...Balancing Ecosystems Nasirah Halstead ENV/100 August 25, 2014 Sharon White, Instructor Balancing Ecosystems Dear City Council: I am writing you concerning matters of restoring balance to the city's ecosystem. An ecosystem is a factor in the biological community that consists of occurrences locally, chemical factors, as well as physical, make up the environment non-living or abiotic. The unbalanced ecosystem in Sparksville's aquatic system is the situation at hand. The boundaries of this ecosystem are being addressed for reasons having to do with the goal of restoring the lake back to normal. The invasions of Grass Carp have made it almost impossible for the rest of the underwater community to be in existence. The changes in the ecosystem in the lake have influenced all components of living for the community and life under water within the lake. Bass fish are at an all-time low for the community. The resources of Bass fish are so small that the city cannot hold the annual Bass Tournament, leaving the city bankrupt of resources that help the economy. Grass Carp are known as an invasive species meaning it is a non-native species within the Lake. The Carp introduced when the city decided to use an eco-friendly fertilizer to help with the crops. The plants began to grow healthier; however, the Grass Carp begin to come to the Lake and take it over and out-competing the native species. The native species are usually more aggressive in their race to get adequate resources...
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...Balancing Ecosystems Jaclyn Bataclan 10/11/15 Env100 Lori Keller Dear City Council of Glimmerville, Good day to all residing in Glimmerville. I would like to introduce myself, my name is Jaclyn Bataclan, I am a college student that is been assigned to restoring the balance of Sparksville waters by removing the Grass Carp. I understand that Glimmerville is having the same challenges as we were. I am offering you my knowledge of how we removed the Carp, and restored balance in the waters of your lovely town. Let me first explain what an ecosystem is and why it’s important to have a balanced ecosystem. An ecosystems is a balance of all things living and nonliving together in a specific area. For example, a coral reef is an ecosystem is contains substrate, water, microorganisms, fish, plants, and air. Balance within an ecosystem is important because without it will not maintain its stability. Every part of an ecosystem has a job to do, and when a species of an ecosystem disappears the balance is off kilter. If an invasive species is introduced to an ecosystem it can endanger the species that is native to the ecosystem and potentially destroy the ecosystem. An invasive species may pray on the native ones, and remove it from the ecosystem, which in turn can create other species to invade; decease to come and lastly destroy the soil and create erosion. However, the native species helps maintain the stability of the ecosystem, like plants, which are producers, provide food...
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...Ecology is a group of interconnected elements which is formed by the interaction of living organisms with the other organisms and its surrounding environment. Ecosystems are a functional unit which comprises of ecology and the environment where living and non-living things work together. A.G. Tansley in Singh (1935) defined ecosystem as 'a particular category of physical systems, consisting of organisms and inorganic components in a relatively stable equilibrium, open and of various sizes and kinds'. All living beings are dependent on ecosystems for the survival of their lives. Thousands of years ago, ecosystems were able to sustain the weight of increasing population creating a balance in the environment. The ecosystem had the capacity...
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...Karleskint Jr. et al, 2010, p.464). But while it is common to see them as food for fish, they have other roles in nature what make them essential organisms in the delicate balance of our ecosystem. This paper will highlight the critical role of plankton as the organisms that make life on earth possible by describing the foundational role it plays in the food chain and in significant bio-chemical processes and discussing the negative effects it will give to the environment. I. Main Functions of Plankton in the Environment There are two main roles played by plankton in the environment. The first important role of plankton is in the food chain. Because of their microscopic size, they serve as food for other microorganisms, fishes and seal animals, which make-up 30% percent of the world’s entire intake of animal protein (J.H. Steele et al, 2009, p.8). Thus, we find plankton at the bottom of the food chain: zooplanktons eat other planktons for food, which in turn, along with phytoplankton and bacterioplankton, are food for fish and sea mammals, most of which eventually become food for human beings. Secondly, plankton plays an important role in the earth’s biochemical processes. Phytoplankton, for one, is responsible for the primary production of organic compounds that sustains the aquatic ecosystem. Because they have plant-like features, they are capable of photosynthesis and the conversion of carbon dioxide into oxygen and other essential compounds. According to M. Toner (2002),...
