FORESTS PPt. by, Robin D. Seamon
What are forests? Land covered with trees, plants, shrubs, & animals Before man s clearing of forests, 60% of Earth was forest. Today, only 30% remains forested.
5. Enjoyment Importance: Food: hunting & gathering (prehistoric people were part of the forest: lived in harmony with it.) Products: lumber, paper, furniture, rubber Environmental value: 1. Trees soak up water 2. Water filters through the soil & becomes ground water. 3. Renews air/atmosphere: gives Oxygen, takes in Carbon Dioxide 4. Home to many animals & plants
LAYERS: 1. Canopy: produces the most food, birds, roof Tallest trees, some climbing vines Epiphytes: grow on other plants, food from the air Full sunlight
2. Understory: Trees grow in the shade of the canopy. Food and shelter for the animals
3. Shrub layer: Many woody stems, short Birds & insects
4. Herb layer: Soft stems: Ferns & grasses Animals hide & live here
5. Forest Floor: Moss & wastes of plants & animals Earthworms, fungi, insects, Recycles
KINDS of FORESTS: 1. Temperate forest: has a warm season & a cold season (wolves, bear, chipmunks, bear, racoon, deer ) Temperate deciduous forest: warm/cold season, trees lose leaves in winter, dense understory, shrub & herb layers grow before leaves are out; mixed with evergreens(us!!)
Temperate evergreen forest: warm/cold season but milder winters, heavy rain, near coast, NW America. Evergreen trees pines & conifers
Boreal forest: very cold, short growing season, boreal means NORTH Also known as: Taiga: 1 uneven layer of trees, needle leaf evergreens (spruce, fir, pine), mosses & lichen thick, little shrub layer, small mammals Beavers, hares, caribou, fox, moose, wolves, bear VIDEO Surviving Mountain Pred`ators
1. Temperate rain forests: near equator: lots of rain, milder winters Many deciduous trees (lose leaves) as well as conifers Canopy 100ft. High bamboo, palms in shrub layer Pandas: China VIDEO Man vs. Wild: Bare Hands Fishing (not saved
Tropical Forests: near equator, hot 2. Tropical rain forest: warm & wet all year: humid/damp Amazonia: largest rainforest; it s in Brazil; Amazon River great DIVERSITY, tree diversity: 100 species of trees in 1 square mile; ½ world s plant and animal species in the world many vines & epiphytes Most animals live in the canopy (most sun) VIDEO Survival Zone: Foraging for food LINK to RF presentation
1 Surviving the RF (Man vs. Wild) 2 Surviving the RF (Man vs. Wild) food in Costa Rica 3 Surviving the RF (Man vs. Wild) FIRE Survival in the Jungle fire & food
Forest Succession: Primary succession: bare rock gradually turns into a small ecosystem with soil & living things 1. Bare rock 2. Lichen 3. Mosses (nonvascular plants) 4. Ferns (vascular plants) 5. Gymnosperms/angiosperms
Forest Succession: Secondary succession: unused land gradually turns back into what it originally was (an ecosystem) before a disturbance or other land clearing 1. Grassy meadow (grasses with pine seedlings) 2. Evergreen forest (pines & cedars 1 st trees because they need full sunlight) 3. Deciduous evergreen (as old pines die, deciduous trees grow) 4. Wholly deciduous forest (Climax)
Nature Trail LINK
Poison Ivy http://www.jmgkids.us/media/poisonivyvine.jpg
Foresters: since pine is more valuable, foresters use controlled fires from letting forest climax, Plant new trees Stewards Deforestation 1. trees cleared for farms & cities, logging, industrial pollution kills, acid rain 2. Severe in tropical areas: 50 million acres of rf destroyed each year 3. Global warming
Animal survival: Niche: special place in ecosystem that organism lives Predator/ prey 1. Protective coloration: colors blend in with the surroundings to hide 2. Camouflage: color & shape blend in with surroundings to hide 3. Mimicry: looking like a poisonous animal so you won t get eaten.
BACK
BACK camouflage
Hawk moth mimicry Viceroy Monarch ADVANCE
CYCLES: Cycling of Energy: Food Chain Producer Primary consumers Secondary consumers/predators 3 rd consumers *remember RULES
Carbon CYCLE * photosynthesis: plants use carbon dioxide from air to make sugars & breathe out oxygen * Animals get carbon & energy from plants * Respiration: breathing animals break down sugars to release carbon dioxide back into the air CO 2 + H 2 O = O 2 + C 6 H 10 O 2 + H 2 O
Carbon Cycle ENVIRONMENT LESSON 1 (Jag Jam) INTERNET ANIMATION 1: Greenhouse effect INTERNET ANIMATION 3: Carbon Cycle INTERNET How we know INTERNET Earth s Climate Change in the Past CARBON Cycle VIDEO
CYCLES Nitrogen, phosphorous, Potassium Oxygen, carbon, carbon dioxide, methane GREENHOUSE Gases VIDEO Carbon Cycles ONLINE GAME
Cycling of chemicals: NITROGEN CYCLE * decomposers: bacteria, earthworms, insects break down wastes & dead material: puts Nitrogen in soil * nitrogen fixation: bacteria in soil & on plant roots convert Nitrogen in the soil into a useable form for plants * Lightning causes some nitrogen fixation * Soil roots of plants take in nutrients * Animals get Nitrogen from plants
Nitrogen Cycle INTERNET ANIMATION 3: Nitrogen Cycle INTERNET ANIMATION 2: Water Cycle http://www.ucar.edu/news/backgrounders/nitrogen.shtml
Nitrogen Cycle GAME LINK
T e m p e r a t e F o r e s t
Estimating Populations: Mark-recapture method Capturing the Wild Bean Scientists study groups of organisms in an area to determine population to see if a population is outgrowing its carrying capacity or if they re becoming endangered. Biologists use the mark-recapture method to count. Materials: lab sheet & pencil; paper bag with teacher-counted beans in it Procedure & Observations: 1. Prepare data table: Number of animals In 1 st capture Total number of animals in recapture Number of marked animals in recapture Calculated estimate of population Actual total population 2. Reach into the bag & remove a handful of beans 3. Count the number of beans you have captured. Record on data sheet for 1 st capture. 4. Use the permanent marker to mark each bean you have just counted. Allow to dry completely, put back in bag. 5. Shake bag. Capture another handful. Record recapture. 6. Count number of beans with marks from first capture. Record in marked recapture. 7. Calculate estimation of total number of beans in bag: Record estimate in table Number in recapture X number marked beans = estimated population number of marked in recapture 8. Gently pour all beans onto table. Calculate actual total population. Record in actual population. Results: Compare your data. How close was your estimate to the actual number of beans?
GLOBAL WARMING: Calculate your footprint
KOKO VIDEO