Biodiversity hot spot

I chose the Horn of Africa for my hot spot.

1)The Horn of Africa is a very diverse spot. It is home to the largest endemic reptile population in the world. It is also the home of many other animals such as baboons, antelope, beira, dibatag, and gazelle. The Horn is  1.5 million km² in size.

2) and 3) Endemic plant –  cucumber tree (Dendrosicyos socotrana, VU)

Endemic Animal – Antelope,  beira (Dorcatragus megalotis, VU).

4) This hot spot is one of the most depredated spots in the world. It has been used for over grazing by humans. It is also being largely used to gather coal for personal use and exporting.

5) this is a hot spot because it is a large area that is being drastically changed because of over use. Humans are using it to graze their animals such as the sheep and goats and camels. This is causing a huge shift in the environment and causing drought due to the lack of vegetation to allow the rivers to stay controlled. Animals are becoming endangered and even extinct because of the lack of food sources and water. There are burns that are killing off other plants and allowing others to come back and take over.

6) Jebel Samhan National Nature Reserve is the home of a population of Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus minor, CR), a Critically Endangered subspecies. You can contact them by calling  1-800-490-0512 they do tours and to help gain income.

7) yes I believe we should be concerned with the degradation of this hot spot it will just continue to grow and will spread and will eventually reach us. We still rely on these spots and so do the animals that live there. If we do not care about it happening in other places we will not care if it starts happening to us. We need to stand up and make a change now to protect these spots and the world. Without doing this it will eventually happen to the rest of the world and become unchangeable. 

Lab 11 wildlife corridor

1)      I am choosing a “Equus caballus”(web November 15), more better  known as a horse.

2)      I have chosen to use horses in my example because it is a creature I rarely see in the wild. 2 things that impede the growth of the wild horse population would be humans capturing them and roads that have cut their habitats into sections. Humans have since the beginning of time captured and tamed wild horses to be able to use them and ride them. This has drastically decreased the amount of free roaming horses.

3)      The horses need the corridor to be able to connect to the land on the other side of busy freeways, highways and just roads in general. Without the corridors horses face a huge risk of being hit by a vehicle while trying to cross to the other side, this would not only kill or seriously injure the horse but could be fatal or harmful to the people in the car. Not only would this be a current day solution but in the future could save the lives of not only animals but humans as well.

4)      

I have chosen to use a bride as my corridor. I plan to make it at least 1000 feet wide as recommended in the paper in the instructions. I plan to plant grass across the whole bridge and have a wall fence that is at least 6 feet in height. I have chosen 6 feet to make it difficult for any animal to jump over the fence I also plan to build trees or bushes next to the fences or perhaps vines on the fence, to give it a more natural appeal to the horses as not to frighten them. IT would start out on both side at an upward slope that connected at the middle of the road to connect both sides. It would have pillars in the middle of the road to support the weight of the bridge.

5)      There are already many fences built on the sides of the roads to keep animals from getting onto the road so if we kept those fences and even built more if needed it would force the horses to go to the bridge to be able to cross to the other side. This would allow them to become accustom to the bridge and learn that it is there for their use, they will then have a larger area to create a larger population.

6)      (same as #4)

7)      

References

"Equus Caballus (Horse)." Equus Caballus (Horse). N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

"Equitrekking." Equestrian Travel Articles. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

"Devon Road Bridge." Devon Road Bridge. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

Endangered Species Lab

1)    Scientific name – Juturnia Kosteri

Common name – Springsnail, koster’s

Taxonomic order – Neotaenioglossa

Taxonomic family – hydrobiidae

2) 

3) the snail is a foundation specie. They keep the water clean and drinkable, they are also a food source for fish and other animals.

4) the snails keep the water clean by eating the algae. They are used as a food source for fish and other animals.

5) 

scientists predict that the population will decrease 50% if they were not to have been put on the endangered species list.

6) The water level and water chemisty and the vegetation all affect the springanil’s. If the water level declines it will kill a lot of the plants and algae they feed on. And with human interference polluting the waters, is also killing off the snails.

7) The snails are density independent there population fluctuates on how much water is pumped out thus lowering the water level and the amount of pollutants that are put into the water by humans.

