Introduction
We decided to research a local ecosystem only 30 minutes away. Point Reyes national seashore is home to more than 900 species of plants but its delicate balance is being upset. The invasive ice plant is killing and taking over the native species. Point Reyes still has a beautiful and unique ecosystem that make it the perfect environment for over 48 rare species of plants. With in the general coastal dunes landscape several micro habitats exists allowing for the high species diversity. As we have already stated more than 900 plants thrive as well as 80 mammals, 85 fish, and 29 reptiles. Half of the bird species in the United States can call Point Reyes home at some point in the year which is over 490 unique species. Some of these species can only thrive in the unique environment Point Reyes has to offer. However out of those 900 species of plants 300 of them are not native to the area and ⅓ of those nonnative species are invasive and destroy the balance of Point Reyes. One of the most harmful example is the Ice Plant.
Presentation
Content
Organization of Ecology- Also organizational demography and the population ecology of organizations
Trophic levels- Each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem
Abiotic- Non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems
Biotic- A living thing or any living component within an environment in which the action of the organism affects the life of another organism
10% rule- Ten percent of the energy from each trophic levels moves up
Carbon Cycle- The cycle by which carbon moves around the environment through the atmosphere, ground, and oceans.
Nitrogen Cycle- A continuous series of natural processes by which nitrogen passes successively from air to soil to organisms and back to air or soil
Symbiosis- Organisms living together
Relationships- A special type of interaction between species
Niche- The role and position a species has in its environment; how it meets its needs for food and shelter, how it survives, and how it reproduces
Population- A group of organisms of one species that interbreed and live in the same place at the same time
Carrying Capacity- The maximum population size of the species that the environment can sustain indefinitely
Autotroph- An organism that manufactures its own food from inorganic substances
Heterotroph- An organism that cannot manufacture its own food and instead obtains its food and energy by taking in organic substances, usually plant or animal matter
Biomes- A large community of plants and animals that occupies a distinct region
Climate- The general weather in a general place over a certain amount of time
Weather- The temperature and conditions in a certain location at a certain time
Human Impact- The impact society has on earth
Independent vs Dependant- Independant affects population regardless of the population density and dependant only occurs if a population reaches a certain density.
Cellular Respiration & Photosynthesis- Produces energy creating sugar and then breaking it down to produce ATP
Biosphere- The zone of air, land and water where organisms exist
Trophic levels- Each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem
- Decomposer: An organism, especially a soil bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate, that decomposes organic material
- Producer: An autotrophic organism capable of producing complex organic compounds
- Primary Consumer: Living organism that eats the producers, which are the plants
- Secondary Consumer: Organisms, primarily animals, which eat primary consumers
Abiotic- Non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems
Biotic- A living thing or any living component within an environment in which the action of the organism affects the life of another organism
10% rule- Ten percent of the energy from each trophic levels moves up
Carbon Cycle- The cycle by which carbon moves around the environment through the atmosphere, ground, and oceans.
Nitrogen Cycle- A continuous series of natural processes by which nitrogen passes successively from air to soil to organisms and back to air or soil
Symbiosis- Organisms living together
Relationships- A special type of interaction between species
Niche- The role and position a species has in its environment; how it meets its needs for food and shelter, how it survives, and how it reproduces
Population- A group of organisms of one species that interbreed and live in the same place at the same time
Carrying Capacity- The maximum population size of the species that the environment can sustain indefinitely
Autotroph- An organism that manufactures its own food from inorganic substances
Heterotroph- An organism that cannot manufacture its own food and instead obtains its food and energy by taking in organic substances, usually plant or animal matter
Biomes- A large community of plants and animals that occupies a distinct region
Climate- The general weather in a general place over a certain amount of time
Weather- The temperature and conditions in a certain location at a certain time
Human Impact- The impact society has on earth
Independent vs Dependant- Independant affects population regardless of the population density and dependant only occurs if a population reaches a certain density.
Cellular Respiration & Photosynthesis- Produces energy creating sugar and then breaking it down to produce ATP
Biosphere- The zone of air, land and water where organisms exist
Reflection
This project was very fun to work on! I like how we had a problem to solve by which we could actually take action to help. In our project I think the plan and ideas of helping went really well. We had a strategic plan of how to solve out issue. We wanted to organize a day to go and help the native plants at Point Reyes. The problems arose with the organization of the solution. The organization we were trying to work with was very busy and did not give us much help for taking action with our solution. Trying to organize this day with Point Reyes was not working because of their availability.
From this project I feel like I gained the skill of communication with other sources. We do not do a lot of projects where we have to interact with people to help us with our project. I feel like it was very beneficial and I learned alot from this experience. I also learned about how close to how some issues can be. Mostly when we think of world problems they are not usually within twenty miles of where we live. It was fun to have this experience of working with somehting that closely affected us and our community.
In this project I feel like I could have done a better job at being more open to solving other problems. Once I found out about point Reyes I had a mindset that I wanted to do this specific project. I could have been more open to other problems during the first steps of this project. Second, I could have also done more follow up with my solution. Even Though the organization did not give much help, I could have thought of other ways to solve our problem. Persistence is something that I will continue to work on in future projects to give more benefit to wherever we are helping.
From this project I feel like I gained the skill of communication with other sources. We do not do a lot of projects where we have to interact with people to help us with our project. I feel like it was very beneficial and I learned alot from this experience. I also learned about how close to how some issues can be. Mostly when we think of world problems they are not usually within twenty miles of where we live. It was fun to have this experience of working with somehting that closely affected us and our community.
In this project I feel like I could have done a better job at being more open to solving other problems. Once I found out about point Reyes I had a mindset that I wanted to do this specific project. I could have been more open to other problems during the first steps of this project. Second, I could have also done more follow up with my solution. Even Though the organization did not give much help, I could have thought of other ways to solve our problem. Persistence is something that I will continue to work on in future projects to give more benefit to wherever we are helping.