Compare the pictures, discuss in group of 2 or 3 and answer the following questions along with your names.
1.What causes these two biological communities so differently?
2.Is plant productivity higher in species-rich ecosystems? Why?
3. Does species richness enhance the sustainability of an ecosystem? why?
1. I think they are different because of the climate and the surrounding area and species that live in those habitats.
ReplyDelete2. I say that the plant productivity is higher in species-rich ecosytems because the plants seed can get moved around by droppings or gain nutrients from the decomposing bodies of dead aniamals.
3. I say species richeness does enhance the stability of an ecosystem because the more species the more options to get energy from.
1. In my opinion, the cause of the different bioligical communities would be the various climates that they are in. I know this is the most obvious answer since one of the climates is underwater while the other is out in the environment.
ReplyDelete2. Yes, there is an increasing trend of species-rich ecosystems in lower latitudes and altitudes. The more diverse an ecosystem is the more productive it is. With a greater variety of producer species, the ecosystem will produce more plant biomass, which will produce more consumer species.
3. Yes, the richer the variety of species, the more stability an ecosystem will have. It just works.
Celeste Peck and Terri Gouge
ReplyDelete1. Geographic location causes these two biological communities to differ. The coral reef is very species rich while the aspen forest is low species richness but high species evenness. The coral reef is aquatic and the aspen forest is terrestrial. Therefore climate, temperature, amount of sunlight will vary.
2. The more diverse an ecosystem is, the more productive it will be. With a greater variety of producer species, an ecosystem will produce more plant biomass which in turn will support a greater variety of consumer species (plants).
3. The greater the species richness and the accompanying web of feeding and biotic interactions in an ecosystem, the greater its sustainability or ability to withstand environmental disturbances such as drought or insect infestations.
1. The causes of these two different biological communities are temperature, one is found in the ocean (plentiful water) and one is on land, One Needs lots of sunlight and the nutrients from the soil while the other needs less sunlight and the other needs the energy from sources in the ocean.
ReplyDelete2. I would say that plant productivity has less to do with species-rich ecosystems then it does the location, temperature, etc. If I had to choose, I'd say that plant productivity would be greater in species rich ecosystems because plant species compete with each other just the same as animal species. My example would be the tropical rainforest. There are TONS of both plant and animal species and plant productivity is super great!
3. Species richness does enhance the sustainability of an ecosystem because the greater variety of producer species would need a greater number of consumer species.
Jo Darnell, Heather Elliott
ReplyDelete1. The climate is the main factor in these ecosystems. A choral reef is found in tropical ocean climates where the temperature is very consistent.
2. Yes, plant productivity is higher in species rich ecosystems. The more species that inhabit an ecosystem, the more pollination and fertilization will occur. They support one another. Also, more biomass will be produced, which will enhance plant productivity (the base of the food chain).
3. Yes. Species richness does inhance sustainability. The greater the biotic factors within an ecosystem, the better a species will be able to survive a disturbance within that ecosystem.