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Boreal Ecosystem
A boreal ecosystem is an ecosystem with a subarctic climate located in the Northern Hemisphere, approximately between 50° to 70°N latitude. These ecosystems are commonly known as taiga and are located in parts of North America, Europe, and Asia. The ecosystems that lie immediately to the south of boreal zones are often called hemiboreal. There are a variety of processes and species that occur in these areas as well. The Köppen symbols of boreal ecosystems are Dfc, Dwc, Dfd, and Dwd. Boreal Species The species within boreal ecosystems varies as it consists of both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. The species composition include many generalized and less specialized feeders. From the equator to the poles, species richness decreases, and there is a negative relationship with species richness changes as climate changes. However, despite not being as biodiverse as tropical systems, this area has a variety of species. Boreal ecosystems are filled with a multitude of flora specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the system through photosynthesis and is incorporated into plant tissue. By feeding on plants and on one another, animals play an important role in the movement of matter and energy through the system. They also influence the quantity of plant and microbial biomass present. By breaking down dead organic matter, decomposers release carbon back to the atmosphere and facilitate nutrient cycling by converting nutrients stored in dead biomass back to a form that can be readily used by plants and microbes. Ecosystems are controlled by external and internal factors. External factors such as climate, parent material which forms the soil and topography, control the overall structure of an ecosystem but are not themselves influenced by the ecosystem. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wildflower
A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the way it appears in the wild as a native plant, even if it is growing where it would not naturally. The term can refer to the flowering plant as a whole, even when not in bloom, and not just the flower. "Wildflower" is not an exact term. More precise terms include ''native species'' (naturally occurring in the area, see flora), ''exotic'' or, better, ''introduced species'' (not naturally occurring in the area), of which some are labelled ''invasive species'' (that out-compete other plants – whether native or not), ''imported'' (introduced to an area whether deliberately or accidentally) and ''naturalized'' (introduced to an area, but now considered by the public as native). In the United Kingdom, the organization Plantlife International in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthropogenic Climate Change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The current rise in global average temperature is more rapid than previous changes, and is primarily caused by humans burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuel use, deforestation, and some agricultural and industrial practices increase greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide and methane. Greenhouse gases absorb some of the heat that the Earth radiates after it warms from sunlight. Larger amounts of these gases trap more heat in Earth's lower atmosphere, causing global warming. Due to climate change, deserts are expanding, while heat waves and wildfires are becoming more common. Increased warming in the Arctic has contributed to melting permafrost, glacial retreat and sea ice loss. Higher temperatures are also causing more ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boreal Forest Of Canada
Boreal may refer to: Climatology and geography *Boreal (age), the first climatic phase of the Blytt-Sernander sequence of northern Europe, during the Holocene epoch *Boreal climate, a climate characterized by long winters and short, cool to mild summers *Boreal ecosystem, an ecosystem with a subarctic climate in the Northern Hemisphere *Boreal forest, a biome characterized by coniferous forests *Boreal Sea, a Mesozoic-era seaway Companies and organizations * Boreale, a Quebec microbrewery *Boreal Mountain Resort, a ski resort in the Lake Tahoe area of California * Boreal Norge, a Norwegian public transport operator *Collège Boréal, a francophone college in Ontario, Canada Other uses * Boreal (horse), a racehorse * Carlo Boreal, a fictional character in Philip Pullman's ''His Dark Materials'' trilogy *''Le Boreal'', a French cruise ship * Borealism, the exoticisation of the northern regions of the Earth and their cultures See also *Boreal forest of Canada, a region covering muc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secondary Succession
Secondary succession is the secondary ecological succession of a plant's life. As opposed to the first, primary succession, secondary succession is a process started by an event (e.g. forest fire, harvesting, hurricane, etc.) that reduces an already established ecosystem (e.g. a forest or a wheat field) to a smaller population of species, and as such secondary succession occurs on preexisting soil whereas primary succession usually occurs in a place lacking soil. Many factors can affect secondary succession, such as trophic interaction, initial composition, and competition-colonization trade-offs. The factors that control the increase in abundance of a species during succession may be determined mainly by seed production and dispersal, micro climate; landscape structure (habitat patch size and distance to outside seed sources); bulk density, pH, and soil texture (sand and clay). Secondary succession is the ecological succession that occurs after the initial succession has been dis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Primary Succession
