Doran Teverovsky
No author given
March 8th, 2014
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140308095500.htm
Summary: This article is correlating booming deer populations, and growth of invasive species. Deer prefer to eat native, woody, plants. When these plants are eaten, it gives invasive species more of an opportunity to spread. A normal progression for a forest is grasses to shrubs to trees. When a large population of deer are introduced to an area, they interrupt the progression from shrubs to trees. When this occurs, other invasive plants and shrubs like buckthorn and multiflora rose. This also leads to barren soil, and greatly reduced biomass of plants.
Connection: This is a direct relation to ecosystems, and ecological threats, as well as plants and animals, and how trees reproduce. As the deer ate the seeds, they were both directly and indirectly threatening the forest. By eating too many seeds, there was less reproduction of trees in forests where there were large populations of deer. In addition, the invasive species also boomed crowding out trees because of the deer inhibiting the growth of native, woody trees. Also, this has to do with the reproduction strategies of trees. Deer help them reproduce, but with so many deer in a small area, the trees aren't maturing enough for them to fully create seeds.
Showing posts with label Forests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Forests. Show all posts
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Deer Disrupt Natural Forest Growth
Leo Scheidemantel
March 8th 2014
No author given
Published: March 8, 2014
Source
Summary
Cornell University did a recent study on how deer impact the natural growth of forests. Surprisingly instead of benefiting the forest's growth the study showed that the deer negatively impacted the forest. The deer preferred eating the native plants and rejected the invasive species. Without the native species the invasive species thrives and reproduces. Another impact the deer had was overgrazing on the plants caused bare soil and less biodiversity of the area. Researchers germinated seeds found in forests with high populations of deer and compared them with germinated seeds from forests with low populations of deer. The forests with high deer population had more invasive species's seeds and fewer native plant's seeds than the forests with lower populations of deer.
Connections
This article relates to our ecosystems unit and our plants unit. In the ecosystem unit we learned about interspecific competition, which in this case the invasive species and the native species of plants are competing with each other. And the deer feed mostly on the native species, which helps the invasive species out-compete the native plants. In the plants unit we learned about plant's different ways of seed dispersal as well as how they grow. The deer feed on the native plants before they are able to reproduce as well as the fact that the deer do not eat the seeds or fruits, they eat the leaves and stems. Without the leaves and stems the native plants are not able to produce enough food for themselves through photosynthesis to grow reproductive parts. The invasive plants however survive and reproduce, even though the deer do not eat them other animals in the forest such as birds may feed on any fruit produced and spread the seeds. Thus further spreading the invasive species and diminishing the native species.
March 8th 2014
No author given
Published: March 8, 2014
Source
Summary
Cornell University did a recent study on how deer impact the natural growth of forests. Surprisingly instead of benefiting the forest's growth the study showed that the deer negatively impacted the forest. The deer preferred eating the native plants and rejected the invasive species. Without the native species the invasive species thrives and reproduces. Another impact the deer had was overgrazing on the plants caused bare soil and less biodiversity of the area. Researchers germinated seeds found in forests with high populations of deer and compared them with germinated seeds from forests with low populations of deer. The forests with high deer population had more invasive species's seeds and fewer native plant's seeds than the forests with lower populations of deer.
Connections
This article relates to our ecosystems unit and our plants unit. In the ecosystem unit we learned about interspecific competition, which in this case the invasive species and the native species of plants are competing with each other. And the deer feed mostly on the native species, which helps the invasive species out-compete the native plants. In the plants unit we learned about plant's different ways of seed dispersal as well as how they grow. The deer feed on the native plants before they are able to reproduce as well as the fact that the deer do not eat the seeds or fruits, they eat the leaves and stems. Without the leaves and stems the native plants are not able to produce enough food for themselves through photosynthesis to grow reproductive parts. The invasive plants however survive and reproduce, even though the deer do not eat them other animals in the forest such as birds may feed on any fruit produced and spread the seeds. Thus further spreading the invasive species and diminishing the native species.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Climate Change Creates Complicated Consequences for North America's Forests
Carter Terranova
Oct. 21, 2013
Published by: Dartmouth College
Published on: Oct. 15, 2013
URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131015103953.htm
Summary:
Climate change has been affecting North American forests in many ways, such as allowing insect outbreaks, plant diseases, and even wildfires. Though, after recent studies Dartmouth College researchers say the increase in temperatures are making some forests grow faster and be less affected by harmful organisms. This can increase forest health, timber production, carbon storage, and water recycling. Tree and plant-killing insects and diseases are natural for forests ecosystems, but with climate change, the "distribution and magnitude of forest pestilence" is being altered very quickly. Also, climate change is altering the biodiversity of the ecosystems, too. One example of this is the pine bark beetle, which has killed trees over more area in the U.S. than wildfires have, this is due the climate change. Over the last 50 years, the coldest winter night temperature averages have increased by 7 degrees, which has caused population explosions in bark beetles because the forests were protected by the coldness of the forests a night, though now they aren't because of the climate change. Also, invasive species are able to become established because of this.
Connection:
The connection to our Ecology unit is the biodiversity in the forests and what happens if a population becomes too big or too small. In the ecosystems unit we learned that biodiversity is very important because it means that if there is a change in the environment, more species will be able to survive and adapt to the changes. In the forests, this is key to the situation because the beetles were able to adapt to the climate change. The biodiversity in the forest lead to the increase in the pine bark beetle because of their ability to adapt to the increase in temperatures. This lead to them killing more trees over more area then ever before. Also, in the ecosystems unit we learned that the way species interact with one another is very important in the respect of the sizes of the populations. The connection is that the beetle's population became too big because of the increase in the temperature and then since the tree's population didn't increase also, the beetles killed off many of the trees. The beetle's population became too large and since they all still needed to eat, they ate the trees, and ended up killing many trees because the populations were not balanced.
Oct. 21, 2013
Published by: Dartmouth College
Published on: Oct. 15, 2013
URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131015103953.htm
Summary:
Climate change has been affecting North American forests in many ways, such as allowing insect outbreaks, plant diseases, and even wildfires. Though, after recent studies Dartmouth College researchers say the increase in temperatures are making some forests grow faster and be less affected by harmful organisms. This can increase forest health, timber production, carbon storage, and water recycling. Tree and plant-killing insects and diseases are natural for forests ecosystems, but with climate change, the "distribution and magnitude of forest pestilence" is being altered very quickly. Also, climate change is altering the biodiversity of the ecosystems, too. One example of this is the pine bark beetle, which has killed trees over more area in the U.S. than wildfires have, this is due the climate change. Over the last 50 years, the coldest winter night temperature averages have increased by 7 degrees, which has caused population explosions in bark beetles because the forests were protected by the coldness of the forests a night, though now they aren't because of the climate change. Also, invasive species are able to become established because of this.
Connection:
The connection to our Ecology unit is the biodiversity in the forests and what happens if a population becomes too big or too small. In the ecosystems unit we learned that biodiversity is very important because it means that if there is a change in the environment, more species will be able to survive and adapt to the changes. In the forests, this is key to the situation because the beetles were able to adapt to the climate change. The biodiversity in the forest lead to the increase in the pine bark beetle because of their ability to adapt to the increase in temperatures. This lead to them killing more trees over more area then ever before. Also, in the ecosystems unit we learned that the way species interact with one another is very important in the respect of the sizes of the populations. The connection is that the beetle's population became too big because of the increase in the temperature and then since the tree's population didn't increase also, the beetles killed off many of the trees. The beetle's population became too large and since they all still needed to eat, they ate the trees, and ended up killing many trees because the populations were not balanced.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)