problem or is it okay for them to be on the bottom of the ocean?

Comment: According to the article, it sounds like different animals live in the bones and use the oils in them for different purposes, but that doesn't mean that the ocean floor isn't covered in bones. I was just wondering if it is okay for all of those bones to be there or if they are somehow damaging the environment around them.

Biomes

Freshwater

What percentage of the earth's water is freshwater? How much of this freshwater is drinkable?

2.5% is freshwater, 1% of freshwater is drinkable.

Marine

Is coral classified as an animal or a plant? Is it both?

Coral is an animal. It is built up of several animals called polyps, which cling together on rocks or dead polyps to create coral.

Desert

Why is a cold desert considered to be a desert if it is known to have heavy rainfall and snow?

I couldn't find much information on this question. What I have gathered is that cold deserts, like regular deserts, can become extremely hot during the summer and are known to be very dry. Cold deserts are often higher in altitude that regular deserts. I believe it is still considered to be a desert because it is usually very flat and barren.

Forest

Why do tropical forests not have much change in weather? Is it just the overall density of the trees doesn't allow much change in weather to be felt or is it the location itself?

I couldn't find much information on this question. From what I gathered, the weather doesn't change that much because the tree cover is so thick that a consistent amount of sunlight is let through, which usually isn't much. There are usually several interesting plants and animals where the sunlight does shine through.

Grassland

Is the only difference between temperate grasslands and savannas just a slight change in conditions, (exp: savannas need just a bit more rainfall than temperate grasslands do)?

The main difference is that savannas are just abut always in warm climates whereas a temperate grassland is often, but not always, in a warm climate. Also, savannas need more water than a temperate grassland does.

Tundra

How cold does the Alpine tundra get, what is the exact difference between the temperatures of the Alpine and Arctic tundra?

The Alpine tundra can be anywhere from 10 degrees Fahrenheit to 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer. The Arctic tundra is never hotter than 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Four Goals: Day Two

My four goals for Friday, (Oct. 15, 2010) are:

1) Continue changing all of my buildings and plants to scale. So far, I have created an entirely new draft of my project and I have already re-sized all of the pine trees and the greenhouse is now a realistic size, as is the lot itself. Now I just have to create the "flowers" and other plants and make them to scale. I will probably be working on this all of the class period, since there are quite a few things that need to be made to scale. Hopefully, I will be completely done with resizing everything by the end of class, but it might push into the weekend slightly. I will begin placing all of my plants over the weekend.

2) Add a fountain to the reflecting pond. I want the pollinators to have plenty of areas to drink water, especially the birds. Also, adding a fountain is visually appealing. I will probably start this either in the second hour of class or over the weekend. This should probably only take up to a half an hour since it's easy enough to make a reflecting pond, so I would just have to do a bit in order to add a fountain to it.

3) Add a sitting area to the garden. I plan on putting the sitting area next to the greenhouse. I want to put some of the more fragrant plants near the sitting area so that when they are stepped on and crushed they make a pleasant aroma. I will start working on this when I begin placing my plants over the weekend, since I will be picking the more aromatic plants to go in this area.

4) Add the legend to the design itself. I have completely retyped the legend so now I can just copy and paste it onto the design. I plan on adding this in over the weekend, just so it doesn't get in the way of my design itself while I am working.

Four Goals

My four goals for class this Thursday, (Oct 14, 2010) are:

1) Change the size of all of my buildings and plants in order to make them to scale.

2) Add a fountain to the reflecting pool in order to make it a bit more visually appealing and give the pollinators more water.

3) Place legend onto the actual design rather than leaving it in Microsoft Word.

4) Add a sitting area to the design, (add tables, benches, and fragrant plants that add an aroma to the area). This way, once the plants get crushed it will create a nice aroma.

Cited and Annotated sources on Ecosystems

"Extent of Land Degradation and Recovery on Western Rangelands." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Science Daily, 01 Oct. 2010. Web. 02 Oct. 2010.

This article is about the falling apart of western rangelands over time. It discusses the steps that farmers have been taking in order to revive the land so that it becomes healthy and usable again.

I would like to do my project about desert based ecosystems, so studying about a more drought ridden area would be good.

"How to Still Kill a Resistant Parasite." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Science Daily, 02 Oct. 2010. Web. 02 Oct. 2010.

This article is about a parasite in cows that is resistant to almost all known medicines. This parasite is similar to one that can infect and harm humans, so it is dangerous for people to eat the animals.

This relates a bit to my life because of the fact that I am vegan. Part of the reason that I am vegan is because there are so many diseases passes from animals to humans do to bad animal care and hormones put into their food.

"Growing Drought-resistant Plants: Research Could Offer Alternative to Genetically-engineered Crops to Combat Global Food Shortages." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Science Daily, 01 Oct. 2010. Web. 02 Oct. 2010.

This article is about a new, environmentally friendly spray, that farmers can use on their plants to help them survive from droughts. This article talks about the research that Van Andel Research Institute has been doing on the subject and how it can help prolong the lives of several plants.

This goes along with my topic because San Diego typically goes for long periods of time without rain, so this spray would probably be used on local plants.

Ecosystems in California

Some of the ecosystems in California are as follows:


-California Mesic Chaparral

-Mediterranean California Foothill and Lower Montane Riparian Woodland

-California Central Valley Mixed Oak Savanna

-Mediterranean California Lower Montane Black Oak-Conifer Forest and Woodland

-California Central Valley and Southern Coastal Grassland

-California Central Valley Mixed Oak Savanna

Some plants included in these ecosystems are:

Desert, Seaside, Grassland and Marsh Communities

• -Alkali Sink
• -Alpine Fell-Fields
• -Coastal Prairie
• -Coastal Salt Marsh
• -Coastal Strand
• -Creosote Bush Scrub
• -Freshwater Marsh
• -Great Basin Sagebrush
• -Joshua Tree Woodland
• -Mountain Meadow
• -Northern Juniper Woodland
• -Sagebrush Scrub
• -Shadscale Scrub
• -Valley Grassland

Woodlands and Scrublands

• -Bristle-cone Pine
• -Chaparral
• -Central (Foothill) Oak Woodland
• -Coast Redwood Forest
• -Coastal Sage Scrub
• -Mixed-evergreen Forest
• -Northern Coastal Scrub
• -Northern Oak Woodland
• -Pinyon-Juniper Woodland
• -Riparian rivers and creeks
• -Southern Oak Woodland

Coniferous Forests

• -Closed-cone Pine Forest
• -Coastal Coniferous Forest
• -Douglas-Fir Forest
• -Lodgepole Pine Forest
• -Red Fir Forest
• -Subalpine Forest
• -Yellow Pine Forest
• 
  

I think that I will focus on a close-cone pine forest since I want to create a garden that will attract pollinators such as hummingbirds and butterflies.