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Smooth-toothed Pocket Gopher
The smooth-toothed pocket gophers, genus ''Thomomys'', are so called because they are among the only pocket gophers without grooves on their incisors. They are also called the western pocket gophers because they are distributed in western North America. They are considered distinct enough from other pocket gophers to be recognized as a separate subfamily or tribe. Natural history ''Thomomys'' gophers are highly fossorial. They rely on their incisors for digging more than most other gophers. They feed on plants, largely from beneath the surface, but they do come above ground at night. Roots, Plant stem, stems, leaf, leaves, and bulbs are eaten. When not directly in an agricultural field they are a benefit to humans by enriching soil and preventing runoff. Species Over one hundred subspecies have been described, but not all are currently recognized by modern authorities. Like many fossorial rodents, ''Thomomys'' shows a great deal of allopatric variation. *''Thomomys''Searc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58See the 2014 version of the ICS geologic time scale million years ago. It is the second and most recent epoch of the Neogene Period in the . The Pliocene follows the Epoch and is followed by the Epoch. Prior to the 2009 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomomys Umbrinus
The southern pocket gopher (''Thomomys umbrinus'') is a species of rodent in the family Geomyidae. It is found in Mexico and the United States, usually in high altitude grassland and shrubland. It feeds on plant material and has an extensive burrow above which is a large heap of earth on the surface of the ground. Description There are a number of subspecies of the southern pocket gopher and they vary in details of their size, the proportions of their skull and their coloring. Adults are commonly between long, with females being generally smaller than males. The upperparts are cinnamon-brown fading to yellowish-buff on the flanks. There are black-tipped hairs on the head making it appear darker, the ears are black and there is a black patch behind the ear. There is white on the cheeks and throat and the underparts are yellowish-buff. The upper surface of the tail is brown and the underside yellowish-buff except for the tip which is white all round. Distribution and habitat The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soil Quality
Soil quality refers to the condition of soil based on its capacity to perform ecosystem services that meet the needs of human and non-human life.Tóth, G., Stolbovoy, V. and Montanarella, 2007. Soil Quality and Sustainability Evaluation - An integrated approach to support soil-related policies of the European Union", EUR 22721 EN. 40 pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. . Soil quality reflects how well a soil performs the functions of maintaining biodiversity and productivity, partitioning water and solute flow, filtering and buffering, nutrient cycling, and providing support for plants and other structures. Soil management has a major impact on soil quality. Soil quality relates to soil functions. Unlike water or air, for which established standards have been set, soil quality is difficult to define or quantify. Indicators of soil quality Soil quality can be evaluated using the Soil Management Assessment Framework. Soil quality in agric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forbs
A forb or phorb is an herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory. Typically these are dicots without woody stems. Etymology The word "forb" is derived from Greek ''phorbḗ'' (), meaning "pasture" or "fodder". The Hellenic spelling "phorb" is sometimes used, and in older usage this sometimes includes graminids and other plants currently not regarded as forbs. Guilds Forbs are members of a guilda group of plant species with broadly similar growth form. In certain contexts in ecology, guild membership may often be more important than the taxonomic relationships between organisms. In informal classification In addition to its use in ecology, the term "forb" may be used for subdividing popular guides to wildflowers, distinguishing them from other categories such as grasses, sedges, shrubs, and trees. Some examples of forbs are clovers, sun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbivores
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthparts adapted to rasping or grinding. Horses and other herbivores have wide flat teeth that are adapted to grinding grass, tree bark, and other tough plant material. A large percentage of herbivores have mutualistic gut flora that help them digest plant matter, which is more difficult to digest than animal prey. This flora is made up of cellulose-digesting protozoans or bacteria. Etymology Herbivore is the anglicized form of a modern Latin coinage, ''herbivora'', cited in Charles Lyell's 1830 ''Principles of Geology''.J.A. Simpson and E.S.C. Weiner, eds. (2000) ''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. 8, p. 155. Richard Owen employed the anglicized term in an 1854 work on fossil teeth and skeletons. ''Herbivora'' is derived from Latin ''herba' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Primary Productivity
