Ecological Analysis for Species Variation in Relationship to Area Cover - Case Study Example

TOPIC: ECOLOGICAL REPORT FOR SPECIES VARRITATION IN RELATIONSHIP TO AREA COVER Submitted to (INSTRUCTOR’S NAME) (INSTITUTION NAME) (ADDRESS) May 5th, 2015 By (STUDENT NAME) (INSTITUTION NAME) Contents TOPIC: ECOLOGICAL REPORT FOR SPECIES VARRITATION IN RELATIONSHIP TO AREA COVER Submitted to 1 (INSTRUCTOR’S NAME) 1 (INSTITUTION NAME) 1 (ADDRESS) 1 May 5th, 2015 1 By 1 (STUDENT NAME) 1 (INSTITUTION NAME) 1 Contents 2 Introduction 3 Methods 4 RESULTS 5 BIOTIC COMPONENTS 5 PLANT SPECIES VARRIATION TABLE OF AREA I WITHIN VARRIED QUADRANT AREA SIZES 5 PLANT SPECIES VARRIATION TABLE OF AREA z WITHIN VARRIED QUADRANT AREA SIZES 6 DISCUSSION 8 Interactions between biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem 9 Energy flow in the ecosystem 9 a) Primary producers. 9 b) Secondary consumers 10 c) Tertiary consumers 11 d) Food chain 11 CHEMICAL CYCLING IN THE ECOSYSTEM 11 CONCLUSION 12 Bibliography 14 ECOLOGICAL REPORT FOR SPECIES VARRITATION IN RELATIONSHIP TO AREA COVER Introduction Ecosystem refers to the entire organisms in a specific area together with the abiotic or non-living components with which they interact. An ecosystem thus simply refers to a biological community together with its physical environment. This study involves a exploration of a chosen ecosystem for a practical insight about some critical properties of ecosystems comprising of biotic (living components) such as water, rocks and air (Adler et al 2005, p 2032). The study also investigates chemical cycling and energy flow within the selected ecosystem. The study provides practical knowledge about the ecosystems through successful completion of the ecosystem study assessment tasks. Methods The study area selected for completion of the ecosystem assessment task was a general grassland area which had an assemblage of herbs, grasses and shrubs. The area’s topography was hilly. Ecosystem Area I cover The area selected was grassland due to fantasy with range grassland since childhood. I visited the location on a bright serene Saturday afternoon as reflected in the coloured photos that were taken when the sun was brightly shinning on the sky. The study began with the selection of an ecosystem. It then proceeded with the sampling and recording of species within a one by one quadrat at two different locations within the same ecosystem as shown in table I and z. The quadrat size was then increased successively to 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 meters squares with every new species recorded cumulatively in every successive quadrat sample. All the species sampled were then categorized as grasses, shrub, herbs or trees. Grasses refers to monocotyledonous and herbaceous plants with a characteristic narrow leaves sprouting from the base. Grasses include the “true grasses” under the family Poaceae as well as rushes and sedges (Collins, Vázqueza & Sanders 2012, p 458). Shrubs refer to small woody plants of average height, which are characteristically distinguished from trees by their multiple stems and relatively shorter height, often below 6 meters in height. Trees refer perennial plants with long trunk or stem that support leaves and branches in majority of tree species (Drakare, Lennon & Hillebrand 2006, p 218). They are characteristically distinguished from shrubs by their elongated trunk or stem that usually exceeds 6 meters as well as a single trunk or stem growing from the base. Herbs refer to plants with non-woody plants that are used for flavouring, perfume, food, or medicinal purposes. Ecosystem area z cover Map Showing Area of Study RESULTS BIOTIC COMPONENTS PLANT SPECIES VARRIATION TABLE OF AREA I WITHIN VARRIED QUADRANT AREA SIZES Area 1 Quadrat sizes (m) Species 1x1 2x1 2x2 2x4 4x4 4x8 GRASS SP 1 X X         SMALL HERB SP 1 X         GRASS SP 2         SMALL HERB SP 2   X       SMALL HERB SP 3   X       GRASS SP 3         SMALL HERB SP 4       X   SMLALL SHRUB 1        X X X Cumulative number of species 2 3 4 5 6 6 Table I outlines the plants species collected from the first sampling area of the selected ecosystem using differently sized quadrats recorded in terms of cumulative amount of plant species. PLANT SPECIES VARRIATION TABLE OF AREA z WITHIN VARRIED QUADRANT AREA SIZES Area 2 Quadrat