An ecosystem is the interaction between abiotic and non-abiotic components of an environment as a functional unit.. The vulnerability of an ecosystem is determined by four main factors, these being Biodiversity, Extent, Location and Linkages. The level of fragility within an ecosystem is determined by the extent of natural and human induce stresses, increasing disruption of an ecosystem can lead to higher levels of vulnerability and reduced resilience. An ecosystem that demonstrates vulnerability is the Daintree Rainforest, the wet tropics have been subjective to heavy logging and agricultural clearance as well as being exposed to climate change as well as being an extremely old ecosystem, leaving the Daintree in a particularly vulnerable position. Biodiversity is highly important when determining the vulnerability and resilience of an ecosystem as species, genetic and population diversity can have detrimental effects on the ability of an ecosystem to survive and recover after damage.
The root of poverty is caused by lack of access to land, a vulnerable environment, and low agricultural production (“Rural Poverty in Honduras”). About sixty percent of the land in Honduras is still forested, but only twenty-five percent of that is obtainable for agriculture (“Honduras: Economy”). In the twentieth century the Honduran economy was based on one commodity, bananas. Like other third world countries, whose livelihood depends solely on one export, the Honduran economy was at the mercy of the world market and its current prices. Efforts to diversify agriculture and expand manufacturing have shown some slight improvement.
The IRL serves as both a spawning ground as well as a nursery for many species found in both lagoon and ocean settings. The IRL contains in excess of 4000 animal as well as plant species, including manatees, dolphins, coastal birds, sea turtles, mangroves, and many species of sea grass. Approximately 35% of the country’s population of manatees resides in or regularly migrates through the lagoon. The IRL’s bird populations are among the largest in North America (Dybas, 2002). The IRL is both a unique, and diverse, shallow-water estuary of national significance and makes up approximately 40% of Florida’s east coast.
e. both are fiercely competitive and cannot coexist. 1 18. The pioneering work of Nalini Nadkarni in rain forest ecology revealed that: a. epiphyte mats in some tropical forests contain nutrient quantities equal to the nutrient content of the canopy foliage. b. the epiphyte mass in temperate rain forests may be four times the mass of leaves on their host tree. c. in both temperate and tropical rain forests, trees obtain nutrients by extending roots into epiphyte mats.
Russia and Australia generally have a lower biodiversity due to the large level of disturbance from human development which destroys habitats and reduces the area for which species can live in. They also are relatively flat so don’t have a great altitudinal range, they each have a large area which is possibly the main factor causing them to have some biodiversity. With reference to a named global
The members of a pod hunt together, attacking even very large prey and then sharing it. The pod members always protect the young, the sick and the injured. Orcas grow to be about 27-33 feet long, and weigh more than 8,000-12,000 pounds. The male orca is larger than the female. They are the largest member of the dolphin family.
In a forest ecosystem, for example, an ecological community will include trees, shrubs, insects, birds, snakes, and squirrels, as well as fungi, bacteria, and a host of other microscopic organisms in the soil. 3.What processes allow these forms of matter to cycle from one location to another, or between the living and non-living parts of the environment? The most important interactions of organisms in an ecological community are by way of a food chain or food web, which indicates who feeds on whom. Each species in a food web obtains energy and chemicals from other organisms; in turn, each species provides energy and chemicals for other organisms. Insects eat plants, birds eat insects, bacteria and fungi in the soil decompose birds and other organisms when they die, and plants obtain vital nutrients from the soil.
They have no natural enemies except man and power boats which are responsible for most manatee deaths- (in 1990, 218 manatees or 12 % of the total population were killed by boats), though the red tide (toxins released from the bloom of dinoflagellates) of 1982 and1996 killed over 15% of the population. It is suspected that environmental pollutions create disease vulnerability in marine mammals with manatees being no exception. An example is when 10,000 seals died in 1988 in Denmark and Sweden from viruses related to canine distemper. High concentrations of PCB’s were detected in necropsies of these seals, presumably from the water and fish they ate. Other threats include accidental
Bald Eagles: Learning their Majesty The bald eagles many unique attributes proves its superiority, majesty and power. What truly catches our eyes about the eagle? The eagle is believed to have been here before European settlers first sailed to America's shores, bald eagles may have numbered half a million. They existed along the Atlantic from Labrador to the tip of south Florida, and along the Pacific from Baja California to Alaska. They inhabited every large river and concentration of lakes within North America.
Understandably, potatoes are the most important vegetable here in Canada, farms covering more than 160,700 hectares of farmland. Potatoes are the largest fresh vegetable crop in Canada and are second to tomatoes as a processing crop. Potatoes are an essential part of Canada’s vegetable crop