8) “Turgeon, D.D., J.F. Quinn, Jr., A.E. Bogan, E.V. Coan, F.G. Hochberg, W.G. Lyons, P.M. Mikkelsen, R.J. Neves, C.F.E. Roper, G. Rosenberg, B. Roth, A. Scheltema, F.G. Thompson, M. Vecchione, and J.D. Williams. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks. 2nd Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26, Bethesda, Maryland: 526 pp.”

9) the most recent article I could find was published July 16, 2014 - http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/07/11/biosci.biu100.full.pdf

10) "Koster's Springsnail (Juturnia Kosteri)." ECOS Environmental Conservation Online System. U.s. Fish and Wildlife Service, n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2015. (question 1)

            Hershler, Robert, Hsiu-ping Liu, and Jeanette Howard. "Energy Development and Wildlife Conservation in Western North America." (2011): n. pag. <i>Http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/</i>. BioScience Advance Access, 16 July 2014. Web. 7 Nov. 2015. (question 2)

            "National Museum of Natural History Unearthed." 'National Museum of Natural History Unearthed' N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2015. (question 3 and 4)

            "Results Detailed Report." Results Detailed Report. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2015. (question 1and 8)

Lab 9 Freshwater Ecosystems Lab

Part A -
1) My freshwater ecosystem a stream behind my house in Rimrock AZ.

3) Temperature - The temperature of the water is 18 degrees Celsius. 

 4) Turbidity - The Turbidity is 0 JTU

8)Ph - The PH of the water is 8

5)Dissolved Oxygen - The dissolved oxygen is an 8.

7)Nitrate - the nitrate level is 5.

11) test factor:                           result:                                 Rank:

      Dissolved Oxygen                8   84%                               3 (good)

      Coliform Bacteria               Negative                             3 (good)

      pH                                         8                                          3 (good)

      Temperature Change         0 degrees                            4 (excellent) 

      nitrate                                  5 ppm                                 2 (fair)

      phosphate                            2 ppm                                 3 (good)

      turbidity                              0 JTU                                 4 (excellent)

12) 

B) "dissolved oxygen in water is held more at colder temperatures than it is in warmer temperature water.  The nitrate in water is needed by all aquatic plants and animals to build protein. pH is how acidic the water is its best to have a neutral level. phosphate is needed by plants and animals for growth. temperature is extremely important it determines the level of dissolved oxygen, rate of photosynthesis and the sensitivity of organisms to toxic wastes, parasites and disease." 

reference: Low Cost Water Monitoring Kit. Alexandria, VA: Earth Force, 2001. Print.

Part B - 

1) "I am doing my summary on The Red Sea - Dead Sea By Kristiana Donnelly.

The article discusses the Dead Sea which is located by Jordan, Israel, and Palestinian National Authority. It talks about Israel in 1993 proposing to desalinate the water in the Dead Sea to create 1 billion cubic meters of water. It did not happen because it would have costed 4.2 billion dollars and the national bank said that they would not help."

reference:  R, W. A T E, B. R I E F, and 2. The Red Sea–Dead Sea Project Update (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

2) I thought this was awesome I had no idea you could desalinate water. Except through evaporation. If we could do this everywhere we would not have to worry about water shortage. Although I do not know the impact it would create on sea life and even level. Its too bad  that it cost to much for them the countries to desalinate the water. Not only would it create a lot of water for nations that need it but it could show us possible circumstances that would happen if we did it in other oceans. 

Lab 8 Climate Change

Josef Elliott

Bio 105

Lab 8 Climate Change

            I have chosen to use the “Environmental Protection Agency. Climate Change Basic Information” article.

            Part 1 Climate Change:

1)    I agree with everything said in this article. There is nothing in this article that I did not find to be untrue. I had not known actual numbers on climate change thought and learned them in this article. In the article they say “Earth's average temperature has risen by 1.5°F over the past century, and is projected to rise another 0.5 to 8.6°F over the next hundred years.” This to me surprised me.  I had thought when we started hearing about global warming it would be by a high number like 15 or 20 degrees. I had no idea it was just 1.5.

2)    Three places I could look if I had have any questions would be to look online at any reputable website. As in the ones we were provided for this lab. We also have our textbooks that we are using for the class. It is full of useful information that has been checked for accuracy. We could as an expert in Environmental biology such as a teacher or a scientist. We could even go to a library and look for books that pertain to the subject we wish to check.

