Deforestation In Kennesaw State University

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Introduction: Organisms can have a positive or negative effect on the environment through its interrelated interactions. For example, humans have had a largely negative effect on environments through deforestation and air and water pollution. Through deforestation (a direct action) right here on the Kennesaw State University Campus, the communities within the forest has been wiped out. The organisms in that community have been forced to either flee or face death. Temperature is considered to be an extremely important abiotic factor due to the fact that it is the driving factor behind a variety of chemical reactions, which are necessary for some biological functions. Plant growth rate is related to temperature. Higher temperatures correlate…show more content…
The grassy knoll was an open grassy area approximately 20 m by 40 m in size, on a slight west-facing slope directly outside the science building. The grassy flats site was fairly dry, due to lack of precipitation and time of day. Both grassy areas are very well maintained and are subject to some foot traffic on a regular basis. The arboretum north site was a hilly, with a man made trail, forested area toward the north end of an approximately 150 m by 75 m arboretum on campus, which is thirty-six years old and dominated by Pine, Oak, and Hardwood trees. The arboretum north site did not have clearly defined boundaries on all sides, but all measurements were taken within 10 m of one another. The canopy was fairly lush but still allowed for a good amount of light to shine through. The understory was mainly comprised of medium to small sized plants. The ground was covered with somewhat moist dirt, leaves, small branches, and some pieces of trash. Overall, there were many more insect type organism in the arboretum north. The arboretum south site was comprised of a less canopy coverage than the arboretum south and allowed for more light to shine through the canopy. The understory had fewer plants. The ground cover was comprised of mainly dirt with minimal plant…show more content…
The light was different between the two sites because the canopy in the forest significantly reduced the amount of light that was able to shine through. This difference in light could account for the trend observed in air temp, shallow soil temp, and deep soil temp. Since there was more sunlight present in the grassy area, with minimal coverage, the temperature was higher in all three measurements compared to the forest

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