Ali's+Ecosystem+Project

=Tropical Rainforest Biome = **Genera****l** toc Tropical rainforest biomes only cover about 6% of the earth. The temperature stays about 20-25 degrees year round, because it must remain warm and frost free for the plants in the ecosystems. They get about 2,000 – 10,000 millimeters per year, and are commonly located in Asia, Central & South America, Africa, Mexico, and Australia. The humidity in a tropical rainforest in usually about 77-88%.

Other than a tropical rainforest, there is also a temperate. Tropical rainforests are found closer to the equator, and trees within them can reach up to a height of about 250 ft or more. It is hot, damp, and rains all year round, and is also full of bacteria and micro-organisms.

Tropical Rainforests are made up of layers known as; the emergent, upper canopy, understory, and forest floor. Starting at the forest floor, it’s very dark because of the above layers. Because of this, very few plants grow, and decaying substances can take up to 4 times longer to decay, because of the lack of sunlight. As well, not many animals can live there due to the living condition.

The next layer, the understory, is also covered with the above canopies, but many more plants and animals live there. This includes jaguars, red-eyed tree frogs and leopards. There is also a large amount of insects. The plants in this layer have to grow higher to reach the sunlight, so they can grow up to 12 feet high.

The upper canopy layer is the main layer of the rainforest, with large trees that cast a huge canopy over the two below layers. Many animals such as tree frogs and snakes live in this layer because of the food supply and sunlight. The trees in this section have large, oval like leaves that come to a point.

The last layer is the emergent layer. This section of the rainforest includes giant trees. These are the few trees that get direct sunlight all around their tops. Animals such as butterflies, eagles, monkeys and bats live there. Their trunks can also measure about 16 feet around.

**Threats** The main threats of the tropical rainforest biome are human-induced. Because the damages are caused by humans, it is much more effected. The main threat is deforestation, which is the acting of clearing parts of a forest by logging or burning. Many of the effects that the humans make of rainforests are probably irreversible in our time. For example, graphing also shows that, just in South America alone, over 4000 hectares of tropical land has been cut down in the years 2000-2005.

What Can We Do?
Over the past years, education about rainforests and what we can do have been key. Teaching younger children now will help the conservation of future rainforests. Another way we are helping is by creating policies. For example, in 2001 President of the U.S, Bill Clinton helped by proposing $150 million to help developing countries preserve their tropical forests. This was especially good because it was also strengthening their economies. Though re-building the total amount of forest lost would be impossible, plans, projects, and studies have been in progress to slowly help.

= **Canoe Lake Ecosystem** =

﻿Intro
Canoe Lake is located in the western part of Algonquin Park, in Ontario. It is a stable freshwater ecosystem madeup of living and non-living components, decomposition, and production. It ususally has a sustainable biodiversity. The freshwater ecosystems of the world are quite limited, they cover only about 1 percent of the Earth's surface. Because it is in a provincial park, it is part of a well-preserved area.

**Consumers, Producers, and Decomposers﻿**

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">﻿Consumers:
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Freshwater zooplankton are the primary consumers of the ecosystem. Aside from the larger animals like fish and/or turtles, they are the animal portion of the free-floating, living particles in the water. They eat each other to consume energy, because they cannot make any of their own. Tiny crustaceans, flatworms, insect larvae, snails, frogs, fish, and turtles are secondary Consumers.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Producers:
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Producers of freshwater ecosystems such as Canoe Lake are things such as freshwater algae, and though not a lot of it grows in Canoe Lake, it is part of the ecosystem. Duckweed and Water Lilies are also some of the producers in Canoe Lake. Their jobs are to carry out photosynthesis, basically to take the suns energy, turn it into biological systems, and turn it into chemical energy that other plants can use.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Decomposers:
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The decomposers of Canoe Lake are made to break down organic matter, and release the nutrients back into the ecosystem. Fungi and bacteria are the main decomposers in many freshwater ecosystems, including Canoe Lake.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Human Threats
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">**General:** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Though the park is well preserved, and the lake is very sustainable and usually has no problems, there are some threats to the ecosystem. Campers in Algonquin Park, or people who own cottages, all produce waste. This waste, whether it's wrappers, oil, etc, all hurt the freshwater ecosystem. Cottagers who use motor boats, risk oil leaks that can affect the waters oxygen level, risking the level of biodiversity dropping. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Septic tanks that are used outside of the cottages can leak sewage into the land around Canoe Lake and in the water. This raises the nitrogen content of the water eventually also affecting the biodiversity. Docks on cottage property can interfere with fish spawning grounds, submerge aquatic vegetation, and disturb floating. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Food Web:
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Oil leaks from motor boats not only affect the oxygen level, they also affect many of the organisms and creatures. All the threats and actions taken that could potentially hurt the organisms inside the ecosystem, has an effect on the food web. For example, a motor boat oil spill occurs, some bacteria dies. The bacteria would have gone on to produce nutrients, and the nutrients to be consumed by zooplankton, now that is impossible. It would happen with larger organisms too. Though it may look like a small price to pay, think that thousands of things like this happen every minute, and we are the cause of it.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Our Help
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park is a prime example of what humans are doing in Canada, and around the world to help protect these ecosystems. It preserves these ecosystems in a way we can enjoy, and help benefit them. Park Rangers in Algonquin Park are people who are constantly taking care of the ecosystems.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Conclusion:
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">In conclusion, Canoe Lake is a very safe and well preserved freshwater ecosystem. Being located in a provincial park is a great way to show and inspire people to help out with keeping our ecosystems safe. Ecosystems like Canoe Lake contributes to some of the things we need in our daily life, like oxygen. Overall we are lucky to have such an ecosystem to call our own in Canada.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sources:
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/F/Freshwater.html <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080521195217AAXFV1N <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algonquin_Provincial_Park http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0803.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation http://ezinearticles.com/?Tropical-Rainforests---4-Ways-to-Stop-Deforestation&id=1491669 <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Pearson Investigating Science 9 Textbook; Page 61, 31, 54 Pictures: <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">http://www.nature.org/initiatives/freshwater/ <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">http://evergreenmagazine.com/app/portal/mm/medium/Ontario-AlgonquinPark.jpg <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">http://www.zunal.com/myaccount/uploads/brazil-stephenferry-getty460.jpg