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Interesting Ecosystems

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Poll Question: Which ecosystem is the most interesting?
Poll Choice Votes Poll Statistics
2 [15.38%]
3 [23.08%]
1 [7.69%]
1 [7.69%]
2 [15.38%]
2 [15.38%]
0 [0.00%]
1 [7.69%]
0 [0.00%]
1 [7.69%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
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Knights View Drop Down
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  Quote Knights Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Interesting Ecosystems
    Posted: 06-Feb-2007 at 17:37

Planet Earth has many different ecosystems, all of which contribute to the functioning of our earth. Ranging from the coldest to the hottest, wettest to driest extremes - the variety of biotic and abiotic aspects of our planet is truly spectacular. So, please state briefly (or in detail if you wish) the ecosystem which is most appealing to you, as well as why (i.e, biotic/abiotic relationships and composition, sheer beauty, mysticism.etc).

Desert/Arid Regions:
Sahara Desert, Northern Africa
Simpson Desert, Central Australia
Atacama Desert, Chile
Gobi Desert, Mongolia
Arid land with little or no vegetation, also receving a low annual rainfall.
 
Rainforest
Daintree Rainforest, Queensland
Amazon Rainforest, South America
Congo Junlge, Central Africa
Dense, relatively warm and humid, wet forests, dominated by vegetation. Found in tropical/subtropical regions.
 
Tundra/Polar Zones
Northern Canada, Scandanavia, Northern Russia/Siberia, Alaska.
Treeless plain characteristic of arctic/subarctic zone.
Located close to geographical poles and consisting of mainly snow/ice covered land, or sea/pack ice and ice caps.
 
Coniferous/Woodland
Taiga, Russia
Sherwood Forest, Nottingham
Yellowstone National Park, USA
Any forest containing a large percentage of coniferous vegetation (cone-bearing trees such as spruce, pines, firs, redwoods.etc.)
 
Urban
London, Sydney, Dubai, New York, Santiago, Talinn.etc - all urban centres where human presence has resulted in the construction of infrastructure, buildings and residential/commercial/industrial zones.
 
Grassland/Savannah/Heath
Serengeti Plain, Tanzania
Pampas, Argentina
Prarie, North America
Biome where grass is the most numerous and dominant vegetation, and where trees are less common. Usually vast open expanses.
 
Bushland
Fairly generic, used a lot in Australia. Blue Mountains National Park, Australia is an example.
In this case, comprising of wet/dry sclerophyll forests, as well as temperate broadleaf. These biomes are usually of medium density, comprising of various layers.
 
Freshwater
Murray River, Australia
Lake Baikal, Russia
Lake Como, Italy/Switzerland
Yangtze River, China
All the freshwater bodies of water within the hydrosphere, consisting of rivers, lakes, canals, creeks, streams, dams.etc.
 
Reefs
Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Ningaloo Reef, Australia
Belieze Barrier Reef, Central America
Red Sea Coral Reef, Egypt/Saudi Arabia
A solid limestone structure constructed by organisms and resistant to wave activity.
 
Open Ocean/Deep Sea
Atlantic Ocean
Southern Ocean
Challenger Deep/Mariana Trench
China Sea
The dominant part of the hydrosphere, covering 70% of earth's surface. Salt water.
 
Wetland/Mangroves
Okavango Delta, Botswana
Ganges Delta, India
Kakadu National Park, Australia
An area which is permenantly or periodically covered by water, whether it be fresh or salt, inland or coastal.
 
- Knights -
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  Quote Praetor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Feb-2007 at 18:12
As an historian I clearly have an interest in Urban environments above all others on that list. However as far as natural environments go I find rainforests both visually spectacular and stunningly diverse so for the purpose of natural history and (non humanLOL) animals are concerned the rainforest takes the cake for me.
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  Quote Dan Carkner Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Feb-2007 at 18:21
Define interesting :)

I suspect many people would choose ones that they are less familiar with, because they would seem more exotic..
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  Quote Knights Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Feb-2007 at 18:30
Originally posted by Dan Carkner

Define interesting :)
 
Originally posted by Knights

the ecosystem which is most appealing to you, as well as why (i.e, biotic/abiotic relationships and composition, sheer beauty, mysticism.etc).
 
I suppose it just means which one you find the most fascinating, on the counts of factors within that ecosystem. For example, someone might find deserts very interesting because of the adaptations that animals/plants have to survive there.
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  Quote Adalwolf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Feb-2007 at 19:03
I've always found the tundra/polar regions very interesting. 
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  Quote Knights Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Feb-2007 at 21:19
Thank you for your responses. Are there any particular reasons as to why you find them the most interesting/fascinating?
 
