A-Mountain Ecology Lab Report

Plants are found everywhere on earth, up high on the ridge and down low in caves and caverns. The types of plants that live in these places depends on many factors. These factors are separated into two different categories, the biotic factors and the abiotic factors. Some of the biotic factors include, predation, competition, and habitat destruction. Plants with limited competition and large amounts of resources will be in a higher abundance than plants with limited resources and higher competition rates will be confined to areas and either out competed or will be the dominant species. Certain plants adapt to these factors and thrive and others don’t do as well. Some of the abiotic factors include, sunlight, water, temperature, and wind. These

For those seeking a secluded mountain home there would be none better than Appalachian Mountain real estate, as the starting point.

The purpose of this experiment is to observe secondary succession at Umass Dartmouth and test the prediction that diversity increases through ecological succession. Students went outside to the lawn underneath the wind mill on campus. 3 transect sites were located by the instructor. Students predicted the species and percent cover of each species on each trail site. Bar charts were made to compare the number of species in each transect. Pi-charts were made to compare the percent coverage of species in each transect.

The annual rate of precipitation, and elevational range once generated a strong foundation for a wide diversity of vegetation

Biomes are appropriate conditions for organizing the natural world because the organisms that live in them common constellations of adaptations, particularly the climate of each of the areas and the characteristic vegetation types that develops in these divisions. It should be understood that the climate is perhaps the most important in determining classes of individuals who may live in an area and the ways they should be amended to live under different conditions of temperature and precipitation and seasonal distribution of these factors element. Every place on Earth has its own climate, influenced by both macroclimate regions as the particular microclimate. The soils are very important because they are essential to determine the types of plants that will grow into a bioclimatic zone in partical, in addition, also as substrates for animals serve. In turn, the soils are heavily influenced by regional climate, as well as the geology of the bedrock. At the same time we have to keep in mind the diversity of plants like the flora just like the diversity of the fauna as well as the adaptation of both.

By comparing the topography, soil moisture levels, relative humidity, and wind speed of the upland Savanna and Bottomland forest we will be able to compare and contrast between these two vegetation zones. The data collected in the investigation will be used to test the hypothesis that the bottomland forest has a higher degree of shrub layer cover than the savanna. The higher level of shrubs in the bottomland forest might be attributed to the space available for shrub layer species. In addition, the data collected will confirm that the bottomland forest has a higher tree density than the

On this day in 1863, Union troops capture Lookout Mountain southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee,as they begin to break the Confederate siege of the city. In the “battle above the clouds,” the Yankees scaled the slopes of the mountain on the periphery of the Chattanooga lines.

The Appalachian plateau is the smallest and northern most region in Georgia as well as being home to many superb physical features. Its abundance of natural beauty attracts visitors far and wide to the peach state. It showcases many natural attractions including, infamous Lookout Mountain, Sand Mountain, Cloudland Canyon State Park, Pigeon Mountain, and many more throughout the area stretching from Alabama to New York. The expanse has many natural resources consisting mostly of sedimentary rock-limestone, sandstone, and shale. It also contains resources such as ironstone and is the only known source of coal in Georgia. The Plateau is of great economic significance due to the many coalfields

The Chaparral and Coastal Sage Scrub have a variety of different plant species, from Torrey Pine to Cacti. They each contain some helpful adaptations that have resulted from directional selection over

The pink blooms on tall stakes, also known as Fireweed, often blanket the land in this region and when the flowers turn to cotton, it is a sign that winter is around the corner. As the 90 degree heat of summer comes to an end, the 70 degrees below zero of winter highlight the beauty of the northern lights, tundra, forest and mountains. Look up and Denali Mountain rises 20,310 feet above sea level as the highest peak in North America. This summit is company to 6 million acres of the Denali National Park and Grizzly Bears. This particular bear is abundant in the Talkeetna Mountains and the metal gold is present in the creeks and valleys.

2010). (Millar & Westfall 2010). Examined Sierra Nevada talus slopes and found that warmer, drier sites were less likely to support current pika populations than cooler wetter sites. Extant pika populations in the Southern Rockies are experiencing extreme climatic change. Maximum summer temperatures are indicated a warming trend. Despite these changes in summer temperature, there was no effect found of temperature on pika persistence in the study area. Although recent impact of temperature on pika populations does not appear universal throughout the species range, there is an obvious impact of precipitation becoming more consistent. It was found that water is the primary driver of pika persistence patterns in the study region. Not only were the four extirpation sites among the driest of the sites studied but the also lacked water sources for the pika. If present, these water sources could buffer pikas and the plant communities on which they depend from the effects of low precipitation (Millar & Westfall 2010). If low precipitation drives extirpation in the Southern Rockies, it would be expected that populations experiencing a decrease in annual precipitation due to modern climate change to be more prone to extirpation. However, this is not what is happening. The study sites have experienced relatively little change in precipitation between the periods of 1908-1979 and 1980-2007. The fact that sites experiencing decreasing precipitation, supports the evidence that pikas may seem contradictory with the finding that populations at dry sites are more prone to extirpation. It is crucial to monitor these locations in the coming years and decades, as continued drying trends could place the pika populations at high risk of future

Light is also plays a huge role , in area 1 the slope was facing north . In area 2, the slope was facing southwest which makes a huge difference in the amount of light received by the plants in the areas. The slope that was facing north generally gets less light in comparison to the southwest since it gets the bulk of the sun.This alone tells that in area 2 there is much more light available for plants to uptake and do photosynthesis than in area 1. This further proves that in area 2 is able to hold more species which supports that it has more diversity than in area

The Alpine Biome covers up sixteen percent of the earth's surface. It’s one of the coldest biomes all over the world. Almost all animals that live in the Alpine Biome can survive the extreme weathers by insulating their bodies with fat, and extra fur.

The defining character of a desert is usually low levels of rainfall with under 25 cm per year. Additional to that, the relationship between rainfall and the evaporated and transpired water must be taken into consideration. “A desert is a biological community in which most of the indigenous plants and animals are adapted to chronic aridity and periodic, extreme droughts, and in which these conditions are necessary to maintain the community’s structure” (Phillips, Comus, 2000, p. 10). This means that it is the environmental and climatic conditions that have created an evolutionary pressure for the flora to develop.

to determine differences (if any) in densities of native and non-native birds relative to the type of vegetation present. Two native vegetation areas and two non-native vegetation areas were studied (i.e. four areas in total).