Eleri's+Ecosystem+Project

By Eleri Moynagh toc A biome is defined by several elements. The most common factors a biome is defined by is its climate, habitat, the plants and animals in it, biodiversity, and the human activity. Something that may not seem terribly important, such as the type of tree’s growing in a biome, could be the major definition to that biome. What also always characterizes a biome is the climate. Heat or coolness is often the main factor to a biome. It could increase or decrease precipitation, eliminate or create water sources, and fuel or kill vegetation. However small it may be, everything biotic and abiotic is key to identifying a specific biome.
 * Biomes**

**Deciduous Biomes**
Deciduous forests are best known for the show they put on in the fall –turning their leaves into bright shades of red, yellow, gold and brown. These forests grow during approximately six months in the spring and summer, receiving 30-60 inches of precipitation, and a non growing season during the drought winter. Temperatures range from -30°C to 30°C, and tend to have hot summers and cold winters. Temperate Deciduous Forests are found in Eastern North America, Europe, and China. The trees found in deciduous forests are oak, maple, beech, chestnut, walnut, and elm. It is the magnificent trees that define a deciduous biome.

The biomes in North America cover only the east. Many of these forests have been cut down due to the rich soil, which is wonderful for agriculture. The forests that do remain have more replanted trees than original ones. However, North American deciduous forests have many of the original native species in them, with few new species. In Europe, large amounts of the forests have been taken down because the soil in these particular forests is so rich. China was once covered in deciduous forest, but it now has a small amount remaining, because of the land needed for farming. Fortunately, actions are being made in order to preserve these forests, and stop any further destruction of them.

The soil in deciduous forests is very rich. The trees receive most of their nutrients from their leaves. During autumn, when all the leaves fall, the leaves become a fresh layer on the forest floor and decay back into the soil. The leaves fall because of winter. As the temperature cools down, the leaves slowly stop receiving sunlight. Because of this, the chlorophyll that turns the leaves green leaves the leaf. As the chlorophyll leaves, the green colour is also extracted from the leaf, and eventually the entire tree is covered in red, yellow, orange and brown leaves. When the frost finally comes around, the leaves fall off the tree, and become a layer of hummus for the soil. The deciduous forest has several layers, including two made of trees, a section of shrubs and a layer of low growing of herbs and mosses. The tree stratum layer is the highest, with the upper trees stretching up to 100 feet. Below it is the young tree and sapling zone. Underneath that are the shrubs. Some of these shrubs are rhododendrons, azaleas, mountain laurel, and huckleberries. The next layer is the herbal plant zone. The lowest layer is the ground zone, which is mainly lichen and mosses.

The animals in deciduous ecosystems are mainly herbivores and omnivores. There should be some carnivores, like the timber wolf, mountain lion and bobcat, but due to the intentions of some humans, many of these carnivores no longer live in this particular biome. The omni- and herbivores that live in the forest include deer, gray squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, skunks, opossum, and black bears.

**Boreal Ecosystem**
The boreal forest is one of three forest types: boreal, temperate and tropical. The specific ecosystem I am focusing on is the boreal ecosystem in Canada, and more specifically northern Ontario. The boreal forest is the coldest forest in the Northern Hemisphere. They can be found in North America, Europe and Asia. In Canada, the boreal forest is the largest vegetation area, and it is found in almost all of the provinces and territories.

The trees found in the boreal forest are black spruce, white spruce, balsam fir, jack pine and lodgepole pine. All of these trees are needle-leaf evergreen trees. The needle-leaf deciduous tree American larch, and spruce or the small-leaf deciduous trees paper birch, trembling aspen, alders and willow are found in the more southern parts of the forest. The other plants found in the boreal forest are low laying shrubs, lichen that soak up the sun, herbs, and mosses. The animals in the Canadian boreal forest are caribou, moose, black bears, hares, red squirrel, wolf, beaver, deer mouse, Canadian goose, loon, blue heron, hawks, owls, ducks, and smaller birds like chickadees, robins and jays. The insects in the boreal forest are mosquitoes, black flies and sand flies.

