Term Paper On The Greenock Region, South Australia

The main similarity between the plant adaptations in these ecosystems is that they grow small because of the lack of nutrients in the soil, the wind and the extreme weather.

might affect the fitness of each variant. In other words which factors might increase plant growth, survival,

There are many factors that account for the changes to the vegetation over time within ecosystems in the British Isles, such as human activity, climate, soil, light availability and intensity and natural disasters. The characteristics of the vegetation that are influenced by these factors are height, distribution, variety of species, adaptations and density of the vegetation. Some of these factors have relatively little influence on the succession development, whereas others have a dramatic influence over a long period of time, such as human activity. These factors, over time, result in the progression of a succession until the climatic climax vegetation is reached. However, sometimes these factors can mean that a plagioclimax is reached,

E) support biological communities similar to those found at higher elevations on similar south-facing slopes.

In our experiment of field ecology at A-mountain, the purpose were to understand the specific factors that affect the distribution and abundance of plant species at north facing slope and south facing slope. The availability of plants in certain area depends on temperature, availability of water, sunlight and nutrients. A-mountain which is in Arizona has different desert plant that includes; grass, brittlebush, bursage, creosote bush, mesquite, palo verde, fishhook barrel, hedgehog, pincushion, teddy bear cholla, staghorn cholla, chain fruit cholla, prickly pear and others.. and some are specifically found on either north or south side of the mountain. The fact that the south slope receive more direct sunlight than the north facing slope, soil moisture will evaporate faster in south side of the mountain than in the north side thus the availability of different drought resisting plant whereas in north side where there is a slower evaporation due to lack of direct sunlight hence few drought resistant plants compared to south side (Wyant, unpublished data). We predicted that to the south side of the mountain there be will more diversity, evenness and drought tolerant plants species than the north side.

The Mallee region of Victoria is situated in North-West Victoria and covers an area of around 44,000 square kilometres. The region is known to be associated with the adjacent land of South Australia and New South Wales and is also recognised to join with the Wimmera and Loddon regions of Victoria. Also, because of the large area which the region covers and the diversity it beholds, it is sometimes distinguished into two sub-regions, the north and the south. Whilst 38% of the land is occupied by the public, only 1% of the remaining 62% is protected from grazing animals and only 3.04% retains native vegetation. ????????

Lakes and ponds are not common and occupy less than one percent of the surface. On the other hand, due to the severe climate and shallow body of soil, vegetations, up in the North are commonly sparse, ground-hugging and dwarf-like in form. The low variety of vegetation, which the diversity of plants yields only about 150 species, makes this region a barren plain. The main vegetation in upland areas consists of lichens and herbs, whereas water lowland sites will be predominated by sedges and mosses. Moreover, this land is also lacking the diversity of wildlife, that the limitation on plants greatly restricts food which inhibiting animals can consume. In fact, the habitat for a few animals

On the edge, tree densities were lower than the interior part of the forest. Fragmenting causes land to have more edges, affecting plants and animals in a negative way (Laurance 1-2). A climax species like the White Spruce grows in the northern part of North America. It grows in a variety of conditions with different types of soils and climates (Zasada 1-2). Fragmentation of land negatively effects the reproduction of the White Spruce. A reduction of an area size can reduce the number of seeds in a cone. In order to maintain a healthy site for White Spruce, the key is to make sure there are at least 200 other active reproducing trees in the same area. Fragmentation effects biodiversity in a negative way as well (O’Connell 8). Fragmentation is affecting both edge obligate and climax obligate species in a negative way. The interior part of the forest needs to remain large enough to still have cover. Fragmentation causes edges, which allows more problems to occur due to the open areas surrounding the forests. The White Spruce and the Eastern Cottontail are very similar on the way fragmentation affects

This is constructed by planting different type of plant species in the same proximal area that will benefit both plant species, establishing a mutualistic relationship. The nurse plant effect can be applied to further examine how the habitat structure of PLL flowers beds along different gradient influence invertebrates (Hai et al 2008)

With poor weather, it was clear that the species that thrived in the wooded areas survived more effectively as a result of the protection that offered by the woods. Although more mosses and grasses were present near the quarries, it was obvious that they were much more susceptible to wind, cold, and rain. With fall in full swing, the vegetation near the quarries changed much sooner than the woodland vegetation.

Of the multitude of labs and experiments performed in this class, each and every one of them exemplifies at least one aspect of the Nature of Science. One particular facet of the Nature of Science is that “Science is data driven (empirical), but also inferential.” This statement simply means that science consists of data that is obtained through mere observation and experimentation, but science also consists of inferences made from existing data. One example of an experiment conducted in this class in which the science was data driven was the Measure Twice, Cut Once lab. In this lab, plant diversity in a lawn ecosystem was measured using diversity indices such as species richness, percent cover, and species frequency just to name a few. In order to calculate and analyze the various diversity indices, empirical data was collected by dividing the lawn ecosystem into sixteen quadrats and physically observing the plants present in each quadrat.

As the Great Barrier Reef (GBR)in Australia is the natural heritage, whose ecosystem is subject to

Ecological tradeoffs occur throughout a species’ lifespan, giving little energy to one or more characteristics in order to focus energy and attention on a separate characteristic. Three common characteristics found in an ecological tradeoff include fecundity, age of reproductive maturity, and juvenile survivorship. Juvenile survivorship is important, especially to Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) because a species must have an adequate survival level to not become extinct (Molles 2010). One way tree fruits have a juvenile survivorship is because of the varying seed dispersal methods with which they find new ground to germinate. Secondary seed dispersal describes the process when other organisms pick up, intentionally or not, the seeds and carry them off to a new location to begin growing. Wind dispersion the most common dispersal method among silver maple samaras, incorporating the specialized design of the samara’s seed coat (CITE).

In 1984, Dwight Brown presented his research that looked at the various types of grass phytoliths. Brown was particularly interested in looking at the migration rates of particular species of grass. He felt that the rates could indicate weather conditions. Brown looked at three shape classes of grass phytoliths: bilobates, saddles and trapezoids (Brown 1984: #4, 345). From his studies, Brown concluded that fluctuations in the ratios of phytolith shapes could indicate shifts in the environment to which the phytoliths belonged (Brown 1984: #4, 345). He also concluded that it was

In the middle of the graph (grazed and ungrazed) longer lived annual and biennial R species such as thistle, are found. As the curve then starts to decrease R selected species start to slowly drop out and longer living K species start to come into the population, as the perennials knock short lived annuals due to competing for resources. Refer to table one for a description of each plant species and their perenniality and lifecycle.