Wetland biomes

             Wetlands are areas of standing water that support aquatic plants. Marshes, swamps, and bogs are all considered wetlands. Plant species adapted to the very moist and humid conditions are called hydrophytes. These include pond lilies, cattails, sedges, tamarack, and black spruce. Marsh flora also include such species as cypress and gum. Wetlands have the highest species diversity of all ecosystems. Many species of amphibians, reptiles, birds (such as ducks and waders), and fur bearers can be found in the wetlands. Wetlands are not considered freshwater ecosystems as there are some, such as salt marshes, that have high salt concentrations—these support different species of animals, such as shrimp, shellfish, and various grasses.

              The wetland biome is one that many people don’t really see as being important. In fact, in many areas they consider it to be a nuisance. Swampland is the most common type of wetland biome you will find. They also include marshes and bogs and they can be various sizes. Some of them are very long and deep. Others are nothing more than a few feet of water in a given location but they are still very important.

             In a wetland biome the water is always going to be standing still. You will find them in many low lying areas. It is common for them to be very close to lakes, rivers, and streams. They may have water in them all the time or only during particular times of the year. That is a key factor that separates it from other forms of biomes. The combination of both land and water are essential for this biome to form.

              They help the environment to be better due to the fact that they have a natural supply of water. They help to prevent flooding in many locations as they are able to take on excess water from the other sources. However, when a river or lake is low they can also release water back into them. They also have the natural ability to purify surface water.

              Plant matter is released into freshwater biomes from a wetland biome. The importance of this is that it allows for fish to have plenty of types of food for them to survive. Florida has one of the largest wetland biomes in the world. The humid conditions are perfect for such forms of plant and animal life to be able to survive.

Characteristics

             In a wetland biome the conditions are always very moist and humid. What you will find with characteristics can be very specific to a given location. That is because the wetland biome is so frequently going to overlap with or be a part of other biomes out there. Without this particular one though many others wouldn’t be able to thrive as they do.

             The only places on Earth where you won’t find the wetlands biome are around the Artic. The tundra there is too cold and frozen for them to develop. Just about every other biome though is associated with them in some way. In fact, many times the wetland biome is overlooked by people due to where it happens to be located. Experts though know what to look for and have been able to fully identify them.

             Wetland biomes can be made up of freshwater or saltwater. In some regions they are actually a combination of both. The type of water that is found in it will strongly affect the types of life that are able to survive there. The delicate ecosystems in place around these areas are very detailed. When you take the time and effort to examine them closely you will be very surprised by what you find.

Flora and Fauna

             It may surprise you to discover that the wetland biome has more diversity than any other biome out there when it comes to animal life. There are plenty of animals that find this to be the perfect home for them. They have the right climate, access to food, and the shelter they need for survival. Amphibians and reptiles due very well in this type of environment. They include frogs and lizards.

             Birds are also found in this type of environment. Many of them live there all year long. Others will be there for part of the year and then migrate. There are also those that stop to feed along a route to a new location in the wetland biome. With some species of birds it is found that they move from one wetland biome to the next along their migration patterns.

               Alligators and crocodiles are the largest animals found in the wetland biome. In some wetland biomes there is salt content in the water. When that is the case you may find some more diversity in those locations. Those living creatures include shrimp and shellfish.

              Beavers, minks, and rats are the fur bearing creatures you may find around a wetland biome. The size of them and the location will depend on many factors. For the beaver it will be determined by if they have enough for food. They also need various materials to build a dam from for shelter.

              Plant life that grows in the wetland biome are referred to as hydrophytes. They include pond lilies, cattails, tamarack, and blue spruce. Sometimes cypress and gum will be present too but it will depend on the actual location of the habitat. There are numerous types of grasses that grow in a wetland biome. Sometimes shrubs with fruits including the cranberry can be found in these locations.

Major biomes

Grassland ecosystem

Grassland ecosystem

            A biological community that contains few trees or shrubs, is characterized by mixed herbaceous (non woody) vegetation cover, and is dominated by grasses or grass like plants. Mixtures of trees and grasslands occur as savannas at transition zones with forests or where rainfall is marginal for trees. About 1.2 × 10⁸ mi² (4.6 × 10⁷ km²) of the Earth's surface is covered with grasslands, which make up about 32% of the plant cover of the world. In North America, grasslands include the Great Plains, which extend from southern Texas into Canada. The European meadows cross the subcontinent, and the Eurasian steppe ranges from Hungary eastward through Russia to Mongolia; the pampas cover much of the interior of Argentina and Uruguay. Vast and varied savannas and velds can be found in central and southern Africa and throughout much of Australia.