The boreal forest in Canada has several sections. The northern boreal woodland sports coniferous forests that are spaced out, shrubs and lichen. This zone of forest is the coldest, and just to the south of the tundra, may appear barren at times. The main forest has closely spaced deciduous and evergreen trees, shrubs that can survive under the shady, large trees, herbs, and mosses. In the southern most section, similar to the main section, it has other various plants and some temperate trees. In Ontario, there is a southern layer of hardwoods and coniferous trees. Farther north are the spruce, fir, pine, cedar and birch. In some sections of the boreal forest, are wetlands. These marshes are rich and full of life. The main reason the marshes are there is because the land is not able to drain water, because permafrost doesn’t permit the water to be soaked into the ground.

The boreal forest over Canada was covered in glaciers until 12 000 years ago. The forest stretches from the tip of Saint John, Newfoundland all the way to the ends of northern British Columbia. In Canada, there are boreal forests in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and all three territories. 82% of forests in Canada are boreal. Specifically in Ontario, there is boreal forest on well over 50% of the land. This gives Ontario a wonderful biodiversity.

**Threats to the Ontario Boreal Forest**
The boreal forests around the world have been in the making for 60 million years. However, it is possible that in over the past century, we have set these forests on the path to destruction. Forests are often logged, drained and then fertilized and used for farmland. Both logging and farmland are valuable resources. Both provide jobs too. However, when you consider how many jobs are replaced by computers or robots, we really are not creating new jobs for people at all. While we clear forests for farmland to become more economical, using good land to get logs and agriculture, we are removing parts of forests. Yet while we set aside land for parks and reserves, we could have been using that land to become more economical. As we ruin forests, water, plants, animals, ecosystems, just to benefit us, we do not make the right choices. We make the environment suffer for our own benefit. Should we not suffer a bit ourselves, and become more environmental so that we stop the suffering of the environment? Overexploiting is a human threat to the forests, however, it is something we can stop too.

Another problem the Canadian boreal forests face are advancing tree lines, found in the Yukon and Labrador. The reason the trees are going past the tree line is temperature increase. As temperature increases, the growth and reproduction of the trees increases too. This has both positive and negative effects. For the boreal forest, it becomes bigger, because there are more trees growing. These trees are able to grow in areas they could not have before, due to global warming. Global warming heats up the earth and it may cause areas with permafrost to melt, allowing trees to plant their roots in the soil and soak up water from the ground. Large darker trees absorb more sunlight, and therefore heat the forest even more. However, an increasing boreal forest means a decreasing tundra. This is not a good thing. New trees may cause the loss of habitats for certain species, decrease in plants, or possibly introduce an invasive species. Heating up the tundra is also a very bad thing. Melting permafrost could mean certain plant species dying, buildings built on permafrost to warp, and the entire tundra could turn onto a gooey marsh. While this is more a threat to the tundra, it is supposedly a natural threat, but being caused by global warming, it is really a human threat.

The wetlands in Northern Ontario are facing pollution issues. When a wetland floods, it could cause serious damage to the marsh. Humans have caused this threat. Canadian and American universities are studying the effects of wetland floods. They created a hydro-electric reservoir, and simulated a marsh flood. So far, they have found that when a marsh is dammed up, the effects are not good. They found increases in methyl mercury and greenhouse gases being released when a bog floods. A long term study also showed increase in ultraviolet light, and acidification. Global warming affects aquatic life greatly too. Fish can get sunburned, and are forced to live in deeper water. Organisms may flourish, but overpopulate the ecosystem, limiting food resources for themselves.Decreasing pollution is the only solution to this threat.

