Wednesday, May 6, 2009

WHAT IS A BIOME?


A Biome is a large area disinguished by its climate and the plants and animals that live in it the types of biomes are temperate deciduous forests, tropical rainforests, coral reefs, polar tundra, coniferous forest, temperate grassland, savanna, deserts, and wetlands.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BIOME AND WHY?

Monday, May 4, 2009

WETLANDS


•A wetland is a place where plants grow in soil or mud that is soaked with water. There are many different types of wetlands, from mangrove swamps to bogs and marshes.
•It can be found anyplace where the conditions are right, from the Arctic to the equator. Wetlands are often small areas dotted within other biomes. Some are as big as a whole country.
•Shallow-water wetlands full of trees is called a swamp.
•Ones with only small plants (reeds) are called marsh.
•In cold rainy places a type of wetland called a bog making the ground wet and spongy.
•Rivers and lakes are not wetlands, might be wetlands around edges and can occur next to the sea.
•Wetlands are important for wildlife. They purify our water, help stop floods, and protect coastlines against erosion.
•Most of the water comes from rain.
•Sometimes developed in the middle of deserts because some big wetlands stay wet because rain falls on distant mountains and flows along rivers or underground sometimes.
•Many grow and shrink with the seasons
•To survive, animals and plants have to be able to cope with theses massive changes year after year.
HOW DO WETLANDS PURIFY WATER??

Sunday, May 3, 2009

HUDSON BAY LOWLANDS



•The marshy plains to the south and west of Hudson Bay form one of the world’s largest wetlands areas. Frozen for most of the year, it thaws and springs to life in summer.
•Today, the Hudson Bay freezes over only in winter. Thousands of years ago, during the Ice Age- a period when earths climate was much colder-both the bay and lowlands were covered by a vast ice sheet that pressed the land down. The ice sheet melted long ago, but the compressed land is rising back up at about 0.4 inches(1 cm) a year. This creates new low-lying land along the coast, forming salt marshes.
•50-75 percent of the Hudson Bay Lowlands is wetlands. The rest is covered in small plants typical of the tundra biome.
•The wetlands include pear bogs, shallow pools, river floodplains, and coastal salt marshes.
•More then 99 percent of the Hudson Bay Lowlands is unspoiled wilderness.
WHAT PERCENT OF THE HUDSON BAY LOWLANDS IS WETLANDS?

Saturday, May 2, 2009

A WALK THROUGH THE HUDSON BAY LOWLANDS


Walking Through the Hudson Bay Lowlands, you will find:

If you were to take a walk through the Hudson Bay Lowlands, you would go north of Lake Superior, through the Boreal Forest, and you reach the Hudson Bay Lowlands. You may be swatting away many black flies and mosquitos. You may also see bears such as the Polar Bear and the North American Black Bear. Walking across the land, you will see musk ox, caribou, moose, porcupine, arctic fox, mongoose, and the American marten. 

if you look up, you will see many different bird species. Some species include the Sandhill Crane, Greater Yellowlegs, LEsser Yellowlegs, Willow Ptarmigan, Hudsonian Godwit, Blackpoll Warbler, Solitary Sandpiper, and Snow Goose.

If you were to look at some of the actual swamps, marshes, and ponds, you would see brook trout, brook stickleback, walleye,  and northern pike. there would also be a lot of ducks and geese. If you went to the wetlands right on the coast of the Hudson Bay, there is a chance you may see Beluga Whales. 

If you look all around you, you will see many plants. Some plant species that you may see include: rock sedge, glasswort, and the common elephant-head. We hope you enjoy your walk through the Hudson Bay Lowlands!
WHY ARE FLAMINGOS PINK?
"Hudson Bay Lowland." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 08 May. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/274703/Hudson-Bay-Lowland>.

BIODIVERSITY IN WETLANDS

Wetlands have the richest biodiversity of all ecosystems. The combination of shallow water, high levels of nutrients, and primary productivity is ideal for the development of organisms that forms the bases of the food web and feed on many species of fish, amphibians shellfish and insects.
Birds and mammals use the wetlands for food, water, shelter and especially during migration and breeding. Wetlands store carbon within their plant commutes and soil instead of releasing it into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, helping climate conditions.
Wetlands are called "biological supermarkets."
They are the global water cycle, giving protection and purification use for life-cycle.
WHAT NICKNAME ARE WETLANDS CALLED AND WHY?

Friday, May 1, 2009

PLANTS IN WETLANDS

Types of plants that are found in wetlands are emergents, floating plants, and submergents.

Emergents are plants that grow out of the water. Floating plants are plants that have adapted to the water so that their leaves can float on the top of water which occur in ponds, places along streams and rivers and where there is little to no current. Submergents are plants that live completely under the surface of the water. Their roots anchor them to the bottom of the pond and some are submerged not rooted.