3)    Yes having a background in environmental biology helps a lot. As I stated in question one without knowing anything about environmental biology I thought that when they said global warming it would be by some high number, like 15 or 20 degrees at least. Now with learning environmental biology I know that earth would most likely be destroyed at that rate and that all it takes is a very little change to change the whole earth’s environment. Still reading this article without having learned environmental biology I would have told myself what are we worrying about if global warming is only going to increase by 8.6 degrees Fahrenheit within the next 100 years. But thanks to this class I now know that if this happens it will set off a chain of events that will drastically change the way we live on earth.

Part 2 Biotic Communities

1.     I live in Rimrock Arizona which is “154.12 Arizona Upland Subdivision - Sonoran Desertscrub.” 

Bibliography –

·       "Climate Change: Basic Information." Basics. EPA, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

·       "Climate Change: Basic Information." Basics. EPA, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

Lab 6 field methods

Part 1 A Qualitative vs. Quantitative, Dimensional Analysis, and Growth

Qualitative –

1)      I see that the plants are the color green.

2)      There is brown dirt. It’s the brown that you see in the dirt after it has rained.

Quantitative –

1)      There are 12 green plants total.

2)      There are 4 planter boxes filled with the brown dirt.

Part 1 B Dimensional analysis

1)      A four-pound bass weighs how many grams?

There are 453.592 grams in a pound.

Equation 4 x 453.592 = 1814.368grams

Part 1 C Linear VS. Exponential Growth

1)      The graph for this question is attached as a photo.

2)      Question 1 – The most profitable is to earn a dollar with a 25% increase each day.

Question 2 – The six dollars a day while earning another six dollars each day at day 6 seamed the most profitable it was well above the pay of the one starting at only a dollar.

Part 2 B Measurements of Biodiversity

11) I choose this sight because it is our families garden.

Part I C

                                    Location                    N level/rating    P level /rating      K level/rating     pH level/rating

Sample A                         garden	N2 adequate	P2 adequate	K3 adequate	7.0 neutral
Sample B                         Lot across the street	N3 sufficient	P2 adequate	K2 adequate	6.5 slight acid

6)A) The nitrogen and phosphorous. They both contain phosphorous and oxygen.

B) We have to have soil to grow crops or anything. That we need to survive.

C) different soil types show the different regions it shows biodiversity because, one soil is in one place.

D) erosion – can carry sediments to new places.

Human interference – add different soils together changing the composition.

Genetically modified – we can engineer different types of soils.

Owl pellet Lab

Josef Elliott

Bio 105

Lab 3

Part 1Why do you think Carson titles this chapter “A Fable for Tomorrow?” Think about the choice of words in the title. Think about what fable teaches us and apply that here.

A.    A fable is a story about animals as characters. I believe she titled it this way so that the animals would be the main focus. Creating it this way would allow her to create a bond between the reader and the animal characters, which in turn when we saw the affects pesticides has on the animals it will hurt on a deeper emotional level.

1.    What did you know about pesticides before watching the Earth Days segment or reading part of Silent Spring?

A.    I have known about pesticides as far back as I can remember. I know that I used to think they were a good thing and kept animals and bugs from destroying crops. It wasn’t until biology my first semester of college that I learned of some of the affects it has on the environment. It does more that just protect our crops it kills animals, pollutes the soils, pollutes the waters, gets carried in the wind to other places and affects them, and even poisons our food.

2.    What do you feel so strongly about that you would want to fully dedicate yourself to it, producing a groundbreaking work of literature, film, music or other media, even if this risked your professional reputation and how others thought of you? Your answer can be hypothetical! Not everyone has a passion that they would carry this far.

A.    Hypothetically I would devote my life to finding a pesticide that would only target certain pests and would have no additional affect to other animals, plants or people. It would not pollute anything or kill anything it wasn’t intended to.

1.    Name four places pesticides exist.

A.    Fields

B.    Air

C.   Water

D.   soils

2.    What are two effects of DDT on birds and mammals?

A.    It poisons them.

B.    It kills a lot of their food sources.

3.    “Our aim should be to guide natural processes as cautiously as possible in the desired direction rather than to use brute force...Life is a miracle beyond our comprehension, and we should reverence it even when we have to struggle against it...Humbleness is in order; there is no excuse for scientific conceit here.” – Rachel Carson in Silent Spring.