Primary succession is the beginning step of ecological succession after an extreme disturbance, which usually occurs in an environment devoid of vegetation and other organisms. These environments are typically lacking in soil, as disturbances like lava flow or retreating glaciers shred the environment of nutrients. In contrast, secondary succession occurs on substrates that previously supported vegetation before an ecological disturbance. This occurs when smaller disturbances like floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and fires destroy only the local plant life, and leave soil nutrients for immediate establishment by intermediate community species. Occurrence In primary succession pioneer species like lichen, algae and fungi as well as abiotic factors like wind and water start to "normalise" the habitat or in other words start to develop soil and other important mechanisms for greater diversity to flourish. Primary succession begins on rock formations, such as volcanoes or mountains, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sockeye Salmon
The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a Pacific salmon that is primarily red in hue during spawning. They can grow up to in length and weigh . Juveniles remain in freshwater until they are ready to migrate to the ocean, over distances of up to . Their diet consists primarily of zooplankton. Sockeye salmon are semelparous, dying after they spawn. Some populations, referred to as kokanee, do not migrate to the ocean and live their entire lives in fresh water. Classification and name origin The sockeye salmon is the third-most common Pacific salmon species, after pink and chum salmon. ''Oncorhynchus'' comes from the Greek ὄγκος (onkos) meaning "barb", and ῥύγχος (rhynchos) meaning "snout". ''Nerka'' is the Russian name for the anadromous form. The name "sockeye" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus ''Oncorhynchus'') basin. Other closely related fish in the same family include trout, Salvelinus, char, Thymallus, grayling, Freshwater whitefish, whitefish, lenok and Hucho, taimen. Salmon are typically fish migration, anadromous: they hatch in the gravel stream bed, beds of shallow fresh water streams, migrate to the ocean as adults and live like sea fish, then return to fresh water to reproduce. However, populations of several species are restricted to fresh water throughout their lives. Folklore has it that the fish return to the exact spot where they hatched to spawn (biology), spawn, and tracking studies have shown this to be mostly true. A portion of a returning salmon run ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sculpin
A sculpin is a type of fish that belongs to the superfamily Cottoidea in the order Scorpaeniformes.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology suggest transitions in station-holding demand across species of marine sculpin.''Zoology'' (Jena) 115(4), 223-32. As of 2006, this superfamily contains 7 families, 94 genera, and 387 species. Sculpins occur in many types of habitat, including ocean and freshwater zones. They live in rivers, submarine canyons, kelp forests, and shallow littoral habitat types, such as tidepools. Sculpins are benthic fish, dwelling on the bottoms of water bodies. Their pectoral fins are smooth on the upper edge and webbed with sharp rays along the lower edge, a modification that makes them specialized for gripping the substrate. This adaptation helps the fish anchor in fast-flowing water. The sculpin normally grows to about four inches long. Families and subfamilies Families include: * Jordaniidae Sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. The common name "lamprey" is probably derived from Latin , which may mean "stone licker" ( "to lick" + "stone"), though the etymology is uncertain. ''Lamprey'' is sometimes seen for the plural form. There are about 38 known extant species of lampreys and five known extinct species. Parasitic carnivorous species are the most well-known, and feed by boring into the flesh of other fish to suck their blood; but only 18 species of lampreys engage in this micropredatory lifestyle. Of the 18 carnivorous species, nine migrate from saltwater to freshwater to breed (some of them also have freshwater populations), and nine live exclusively in freshwater. All non-carnivorous forms are freshwater species. Adults of the non-carnivorous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stickleback
The sticklebacks are a family of ray-finned fishes, the Gasterosteidae which have a Holarctic distribution in fresh, brackish and marine waters. They were thought to be related to the pipefish and seahorses but are now thought to be more closely related to the eelpouts and sculpins. Taxonomy The stickleback family, Gasterosteidae, was first proposed as a family by the French zoologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1831. It was long though that the sticklebacks and their relatives made up a suborder, the Gasterosteoidei, of the order Gasterostiformes with the sea horses and pipefishes making up the suborder Syngnathoidei. More recent phylogenetic work has shown that the Gaterosteoidei is more closely related to the Zoarcoidei and the Cottoidei, which means that this taxon would belong in the order Scorpaeniformes. but in other phylogenetic classifications it is treated as the infraorder Gasterosteales within the suborder Cottoidei or as a sister clade to the Zoarcales in the ord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smelt (fish)
Smelts are a family of small fish, the Osmeridae, found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans, as well as rivers, streams and lakes in Europe, North America and Northeast Asia. They are also known as freshwater smelts or typical smelts to distinguish them from the related Argentinidae (herring smelts or argentines), Bathylagidae (deep-sea smelts), and Retropinnidae (Australian and New Zealand smelts). Some smelt species are common in the North American Great Lakes, and in the lakes and seas of the northern part of Europe, where they run in large Shoaling and schooling, schools along the saltwater coastline during spring migration to their spawning streams. In some western parts of the United States, smelt populations have greatly declined in recent decades, leading to their protection under the Endangered Species Act. The Delta smelt (''Hypomesus transpacificus'') found in the Sacramento Delta of California, and the eulachon (''Thaleichthys pacificus'') found in the Nort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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