Owl Pellet Lab Report

1. What do we know about the digestive system of an owl based upon the pellets? Based upon the pellets we know that owls cannot digest the bones of some animals because their enzymes aren’t sufficient enough to break them down. Because of this inability to digest fur, bones, and feathers they are later on regurgitated out.

‘Owls’ Mary Oliver Rhetorical Analysis Essay In this short excerpt from Mary Oliver’s ‘Owls’, the author carefully uses various rhetorical strategies to support comparisons in the beauty of nature. Oliver’s use of allusion and figurative language both contribute to the powerful comparisons of nature she makes. In this passage, the main example Oliver uses is comparing a great horned owl and a snow owl to a field of flowers, describing the owls with a striking and powerful presence and the field of flowers with an excessive beauty. Oliver successfully contrasts the two with great imagery and creates a balance of simple happiness and fear and awe.

• Any refinements that were needed to achieve a balance of organisms in the ecosystem, and the associated effects of these refinements on population densities. Paragraph 1 The selected organisms to be involved in the food web simulation are Plant A, B and C, Herbivore A, B, C, Omnivores A, B and the top predator. In the simulation the top predator eats both the Omnivores and Herbivore B.

Since organisms living in communities form interdependent relationships, a change in the abundance of one species will not only affect the physical and more direct interactions, but could indirectly affect the number of other species within the community as a consequence (Wootton 1993). These indirect affects rise because the interactions between pairs of species are not independent of other species, such as increasing the density of vegetation may increase the survival rate of the prey, reducing the intensity of the interaction between the predator and prey (Wootton 1993, 1994). An

The Northern Spotted Owl is one of the three subspecies, a division of a species, of spotted owls. A medium-sized, chocolate brown owl with dark eyes, the northern spotted owl is a nocturnal "perch-and-pounce" predator that captures its prey (primarily small forest mammals) with its claws. (http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/articles.cfm?id=149489595)

This analysis of case studies from Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the case study to predict the effects of pesticides on aquatic systems and the waterfowl that uses them. Comparing the two processes of these case studies, along with analysis of the assessments. Describing the case study on the effects of pesticides in aquatic ecosystem, the risk assessment correlated to observed field studies and evaluate the importance of this type of correlation in general for all risk assessment efforts. Breaking down the ecological and social

Burrowing owls often live in occupied prairie dog colonies. Researchers have proposed several theories regarding why this occurs. One reason may be that owls avoid predation because they share many of the same predators with black-tailed prairie dogs and the presence of the prairie dogs helps to reduce predation. Another theory is that the burrowing owls live in active prairie dog colonies in order to listen to the prairie dogs for cues on when a predator is near. This behavior has been documented between other groups, usually mammals or reptiles responding to bird alarm calls. This study aimed to show whether burrowing owls responded differently to prairie dog predator alarms compared to other sounds, both biological and man made.

I genuinely appreciate you addressing your concern about the owls. I am writing to you to inform you that I will do everything in my power to make sure that no burrowing owls lose their lives in the construction of the next Mother Paula’s Pancake House. Now that this issue has been brought to my attention, I assure you, it will not be forgotten. At Mother Paula’s, all customer concerns are handled with utmost care and consideration. We will take all the necessary steps and precautions to make sure that no owl is left behind.

If an organism is extinct, it will affect the whole food web. Even if the organism was just endangered or populations declined, it will still affect the food web. For example: The grey wolf is a predator that had been missing from the Yellowstone ecosystem for decades. Although they weren’t extinct, there was no control on elk’s population. The increasing population started eating and consumed most of the willow.

The most abundant substance found in the owl pellet was the 5 grams of fur. The total mass of the owl pellet was 8.5 grams. The owl pellet was dissected and the bones and fur was separated. The bones measured 3.5 grams of bones. This is not surprising to see the 5.0 grams of fur and 3.5 grams of bones in the pellet, because the owl cannot digest these substances. It could be assumed the mice found in this owl pellet could have been consumed in the winter months to explain the larger percentage of fur.

These methods lead to the reduction of chick survival and bird population. The emission of fumes from the insecticides cuts off the air supply of oxygen which birds initially require to survive. Farmland bird species is on decline because of ill advised changes in farming techniques. These include increased agrochemical inputs and loss of mixture farming.

Unlike many other rodents the flying squirrel does not hibernate. Instead they group together during the winter and cold month’s to maintain warmth. Northern flying squirrels usually communicate with a soft low chirp but also cluck just like other squirrels when distressed. These squirrels also use scent and touch to communicate with one another; utilizing their excellent senses of hearing, smell, vision, and touch to correspond with the signals they emanate. “A major food source for the squirrels are mycorrhizal fungi (truffles) of many different species, though they also eat lichens, mushrooms, all mast-crop nuts, tree sap, insects, carrion, bird eggs and nestlings, buds and flowers. The squirrels are special in that they can find truffles by olfaction, which is the use of smell. They also seem to use clues such as the presence of wood debris, indicating a decaying log, and spatial memory of locations where truffles were found in the past. The northern flying squirrel is also known to stash food for when food supplies are lower such as in the winter. These caches can be in cavities in trees, as well as in the squirrels' nest, or even within the ground. Lichens and seeds are the commonly stored items” (9). Yet in this relationship the most important functions of this squirrel are to provide food for the owls, and in addition, to greatly

The exact scenario changes in each example, but the central idea remains that through a chain of interactions, a non-abundant species has an outsized impact on ecosystem functions.

This in turn would lead to more consumption at the top of the food chain, eliminating the predators to creatures at the lower end

Front Facing Eyes with high-quality optics which create an abnormally large binocular field of observation which is a sign for increased ethological importance for the use of stereo vision