Biomes and Organisms that Live Within Them Essay Example

Biomes and Organisms that Live Within Them Essay Example Biomes and Organisms that Live Within Them Paper Biomes and Organisms that Live Within Them Paper Biomes are large part of the earth that supports its existence. It refers to terrestrial habitats that are best differentiated according to their type of weather, fauna and flora (WorldBiomes, 2003). It was also defined by Campbell as the world’s major communities grouped according to its major vegetation and acclimatization of organisms to that specific environment (UCMP, 1996). Biomes were altered due to human activities and conservation of biomes is a major concern nowadays. Â  In many parts of the world, different types of biomes are divided depending on the type of climate it contains. There are many ways of categorizing the types of biomes in our environment. According to WorldBiomes (2003), there are five major biomes that are classified into aquatic, desert, forest, grasslands, and tundra. Forest Biomes characterize the biggest and most ecologically complicated systems since it contains variety of species, trees, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, insects and micro-organisms which has different type of weather and environment. Forest biomes have been a major area of concern in conservation due to massive forest degradation in the past and at present. Specifically boreal and rainforest are being deforested at a distressing rate of disappearing species of plants and Giant horsetails, club mosses, and ferns which grew up to 40 feet tall were the original forest species in the world and ancient plants and arthropods also inhabited the land (UCMP). It continued to exist and changed through time, various types of species evolved in which gymnosperms dominated the forests in the early periods of Paleozoic and Triassic period. As time passed by, the first flowering plants in the Cretaceous period come into sight simultaneously other kind of species emerged like insects, birds, and mammals. Due to some changes in the environment, species and forests were also altered giving way to a new kind of forest to grow in the surrounding. One-third of earth’s land area is occupied by the vastness of forests. Today, it is divided into many kinds of forests but there are only three major types which are grouped according to latitude, it includes tropical forests which is characterized by the presence of evergreen angiosperm trees located in warm and damp conditions, temperate rain forests are typified by evergreen conifers or tree ferns located at mild and wet environment throughout the year, and boreal forests is the largest forest biomes and also called as the taiga biome which can be found in areas with cold climates and long winters. Most boreal forests are inhabited by different organisms, birds and mammals like deer, wolves, rodents, and a small number of reptiles. In the temperate forests, most of the organisms found are the smaller and cold blooded animas like snakes, turtles, amphibians and plant species includes maple, elm, oak, and cedar. While primate species, birds, insects, mammals, invertebrates, termites, vertebrates, orchids and moss are found in tropical rainforests. In the forest, the symbiotic relationship which refers to close ecological relationship between two or more different species or organisms that benefits from each other and may benefit at the expense of the other and in some cases neither organisms can gain an advantage, between birds and mammals and even fish for example likes to eat fruits from trees and when these fruits fell to the ground, the seeds that are taken by the animals are dispersed into different parts of the forest land and eventually the seeds will grow and produce more and more trees. Another example is the relationship between the bee and the flower which also inhabit the forest, bees soar from flower to flower to collect nectar which are the source of food of bees and in turn bees with pollen from their hairy bodies will drop it to the flower making it pollination complete. In this situation, both bees and flowers benefit from the said process. This type of relationship is an example of mutualism in which both species benefit from the activity. On the other hand, parasitic relationship involves only one species benefit from an activity and the other is harmed. Example of this is the relationship between the parasite (tapeworm) and animals like pigs and cows. Tapeworms are fragmented flatworms that live in the stomachs of animals and even humans, they dig up for food through the host’s digested food leaving the host with no nutrients. Parasitic relationship is also evident in plants where aphids usually attack and eat the sap from the plants. Commensalism is another relationship that exists in a forest biome where only one species can take an advantage and the other is unaffected. One of the best examples is the relationship between the grape vine and a tree, the grape vine is strongly attached to the tree and almost climbing to the canopy to support itself. It is true that the tree is not disturb from the vine not either the grape vine affects the trees.