In ecology, primary production is the synthesis of organic compounds from atmospheric or aqueous carbon dioxide. It principally occurs through the process of photosynthesis, which uses light as its source of energy, but it also occurs through chemosynthesis, which uses the oxidation or reduction of inorganic chemical compounds as its source of energy. Almost all life on Earth relies directly or indirectly on primary production. The organisms responsible for primary production are known as ''primary producers'' or autotrophs, and form the base of the food chain. In terrestrial ecoregions, these are mainly plants, while in aquatic ecoregions algae predominate in this role. Ecologists distinguish primary production as either ''net'' or ''gross'', the former accounting for losses to processes such as cellular respiration, the latter not. Overview Primary production is the production of chemical energy in organic compounds by living organisms. The main source of this energy is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. The history of agriculture began thousands of years ago. After gathering wild grains beginning at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers began to plant them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs and cattle were domesticated over 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. Industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture in the twentieth century came to dominate agricultural output, though about 2 billion people still depended on subsistence agriculture. The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels, and raw materials (such as rubber). Food classes include cereals (grains), vegetables, fruits, cooking oils, meat, milk, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Photopigment
Photopigments are unstable pigments that undergo a chemical change when they absorb light. The term is generally applied to the non-protein chromophore moiety of photosensitive chromoproteins, such as the pigments involved in photosynthesis and photoreception. In medical terminology, "photopigment" commonly refers to the photoreceptor proteins of the retina. Photosynthetic pigments Photosynthetic pigments convert light into biochemical energy. Examples for photosynthetic pigments are chlorophyll, carotenoids and phycobilins. These pigments enter a high-energy state upon absorbing a photon which they can release in the form of chemical energy. This can occur via light-driven pumping of ions across a biological membrane (e.g. in the case of the proton pump bacteriorhodopsin) or via excitation and transfer of electrons released by photolysis (e.g. in the photosystems of the thylakoid membranes of plant chloroplasts). In chloroplasts, the light-driven electron transfer chain in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lens (anatomy)
The lens, or crystalline lens, is a transparent biconvex structure in the eye that, along with the cornea, helps to refract light to be focused on the retina. By changing shape, it functions to change the focal length of the eye so that it can focus on objects at various distances, thus allowing a sharp real image of the object of interest to be formed on the retina. This adjustment of the lens is known as '' accommodation'' (see also below). Accommodation is similar to the focusing of a photographic camera via movement of its lenses. The lens is flatter on its anterior side than on its posterior side. In humans, the refractive power of the lens in its natural environment is approximately 18 dioptres, roughly one-third of the eye's total power. Structure The lens is part of the anterior segment of the human eye. In front of the lens is the iris, which regulates the amount of light entering into the eye. The lens is suspended in place by the suspensory ligament of the lens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomomys Monticola
The mountain pocket gopher (''Thomomys monticola'') is a species of rodent in the family Geomyidae. It is endemic to California and Nevada. The Sierra Nevada are part of its range. References Mountain pocket gopher Mountain pocket gopher Mammals of the United States Rodents of North America Mountain pocket gopher Mountain pocket gopher Mountain pocket gopher The mountain pocket gopher (''Thomomys monticola'') is a species of rodent in the family Geomyidae. It is endemic to California and Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the ... Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Geomyidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomomys Mazama Tacomensis
The Tacoma pocket gopher (''Thomomys mazama tacomensis'') was a subspecies of the Mazama pocket gopher that was restricted to a few isolated populations in the southern Puget Sound area and on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o .... The animal became extinct in 1970. References Tacoma pocket gopher Tacoma pocket gopher Tacoma pocket gopher Fauna of the Northwestern United States Mammals of the United States Tacoma pocket gopher Rodents of North America Tacoma pocket gopher Tacoma pocket gopher {{Geomyidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomomys Mazama
The Mazama pocket gopher (''Thomomys mazama'') is a smooth-toothed pocket gopher restricted to the Pacific Northwest. The herbivorous species ranges from coastal Washington, through Oregon, and into north-central California. Four subspecies of the Mazama Pocket Gopher are classified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, including ''T. m. pugetensis'' (Olympia pocket gopher), ''T. m. tumuli'' (Tenino pocket gopher), ''T. m. glacialis'' (Roy Prairie pocket gopher), and ''T. m. yelmensis'' (Yelm pocket gopher). The Mazama Pocket Gopher is one of the smallest of 35 species in the pocket gopher family. Description Mazama pocket gophers are light brown to black in color, with adults ranging in size from in length. The Mazama pocket gopher’s distinctive features include pointed claws, long whiskers, and protruding chisel-like front teeth.Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, "Mazama Pocket Gopher ID Card", https://www.fws.gov/wafwo/documents/Gopher%20ID%20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_grazing_-_20050809.jpg "Click for more on -> Herbivores")
