Biomes and Ecosystems Essay PDF

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Biomes and Ecosystems Essay...

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Jordan Cantwell BIO-220 Michael Rush August 25, 2020

Biomes and Ecosystems There are 9 different biomes that are discussed through this course. According to the National Geographic website, “A biome is an area of the planet that can be classified according to the plants and animals that live in it.” (National Geographic, 2020) The biome that will be discussed in this essay is the desert biome. The desert biome contains 3 types of ecosystems: The Sonoran Desert, Saharan Desert, and Chihanuan Desert. The Saharan Desert expands from the Atlantic Ocean across Africa and into Ethiopia. (Berrahmouni, N., Burgess, N. 2020). The Saharan Desert includes species that apart of the keystone species, endangered and invasive species. There are two types of selective species. A species is either a part of the K-selective also known as the keystone selective species or the R-selective species. Keystone species will be the main one being discussed. A keystone species us a type of species that is very important to the ecosystem and has a very important job in the ecosystem. In this specific ecosystem, the antelope is the keystone species. If this type of antelope is removed from the ecosystem, there would be a sharp decline in population due to no food resource. (Wisth, D 2013). Since the main predator would be gone, other populations of species would rise. The factors that make the antelope a keystone species is that if they went extinct, the rest of the ecosystem would suffer. The antelope has an important niche, which is a specific job that a species has in an ecosystem. The important niche that the antelope has is that they are the main predator in the ecosystem. In the definition of

the keystone species, they will not normally have a lot of offspring. Antelopes only have one offspring at a time and can only have one per year. Although the antelope is a keystone species, it is also considered to be one of the most endangered species in the Sahara ecosystem. When a species is endangered it means that the species is at risk or in danger of going extinct. The antelope species is over hunted, suffer from drought and the loss of their habitat. In this ecosystem, there are only about 300 antelopes left. (Jauregu, R 2020) Since antelopes do not have a lot of offspring, if 5 die in one year in one part of the ecosystem, there may only be 2 born since the antelope only has one offspring per year. An invasive species is “an alien species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environment harm or harm to human health.” (US Dept. of Agriculture, 2020) A tamarisk plant is a tree that will grow between eight to sixteen feet tall. The tamarisk plant replaces the native vegetation plants with their strong thickets which is a group of bushes or trees. This plant hogs all the water from other species and may cause them to suffer or go extinct. There is not much that can be done for these plants other than to keep them trimmed up which would be nearly impossible in the desert ecosystem or take them out completely which would put them in risk of going extinct. (Biomania, 2020) Different biomes exist and contain small ecosystems that contain different species of animals and plants. These animals and plants are placed in these ecosystems so they can live properly. The desert Biome contains the Saharan ecosystem that contains keystone species, endangered species and invasive species.

References: Biomania The Saharan Desert Northern Africa Retrieved from: https://biomania-saharadesert.weebly.com/ Invasive Species What are invasive species? Retrieved from: https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/what-are-invasive-species LiveScience Addax Facts: Endangered Antelope Faces Extinction (Bradford, A. 2016) Retrieved From: https://www.livescience.com/55277-addax.html#:~:text=The%20addax%20is %20a%20species,on%20ranches%20around%20the%20world. Oxford Language Retrieved from: www.oxfordlanguage.com National Geographic Africa: Physical Geography Retrieved from: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/africa-physicalgeography/print/

World Wild Life

Northern Africa (Berrahmouni, N., Burgess, N.) Retrieved From: https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/pa1327 US Department of Agriculture Retrieved from: https://www.usda.gov/...