sizes (m) Species 1x1 1x2 2x2 2x4 4x4 4x8 GRASS SP 1         SMALL HERB SP 1 X         GRASS SP 2         SMALL HERB SP 2   X X X      SMALL HERB SP 3   X       GRASS SP 3         SMALL HERB SP 4       X   SMLALL SHRUB 1      X X X     2 3 5 7 7 7 Table z outlines the plant species collected in the second sampling area within the same ecosystem in Table I above. The plant species were collected using differently but similarly sized quadrats as in Table z above and recorded in terms of cumulative plant species. Graph I shows the cumulative number of species recorded in every successive quadrat in the two sample areas against the quadrat area in meters squares. The graph shows the relationship between the cumulative numbers of species in the ecosystem with successive increase in the area sample within the ecosystem. DISCUSSION The graphs for the two areas have a similar sigmoid shape that begins an exponential discovery of new species in the first few quadrats, which then declines and finally flattens as no more species are discovered with successive expansion of the sample area within the same ecosystem. The species richness for a 20 meters square sample area within the same ecosystem is expended to range between 6-7 species. This is because the ecosystem supports a homogeneous number and variety of species that are also regularly distributed across the various niches in the ecosystem (Soininen 2010, p 434). Interactions between biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem The light green grassland that is evident in the picture of area I cover is attributed to the scorching of the grass by sunlight. Likewise, the dark green grassland that is reflected in the photo of area z of study suggests a wetter environment, which further implies the windward influence on precipitation or a higher water table. The pronouncedly more bare land scape in area z photo can be attributed to overgrazing. The light green grassland can also be attributed to reduced precipitation in the area. Likewise, the dark green grassland in area I could be attributed to increased precipitation in the area or optimal grazing. Energy flow in the ecosystem a) Primary producers. Primary producers are organisms within an ecosystem that derives their biomass energy from inorganic components. In majority of ecosystems, the primary producers are photosynthetically active organisms such as cyanobacteria, plants and a variety of other single celled organisms. Plants: are multicellular photosynthetic types of primary producers (Saether et al 2013, p 723). They are mainly differentiated from other primary producers due to their relatively highly differentiated cells, vessels and structures. Plants are also found in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem. Algae: are unicellular, colonial or multicellular primary producers. Algae are differentiated from plants due to their unicellular or undifferentiated multicellular cells. Algae are also exclusively found in aquatic ecosystem. Bacteria: are exclusively unicellular primary producers. Bacteria may also be autotrophic or chemotrophic. Plants occupying about 80% of the landscape b) Secondary consumers Secondary consumers are animals that eat primary consumers as their source of food and include big predators including wolves, eagles, lions, and crocodiles. Some secondary consumers may eat animals larger than their size. For instance lions kill and eat buffalo which has a two-fold weight over that of lion. Obligates: are primary producers, which exclusively feeds on animal flesh. For instance, lions feed on primary consumers such as water buffalo. Facultative: are secondary consumers that eat animal as well as non-animal food. For instance, dogs eat meat as well as non-animal food such as prepared meal. Omnivore: are secondary consumers that consume meat as well as non-animal food (White 2006, p 186). For instance, human being eats a lot of non-animal farming produce such as bread as well as animal food such as meat. c) Tertiary consumers Tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers. For instance, heterotrophic bacteria, hyena and vultures feed on dead secondary scavengers (Whittaker & Triantis 2012, p 627). As energy passes from one trophic level to the other in the ecosystem, some is lost in form of heat resulting in the reduction