Ron Stoecklein "Pacific Tidepools: A Threatened Ecosystem? - Brief Article". E: The Environmental Magazine. FindArticles.com. 03 Oct, 2010. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_5_12/ai_77749299/
- This brief article is about Pacific tide pools and the effect of pollution and climate change killing off intertidal life. As the most vulnerable of all marine life they are usually the first to go and intertidal species are disappearing slowly. Human encroachment on all fronts is adding toxic pollutants to the ocean and into these mini-ecosystems. And to top it off disease, collectors and a brand new threat, an incredibly invasive aquarium algae could find its way into the open ocean where it could decimate native plant and animal communities creating effective dead zones of just algae.
- This is a somewhat useful source detailing the many problems associated with the tide pools and recent times. Its a little bit different from my other sources as it is about an ocean ecosystem which we find abundantly in California but not on land. I find this information reliable as I have seen nothing to possibly give me doubt. I find this source slightly biased because it takes a more radical view on pollution. I think that the goal of this source is to draw attention to this well loved but easily forgotten ecosystem.
- This source was helpful to me as it was about an ecosystem and the human effects on this ecosystems.
This article is about how Redwood Forest Ecosystems use fog to stay hydrated in the summer when it doesn’t rain. Fog itself is an important water source as it can condense and drop to the forest floor or be absorbed through the plants. Researchers did an examination of the forest floor and they found that drought conditions are greater in the southern end of the forest ecosystem. They found that the ferns in the southern area were smaller and couldn’t absorb as much moisture as the northern ferns. This type of shrinkage can spell important implications for the structure of communities. If these ferns keep shrinking it will change the distribution of water on the forest floor and may lead to changes in how the redwood understory story functions.
University of California - Davis. "California's Ancient Kelp Forest." ScienceDaily 26 November 2009. 4 October 2010 <http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/11/091111092049.htm>.
This article is about the decline in natural biodiversity in a kelp forest. Scientists had originally used kelp as an impronmptu measuring stick, measuring the depth of the sea. Kelp forests are also used as a was to view changes in incea. Kelp forests around offshore islands peaked around 13,500 years ago as rising sea levels created new habitat and then declined to present day levels. The kelp along the mainland coast peaked around 5,000 years. This transition from an extensive island-based kelp system to a mainland-dominated system coincided with conspicuous events in the archaeological record of the maritime people in the region, suggesting that climate-driven shifts in kelp ecosystems impacted human populations that used those resources.
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