Antarctica
“Take it all in all, I do not believe anybody on Earth has it worse than an Emperor penguin.” ― Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World
Adam Kleinman
Period 8
Background Information
e·co·sys·tem
“A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.”
Biodiversity is important so not all animals fight for the same resources in one environment most of Antarctica is all ice/snow and very cold water with very scarce resources which also means less food for the predators. Antarctica is very important because it is the coldest place on earth and it affects the climates and water temperature of the entire world. Also because it's the coldest place, many scientist and researchers are there.
Expedition Map
Flights directly from Miami to Antarctica would take between 18h and 2 days depending on the airline. Also its so far away from Miami that google maps doesn’t know how far away it is.
Food Web Because of the cold temperatures very few animals can survive and live in antarctica which means a smaller and similar food web.
Food Chain
The main predator in Antarctica is the killer whale. Next it eats the next biggest animal and so on.
Producer and Consumer The main producers in Antarctica are extremely small Phytoplankton which feed the main consumers, Zooplankton or Krill. The Krill are very important as they are the main food source for many of the larger animals such as whales, or other animals higher on the food chain.
^Zooplankton/Krill^
^Phytoplankton^
Predator and prey
The Leopard seal eats the Gentoo penguin. Clearly in this relationship the Leopard benefits and not the Penguin because it dies.
Parasite and host
Flukes are commonly found on the tails of Killer Whales. It lives on the whale taking blood and nutrients from the skin of the whale while being a nuisance to the whale, and causes discolor on the tail
Symbiotic Relationships
That big orange rock in the top photo is called Lichen. Lichen is a orange fungus kinda thing Lichen is formed form a symbiotic relationship between algae and fungi.
Why us this ecosystem on the endangered list?
Antarctica is endangered, because out of the entire world, it is one of the only places with ice and glaciers. In today's day and age global warming is a big problem that affects many places especially Antarctica. Ice and snow are melting, and the water is beginning to warm up, destroying the shelter and homes of the animals living there.
How are organisms in Antarctica affected by global warming?
Organisms in Antarctica were evolving to live in the coldest place on earth, and because of global warming, the ice is melting and the climate is getting warmer faster than they can evolve and it's only getting faster everyday
Describe current efforts to protect the ecosystem.
WWF is an organization that stands for World Wide fund for Nature. They help multiple environments and ecosystems between multiple continents. In Antarctica, they mostly talk about climate change and want to do all they can to prevent a warming climate because they understand that the animals and the ecosystems are struggling because of the actions of humans.
Burning fossil fuels and littering play a big part in the destruction of Antarctica. Things such as electric cars, and energy systems like solar power and wind power all help create less c02 in the atmosphere which will therefore lesson the damage inflicted onto Antarctica.
How to save the ecosystem before it's too late.
References
1.
“Antarctica's Wildlife in a Changing Climate.” State of the Planet, 26 Oct. 2015, blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2015/10/26/antarcticas-wildlife-in-a-changing-climate/.
2.
“The Predators of Antarctica - and Other Mesmerizing Animals.” Hurtigruten, Hurtigruten, www.hurtigruten.us/inspiration/destinations/antarctica/the-predators-of-antarctica-and-other-mesmerizing -animals/.
3.
“Climate Change 101 With Bill Nye the Science Guy.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/category/science/climate-change-101-with-bill-nye-the-science/.
4.
Botos, Sonia L. “Antarctic Marine Ecosystem.” Eelgrass Habitat, www.botos.com/marine/antarctic01.html.
5.
“Polar Discovery :: Antarctica :: Ecosystem.” Polar Discovery :: Arctic Location and Geography, polardiscovery.whoi.edu/antarctica/ecosystem.html.