**How we are making it better.**
Northern Ontario provides a large amount of forestry to the Ontario population. There are ten pulp mills, fourteen permanent sawmills, and four panelboard plants. It is questionable whether the forests they are taking the trees from are sustainable. Over the past years, several initiatives have been made in order to preserve our forests. One of the major acts was in 1995, the Government of Ontario passed the Crown Forest Sustainability Act. Companies had to renew forests they cut down, by replanting the trees. They were also asked to replant areas that had been naturally taken down (like a forest fire) or areas in danger (like a forest susceptible to bug invasion). Companies could not clear cut as often either. Scientists have also discovered that the Earth’s boreal forest is the largest storage of carbon. With all the carbon in the forest, there is less carbon dioxide going into the air. However, cutting down the trees releases the carbon, and the carbon dioxide traps heat in the Earth, and causes temperatures to rise. With minimising out tree cutting, we also minimise the accumulation of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.

In the early days of towns in Ontario, old-growing white and red pine were used to build the buildings. While few of these buildings remain, the pine still does. West of Thunder Bay, there is a sustainable forest reserve of the old-growing white and red pine. This reserve is protected to not be altered by research, educational or recreational activities, and it remains undisturbed.

The boreal forests have ways of reproducing naturally. Forest fires are common in areas of the forest, because it is so dry in those areas. In the dry summer, fires are started by lightning or humans, and burn the highly flammable coniferous trees. The trees have adapted though. Burned forest floor creates rich soil for the next crop of trees. Studies have shown that there is considerable white pine re-growth on areas that have been recently burned. The white pine tends to do particularly well on moss seedbeds. This is one way the forest has adapted to damage to its environment.

Ontario has been able to make some changes to its foresting environment. Pulp and paper mills have been minimizing the impact from the waste they have. They have also replaced their chlorine with chlorine dioxide, so that discharge is now non-toxic. Other mills are reducing their amounts of waste, using biosolids and bark are being reused for fuel at the mill. By doing this, not only are they reducing the amount of waste going to landfills, they also need less non-renewable resources to fuel their plants. Some mills are getting government approval for their efficiencies. One mill has been able to use 95% of its boiler ash as free soil amendment instead of it going to landfills. Even better, tonnes of old magazines and newspapers are being sent to the mills for de-inking and being recycled into new paper. By reusing many of our resources, we reduce space used in landfills, which reduces pollution.

As humans, we were the species that helped to destroy the boreal forest, and we are the only ones that can fix it. By using stewardship, we can make the entire Earth a better place. Companies can reduce the amount of trees that are being cut down, and replant the trees cut down. They can reuse their waste, using it for fuel, fertilizer, or even recycling it into the same product again. By setting aside reserves, we leave areas that are guaranteed to stay as a sustainable ecosystem, and will not be affected. All of these improvements lead to three things; reduce, reuse, recycle. By doing simple things like reducing our amount of driving, electricity or waste, we reduce our pollution. Reusing or recycling also reduces landfill space. These are small things that anyone can do to make a big difference. I do not think that the boreal forest will ever be the same as it was before it was affected by human behaviour. However, I think that we can restore the forest to be sustainable, larger than it is now, and have as little impact from urban sprawl as possible. The boreal forest will never be the same as it was before, but that isn’t stopping us from trying to make it the best it can be.

**Sources**
“Temperate Broadleaf Deciduous Forest” [|http://www.runet.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/tbdf/tbdf.html]

“Temperate Deciduous Forest” []

“Deciduous Forest” []

“Deciduous Forest” []

“Boreal Forest” []

“Boreal Forest in the global context” []

“Treeline Advances in Canada’s Arctic” []

“Ontario’s Northwest forest, Overview” []

“Ontario’s Northwest forest, History” []

“Ontario’s Northwest forest, Climate” []

“Ontario’s Northwest forest, Management” []

“Ontario’s Northwest forest, Research Study Areas” []

“Boreal forests ignored in climate change fight” []


 * Picutre Sources**

Deciduous Biomes Map - http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/deciduous_forest.htm

Deciduous Forest - http://picsdigger.com/keyword/boreal%20forest%20biome

Boreal Forest Canada Map - http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/deciduous_forest.htm

Moose - http://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/blog/archives/2004/09/000771.htm

Boreral Forest - http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04l

Cut Down Forest - http://www.globalwitness.org/pages/en/threats_to_forests.html

Burning Forest - http://www.futuretimeline.net/21stcentury/2060-2069.htm