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San Francisco Garter Snake
The San Francisco garter snake (''Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia'') is a slender multi-colored subspecies of the common garter snake. Designated as an endangered subspecies since the year 1967, it is endemic to San Mateo County and the extreme northern part of coastal Santa Cruz County in California. Some researchers estimate that there are only 1,000 to 2,000 adult snakes of the subspecies ''T. s. tetrataenia'' remaining. However, the full extent of the snakes' habitat has not been fully documented, and many snakes may utilize creeks and other waterways that are currently unexplored. This garter snake prefers wet and marshy areas, and because of its elusive nature, it is difficult to see or capture. Geographic range The San Francisco garter snake, a subspecies of the common garter snake, is found in scattered wetland areas on the San Francisco Peninsula from approximately the northern boundary of San Mateo County south along the eastern and western bases of the Santa Cruz Mou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontologist, comparative anatomist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of 19. Though his father tried to raise Cope as a gentleman farmer, he eventually acquiesced to his son's scientific aspirations. Cope married his cousin and had one child; the family moved from Philadelphia to Haddonfield, New Jersey, although Cope would maintain a residence and museum in Philadelphia in his later years. Cope had little formal scientific training, and he eschewed a teaching position for field work. He made regular trips to the American West, prospecting in the 1870s and 1880s, often as a member of United States Geological Survey teams. A personal feud between Cope and paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh led to a period of intense fossil-finding competition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burrow
An Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of shelter against predation and exposure to the elements, and can be found in nearly every biome and among various biological interactions. Many animal species are known to form burrows. These species range from small invertebrates, such as the ''Corophium arenarium'', to very large vertebrate species such as the polar bear. Burrows can be constructed into a wide variety of substrates and can range in complexity from a simple tube a few centimeters long to a complex network of interconnecting tunnels and chambers hundreds or thousands of meters in total length; an example of the latter level of complexity, a well-developed burrow, would be a rabbit warren. Vertebrate burrows A large variety of vertebrates construct or use burrows in many t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of the Earth. Furthermore, grasslands are one of the largest biomes on earth and dominate the landscape worldwide. There are different types of grasslands: natural grasslands, semi-natural grasslands, and agricultural grasslands. They cover 31–69% of the Earth's land area. Definitions Included among the variety of definitions for grasslands are: * "...any plant community, including harvested forages, in which grasses and/or legumes make up the dominant vegetation." * "...terrestrial ecosystems dominated by herbaceous and shrub vegetation, and maintained by fire, grazing, drought and/or freezing temperatures." (Pilot Assessment of Global Ecosystems, 2000) * "A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stream
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams are usually called rivers, while smaller, less voluminous and more intermittent river, intermittent streams are known as streamlets, brooks or creeks. The flow of a stream is controlled by three inputs – surface runoff (from precipitation or meltwater), daylighting (streams), daylighted subterranean river, subterranean water, and surfaced groundwater (Spring (hydrology), spring water). The surface and subterranean water are highly variable between periods of rainfall. Groundwater, on the other hand, has a relatively constant input and is controlled more by long-term patterns of precipitation. The stream encompasses surface, subsurface and groundwater fluxes th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eleocharis
''Eleocharis'' is a virtually cosmopolitan genus of 250 or more species of flowering plants in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. The name is derived from the Greek words ἕλειος (''heleios''), meaning "marsh dweller," and χάρις (''charis''), meaning "grace." Members of the genus are known commonly as spikerushes or spikesedges. The genus has a geographically cosmopolitan distribution, with centers of diversity in the Amazon Rainforest and adjacent eastern slopes of the South American Andes, northern Australia, eastern North America, California, Southern Africa, and subtropical Asia. The vast majority of ''Eleocharis'' species grow in aquatic or mesic habitats from sea level to higher than 5,000 meters in elevation (in the tropical Andes). The genus itself is relatively easy to recognize; all ''Eleocharis'' species have photosynthetic stems but no green leaves (the leaves have been reduced to sheaths surrounding the base of the stems). Many species are robust, rhizomatously ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juncus
''Juncus'' is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants, commonly known as rushes. It is the largest genus in the family Juncaceae, containing around 300 species. Description Rushes of the genus ''Juncus'' are herbaceous plants that superficially resemble grasses or sedges. They have historically received little attention from botanists; in his 1819 monograph, James Ebenezer Bicheno described the genus as "obscure and uninviting". The form of the flower differentiates rushes from grasses or sedges. The flowers of ''Juncus'' comprise five whorls of floral parts: three sepals, three petals (or, taken together, six tepals), two to six stamens (in two whorls) and a stigma with three lobes. The stems are round in cross-section, unlike those of sedges, which are typically somewhat triangular in cross-section. In ''Juncus'' section ''Juncotypus'' (formerly called ''Juncus'' subg. ''Genuini''), which contains some of the most widespread and familiar species, the leaves are reduced t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schoenoplectus
