APPALACHIAN AND MIXED MESOPHYTIC

FORESTSIsabel Williams, Sykes Williams, Karlo Mercado

Group Slide (1)Characteristics◦ Once covered most of temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere

◦ As of today, only found in Southeast region of North America and in East and Central China

◦ Moist

◦ Broad-leafed forests

Group Slide (2)Major Ecoregions ◦ Nearctic region

◦ Temperate forests

◦ Climate changes due to elevation variation

◦ Mixed oak forests at low elevation

◦ Tulips, red spruce, chestnuts and oaks at mid elevation

◦ Spruce fir forests dominate at high elevation

Group Slide (3)Food Web

Rabbit Squirrel Mouse

Seed Eating Bird

Hawk or Owl

Insectivorous Bird

Herbivorous Insects

Spiders Predaceous Insects

Toad

Snake

Grass and Other Plants

Fox

Isabel - Ecological Issue (4) Ecoregion Introduction◦ Biologically diverse (one of the most in temperate regions of the world)

◦ Long evolution and history

◦ Forests have developed bioata and endemic species (mostly in fresh water areas)

Ecological Issue (5)Description ◦ Habitat loss is the biggest ecological issue

◦ Over 95% has been degraded in the last 200 years

◦ Only small undisturbed or old growth forests remain

◦ A lot of the forest has been used agriculturally (deforestation)

Ecological Issue (6)Cause

◦ Many different causes

◦ Agricultural lands surrounding have failed

◦ Logging and development

◦ Pollution

◦ Global warming

Ecological Issue (7)Solution◦ Keeping areas around the forest aware of the circumstances

◦ Natural resource management

◦ Stop building over land

◦ Don’t cut down wood unless MANDATORY

◦ Engaging local communities in importance of natural resources

Ecological Issue (8)Other Issues◦ Climate change creates issues (weather becomes warm, which brings in destructive

storms)

◦ Populations of animals rapidly decreasing due to humans removing land and trees

◦ Warmer weather from climate change changes insects infestations

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Bibliography (Isabel)"Health Effects of Light Pollution." <i>Encyclopedia of Earth</i>. N.p., n.d.

Web. 15 Sept. 2015.

"WWF - Building a Future in Which Humans Live in Harmony with Nature."

<i>WWF</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.

"1A1_2013 Group 5 - Temperate Forest." <i>Apassionforscience /</i>.

N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.

Sykes – Endangered Keystone Species (9)◦ The Gopher Tortoise (Gopherous Polyhemus)

◦ Dark Brown

◦ Large

◦ Forefeet for borrowing

◦ They have a yellow bottom shell

◦ Front legs have large scales to protect them

while burrowing

◦ The White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus)

◦ Red brown

◦ Medium sized

◦ Males regrow their antlers every year

◦ Horizontally split pupils allow them to excel with vision

◦ Every one in 10,000 females also have antlers 11

Role in Ecoregion (10)

◦ The Gopher Tortoise digs burrows to provide

shelter for over 360 species

◦ They are herbivore scavengers

◦ Their diet consists of over 300 species of plants

◦ If it were to go extinct many species would lose

their shelter

◦ The White-Tailed Deer mostly

herbivorous

◦ Diets vary by season

◦ Some feed on songbirds and field mice

◦ If they were to go extinct many species would lose

a major food source

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Why are they endangered? (11)

◦ The Gopher Tortoise is threatened

by predation and habitat destruction

◦ They have also been eaten by humans

for thousands of years

◦ Climate change also plays a factor

◦ The White-Tailed Deer is prey for

wolves, cougars, alligators, and jaguars

◦ They are also commonly hunted by humans

◦ They are mainly hunted as prey by other animals

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Size of Population (12)

◦ There are a wide range of areas that the

Gopher Tortoise subsides in

◦ The adults take 16-21 years to mature and

can live up to 40 years or longer

◦ They don’t come reproductively mature until

ages 10-25

◦ Their mating season is April through June

◦ The White-Tailed Deer are also spread out

through a wide range of areas around the world

◦ Most live 2-3 years, maximum lifespan is around 20

years but few live past 10

◦ Bucks are generally sexually mature at 1.5 years old

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What is being done? (13)

◦ Nothing is being done

◦ In order to save White-Tailed Deer they could

have more hunting restrictions

◦ To save the Gopher Tortoise they could stop

destroying their habitat or move them to a

safer environment

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Bibliography (Sykes)

"Temperate Deciduous Forest." : Keystone Species. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.

"Populations." Populations. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.

"Basic Facts About Gopher Tortoises." Defenders of Wildlife. N.p., 11 Apr. 2012. Web. 16

Sept. 2015.

"White-Tailed Deer, White-Tailed Deer Pictures, White-Tailed Deer Facts - National

Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.

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Karlo - Invasive Species (14)Intro◦ Zebra mussel or Dreissena polymorpha

◦ Small, fingernail sized animals that attach to other organisms

◦ Have D shaped shells

◦ Yellow and brownish colored stripes

◦ 1/4 to 1 1/2 in long

◦ Females and hatch 100,000 to 500,000 eggs per year

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Invasive Species (15)Food Web◦ Zebra mussels eat plankton, competing with fish for food

◦ Do not have many natural predators Lake sturgeon, yellow perch, freshwater drum,

catfish, and sunfish all feed heavily on zebra mussels

◦ Primary consumer or tertiary

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Invasive Species (16)Problem◦ Filter out the water and eat the plankton, leaving native fish with no food

◦ Can attach to native mussels and overwhelm them

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Invasive Species (17)Transport◦ Native to Eastern Europe and Western Russia

◦ Species arrived by attaching to boats, man-made channels act like highways for these

mussels

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Invasive Species (18)Solution◦ Control population by cleaning recreational boats and make sure there aren’t any kind

of species attached to them

◦ Can’t be controlled in the wild

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Bibliography (Karlo)

"UW Sea Grant." <i>UW Sea Grant</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.

"Appalachian Mixed Mesophytic Forests." <i>WorldWildlife.org</i>. World Wildlife Fund,

n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.

"Invasive Aquatic Animals." <i>: Minnesota DNR</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.

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