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...Water Strider Heather Cervantes Bio/335 June 17, 2013 Dr. Kathleen Ramsey Water Strider The water strider can be found on the top of a pond, lake, river, stream, or almost any body of water around the world. These insects have been compared to Jesus in that they appear to “walk on water.” With several species of water strider in North America alone this species is unique and important to the environment. These tiny insects are less than a ½ inch long and are aquatic. There unique hairs on their legs allow them to skate across the water’s surface. They have three pairs of legs like insects but the backs legs are much longer to aid with steering and the front legs are used for grasping prey. The water strider lays eggs on the edge of water on rocks or aquatic plants. These insects eat other insects no matter if they are dead or alive. They have sucking mouth used to eat either terrestrial insects that have accidentally fallen on the water’s surface or other aquatic insects like mosquito larvae as it comes to the surface (National Wildlife Federation, 1996-2013). There are several factors that can change the stability and growth of this insect’s reproduction and population growth. Abiotic factors like water, temperature, and light can change the population but biotic factors like plants or other organisms can alter it also. If change within an environment happens then change to the organisms...
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...Yellowstone in Process Adrienne Rawlins-Wilson SCI/256 September 9, 2013 Yellowstone in Process Yellowstone is the perfect ecosystem to be used as an example of the assorted biogeochemical systems that govern life. Comprised of an intricate and fluid set of interlocking biogeochemical systems, Yellowstone Park is one of the most vibrant and dynamic regions of the Earth. Naturally occurring fire must be mentioned along with these basic systems. The thermodynamic park has strange and wonderful powers of recovery and rejuvenation. With more than 10,000 hydrothermal features active in assisting life for thousands of plant and animal species, Yellowstone is one of the few remaining unaltered natural ecosystems left in Earth’s temperate zones (National Park Service", 2013). The national park is home to many species of microscopic life perfectly evolved to cope with the high temperatures of the heated mineral-laden water that bubbles and rushes to the surface. Coexisting alongside are hundreds of other easily recognized species. The carbon, phosphorus, and nitrogen cycles are each apparent and active in the park. Carbon is part of every living thing, and cycles through living organisms, air, water, and will fixate in the ground; coal is carbon stored in a solid mineral state. Carbon is stored in several places; it is found in the atmosphere, the biosphere, and the oceans in both living (fish and plants) and non-living (dissolved carbon and carcasses) distributions...
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...the lakes. Therefore, this shows that lakes here at PAU are starting to become eutropic. Prevention is better than cure therefore it is better to prevent the lakes from becoming eutropic than to cure it after it has become eutropic. As stated in the article, ‘How to cure Eutrophication’ (2012, May 17) that a pond that has become eutropic is hard to rehabilitate. This is because not only will you have to fight the nutrients that are currently running off into the pond, but you also have to undo all of the problems that have compounded over the past number of weeks, months, years. By this point, the nutrient load has been built to astronomical proportions, and it will certainly take some time for the pond to return to the state of a balanced ecosystem. Hence,...
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...ABSTRACT The ecosystem is an ecological system formed by the relationship reciprocity is inseparable between living things and their environment. Aquatic ecosystems lab course pooled aims to acknowledge and study of the characteristics of the aquatic ecosystem is pooled. This lab course held on Sunday, 29 August 2010 in Situ Gede region Quadrant II at station 6. Methods undertaken in this lab course is sampling (sampling methods) which includes interviews, field observation and data collection techniques with some parameters, as the nature of physics, chemistry, and biology, then conducted the analysis ofsamples in laboratory. The General characteristics of the physical parameters murky brown waters is the color, brightness ranges from 27-31 cm, depth ranging from 105-138 cm, type of substrate in the form of fine mud and temperatureon the third substations was 31 ºc. The result of the chemical parameters,...