A type of emergent is called an arrowhead: It has a long slender arrow-shape leaves that extend tall on 1 to 5 foot stalks towards the sun. They have a white delicate flower of three pedals with a yellow inside for males and green-like for females. Their small potato-like tuber which is near the root provides a tasty treat for animals in the water near pond edges, swamps, marshes and all over
North America. Arrowheads improves conditions for other organisms in the ecosystem. They produce edible tubers that were extensively used by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Arrow heads permits pollution by wind or flying insects. Arrowheads can grow aggressively, spreading to form large patches of plants. These dense patches are important spawning and nursery grounds for some species of fish.


A type of floating plant is the spatterdock(water lily) which is an a aquatic plant and is a large plant with heart shaped leaves attached to long thick root stems and wavy imprints. Spatterdock flowers are yellow and "half-opened." Flowers are attached to thick round stems that are often six feet long. There seeds can be consumed. They bloom from spring to the summer. Spatterdock floating levels are attached to long, stout stems which arise from large, spongy rhizomes. Spatterdock submersed leaves are very thin, attached at the bottom rhizomes. Spatterdock was long used in traditional medicine, with the root applied to the skin or both the root and seeds eaten for a variety of conditions. The seeds are edible, and can be ground into flour. The root is edible too, but can prove to be incredibly bitter in some plants. It provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food called (detritus.)



A type of submergents is a coontail(Ceratophyllum) which is submersed with no roots, floating-free. It is found growing in ponds, lakes, streams, and sluggish waters. This plant resembles a raccoon tail, because of its feathery leaves that are fan-shaped divided into many narrow segments. Each leaf has several small teeth on the midribs giving them a rough feel.Coontail's flowers are very small and rarely seen. Coontail reproduces by seeds and fragmentation. The fruits of coontail are consumed and it is considered a good wildlife food. They produce rings of bright green leaves. They offer excellent protection to fish-spawn and because of their appearance and their high oxygen production, they are often used in freshwater aquariums.

FILL IN THE BLANK

1. ____________ are plants that grow out of water.
2.____________ plants that float on top of the water.
3. ___________ are plants that live completly under water.

ANIMALS IN WETLANDS

Because wetlands have both land and aquatic characteristics, wetlands are some of the most diverse wildlife habitats on earth.


Two kinds of animals that are rare in wetlands is the Fernbird and the large native dragonfly.


Fernbirds prefer wetlands with dense ground cover under a selection of shrubs and small trees. The Fernbird is a bird found in New Orleans. It has a rich brown and white coat , with brown spots on the throat and breast. They first called it the "Swamp Sparrow" because of its color. The tail feathers are thin, dark brown, and spine-like. The birds reach a length of 18 cm. The Fernbird is a ground-dwelling bird, and is a reluctant flier, and travels mainly on foot or in occasional short flights of less. It used to be descirbed as "one of our most common" birds but it has been affected by the widespread destruction of its wetlands and is now rare. They are called "wise birds." They are well camouflaged and very secretive, fernbirds are more easily heard than seen.


The large native dragonfly which date back to the dinosaurs are now increasingly threatened by habitat destruction, pollution and climate change. They have two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body. Dragonflies are valuable predators that eat mosquitoes, and other small insects like flies, bees, ants, and butterflies. They are usually found around lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands because their larvae, and they are aquatic. They can also deliver painful bites when threatened. They are beneficial insects that to wetlands because they eat other harmful insects. The larvae, or immature stage, of dragonflies are laid and grow in the water. Even as adults, dragonflies do not stray particularly far from sources of water. The immature stages feed off of other aquatic insects and occasionally very small fish. The adults hunt mosquitoes and other pests. Often, when they are seen swarming, dragonflies are hunting. They can swoop down upon an airborne insect and continue flying. They hold their prey between their legs and eat on the run.


NAME THREE OTHER ANIMALS THAT CAN BE FOUND IN THE WETLANDS?
A BIRD. MAMMAL. INSECT.

WETLANDS OF THE WORLD

 
This picture shows the different degrees of wetlands in the world. Locations with white have zero wetlands. yellow are places with very few or any wetlands. light green is the next biggest amount of wetlands in the world. Light blue is the next degree of wetlands. Dark Blue is the most amount of wetlands. As you see, the Hudson Bay Lowlands has the highest degree of wetlands. Some other places with a lot of wetlands are in Florida, New Orleans, and The 'Sudd' in Sudan.
CAN YOU NAME THE FAMOUS WETLAND IN SOUTH FLORIDA? 

ANIMALS OF DIFFERENT WETLANDS

Polar bears can be found in the Hudson Bay Lowlands


Crocodiles and alligators are found in a lot of wetlands