Snaddon: Hazardous Fungus In The Rainforest

Our method of capture was the pitfall trap (digging a hole in the ground and placing a cup) that was filled with isopropyl alcohol. The independent variables for this experiment included location (habitat 1 vs habitat 2) and sun vs shade. The way biodiversity was measured through the arthropod collection project by primarily using statistics including the sum of individual specimens, the sum of taxa, and evenness. The sum of individual specimens allows for the depiction of abundance. The sum of taxa is better known through richness or more specifically how common a certain arthropod is. Lastly, using the Burger- Parker index, evenness is the “lack of dominance” which is known as “1/Pm” (UNO Department of Biological Sciences,1999).

science, made discoveries with regards to the life of agriculture, or just plants in general. The

Albino redwoods and fungi share similarities, while also differing in some traits. When it comes to the structure of both plants, albino redwoods have green and yellowish needles, a combination of normal and albino tissues, and male and female cones (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140319-redwood-albino-chimera-california-tree-tallest/), while fungi have vegetative tissues (hyphae and mycelium), reproductive bodies/structures and spores. Both fungi and albino redwoods do not contain chlorophyll, so they are dependent on other living organisms to provide them with nutrients. Fungi are described as either decomposers or saprotrophs, while albino redwoods are parasites. Albino redwoods act as parasites by stealing nutrients from

What I found most interesting about the article was how different the Montsechia vidalii is from the flowers we know today. Although the plant does bear resemblance to some plants today, many aspects of the plant have evolved overtime. For example, the plants had genders, and did not have petals. This is sets it apart from today’s plants, and also shows how 130 million years of evolution can both do a great amount, but at the same time a small amount. Although the changes are somewhat large, such as the removal of, they are tiny in comparison to other evolutionary changes, which could have taken even longer.

The data shows that the Scrubby Woods has the highest biodiversity of all the ecosystems, rejecting the original hypothesis. This also shows that the Climax Community has the lowest biodiversity. If the test were run again, many improvements would be made. it would start by having more accurate bug counts, ensuring that the data is accurate. Also, another improvement would be to run the test as many times as possible, to better measure the biodiversity. This study has helped us more clearly know the biodiversity in the Hastings, Michigan area, but again, these numbers may not be accurate, as many improvements could have been made. It is possible many errors were made when the identifying the insects, as the students doing so were not trained

Fungi are related to plants, they were not discovered until microscopes were invented. Fungi are many-celled organism and absorb food from living or dead organisms. Mushrooms grow around tree stumps, molds grow on old spoiled food and damp food. Mildew grows on leather, wood,

The next topic for discussion in this paper is ecology. This will include, in order of discussion: distribution and habitats; food sources; predators and parasites; and lastly, behavior and habits.

We measured greenness levels, water stress and presence of Matsucoccus acalyptus (scale), a small parasite that feeds of the sap of Pinyon Trees, across four sites to determine effects these herbivorous insects have on their hosts. We hypothesized that: (1) trees effected with scale will be more water stressed; (2) scale will affect the greenness of the tree; and (3) drought stress will affect greenness of the tree. Studies have shown scale to be detrimental to the health of the host plant (Christensen et al. 1995 and Vecchio et al. 1993). Matsucoccus acalyptus reduces ectomycorrhizae (presence of mycorrhizal mutualism) in trees effected (Gehring

Many of these organisms can only be found in the rainforest, but with the amount of rainforest available for inhabitance diminishing daily, many interesting and little-known organisms are being driven to extinction, all by deforestation. In fact, every single day, an estimated 137 species of organisms dwelling in the rainforest become extinct. Given the amazing biodiversity that exists in rainforests, there are a huge number of organisms that scientists have yet to discover and examine, but with this accelerated rate of species extinction, potentially priceless information is being lost. From a medicinal point of view, the rainforest is an absolute sea of knowledge that is yet to be understood and deciphered. For example, in terms of cancer-treating medicines, seventy percent of all the drugs that have been found have been discovered in plants which only dwell in rainforests. Overall, a quarter of the western medicine that is accessible today has been derived from rainforest plants. Knowing this, when governments or other people take part in rainforest deforestation, it is almost as if people are destroying their own chances for finding cures to diseases that plague this world.

One in ten species in the world lives in the Amazon, which makes it the most biodiverse tropical rainforest in the world. This great expanse of rainforest harbors about half of all species on Earth. As large areas of this tropical forest are cleared by deforestation, entire species are vanishing, many of them unknown. The dense tropical forests also hold a large amount of carbon that is being released into the atmosphere because of deforestation. Although deforestation in the tropics is rapid and widespread, some people are making an increasing effort to mitigate potential disaster.

The African Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous (non-woody) plants. Grasslands cover nearly 50 percent of the land surface of the continent of Africa. While grasslands in general support diverse wildlife, given the lack of hiding places for predators, the African Savannah regions support a much greater diversity in wildlife than do temperate grasslands. The root systems of perennial grasses and forbs form complex mats that hold the soil in place. Mites, insect larvae and earthworms inhabit deep soil, which can reach 20 feet underground in undisturbed grasslands on the richest soils of the world. These invertebrates, along with symbiotic fungi, extend the root

learn about in biology class. The first guy was Carolus Linnaeus was a Swedish Botanist who

Tropical rainforests are a curious world filled with wonder. Tropical Nature: Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America has opened my eyes to another world that I had not paid much attention to. Adrian Forsyth and Ken Miyata introduced a new world of wonder filled with so much diversity. Ecology and evolution go hand and hand, and the rainforest—a beautiful ecosystem driven by the climate [biome]—is a phenomenal example as hot spot for evolution. From the humidity, the high temperatures, the canopy of the trees, and so much more. Diversity thrives in this environment, and it 's obvious from the variety of species that have been found inhabiting such areas.

Puccinia psidii is a fungi, indigenous to Brazil. In 1884, it was first observed in the guava fruit and hence was named as guava rust. Later in 1934, the disease spread to Central America and Caribbean island causing a major devastation. The reason behind this spread is still unclear (Tommerup et al., 2003). This fungi is found in China, Southern and Central America, Japan, Africa and Australia (Jolanda Roux et al., 2013). It is notable that a similar type of fungi, ‘Puccinia asparagi’ causing rust entered New Zealand from Australia in 1973 (Viljanen et al., 2006).

Leaf cutter ants have an ant-fungus mutualism. The ants will nurture the fungus by feeding it leaves and protecting it from pests. If