Introduction
In Mr. Wong’s 2015 2nd semester Bio Honors Class, we had an activity to investigate the ecology of Bellarmine. We were sent to find things in each of the categories. It was actually really exciting to try to find and identify different animals, plants, insect, and levels of the food web / food chain.
Methods/Materials
With an iPad, a phone, a camera, or with anything that can take photos, we were instructed to look for organisms that fall in the categories provided by Mr. Wong.
The categories are:
- Producer
- Primary consumer
- Secondary consumer
- Tertiary consumer
- Decomposer
- Herbivore
- Carnivore
- Omnivore
- Threatened species
- Endangered scpecies
- Non-native species
There was also one non-biological category:
Specimen and info
- Producer – Grass (Poaceae): The grass at Bellarmine is used to cover the space in between paths in the Quad. The space between buildings is mostly filled with this kind of plant, grown on hills, flat grounds, and in other kinds of environments. The football field is filled with artificial turf, which is made to mimic grass.
- Primary consumer – Earwig (Forficula auricularia): Earwigs dwell in dark, damp place, but they sometimes emerge during the day. They live in nearly any small, dark spaces or crevice. Often, these insects may be found on ceilings or walls of homes. These little creatures are herbivores, but some of the other species of earwig may be parasitic to bats. On campus, these insects live where there is enough water and not much sunlight. For example, such a place would be behind a bush, under some leaves, in between the slabs of concrete that make up the patio, and inside many classrooms.
- Secondary consumer – Chicken(Gallus gallus domesticus): Chickens live on the farm next to the Bellarmine soccer field. They are omnivores who often dig for insects, seed, and even snakes, mice, and lizards. Their natural habitat is on the ground in areas with trees. They may sometimes fly for brief periods of time to jump over fences, into trees, or down from trees. On the Bellarmine farm, the chickens have a nice place to stay. They have land with many plants that leave seeds everywhere, and there is a tree right above their dwelling place.
- Tertiary consumer – Dog(Canis lupus familiaris): Dogs are mostly domestic animals. They are carnivores and live in homes with people or in their backyards. On campus, dogs may show up after school or before school. Sometimes, during school, people walking their dogs may pass through campus. Dogs do not live on campus however.
- Decomposer – Earthworm (Acanthodrilidae): The earthworm lives in the soil, wherever there is a great amount of moisture. They sometimes live in muck and water soil. Whenever Some of the species of earthworms were introduced to the americas accidentally by European colonists.
- Herbivore – Earwig (Forficula auricularia)
- Carnivore – Dog(Canis lupus familiaris)
- Omnivore – Human (Homo Sapien): Like the chicken, Humans are omnivores. Humans live in buildings, which are usually structures with walls and roofs. Some humans enjoy living outdoors in a tent, but some may live on the streets. These are called “homeless”. On Bellarmine campus, the humans stay in the school buildings for most of the day. Moving from building to building, they cross the grass and go under the shade of trees.
- Threatened species – Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba): Ginkgoes were very common all over the world until many of the species went extinct all of a sudden. the last remaining ginkgoes were found in two provinces in eastern China. Since then, many have been cultivated around the world. Now, there is one growing on Bellarmine campus. It grows by the Carney science building, and is located diagonally in front of the balcony of where Mr. Wong’s room is. Mr. Wong and Mr. Flowers are shown in the photo of the ginkgo specimen.
- Endangered species – Bakersfield cactus (Opuntia basilaris): This kind of cactus, in the upper center of the photograph, is found in the deserts of southwest United States. Such deserts are the Mojave, the Anza-Borrego, and the Colorado deserts. It is protected by the California government and is an endangered species. On the Bellarmine campus, on the farm across the street, there is a planter box for cacti. One of these cacti is an endangered species. It is planted in a sandy planter box. There are only about 37 of this species left in the wild.
- Bakersfield Cactus
- Non-native species – Invasive Ivy (hedera) This kind of Ivy is also known as Canarian Ivy. As other kinds of ivy, it grows from a vine and branches out, using whatever area it can cover as a support. It is native to the Canary Islands south of Spain and is native to north Africa. On the Bellarmine campus, it can be found on the wire fence in the parking lot near O’Donnell Hall. It uses the wire fence as a support to grow its vine, which sprouts leaves.