of the aggregate energy within an ecosystem as it flows from one trophic level to the other. d) Food chain Sunlight Primary producers (algae, plants, bacteria) Primary consumers (antelope, rabbit) Secondary consumers (eagle) Tertiary consumer (vultures) CHEMICAL CYCLING IN THE ECOSYSTEM Decomposing vegetation from the fallen shrubs’ leaves as well as entire shrubs or herbs plants that decomposed due to senesces or attack by diseases or pests. The decomposing vegetation was more concentrated on the warm and humid area of the ecosystem than the drier and hot area. Describe examples of non-living animal material. If you are not able to actually observe non-living animal material, describe what you could expect to see There were droppings of deer and rabbit in the area. Some of the droppings were flesh, while other had already decomposed and mingled with the soil. The dead plant material was in a state of decomposition, which is attributed to their biodegradation by heterotrophic bacteria. The rate of decomposition varied across the vertical strata of the decomposing plant material, whereby the topmost layer of plant litter was in a less decomposed state compared to the highly decomposed bottom later of the plant litter. Decomposers cycle carbon and nitrogen back to the ecosystem’s food chain, where they are essential as building blocks of food molecules such as protein, carbohydrates and lipids (Ulrich 2006, p 581). Among the decomposers spotted during the case study included earthworm and fungi. The earthworm helps decomposition by modifying the essential organic components of the soil and also by improving pumping through the soil, which is in turn used for decomposition of organic matter by aerobic heterotrophs. Fungi are part of heterotrophic organisms that decomposes dead organic matter as source of their food and nutrients to plants. The Plants were also identified as part of the chemical cycling system through their utilization of carbon dioxide released as a waste product of animal metabolism. Carbon dioxide is utilized in making food components, which in turn provide food to primary consumers. Plants thus represent a critical component of the chemical cycle by taking carbon from the atmosphere, which is then circulated throughout the entire ecosystem’s food chain. CONCLUSION This ecological report demonstrates the interconnectedness of biotic and abiotic components in an ecosystem. The study also demonstrated the existence of a variety of organism species in a single ecosystem, which are regularly distributed within the ecosystem. These organisms play a critical role in cycling of energy and essential food chemical within the ecosystem. The major purpose of the report was to impact a practical knowledge on ecosystem in terms of the essential components of an ecosystem as well as the energy and chemical flow among the different biotic and abiotic components. Bibliography Adler, P., White, E., Lauenroth, W., Kaufman, D., Rassweiler, A., & Rusak, J. (2005), Evidence For A General Species–Time–Area Relationship, Ecology, 86(6), 2032-2039. Collins, M., Vázqueza, D., & Sanders, N. (2012), Species–area curves, homogenization and the loss of global diversity, Evolutionary Ecology Research, 2002(4), 457-464. Drakare, S., Lennon, J., & Hillebrand, H. (2006), The imprint of the geographical, evolutionary and ecological context on species-area relationships, Ecology Letters, 9(2), 215-227. Saether, B., Engen, S., Grøtan, V., & Coulson, T. (2013), Species diversity and community similarity in fluctuating environments: Parametric approaches using species abundance distributions, Journal of Animal Ecology, 82(4), 721-738. Soininen, J. (2010). Species Turnover along Abiotic and Biotic Gradients: Patterns in Space Equal Patterns in Time? BioScience, 60(6), 433-439. Ulrich, W. (2006), Decomposing the process of species accumulation into area dependent and time dependent parts. Ecological Research, 21(4), 578-585. White, E., Adler, P., Lauenroth, W., Gill, R., Greenberg, D., Kaufman, D., Yao, J. (2006), A comparison of the species-time relationship across ecosystems and taxonomic groups, Oikos, 112(1), 185-195. Whittaker, R., & Triantis, K. (2012), The species-area relationship: An exploration of that ‘most general, yet protean pattern’, Journal of Biogeography, 39(4), 623-626. Read More