Mußtäfargo

By: Patrick Fiehn

Introduction Living in the year 2264, we are all fully

aware of how damaged our society is, and how it is thanks to our irresponsibility that our planet Earth is now a desolate wasteland.

Recently though, Bolivian scientists have created a device capable of wirelessly interconnecting human brains, known as the Neuronet to find a way out of this disaster we caused.

The Zoomerang An example of the power of the Neuronet is the

Zoomerang, a rocket capable of traveling at the speed of light. All passengers aboard it are frozen and preserved, but are revived when they reach their destination.

Also, astronomers have located eight planets with essential conditions for life. Each of the planets contains only one biome, and luckily, they resemble the ones we had here on Earth.

But of all the planets, the most suitable for life is one called Mußtäfargo (Musstefargo), who’s biome is the Grassland.

Climate in Mußtäfargo

The Grassland’s on this planet look just like the ones that our Earth used to have, with vast prairies, fresh water rivers, and great lakes. The average rainfall is around 40 in/101.6 cm per year, though usually all you’ll have there are clear, sunny days.

The temperature there can drop to -40ºC in the winter, and can go as high as 30ºC in the summer. The soil is very moist and rich with humus making it perfect for harvesting.

Calendar in Mußtäfargo

Just like our Earth, the days last 24 hrs, which will make it easy for us to get used to, but the year lasts around 700 days, which we could divide down to 23 months of 30 days each.

Organisms in Mußtäfargo

Since the planet is void of life, we plan to repopulate it with some of our species here on Earth. We plan to take 20 different species to this place plus humans.

There shall be plants, herbivores, carnivores, scavengers, and decomposers. We’ll only take beings that are used to the climate and surroundings because if not the species won’t be used to the new planet.

Food Web

Producers Plants are one of the most vital elements to

this equation, because they are the ones who create oxygen for us to breathe, and take away carbon dioxide. The species that we will be taking are common in Grasslands. Some examples are: Big Bluestem Grass (Andropogon gerardii), the Acacia tree (Acacia), the Baobab tree (Adasonia) and Red Oat Grass (Themeda triandra).

First Level Consumers

These are commonly herbivores and they too play a big part in this equation. Some of these species include the elephant (Elephantidae), the giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), the zebra (Equus quagga), the wildebeest (Connochaetes), the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) and the pronghorn (Antilocapra americana).

Second Level Consumers

These are mostly carnivores in the wild. They help control the amount of animals in nature. In this case, we are taking about the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). Having only one as a 2nd level consumer won’t affect it drastically, as the 3rd level consumers also eat 1st level consumers, evening out the population of the species.

Third Level Consumers

These are one of the highest in the food chain, just below the top level consumer, us humans (Homo sapiens). The ones we are taking are the hyena (Crocuta crocuta), the Crocodile (Crocodylidae), the lion (Panthera leo), and the leopard (Panthera pardus).

Predator/Prey Relationships

These are one of the most important parts of the plan, as they help balance the population an maintain it. One example is the lion and the zebra.

Lions are the predator in this case, with both male and female lions helping in the hunt. The zebra is the victim, but to protect itself, they hang around in large groups, so lions won’t want to attack them.

The other relationship is between crocodiles and pronghorn antelope. The crocodile is a rather quiet creature and sneaks up on the victim, and quickly jumps at it. The antelope, on the other hand, is very quick and can sprint away quickly, which gives them an advantage.

Competition within Species

Like humans, animals too compete for things. Food and shelter are some examples of this. One example of this happening in the wild is when lions and hyenas compete for food or space, as lions are very territorial.

Another example is how zebras compete with wildebeests for food, which is grass, various herbivores, like them, don´t mind sharing space because it protects them against carnivores like lions.

Symbiosis in Mußtäfargo

Symbiosis is the name for all the types of animal relationships in the wild. The three that we are going to take into consideration are Mutualism, which is when both animals benefit, commensalism, where one benefits and one is neutral, and parasitism, where one benefits and one is harmed.

Mutualism The relationship between the oxpecker

(Buphagus) and the hippopotamus is considered to be Mutualism because the oxpecker rides the hippo’s back while eating things off of him, like parasites and dandruff, which help keep the hippo clean and unharmed from the little creatures.

Commensalism The relationship between the lion and the

hyena is considered to be Commensalism because hyenas eat the leftovers from the lion’s meal, leaving the lion unaffected, but occasionally, the hyenas get too close while the lion is eating that the lion attacks.

Parasitism and Parasites

A parasite, like the tick (Ixodoidea) and the flea (Siphonaptera) are insects that find an unwilling host, that provides both food and shelter, to stick with them.

An example of this is when a zebra has fleas. The tick sucks its blood and brings disease, makes its shelter within its fur, and reproduces on the zebra, but while the tick is gaining, the zebra is clearly getting harmed.

Conclusion• Mußtäfargo offers a future blooming with

LIFE. It is and must be our final hope and destination to be able to save Earth’s species.

• There is no other choice as biomes such as the Tundra hold a limited amount of animals and chances of survival.

• I hope you take this planet into consideration to save our species.

Bibliography Wikipedia contributors. "Zebra." Wikipedia, The

Free Encyclopedia. 6 Apr 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra>.

Wikipedia contributors. "Lion." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 12 Apr 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion>.

Wikipedia contributors. "Wildebeest." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 22 Mar 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildebeest>.

G., Celeste, Becky W. , and Sarah B. "Grassland Animals." Grassland Plants. 2000: n. page. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. <http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/grasslands_plant_page.htm>.a