aprisby's blog

Every high school graduate should understand topics in global climate patterns, terrestrial biomes, coping with the environment and heat, evolutionary ecology, life history, behavioral ecology, population distributions, growth, dynamics, and regulation, symbiotic relationships, communities, biogeography, diversity, productivity, food webs, nutrient cycling, and conservation biology. I believe that all these topics should be covered to some extent in high school because it opens up a new perspective to have a broader understanding of everything in ecology. In high school we covered all these topics briefly except for population dynamics, diversity, productivity, conservation biology, and biogeography.

I think it would be beneficial to go into these topics more especially since a major driving force for ecological relationships and balance within ecosystems is how populations function, and can be affected by certain factors. Especially because humans are a major cause of population fluctuations and extinction. This is why i also think conservation biology should be a focus because with thousands of species becoming extinct each day and year, we have to work hard to stabilize and increase populations of endangered species, and prevent further species from going extinct.

Overtime birds have become more specialized in the way they eat their food. Typically birds swallow their prey whole, whether the bird is consuming seeds, fruits, or insects whole. However raptors are a category of bird that cannot do this. Raptors hunt larger prey than other types of birds, so their sharp, hooked beaks allow them to pierce prey, tug away skin, pluck out feathers, tear meat into smaller-sized chunks that are easier to swallow. Insectivores use their slender, tweezer-like beaks enable them to catch insects midair, pick insects off leaves, or probe between small crevices of tree bark, or for drilling holes into wood. This contrasts with seed-eating birds have short, thick, and strong beaks equipped for cracking open hardy seeds. The size of the beak can indicate the type of seed or nut the bird is adapted to eat. The variation in beak size within the raptors, seed-eaters, and insectivores observed across grasslands, woodlands, and marsh habitats can be explained by the specialized diets in different habitat types.

• The American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) feeds on seeds almost exclusively including sunflowers, thistle, asters, and seeds from grasses, alder, birch, red cedar, and elm. They balance on seedheads of plants to pluck the seeds. Crack open seeds with their short, stout, cone-shaped beaks. The Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) feeds mainly on fruits and seeds year round, supplemented by protein-rich insects, by swallowing piece of fruit whole. They feed while perched on twigs, but can also grab fruit while flying close to branches. To hunt insects, they may use exposed branches or open water areas to zig-zag through the air and catch insects.

Raptors hunt larger prey than other types of birds, so their sharp, hooked beaks allow them to pierce prey, tug away skin, pluck out feathers, tear meat into smaller-sized chunks that are easier to swallow. Insectivores use their slender, tweezer-like beaks enable them to catch insects midair, pick insects off leaves, or probe between small crevices of tree bark, or for drilling holes into wood. Seed-eating birds have short, thick, and strong beaks equipped for cracking open hardy seeds. The size of the beak can indicate the type of seed or nut the bird is adapted to eat. The variation in beak size within the raptors, seed-eaters, and insectivores observed across grasslands, woodlands, and marsh habitats can be explained by the specialized diets in different habitat types.

Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) are adept at climbing trees and pecking for insects such as beetle larvae, ants, caterpillars, earworm, and apple borers which burrow inside of wood or tree bark. Part of their diet consists of plant material, berries and grains. They move horizontally and downwards on trees rapidly. It has a specialized beak and skull that redirects most of the strain from repeatedly striking trees, into the rest of the body, instead of the head. They take frequent breaks in drilling to prevent brain damage caused by overheating. This is different than the Upland sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) which feeds on mostly insects, including weevils, beetles, grasshoppers, and crickets. It feeds while walking along the ground.

We will be comparing dietary style of bird species in relation to habitat type, and the effects these different habitats have upon beak shape and size. We will use the University of Massachusetts Amherst avian collection to collect data on bill length, depth, and width from preserved bird skins. We will use this collection because it will allow us to compare beak measurements of different species using a primary source of data. We will also use reliable ornithology research articles to find information on habitat types, behavior, and diet that will be used to compare bird species. The goal of this study is to analyze differences between beak size and shape, habitat and how they obtain their food. We aim to explore the proximate cause of distinct beak morphology of species by investigating the effects that different environmental pressures and/or dietary constraints have on the beak shape of birds. We seek to determine whether cohabiting species local to New England, as represented by specimens available from the UMass Amherst Ornithology collection, display trends of beak size and shape variation according to distinct dietary needs according to habitat, and analyze what that may mean in regards to how those species interact with one another and their shared ecosystem.

We will be comparing dietary style of bird species in relation to habitat type, and the effects these different habitats have upon beak shape and size. We will use the University of Massachusetts Amherst avian collection to collect data on bill length, depth, and width from preserved bird skins. We will use this collection because it will allow us to compare beak measurements of different species using a primary source of data. We will also use reliable ornithology research articles to find information on habitat types, behavior, and diet that will be used to compare bird species. The goal of this study is to analyze differences between beak size and shape, habitat and how they obtain their food.

Food webs are conceptual models of trophic interactions of organisms. Food webs can be simple or complex and sued for a variety of purposes. Food webs are typically more complex because more species are involved. As models they are limited in that they are static, don’t account for population fluctuations, competition, facilitation, mutualisms, etc. They can be used to better understand energy flows, if we know something about interaction strengths. Robert Paine studied an intertidal food web to study the effects removing the starfish from the ecosystem so see its effect on local diversity. The starfish is a top predator that promotes species diversity by preventing competitive exclusion by the mussels. This makes it an excellent example of a keystone predator.

A major extinction, the Kellwasser event marked the beginning of the last phase of the Devonian period, the Famennian faunal stage about 375-360 million years ago. A second mass extinction, the Hangenberg event, closed the Devonian period. It is still unclear as to the extent of time during these extinctions, as it is uncertain whether there were two sharp mass extinctions or a series of smaller extinctions. By the late devonian, land had been colonized by plants and insects, and the oceans were massive reefs built by corals and stromatoporoids. The extinction for the most part hit marine life. Euramerica and Gondwana were beginning to converge into what would become Pangea.

About three quarters of all species on Earth died out in the Late Devonian mass extinction, though as a series of extinctions over several million years, rather than one event. Life that existed in shallow waters and seas were the the most affected; reefs were hit so hard that it was not until corals evolved over 100 million years later that reefs returned to their former glory. Aside from reef-building organisms, other groups that were hit hard include the brachiopods and the trilobites. During this time period, much of the sea bed became devoid of oxygen, which made it only sustainable for bacteria. Changes in sea level, asteroid impacts, climate change and new species of plants messing with the soil have all been probable causes for these extinctions.