Take a little time to define humbleness in an appropriate manner for this question before answering.

A.    ”having or showing regard for the decencies of behavior, speech,dress, etc.; decent:” (dictionary.com)

How can we exhibit humbleness in terms of our relationship to nature?

A.    We can do this by changing our nature to appreciate the environment and the animals. By changing the way we use pesticides or even pesticides at all.

Part 2 drawing of biological magnification example –

Part 3 –

Part 4 –

1.      Review concept of personal ecological footprint.

2.      Predict how many Earth's each person needs, if they all lived your lifestyle

A.     I don’t believe that my ecological footprint will be that great I try to recycle as much as possible. We also have solar panels. I even have a car that gets 28 miles per gallon.

3.      Calculate your ecological footprint using the,Earth Day Footprint Calculator (Links to an external site.) (http://www.earthday.org/splash_page.php (Links to an external site.)). Many other variables may come to mind as you do your assessment, or the questions might not "fit" your circumstance. Just do your best. It is probably best to ignore the donation request.

A.     

4.      How do you feel about this? Comment on your reaction in at least five sentences.

A.     I was extremely surprised. I honestly thought I lived a fairly simple life. I had no idea I had this big of an impact on the world. I never would have guessed. I find it insane even the amount of acres that I alone need. This is definitely an eye opener. 

Josef Elliott

Bio 105

Lab 2 The Cube

Observations:

1.     The cube has one side that is red.

2.     The cube has two sides that are blue.

3.     The cube has two sides that are white.

4.     All of the faces on the cube have a single name on them.

5.     All faces of the cube have two numbers. One on the top right and one on the bottom left.

6.     The top right number equals the amount of letters that are in the name on the same face.

7.     the white faces share the first 2 letters “Al”

8.     the blue faces share the first 3 letters “Rob”

9.     The bottom left number on the face shows that the corresponding color (exact opposite face on the cube) have the same begging letters in the amount of the number.

10.  The matching colors are on the exact opposite side on the cube from each other.

Question 5:

            The bottom face (Blank face) of the cube will have the name “Fran.” It will have the number “4” in the top right corner. It will have the number “4” on the bottom left corner. It will be the color red.

Question 6:

            The reason for my answer to question 5 is because I found a pattern. I will use the blue sides of the cubes for my explanation. I looked at both sides and realized that the top right number was the amount of letter in the name. I then noticed that the names started with the same letters. I then looked at the bottom left number and realized that on each face of the cube that each color had the same bottom number, I then put together that it showed me the amount of letters that each name started with that was the exact as the other name. So with this information I was able to figure out the answer to number 5.

Josef Elliott

Bio 105

Lab 1 Tragedy of the Commons

1.      What is a "commons?" Give five more examples besides pastures and ponds. Justify your answer by explaining why these areas are a commons.

·       Commons are a place that is open to everyone and are not owned privately by someone.

·       Five examples of a Commons are:

Oceans

Forests

Mountains

Deserts

And parks

2.      What are two solutions to the Tragedy of the Commons?

·       Solution 1: Put a restriction on the amount of resources someone can take.

·       Solution 2: Do things like the fish hatchery in page springs does. That is to raise fish (or other resources) to help replenish the places that are being depleted of their resources.

3.      Describe a situation you have observed where commons have been degraded.

·       To me a tragedy of the commons would be that everyone wants to go to Hawaii and swim on the beaches (which I don’t blame them it beautiful). While I was there I learned that so many people go swimming and put on sunscreen that the oils are coating the reefs and killing the reefs off. This in turn kills the fish that live and depend on the reefs.

(Disney own their own island and they are growing coral to plant by their island to help the coral grow back to help replenish the life that was once there.)

4.      The Tragedy of the Commons considers humans being impacted by this tragedy. How is ecosystem sustainability affected? In your answer, be sure to refer to the definition of the word "sustainability".

·       Well for example we are developing tools to catch more and more fish all the time in the ocean. This has caused a huge decline and even extinction rate in fish. This is affecting us because, we now have to have some regulations on fishing and will need to keep them so we don’t deplete the fish population completely.

5.      Which do think is more important, your individual freedoms or the common environmental good?

·       To me the common environmental good. At this rate we will deplete all of our resources and then no one will be able to survive.