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Biome Paper
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Introduction
This biome paper is based on my visit to Alafia River in Riverview FL. The organisms I managed
to collect from the site are Live oak trees (Quercus virginiana), anhinga birds, gropher tortoise,
prickly pear cactus, bream fish and gar fish.
Biome Assessment
I applied the World Wildlife Fund system so as to conduct the Biome assessment. Basing on this
system there exists fourteen biomes which are referred to as major habitat types (Olson et al, 2001).
Therefore, the reserve falls under the freshwater biomes (Malicky, 1983). This is because most of
the organisms I collected are mostly located in regions of subtropical and tropical rivers. The
organisms I acquired from the reserve exhibited various adaptation characteristics that enabled
them to flourish. The following are the characteristics of the organisms:
Gar fish (Lepisosteus platyrhincus)
This fish has a swim bladder that is highly vascularized. The swim bladder is connected to
esophagus thus enabling it to act as lung (Porter & Motta, 2004). This adaptive feature enables the
gar fish to flourish in waters that are stagnant or poorly oxygenated. This would be difficult for
various fish.
Prickly pear cactus
This type of cactus has flat and fleshy pads that resemble large leaves. However, the pads are
modified stems which play various roles such as flower production, photosynthesis and water
storage (Washburn, 2011). Furthermore, the prickly pears cactus have prickles that offers it
protection by easily penetrating skin and detaching from the plant.
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Bream fish (Cyprinidae)
The bream fish have toothless jaws and also lack a stomach. However, they are able to effectively
chew food by using the pharyngeal teeth. These teeth are located in the last gill blow which enables
the fish to be able to chew against the skull’s bony process that act as a chewing plate. These teeth
are specific to the cyprinidae fish, thus aid during species determination done by specialists. Such
strong pharyngeal teeth enable the fish to feed on hard baits like snails (Zaunreiter, et al., 1991).
Anhinga Birds
The anhinga birds as compared to other aquatic birds, get all of their body feathers completely wet
when they come into contact with water. This adaptation allows the anhinga bird to dive more
easily through the water when searching for prey underwater. However, due to this feature the
birds have minimal buoyancy. Due to the buoyancy limitation, the anhinga bird is able to stay
underwater for greater periods of time (Frederick & Siegel-Causey, 2000). Besides, they tend to
have challenges when taking flight and quickly lose heat. Another adaptation that enables the bird
to flourish is the lack of external nostrils thus they breathe only through the epiglottis.
Live oak Trees (Quercus virginiana)
The live oak trees when young, develop deep tap-roots that anchor them to the ground. After
growth, the root systems become widespread and extensive. Furthermore, the center of gravity of
the Live oak trees is low. These two adaptations enable the live oak tree to strongly resist tough
and sustained winds, for example during hurricanes (Egan & Ott, 2007).
Gropher tortoises
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The gropher tortoise has forefeet that are specifically modified for burrowing whereas the hind
feet are elephantine. Furthermore, the forefeet have scales which offer the tortoise protection when
burrowing (Eubanks et al., 2003).
There seems to be a relationship between the existence of tortoise and prickly pears cactus.
Apparently, the tortoise tend to be huge in biomes that have prickly pears cactus. Whereas, biomes
that lack tortoises have prostrate forms of prickly pear cactus. This is because the prickly pears
cactus form a basic food source for the tortoises (Lamb, Avise & Gibbons, 1989). Thus they are
significant in the food web. On the other hand, the gropher tortoises are a keystone species in this
type of biome (Garibaldi & Turner, 2004). This is because the tortoise digs burrows that act as
shelter for other species of animals. In case of an extinction of the gopher tortoise then this biome
would cease to exist or be dramatically altered.
So as to measure the health conditions of this biome I would apply the system of biodiversity. This
system focuses on the variation both within and between species and also between ecosystems.
Biodiversity measures the range of organisms that are present in various ecosystems. Therefore it
can be used to measure the species, ecosystem and genetic variation within a biome (Olson et al,
2001).
Far from this obtained organisms existing in this biome, they also offer various ecological services.
The live oak trees play a key role in the purification of air. The Bream fish, prickly pear cactus and
the gar fish are sources of food. Whereas the gopher tortoises provide recreational experiences
such as tourism due to being an endangered species.
Conclusion
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Humans are connected to biomes via their actions. The increasing human activities over the past
decades has led to the destruction of various ecological habitats all over the world. For instance
the exploitation of particular biomes like forests, marine and fresh waters have great implications.
Therefore, it is important that humans protect all forms of biomes as every one of them possesses
unique life forms.
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References
Olson, D. M., Dinerstein, E., Wikramanayake, E. D., Burgess, N. D., Powell, G. V., Underwood,
E. C., ... & Loucks, C. J. (2001). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life
on Earth A new global map of terrestrial ecoregions provides an innovative tool for
conserving biodiversity. BioScience, 51(11), 933-938.
Malicky, H. (1983). Chorological patterns and biome types of European Trichoptera and other
freshwater insects. Archiv fur hydrobiology.
Porter, H. T., & Motta, P. J. (2004). A comparison of strike and prey capture kinematics of three
species of piscivorous fishes: Florida gar (Lepisosteus platyrhincus), redfin needlefish
(Strongylura notata), and great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda). Marine Biology, 145(5),
989-1000.
Washburn, C. (2011). Prickly Pear Cactus.
Zaunreiter, M., Junger, H., & Kotrschal, K. (1991). Retinal morphology of cyprinid fishes: a
quantitative histological study of ontogenetic changes and interspecific variation. Vision
research, 31(3), 383-394.
Frederick, P. C., & Siegel-Causey, D. (2000). Anhinga(Anhinga anhinga). The Birds of North
America, (522), 24.
Egan, S. P., & Ott, J. R. (2007). HOST PLANT QUALITY AND LOCAL ADAPTATION
DETERMINE THE DISTRIBUTION OF A GALL‐FORMING HERBIVORE. Ecology,
88(11), 2868-2879.
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Eubanks, J. O., Michener, W. K., & Guyer, C. (2003). Patterns of movement and burrow use in a
population of gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus). Herpetologica, 59(3), 311-321.
Lamb, T., Avise, J. C., & Gibbons, J. W. (1989). Phylogeographic patterns in mitochondrial DNA
of the desert tortoise (Xerobates agassizi), and evolutionary relationships among the North
American gopher tortoises. Evolution, 76-87.