       

             Grasslands occur in regions that are too dry for forests but that have sufficient soil water to support a closed herbaceous plant canopy that is lacking in deserts. Thus, temperate grasslands usually develop in areas with 10–40 in. (25–100 cm) of annual precipitation, although tropical grasslands may receive up to 60 in. (150 cm). Grasslands are found primarily on plains or rolling topography in the interiors of great land masses, and from sea level to elevations of nearly 16,400 ft (5000 m) in the Andes. Because of their continental location they experience large differences in seasonal climate and wide ranges in diurnal conditions. In general, there is at least one dry season during the year, and drought conditions occur periodically.

            Significant portions of the world's grasslands have been modified by grazing or tillage or have been converted to other uses. The most fertile and productive soils in the world have developed under grassland, and in many cases the natural species have been replaced by cultivated grasses (cereals).

           

           Different kinds of grasslands develop within continents, and their classification is based on similarity of dominant vegetation, presence or absence of specific dominant species, or prevailing climate conditions.

           The climate of grasslands is one of daily and seasonal extremes. Deep winter cold does not preclude grasslands since they occur in some of the coldest regions of the world. However, the success of grasslands in the Mediterranean climate shows that marked summer drought is not prohibitive either. In North America, the rainfall gradient decreases from an annual precipitation of about 40 in. (100 cm) along the eastern border of the tall grass prairie at the deciduous forest to only about 8 in. (20 cm) in the shortgrass prairies at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. A similar pattern exists in Europe. Growing-season length is determined by temperature in the north latitudes and by available soil moisture in many regions, especially those adjacent to deserts. Plants are frequently subjected to hot and dry weather conditions, which are often exacerbated by windy conditions that increase inspirational water loss from the plant leaves.

  

        Soils of mesic temperate grasslands are usually deep, about 3 ft (1 m), are neutral to basic, have high amounts of organic matter, contain large amounts of exchangeable bases, and are highly fertile, with well-developed profiles. The soils are rich because rainfall is inadequate for excessive leaching of minerals and because plant roots produce large amounts of organic material. With less rainfall, grassland soils are shallow, contain less organic matter, frequently are lighter colored, and may be more basic. Tropical and subtropical soils are highly leached, have lower amounts of organic material because of rapid decomposition and more leaching from higher rainfall, and are frequently red to yellow.

        Grassland soils are dry throughout the profile for a portion of the year. Because of their dense fibrous root system in the upper layers of the soil, grasses are better adapted than trees to make use of light rainfall showers during the growing season. When compared with forest soils, grassland soils are generally subjected to higher temperatures, greater evaporation, periodic drought, and more transpiration per unit of total plant biomass.

         Throughout the year, flowering plants bloom in the grasslands with moderate precipitation, and flowers bloom after rainfall in the drier grasslands. With increasing aridity and temperature, grasslands tend to become less diverse in the number of species; they support more warm-season species; the complexity of the vegetation decreases; the total above-ground and below-ground production decreases; but the ratio of above-ground to below-ground biomass becomes smaller.

        There are many more invertebrate species than any other taxonomic group in the grassland ecosystem. Invertebrates play several roles in the ecosystem. For example, many are herbivorous, and eat leaves and stems, whereas others feed on the roots of plants. Earthworms process organic matter into small fragments that decompose rapidly, scarab beetles process animal dung on the soil surface, flies feed on plants and are pests to cattle, and many species of invertebrates are predaceous and feed on other invertebrates. Soil nematodes, small nonarthropod invertebrates, include forms that are herbivorous, predaceous, or saprophagous, feeding on decaying organic matter.

         Most of the reptiles and amphibians in grassland ecosystems are predators. Relatively few bird species inhabit the grassland ecosystem, although many more species are found in the flooding pampas of Argentina than in the dry grasslands of the western United States. Their role in the grassland ecosystem involves consumption of seeds, invertebrates, and vertebrates; seed dispersal; and scavenging of dead animals.

         Small mammals of the North American grassland include moles, shrews, gophers, ground squirrels, and various species of mice. Among intermediate-size animals are the opossum, fox, coyote, badger, skunk, rabbit, and prairie dog; large animals include various types of deer and elk. The most characteristic large mammal species of the North American grassland is the bison, although many of these animals were eliminated in the late 1800s. Mammals include both ruminant (pronghorns) and non ruminant (prairie dogs) herbivores, omnivores (opossum), and predators (wolves).

