On...tropical rainforest biomass per trophic level (an estimate)

Bibliography:
Oliver L. Phillips, Niro Higuchi, Simone Vieira, Timothy R. Baker, Kuo-Jung Chao, and Simon L. Lewis. "Changes in Amazonian Forest Biomass, Dynamics, and Composition, 1980–2002." 2009.

Sandhyarani, Ningthoujam. "Tropical Rainforest's Energy Pyramid." 2010. Buzzle.com. 24 August 2010 <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/tropical-rainforests-energy-pyramid.html>.

On...biomass estimation

Methods for estimating biomass at different trophic levels:
1.    Producers

•    Estimating biomass with satellite imagery: The Canadian Forest service has developed a method for estimating the biomass of black spruces using high-resolution imagery instead of aerial photos. This method uses the shadows portrayed by trees to estimate the total biomass per hectare.
      
         •    A probable problem that might arise from this method is that it only works with very tall  tree specimens (over 20 meters in height) and might not take into account smaller individuals also; it might confuse different tree species and give wrong data at the end. But, it might help after further tuning, in the estimation of biomass in boreal areas where no species inventory is available.

•    Estimating biomass density based on existing volume data: This method uses pre-existing data from a certain forest area to make an estimate of the aboveground biomass density of the place. After the information is recollected, it is substituted in a formula.
       
       o    Many limitations arise from this method. First of all, the totality of the trees in the area need to be taken in account in the existing data for it to be valuable and the records need to be recent. Since most of the forest inventories only take into account commercial tree species, the validity of the biomass given can be refuted. But, these estimations provide a quick way of doing these calculations especially if those doing the investigation lack enough capital to do a thorough investigation.

2.    Consumers

•    Estimate of worldwide fish biomass using two approaches: Two scientists from the University of British Columbia have examined global ocean plant production and its efficiency as it moves through the food chain, and at the same time tallied global fish catches since 1950 and calculated how much fish there must have been in the oceans to support fisheries. This has let to a fish biomass range from 0.8 to 2.0 billon tons.

       o    Each method has a series of problems. The second method uses commercial information that might or might not be factual. Also it uses the speculation that there are only enough fishes to support fisheries while there can be more.


Bibliography:

1. Beaudoin, André. "Estimating biomass with satellite imagery." 29 January 2009. Natural Resources Canada. 24 August 2010.
2. Brown, Sandra. "Estimating Biomass and Biomass Change of Tropical Forests: a Prime." 1997. FAO. 24 August 2010 <http://www.fao.org/docrep/w4095e/w4095e00.htm>.
3. University of British Columbia. "Researcher gives first-ever estimate of worldwide fish biomass and impact on climate change." 19 January 2009. Physorg. 24 August 2010 <http://www.physorg.com/news151251277.html>.

On...biomass and its calculation

Biomass is the is the total mass of living matter per unit area. Its calculation helps us understand how an ecosystem or an specific species has changed over a period of time and can help us determine the health and evolution of the specimen.

Biomass of an organism can be calculated using the formula

• Biomass = # of organisms * average mass of the organism,

Another way to calculate biomass is to find the difference between the biomass of two time periods of the same ecosystem.

• biomass(net) = increase biomass(gross) -- decrease biomass(gross). 

Bibliography:
Berg, Susan. "How Is Biomass Calculated?." eHow. N.p., 14 Oct 2009. Web. 23 Aug 2010.

Biodiversity Indexes

While biodiversity stands for the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem, biodiversity indexes are the numerical representation of the biodiversity of an ecosystem.There are various different types of indexes but here are some of the most common ones:

1. Species richness (S) is the total number of subspecies found in an environment/sample per species.
2. Simpson's index (D) is the probability that two randomly selected individuals belong to two different species/categories. It assumes that the proportion of individuals in a area indicate their importance of diversity.
3. Shannon-Wiener index (H) is measuring the order/disorder in a particular system. This order is characterized by the number of individuals found for each species/category in the sample. A high species diversity may indicate a healthy environment.

Bibliography:
"Biodiversity indices." Virtue School Project. N.p., 17 Nov 2009. Web. 19 Aug 2010.

On...the identification and classification of living things

First of all, let's define what a living thing is, it is an organism that has these characteristics:
1.    They have cell(s).
2.    They reproduce
3.    Grow and develop.
4.    Use energy and matter.
5.    Maintain homeostasis.
6.    Respond to stimuli.
7.    They are organized (tissues, membranes).
Even though, there exists a special kind of microorganism that doesn't has all of the characteristics but pose a threat to this definition of a living thing: VIRUSES.

There are various ways of classifying all of the living things, in order:

1. Kingdom
2. Phylia
3. Class
4. Order
5. Family
6. Genus
7. Species: A group of organisms with similar physical traits that can reproduce and produce fertile offspring.

While on the field scientists and amateurs use various tools in order to identify an organism but one of the most common of them is the dichotomous key that has branches each with two divisions per step that asks whether an organisms posseses a trait or not until leaving only one possible species an answer.

Bibliography:

• "Classifying Living Organisms." York Science. N.p., 2010. Web. 12 Aug 2010. <http://yorksci.wikispaces.com/Classifying+Living+Organisms>. 
• Rice, George. "Are Viruses Alive? ." Microbial Life. N.p., 2010. Web. 12 Aug 2010. <http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/yellowstone/viruslive.html>. 

Some basic ESS info:

1. What is a system:
   A set of components that act on a theoretically predictable manner. It has inputs and outputs.
2. Examples of ecosystems:
   Tundra, taiga, tropical rainforest, decidious rainforest, coniferous rainforest, chaparral, savanna, and desert.
3. Describe what are trophic levels:
   Trophic levels are the hierarchical level that a species occupies in the ecosystem.
   Ex.
   Grass (Producer) - Mice (1st consumer) - Bacteria (Decomposer)
4. Write about a particular ecosystem including mass and energy flows:
   In a grassland for example, energy is first produced by the grasses and herbs that inhabit the region. These are then eaten by mice, grasshoppers, and other small predators that are called primary consumers. These consumers are then eaten by secondary consumers as birds which are then eaten by teartiary consumers such as eagles and owls. In between each consuption, some energy is lost as heat and we must also count out that energy disposed as waste.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Miguel Angel Gutiérrez Guerrero I'm an IB student from Monterrey, Mexico and I've open this blog for my Environmental System and Socities course. I'll be using this site as an evidence on all the topics for this IB subject.