- Pollution Source – San Jose International Airport (2.4 mi from Bellarmine): The airport is a source of exhaust from jets and planes. As jets and planes burn Diesel fuel, it creates lots of pollution in the air. This burning of fuel results in global warming.
Analysis/ Discussion Questions
- Define and differentiate between ecology and environmental science and discuss the
Bellarmine campus in the context of both.
- Ecology is the study of the relationships between the environment and the organisms that live is the different environments. Environmental science is the study of the environment and its problems, including not just biology, but other sciences as well. They are different because environmental science does not include the study of the interactions between the organism their habitats. Environmental science is the study and analysis of the actual area itself and not the connections of the ecosystem.
- The ecology of Bellarmine is actually very complex. Students travel around campus all day long. The trees provide shade for the students, and in turn, the humans take care of the plants and trees.
- The environment of Bellarmine is full of grass, tree, and plants. During the day, birds are the most common animals in sight because there is quite a high level of human activity. There are slabs of concrete on the floor, creating a path between buildings. Often, the soil and grass are soaked because of the sprinkler system.
- Define and describe any population, community, ecosystem, biome and aquatic zone that you
find on campus; and discuss the biotic and abiotic factors that contribute to that ecosystem.
- The most obvious populations are grasses, trees, and humans. The trees are highly visible because of their height. The grasses are visible because of their overwhelming number. Humans have the most visible population and community because they are everywhere on campus from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm.
- Across the road from Bellarmine’s main part of campus, there is a farm, which is its own ecosystem. Although it does not have its own way of procuring water, humans take care of the life in it by bringing water. It has plants, trees, insect,and chickens. However, in the farm, there are many invasive weeds. For the most part, they overgrow the non-weed plants.
- Construct and discuss a food chain, a food web, and an ecological pyramid based on the
trophic levels that you observe.
- Using the organisms that I found at Bellarmine, I can construct a rough food chain.
- The earwig consumes grass, and is eaten by the chicken.
- On the farm, the chicken is killed and brought to the supermarket.
- The owner of the dog buys some chicken and gives it to the dog to eat.
- The human probably will not eat the dog, as this is not China.
- When any of the organisms in the food chain dies, the earthworm will break down the remains.
- The nutrients from the broken down remains will nourish the grass.
- Here is the structure of this food chain.
- Quaternary consumer – human (omnivore, consumes other consumers with lower trophic level and producers)
- Tertiary consumer – dog (carnivore, consumes secondary consumers and primary consumers)
- Secondary consumer – chicken (omnivore, consumes primary consumers and producers)
- Primary consumer – earwig (herbivore, consumes plants and plant foliage)
- Producer – grass (autotroph, converts sunlight)
- Decomposer – earthworm (heterotrophic, reduces dead organisms)
- Investigate and discuss any endangered, threatened, and invasive species on campus.
- Bakersfield cactus (Opuntia basilaris) is an endangered species in southwest United States. It is located in the farm across from Bellarmine. At the time that this species was listed on the California endangered species list, there were only 37 left in the wild.
- Ginkgoes are a threatened species. They were once wiped out in the wild with two remaining regions in China with ginkgoes. Today, there is only one species left, but it has been cultivated by many cultures. So, it is no longer endangered.
- The invasive Canarian Ivy is present in the parking lot of O’Donnell. It considered invasive because it covers as much area as the plant can sustain. Also, the plant reproduces and grows at an alarmingly fast rate.
- Define pollution, and describe and discuss the various types that you observe on campus.
- Pollution is filling the environment with unnatural amounts of unhealthy waste products.
- Cars, trains, construction, and airplanes pollute the environment and leave the ecosystem unhealthily unbalanced. I see littering every day and I try to save the environment from being wasted by cleaning up trash that cannot be decomposed. I believe that if everyone tries to help the environment, pollution would not have such a heavy effect on our world today.
Conclusion
I think that the Bellarmine environment is healthy because we are all humans for and with each other. The ecosystem and the organisms in the ecosystem need us to help keep the world healthy. Therefore, we must save threatened and endangered species and prolong the life of the ecology of the Bellarmine campus.
mattbiowong 