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...("What Is Sustainable Furniture", 2013). However, there are two sides to every coin. Sustainable furniture still has an impact on the environment by utilizing fossil fuels for the necessary operations and the potential to damage the ecosystems and habitats within the forest. Native trees can be cut down to grow the sustainable varieties which disrupts the natural processes of the ecosystem. Tree farms can be treated with pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers and can be genetically modified in order to grow more sustainable trees. Practices that lead to deforestation and clear-cutting, where whole forests are leveled at once and the ecosystem is demolished are not very sustainable. Bamboo is not a tree at all, it is an incredibly fast-growing and versatile grass that has become the unofficial poster material of environmental designers and builders. The majority of bamboo comes from China and is often grown with no pesticides, however, there are some growers that do use pesticides and other chemical inputs. Bamboo also uses a lot of water because it is so fast growing, it and harvesting it too fast can deplete soil fertility ("How To Go Green: Furniture", 2013). When bamboo is grown outside of its natural habitat it disturbs that areas ecosystems and food webs and has an accelerated potential for soil erosion because of the excessive amount of care to keep the soil clear of undergrowth. Even though it...
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...WHAT IS ECOSYSTEM An ecosystem consists of the biological community that occurs in some locale, and the physical and chemical factors that make up its non-living or abiotic environment. There are many examples of ecosystems -- a pond, a forest, an estuary, grassland. The study of ecosystems mainly consists of the study of certain processes that link the living, or biotic, components to the non-living, or abiotic, components. Energy transformations and ecosystem components are the two main topics that comprise the field of ecosystem ecology. COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEM ABIOTIC COMPONENTS | BIOTIC COMPONENTS | Sunlight | Primary producers | Temperature | Herbivores | Precipitation | Carnivores | Water or moisture | Omnivores | Soil or water chemistry (e.g., P, NH4+) | Detritivores | etc. | etc. | These include the non-living, physico - chemical factors such as air, water, soil and the basic elements and compounds of the environment. Abiotic factors are broadly classified under three categories. Climatic factors which include the climatic regime and physical factors of the environment like light, humidity, atmospheric temperature, wind, etc. Edaphic factors which are related to the structure and composition of soil including its physical and chemical properties, like soil and its types, soil profile, minerals, organic matter, soil water, soil organisms. It comprises the living part of the environment, which includes the association of a number of interrelated...
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...Virginia is an environmentally diverse state and has five regions known as the Blue Ridge Mountain, Coastal Plain, Piedmont, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau. The population of Virginia relies on natural resources and drives the economy through ecotourism, beautiful sceneries, mining, hunting, and fishing. With all the resources come challenges; State of Virginia stresses and urges the public and organizations in protecting environmental quality and preserving natural resources. Assateague Island National Seashore is one of the national parks in Virginia providing a variety of resources to the population and the government aims for its restoration. Assateague Island National Seashore is part of the Coastal Plain Region also known as the Tidewater region of Virginia. The Coastal Plain Region is an important ecological part of Virginia and is home to many productive agriculture, residents, and businesses. Assateague Island National Seashore is comparatively small with less than 18,000 acres, but a surprising range of resources and habitats can be found on the park. The national park stretches for about 37 miles along the coasts of Maryland and Virginia surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the eastside. Assateague Island National Seashore holds prosperity of natural features and habitats. Within the park, there is a variety of ponds that provide water for the natural world well into the dry summer months. These ponds form during rainy periods providing fresh water to the...
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...pristine environment left on the earth. Unfortunately this is no longer the case because of multiple human activities that have led to environmental issues and concerns such as pollution, ozone layer thinning, global warming etc. Human impact is a serious threat to ecosystem and food chain of Antarctica. In the last few decades, various marine species of Antarctic ecosystem have been brought close to extinction because of human activities in various forms such as pollution from sewage and other contaminants, overfishing and other mixed activities and interference like global climate change caused by human emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, ozone layer depletion, global warming etc. This all leads to damage of food web and ecosystem of the Antarctica. Another serious impact of emission of carbon dioxide is ocean acidification, which is serious damage to the marine ecosystem of Antarctica. These activities are the main causes of disturbed environment of marine ecosystem of Antarctica. Another factor contributing to Antarctica's ecosystem disturbance is the commercial aspect of human activities. Human are harvesting krill to feed their animals and fishes which is negatively affecting the ecosystem of Antarctica. It is affecting the volume of krill and other fishes which are important source of food chain of Antarctica. Because of less krill, food chain of Antarctica is getting disturbed. Researches have shown that due to global warming, sea temperate is rising...
