5.1.3 Edge Habitat

As the amount of available land decreases, vital resources such as food, water, and living space will decrease as well.

Actually, habitat fragmentation occurs when urbanization occurs. Fragmentation is when infrastructure increases and becomes more advanced, biological entities such as forests and plains are broken up. When these areas go from one large being to multiple smaller ones, the population of species splits up. Small habitat patches are usually not able to support the same level of diversity as they were when the area was a whole, and this ends to some species becoming endangered, even sometimes extinct (Kapoor). A study conducted in a Michigan forest that was fragmented due to rapid urbanization showed that predation increased for many bird species and

The rare Daintree Rainforest is one of the forest that has been demolishing slowly because of logging. With this ecosystem fragmentation is occurring (“All about carbon dioxide”). Ecosystem fragmentation is where the forest is separated into smaller pieces over time because of human activity (“The Daintree Rainforest Australia”). With this happening, animals habitats are becoming even smaller (“All about carbon dioxide”). With more habitat space becoming less it is causing more animals to become threatened and an endangered species (“Deforestation”). Smaller amount of habitat is also affecting the animals migration patterns, their ability to collect food, and provides less shelter (“All about carbon dioxide”). This fragmentation also makes it a struggle for animals to move from one part of the rainforest to another and it also affects the limit it has on the animals breeding population. The ecosystem fragmentation is making them become more vulnerable to extinction (“Population in Daintree”). Logging is cutting down one and one-half acres of trees each second and eighteen million acres of forest are destroyed each year. It is estimated that in over the next quarter of a century up to twenty-eight thousand animal species may become extinct all because of logging and human damned for lumber (“All about carbon

Many environmental factors that affect the Daintree Lowland rainforest include fragmentation, climate change, weeds, and dead animals. Climate change can have huge impacts on the rainforest because most species of animals live in the cooler upland of the rainforest, which is a concern for both the rainforest and the organisms. This is because scientists plan to remove the animal’s habitats (where they live). Weeds in the Daintree rainforest have increased dramatically. It has effected the animal’s food, due to some or most animals having reduced food portions. Another effect would be that dead weeds create soil erosion near the upper inlands of the rainforest, which alternatively decreases the animal’s chances of survival. Dead animals such as; snakes and hawks that are within the forest are a great initiative because larger species of animals like crocodiles that live in the Cooper Creek can decompose (eat) the remains of these smaller animals, and it creates food barriers so that other species can decompose

-Reintroduction of a top predator lowered the number of over grazing herbivores, leaving a more stable amount of food for many species of herbivores.

Roads act as barriers to animal movement and lead to habitat broken up . Many species will not cross the open space created by a road due to the threat of predators. Roads also cause increased animal deaths from traffic. the barrier effect can also prevent species from migrating areas where the species gone locally extinct as well as restricting access to seasonally available or widely scattered resources. Habitat separation may also divide large continuous populations into smaller more isolated populations. The smaller populations are vulnerable to genetic drift such as inbreeding depression and an increased risk of population decline and

The second biggest impact of habitat destruction is climate regulation. Climate regulation has a big impact world wide as well as the molecule level. The areas around Lake Claremont have become hotter. This has come down the loss of trees as well as the fact that the lake used to be a rubbish tip, this killed a lot of trees that help disperse a lot of carbon dioxide. The effects that climate regulation has on biotic factors are animals are not used to the new temperatures so they die quicker. This is a massive problem as it also effects the trees as there is either more or less water in the ground, that will kill the trees quicker. The impact between species isn’t as big as it is in habitat destruction but, it does effect how animals hunt for food. The new temperature will often kill the producers (grass, small plants), this means that all of the primary producers will have nothing to feed on effecting everything beyond. The flow that is destroyed when the climate changes be

If a predator organism was removed from an ecosystem, it would allow the prey population to increase which could lead to not having enough food for these organisms to eat. For example, if wolves were eliminated from the taiga biome than there would be a dramatic increase in the population of moose. This would result in the moose not having enough jack pine and could lead to starvation. The wolves would then have to eat more rabbits, elk, and voles which would decrease their population and starve the organisms that rely on these animals.

All reading is conducted orally with corresponding pictures, and various activities and graphic organizers are completed whole class and individually throughout the reading process. This module contains nine lessons and covers the following habitats: Arctic (Arctic tundra and Arctic Ocean), Sonoran Desert, East African savanna, temperate deciduous forest (Great Smoky Mountains), tropical rainforest (Amazon rainforest), freshwater, and saltwater, as well as habitat destruction and endangered

They are losing grasslands and woodlands to hunt for prey and dense, suitable trees to nest and roost. Habitat loss is caused by land development, forest thinning, and conversion of softwood forests to hardwood forests. Another decrease in population is because of predation, or the preying of one animal on another. After increases in grasslands in Iowa no population increases were reported. Long-eared Owls nest in the dense part of trees or in abandoned nests of crows or magpies so often, people destroy their nests without knowing. The last reason for decrease in population is the conservation groups often overlook Long-eared Owls. Iowa is increasing their grasslands and woodlands to help the Long-eared Owl get off of the threatened list. Also, people are setting weaved baskets for the Long-eared Owls to nest and roost.

The availability of food, water, shelter, and space varies among the different habitats in both survey areas. Young forests, mature forests, open areas, and wetlands all had different factors that affected the total population, total number of species, and species diversity of birds. To begin with, young forests in both Idlewood and Tyler State Park were most populous and had the highest number of different species in comparison to the other habitats. Since young forests have an open canopy, sunlight is available and allows of growth of fast growing trees and shrubs and the availability of the vegetation provides more birds with food and shelter. Mature forests have a closed canopy which provides birds with a shelter from environmental factors such as rain and from

Habitat fragmentation, loss and degradation - fragmentation, loss, and degradation of natural habitats, and has also contributed to habitat and species isolation.

The number of predators will decrease as the prey population decrease. There’s just not enough prey to go around with the leaves/grass being gone. 3. Most of the animal population will remain low because there’s not enough food to go around. The prey’s population will stay low due to the loss of the leaves/grass and the predators will stay low because the prey population is low.

Since humans are moving into the natural habitats plant species are dwindling in numbers. Which alters the habitats for which birds relied on for a camouflaged and protected home? Migratory birds are also moving to other areas due to the land pollution. Human waste, cigarette butts, snack wrappers, and beverage containers are all contributing to the growing land pollution.

Plant species and trees have a very important role in helping with diversity (Tews 2). Edge and fragmentation affect the habitat of many species like the Cottontail. Taking out vegetation and trees in the habitat will cause the diversity of species to decrease affecting the Cottontail negatively. The White Spruce will be affected because they provide a lot of cover and vegetation for species. Edge and fragmentation will take out the spruces and cause vegetation to go down. These will all affect the habitat heterogeneity in a negative way and animals will become threatened and