         Except for large mammals and birds, the animals found in the grassland ecosystem undergo relatively large population variations from year to year. These variations, some of which are cyclical and others more episodic, are not entirely understood and may extend over several years. Many depend upon predator–prey relationships, parasite or disease dynamics, or weather conditions that influence the organisms themselves or the availability of food, water, and shelter.

        Within the grassland ecosystem are enormous numbers of very small organisms, including bacteria, fungi, algae, and viruses. From a systems perspective, the hundreds of species of bacteria and fungi are particularly important because they decompose organic material, releasing carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere and making nutrients available for recycling. Bacteria and some algae also capture nitrogen from the atmosphere and fix it into forms available to plants.

         Much of the grassland ecosystem has been burned naturally, probably from fires sparked by lightning. Human inhabitants have also routinely started fires intentionally to remove predators and undesirable insects, to improve the condition of the rangeland, and to reduce cover for predators and enemies; or unintentionally. Thus, grasslands have evolved under the influences of grazing and periodic burning, and the species have adapted to withstand these conditions. If burning or grazing is coupled with drought, however, the grassland will sustain damage that may require long periods of time for recovery by successional processes.

Our ecosystem

Forest ecosystem

 Forest Ecosystem       

           
            A  is a terrestrial unit of living organisms (plants, animals and microorganisms), all interacting among themselves and with the environment (soil, climate, water and light) in which they live. The environmental "common denominator" of that forest ecological community is a tree, who most faithfully obeys the ecological cycles of energy, water, carbon and nutrients.

           A forest ecosystem would be considered having boundaries and would include a forest of trees out to the limit of tree growth. Remember that forests are not the only ecosystems. There are hundreds of thousands of defined and undefined ecosystems that can cover the broadest to the tiniest of areas. An ecosystem can be as small as a pond or a dead tree, or as large as the Earth itself.

              The forest ecosystem covers the flora, fauna and ground conditions with in the parameters of a forest. From the climatic conditions to the members and relationships in the food chain, the forest ecosystem is dependent on the major resources available. In the forest ecosystem the proportion of flora, including the varieties of trees, grasses, fungi and flowers will effect the way in which fauna exist.

      

           The fauna in a forest ecosystem will include the minute and the massive. The forest ecosystem offers shelter and living conditions to insects, birds, arachnids and mammals, from the tiny bush mouse to the largest primate or predator.

A Healthy Forest Ecosystem

             In the forest ecosystem the smallest creatures and plants are still important to the structure of the environment. From the smallest gnat to the largest predator, the relationship between the food chain is vital to the balance of the ecosystem. In the way that grass feeds cattle so too do smaller creatures become food for larger. Even the plants of the forest will become fodder for larger herbivores or small creatures. The forest ecosystem is balanced by the resources available. The number of trees, fungi, grass or flowers will be, maintained by the number of animals or insects using them for their lifestyle or food sources. If the number of predators in the forest ecosystem should alter, then the food chain would be unbalanced right down to the fundamental level. Even a slight alteration in the forest ecosystem, due to floods or drought or human intervention, can lead to the destruction of the forest ecosystem itself.

Forest ecosystem concepts:

                Often forest ecosystems are studied in watersheds draining to a monitored stream: the structure is then defined in vertical and horizontal dimensions. Usually the canopy of the tallest trees forms the upper ecosystem boundary, and plants with the deepest roots form the lower boundary. The horizontal structure is usually described by how individual trees, shrubs, herbs, and openings or gaps are distributed. Wildlife ecologists study the relation of stand and landscape patterns to habitat conditions for animals.

                 Woody trees and shrubs are unique in their ability to extend their branches and foliage skyward and to capture carbon dioxide and most of the incoming photosynthetically active solar radiation. Some light is reflected back to the atmosphere and some passes through leaves to the ground (infrared light). High rates of photosynthesis require lots of water, and many woody plants have deep and extensive root systems that tap stored ground water between rain storms. Root systems of most plants are greatly extended through a relation between plants and fungi, called mycorrhizal symbiosis.

                

           The biomass of a forest is defined here as the mass of living plants, normally expressed as dry weight per unit area. Biomass production is the rate at which biomass is accrued per unit area over a fixed interval, usually one year. If the forest is used to grow timber crops, production measures focus on the biomass or volume of commercial trees. Likewise, if wildlife populations are the focus of management, managers may choose to measure biomass or numbers of individual animals.

Our ecosystem