nguye183
Trophic
The tropic interaction here is of a primary consumer, the squirrel, eating a part of a producer, the fruit (acorn) of an oak tree.
I think the most influential species in my my location are the oaks and other trees that make up the wood lot. Specifically looking at the oak trees, there are a few key reasons why they are so vital to the structure of the location. First, it is a producers and provides food for a lot of primary consumers in the area. It's not just the fruit that species are eating from the trees, but also the leaves. nectar from flowers, and trunk that can be consumed. Secondly, the trees provide housing for a lot of the small animals that live in the lot. The trunks of the trees are used for places of safety from predators and warm places to sleep at night. Thirdly. the trees also provide a canopy of shade for all of the inhabitants of the lot. This prevents some species from overheating from the sun. Fourthly, the trees also go through transpiration and allow water and nutrients to be cycles throughout the ecosystem. Because of its vast size, of each tree the cycle is efficient to
maintain the balance of the location.
Removing the oaks would be very detrimental to the lot. We have learned that primary producers play a key role in the tropic level because of their source of matter and energy. Without a large amount of producers, there is little hope for primary consumers and the trophic levels and food webs are sabotaged with a cascading effect of low consumption and energy. Also, the shelter of small animals would be gone and would leave them in high risk of predation.
If you replaced oaks with an invasive species I think it would skew the whole ecological balance of the location. The invasive species would take away food resources from other species in the location. Ultimately I feel like they invasive species would just dominate the area after draining the location of food, water and nutrients. With no predators for the invasive species they would be able to flourish.
In my first capstone exercise I took pictures of mushrooms, a butterfly, and moss. Mushrooms, that serve as decomposers, and butterflies, which are primary consumers, are are food-limited according to the Slobodkin,
Smith, and Hairston article. Mushrooms are limited if they do not have enough organic matter to decompose and butterflies are limited if they can get nectar from flowers. Also the moss in my location, being a producer is limited by the amount light and water it can get.
Trophic
The tropic interaction here is of a primary consumer, the squirrel, eating a part of a producer, the fruit (acorn) of an oak tree.
I think the most influential species in my my location are the oaks and other trees that make up the wood lot. Specifically looking at the oak trees, there are a few key reasons why they are so vital to the structure of the location. First, it is a producers and provides food for a lot of primary consumers in the area. It's not just the fruit that species are eating from the trees, but also the leaves. nectar from flowers, and trunk that can be consumed. Secondly, the trees provide housing for a lot of the small animals that live in the lot. The trunks of the trees are used for places of safety from predators and warm places to sleep at night. Thirdly. the trees also provide a canopy of shade for all of the inhabitants of the lot. This prevents some species from overheating from the sun. Fourthly, the trees also go through transpiration and allow water and nutrients to be cycles throughout the ecosystem. Because of its vast size, of each tree the cycle is efficient to
maintain the balance of the location.
Removing the oaks would be very detrimental to the lot. We have learned that primary producers play a key role in the tropic level because of their source of matter and energy. Without a large amount of producers, there is little hope for primary consumers and the trophic levels and food webs are sabotaged with a cascading effect of low consumption and energy. Also, the shelter of small animals would be gone and would leave them in high risk of predation.
If you replaced oaks with an invasive species I think it would skew the whole ecological balance of the location. The invasive species would take away food resources from other species in the location. Ultimately I feel like they invasive species would just dominate the area after draining the location of food, water and nutrients. With no predators for the invasive species they would be able to flourish.
In my first capstone exercise I took pictures of mushrooms, a butterfly, and moss. Mushrooms, that serve as decomposers, and butterflies, which are primary consumers, are are food-limited according to the Slobodkin,
Smith, and Hairston article. Mushrooms are limited if they do not have enough organic matter to decompose and butterflies are limited if they can get nectar from flowers. Also the moss in my location, being a producer is limited by the amount light and water it can get.