Ecosystem Comparison Project
By: Anthony Martinez Nash Tan hill Jack Gipison Sarah Byler
Rainforest
Abiotic Factors: Some abiotic factors are water, sunlight, weather and precipitation.
Biotic Factors: Biotic factors include plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and insects. Some animals include animals jaguars, monkeys and sloths.
Dense Canopy: The sunlight can be blocked because of very dense canopy. This limits the amount of plants that can grow because some places in the rainforest will not receive sunlight.
Acidic Soil: Because some rainforest such as the Amazon’s soil is very acidic it provides little nutrients which can cause the forest to not grow as many plants as it could.
Toucans adapted to grow long, large bills so they can eat fruit on branches.
Sloths uses camouflage to survive in the rainforest, bluish and greenish colors grows on its fur.
The Boa Constrictor uses camouflage to hide from its prey for an easy kill.
Mutualism: Leaf cutter ants and fungus are an example of Mutualism. The leaf cutter ants keep pest and mold away and also feed it with leaves. The ants keep their offspring in the fungus to protect and feed them.
Parasitism: The strangler fig grows on the branch of the tree. It wraps around the tree toward the sunlight and steals sunlight, and eventually the tree dies.
Commensalism: Bromeliads, to get more light grow on branches of trees. It does not damage the tree but the Bromeliad receives sunlight.
Leaf Cutter Ants and Fungus
Strangler Fig and Tree Branches
Bromeliads and Tree Branches
Wetlands
Abiotic Factors: Abiotic Factors include soil, water, rocks and temperature.
Biotic Factors: Biotic factors include plants, animals, and bacteria.
Limiting Factors
Some limiting factors of wetlands are competition, altered flooding patterns, and annual burning of vegetation and overabundance of nutrients.
Adaptations Variation and Tolerances of Rainforest Animals
The american Beaver: The American Beaver is well adapted to the wetlands by having webbed feet and a broad flat tail for swimming, and a thick, and a waterproof coat,
The pond skater is an insect that is well apdapted to life in Wetlands. They have specialized, paddle like legs that enable the insect to "skate" over the surface of the water, riding on the surface tension that lies between the water and the air.
In the wetlands there are many different frog variations like wood frog, american toad, the green frog , and more.
Symbiotic Relationships Within a Wetland
Mutualism: A mallard and a croc. the mallard gets a meal by cleaning the croc's teeth and the croc gets its teeth cleaned.
Parasitism: Phycomycetes is a fungi that lives on algae and other fungi
Communalism: Birds will burrow into a stick nest of ospreys under the watchful eye of the fish hawk.