Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Indicator Species!


Some animals can act as an early warning system to environmental scientists that there is a problem brewing in an ecosystem. For example, back in the 1800s, coal miners used to take caged canaries into the mines with them. The birds would sing and chirp often. However, if the bird stopped singing it was an early indication that there might be poisonous gases in the mine that would be harmful to the miners. This system would allow the miners to evacuate the mine before the poisonous gases killed the miners. Environmental scientists can look out for certain animals in an ecosystem which will give them an indication as to the health of that region. Birds and butterflies are excellent indicator species because they can be affected quickly by environmental changes.

BlogWork

Go to the following website: Marietta College: Biome Study

On the map, click on one of the biomes.

Read about the indicator species (plants and animals) of that region.

Write a few sentences about the indicator species of that region.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are no plants in the polar icecaps, but there are some algae that turns the ice pink.
There are not many animals on the ice either, there are some birds and polar bears, but that is pretty much all. Even the polar bears spend a lot of time out on floating ice or in the water. Seals whales and other marine mammals and lots of fish. In Antarctica penguins are common.

danceMAGICdance said...

Most trees in the taiga are coniferous, meaning they have waxy needles for leaves that shed snow easily. Those are an indicator species because it explains that it's really cold there. Animals in the taiga are indicator species because they grow thick fur to keep them warm in the cold winter.

1sweet1 said...

The Snowshoe hare that lives in the taiga sheds it's fur so in the winter it's hard for predators to see it. In the summer and fall it's coat is brown so it can't been seen during those seasons either. The trees have waxy needles to help them get snow off of them better.

I said...

Temperate Deciduous Forest

There are several indicator species in the temperate deciduous forest such as toads, turtles, squirrels, and chipmunks. Toads and turtles are indicator species because they indicate there are invertebrates on the forest floor, which feed on decaying leaves. Squirrels and chipmunks indicate that the trees are growing nuts and seeds like they're supposed to.

Julian said...

Within the taiga are broadleaf plants. Broadleaf plants lose there leafs when harsh freezing conditions begin, and regrow them after the threat is gone. There indicator species because they mark the beginning and end of freezing conditions in the taiga. The biome also houses the snowshoe hare which changes it's fur color for summer and winter in order to camouflaged it's self.

A L said...

There is a wide variety of plant species on the tundra. the only thing that most of them have in common is their characteristics because they mostly grow low to the ground.The Reindeer is the Old World form, its smaller than the Caribou. It is herded by northern peoples across Europe and Russia.

Anonymous said...

In the desert, there are many diffrent cactus types. The plants that live here have very little acess to water so their stem holds as much as possible, to help the plants survive. There are also animals that live in the desert. with the blazing heat most animals tend to stay out of the sun, they do this by digging holes underground.

Anonymous said...

tropical rain forests
One indicator species in the tropical forests are chocolate trees. The chocolate tree will develop it's chocolate better when it's habitat is doing well.

Anonymous said...

one of the species which carries the common name of grass. The showy flower gives away that it is insect pollinated; this specimen was in a Florida wetland, but other members of the genus are found in grassland communities

ich bin ein berliner said...

Chaparral:

An indicator species is a organism that defines the charicteristics of a biome.
Many indicator species in the chaparral have adaptations that allow the to survive the harsh climate. The jackrabbit and the california lilac are two examples. Because of the extreme heat, some plants have developed waxy coatings on the außerhalb of their leaves. These coatings burn very easily, which is why there are a lot of fires in the biome. The fires are another factor in the enviroment that plants have adapted to. However, the poor animals in the chaparral do not have asbestos coatings.

Harrison said...

Grassland Indicator Species


The grassland biome has a wide variety of plant and animal indicator species. One of the indicator plant species for a grassland is, well, grass. But it’s not as simple as that. There’s Indian Grass, and Tiger Grass, and Ironweed, and Butterflyweed too. There are many other plants in grasslands as well. Some flowers in the grassland include Coneflowers and Sunflowers. There are also s lot of animal indicator species in the grasslands. Some of these animals are bison, kangaroos, rhinos, and zebras. The bison is the symbol for a prairie in North America.

Jai-Lynn said...

The Temperate Deciduous Forest has many indicator species. The Toad stays on the forest floor and eats decaying leaves. This shows that leaves fall a lot. The toad also has thin skin and depend on the humidity, so we know that it is humid.

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