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...“Green energy, our planet needs you” The Earth is our home, but it has been contaminated. Scientifics are concern with our planet which is dying everyday. It is our responsibility to take care the planet. The temperature has increased since the middle of the 20th century as a result of increasing concentrations of greenhouse due to human activity. As a consequence of the global warming many ecosystem are affected, has created climate variation, and many health diseases in the population. First of all, global warming has affected many ecosystems .The marine ecosystem is dying, many fishes and mammals that live in the ocean is disappearing due to the high temperature. The arctic is defrosting and the bear polar can not found what to eat. For polar bears to stay alive, they need sea ice. Not to eat the ice itself, of course, but because the animal that represents their main victim item, the ringed close, requires sea ice as its primary habitat for resting. Another ecosystem that is affected is the coral reefs. The coral reefs, which are the filter of the sea, are bleaching. The bunch of bleaching incident that followed kill a fifth of coral communities worldwide. And while many have recovered the global loss is attributed to the mass bleaching stand. At the instant the reefs seem to be recuperating fine, but it's only an issue of time prior to another mass of bleaching. The temperature has demonstrated high level of records since 1980.The increase...
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...An important ecosystem service provided by forests is the ability to counter-act the effects of global warming. Carbon dioxide, a contributing factor to global warming, is taken up by the plants and vegetation contained in forests through photosynthesis and the resulting carbon is stored in both living and dead plant biomass. This process, known as carbon sequestration, greatly reduces the potential for global climate change (IPCC 2001). Forest cover also affects the albedo, that is, the proportion of incident solar radiation that is reflected by the earths surface. The dense green coloured canopy of tropical forests have a low albedo when compared with grasslands or deforested areas. This allows for more incident solar radiation to be absorbed and cooler air termperatures (O’Brien 1996). Perhaps the most important ecosystem service provided by forests, which is a basic requirement for life, is the supply of clean water. Forests facilitate the storage of clean water through filtering precipitation through the tree canopy. This, in effect, slows the rate at which precipitation collects at the ground surface allowing it to remain unsaturated. It is estimated that over 2/3 of the clean water supply is United States is contained within stream water, which was filtered through forests, with a direct value exceeding $27 billion per year (Snail 2009). This clean water can be captured and stored in watersheds that in turn, can be used for variety of purposes including agriculture,...
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...biodiversity for the tundra forest is low. For each organism that sees any kind of fluctuation, you will see fluctuation in the organisms that consume it. For example, if a hare’s population, for whatever reason, was to decrease, you would also see a decrease in population for the Brown Bear, Arctic Fox, and Polar Bear. The variation of plant and animal life in the tundra is important in order to sustain life as well as a means to control the population of each organism. Biodiversity Biodiversity is the variety of all living things. It is made up of the following: Genetic Diversity -The raw material that makes adaptation and microevolution possible in an environment. Species Diversity - The variety of species in an environment. Ecosystem diversity - The organisms and abiotic factors of an environment. Trophic Structure A trophic structure is the feeding relationship among the various species in a community. Producers use light energy to power the synthesis of organic compounds. They are called autotrophs and are the base for all food chains. Consumers, also known as heterotrophs, depend on producers, either directly or indirectly. Herbivores are plant eating consumers and primary consumers. Carnivores, meat eating consumers, and omnivores, both meat and plant consumers, are secondary consumers. Tertiary consumers are carnivores that eat secondary consumers and quaternary consumers are carnivores that eat tertiary consumers. Not all consumers eat other living organisms...
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