Trophic Interaction

The trophic interaction illustrated here are decomposers rasping on organic matter at the floor of my capstone site. The snail and slugs rasp on decaying wood to obtain nutrients from it.

 

I think the most influential species in my location are the trees. I think that these are important because of the biomass that they take up and the shading that they present to the forest. Although these trees are very old and take up an enormous amount of mass above ground, they also take up mass underground through their root systems. I think that the mass they occupy is important in limiting the location. They limit the area available, nutrients available (as they probably compete for resources with nearby plants), and they limit the sunlight provided to the plants that do not exceed the tree foliage's height and surface area. If these trees were removed, there could be many more plant species as well as major competition among other plant species. I think that the removal of the trees in my location would completely change the current species make up. If they were replaced with an invasive species the interactions could be complex. However if the invasive species were ideal, they would quickly take over the area and thrive in the environment, damaging or hurting all other species within their proximity.

 

Three organisms that I previously documented were snails, tall purple flowers, and lily of the valley flowers. The snails are considered decomposers and are food-limited, and since their food is organic debris, this is the ultimate limiting factor. The other two flowers are considered primary producers and they are limited by light and herbivory. They are ultimately limited by available space and available resources. At least, this is what I gather from the article.

Done