''Schoenoplectus'' (club-rush ld World species bulrush or tule ew World species is a genus of plants in the sedges with a cosmopolitan distribution. Note that the name bulrush is also applied to species in the unrelated genus ''Typha'' as well as to other sedges. The genus ''Schoenoplectus'' was formerly considered part of ''Scirpus'', but recent phylogenetic data shows that they are not closely related. Species Species accepted: *''Schoenoplectus acutus'' ( Muhl. ex J.M.Bigelow) Á.Löve & D.Löve – Tule – Canada, much of the United States; northern and central Mexico as far south as Michoacán; Clipperton Island. *''Schoenoplectus americanus'' (Pers.) Volkart ex Schinz & R. Keller – Chairmaker's bulrush, Olney's bulrush – Much of Western Hemisphere from Alaska to Argentina including West Indies; also New Zealand *''Schoenoplectus annamicus'' (Raymond) T.Koyama – Vietnam *''Schoenoplectus californicus'' ( C.A.Mey.) Steud. – California bulrush, giant bulrush ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scirpus
''Scirpus'' is a genus of grass-like species in the sedge family Cyperaceae many with the common names club-rush, wood club-rush or bulrush (see also bulrush for other plant genera so-named). They mostly inhabit wetlands and damp locations. Taxonomy The taxonomy of the genus is complex, and under review by botanists. Recent studies by taxonomists of the Cyperaceae have resulted in the creation of several new genera, including the genera ''Schoenoplectus'' and ''Bolboschoenus''; others (including '' Blysmus'', ''Isolepis'', '' Nomochloa'', and ''Scirpoides'') have also been used. At one point this genus held almost 300 species, but many of the species once assigned to it have now been reassigned, and it now holds an estimated 120 species. Description ''Scirpus'' are rhizomatous perennial herbs, with 3-angled stems and flat grass-like leaves. The flowers are in clusters of small spikelets, often brown or greenish brown. Some species (e.g. ''S. lacustris'') can reach a height of 3 m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Typha
''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in Australia as cumbungi or bulrush, in Canada as bulrush or cattail, and in New Zealand as raupo. Other taxa of plants may be known as bulrush, including some sedges in ''Scirpus'' and related genera. The genus is largely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, where it is found in a variety of wetland habitats. The rhizomes are edible. Evidence of preserved starch grains on grinding stones suggests they were already eaten in Europe 30,000 years ago. Description ''Typha'' are aquatic or semi-aquatic, rhizomatous, herbaceous perennial plants. The leaves are glabrous (hairless), linear, alternate and mostly basal on a simple, jointless stem that bears the flowering spikes. The plants are monoecious, with unisexual flowers that develop in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saline Water
Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, but less salty than brine. The salt concentration is usually expressed in parts per thousand (permille, ‰) and parts per million (ppm). The USGS salinity scale defines three levels of saline water. The salt concentration in slightly saline water is 1,000 to 3,000 ppm (0.1–0.3%); in moderately saline water is 3,000 to 10,000 ppm (0.3–1%); and in highly saline water is 10,000 to 35,000 ppm (1–3.5%). Seawater has a salinity of roughly 35,000 ppm, equivalent to 35 grams of salt per one liter (or kilogram) of water. The saturation level is only nominally dependent on the temperature of the water. At one liter of water can dissolve about 357 grams of salt, a concentration of 26.3% w/w. At boiling () the amount that can be dissolved in o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California Red-legged Frog
The California red-legged frog (''Rana draytonii'') is a species of frog found in California (USA) and northern Baja California (Mexico). It was formerly considered a subspecies of the northern red-legged frog (''Rana aurora''). The frog is an IUCN vulnerable species, and a federally listed threatened species of the United States, and is protected by law. Distribution The California red-legged frog is found in California and extreme northern Baja California (state), Baja California, northwestern Mexico. This species now occurs most commonly along the northern and southern California Coast Ranges, Coast Ranges, and in isolated areas in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains. The current southernmost California populations are on the Santa Rosa Plateau in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, and within the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve in the Simi Hills in eastern Ventura County, near the community of West Hills, Los Angeles, We ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prey
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the host) and parasitoidism (which always does, eventually). It is distinct from scavenging on dead prey, though many predators also scavenge; it overlaps with herbivory, as seed predators and destructive frugivores are predators. Predators may actively search for or pursue prey or wait for it, often concealed. When prey is detected, the predator assesses whether to attack it. This may involve ambush or pursuit predation, sometimes after stalking the prey. If the attack is successful, the predator kills the prey, removes any inedible parts like the shell or spines, and eats it. Predators are adapted and often highly specialized for hunting, with acute senses such as vision, hearing, or smell. Many predatory animals, both vertebrate and inv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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