My vote went to Grassland/Savannah because of the sheer richness of life and the biotic interaction which occurs, namely the predator-prey relationship. Parks such as The Masai Mara, The Serengeti, Kruger and other offers a fantastic oppurtunity not only for people to experience this fascinating biome, but for the animals/plants to interact and function naturally.
This was a very hard choice though, with Rainforests and Coniferous Forest/Woodland coming very close.
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  Quote pekau Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Feb-2007 at 21:23
Freshwater. The first biggest freshwater mankind encountered was the Black Sea... despite the drying of Mediteranean and Black Sea... Black Sea's drying process were refilled with freshwater coming from Russian rivers... and making the most fertile farmland and attracting supposedly among the first civilization, the Indo-Europeans or Atlantis... whatever you want to call it.
     
   
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Feb-2007 at 21:40
I love the coniferous and the boreal or austral forests.
 
I lived in Canada and I live in Chile, and I love those forests close to the poles, that are so unbelievable green, with marvelous trees and lakes plenty of rocks and cold water.
 
I am not attracted to tropical forest, though. I hate poisonous serpents, piranas and that humid hot weather of those places.
 
For me, Paradise was a green forest in Germany, Russia, Canada or Austral South America, period LOL
 
Pinguin
 


Edited by pinguin - 06-Feb-2007 at 21:42
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  Quote Dan Carkner Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Feb-2007 at 22:24
OK, I am fascinated by the Steppes, because they are very unfamiliar to me, whereas Jungles/Deserts are always portrayed in movies/fiction, so at least I feel like I know them :)
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  Quote Knights Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Feb-2007 at 01:18
Originally posted by pinguin

I love the coniferous and the boreal or austral forests.
 
I lived in Canada and I live in Chile, and I love those forests close to the poles, that are so unbelievable green, with marvelous trees and lakes plenty of rocks and cold water.
 
I am not attracted to tropical forest, though. I hate poisonous serpents, piranas and that humid hot weather of those places.
 
For me, Paradise was a green forest in Germany, Russia, Canada or Austral South America, period LOL
 
Pinguin
 

Thanks PinguinBig%20smile. By 'Austral' and 'Boreal' do you mean Southern [Hemisphere] and Northern [Hemisphere]? Or do you mean it in the sense of northern-most and southern-most, like the Russian Taiga and New Zealand Pine Forests? Coniferous forests and woodland are definitely amazing biomes in themselves, especially with the early morning mist shrouding the forest below and above the canopy (Visually spectacular from both views!).



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  Quote Dolphin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Feb-2007 at 07:55
The most fascinating ecosystem, for me is the open ocean and deep sea. My main reason is that, as a bit of a romantic, the sheer lack of knowledge we have of these areas makes them more fascinating, as the mind extricates from amidst all the logic and reason the notion of 200ft giant squid, prehistoric pleiosaurs, and the cure for cancer or some other deadly disease! Plus, its probably the only ecosystem left mostly untouched, and is therefore the last refuge of prehistory.  
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  Quote vulkan02 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Feb-2007 at 12:21
I actually voted for Desert ecosystem because I find it fascinating how some creatures are able to survive in a place with so little other creatures available to eat. The intense heat during day and frigid cold there during night have shaped some of the most fascinating living beings on earth.
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  Quote pekau Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Feb-2007 at 20:28
Originally posted by vulkan02

I actually voted for Desert ecosystem because I find it fascinating how some creatures are able to survive in a place with so little other creatures available to eat. The intense heat during day and frigid cold there during night have shaped some of the most fascinating living beings on earth.
 
Neat. Make sure you don't stay there for too long....Wink
     
   
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  Quote The Canadian Guy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Feb-2007 at 20:42
Urban for me! But I like them all. Urban is my favorite tho.
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  Quote Dolphin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Feb-2007 at 23:37
The deep sea..! Only there will you see the honest representation of the planet's honest heritage..I'm not convincing anybody!!  Unhappy
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Feb-2007 at 08:39
Originally posted by Dolphin

The deep sea..! Only there will you see the honest representation of the planet's honest heritage..I'm not convincing anybody!!  Unhappy
 
Your not impressing anybody either
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  Quote Knights Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Feb-2007 at 08:57
Originally posted by UberCoolist

 
Your not impressing anybody either

Go ahead UberCoolist, impress meSmile. Can you state what your choice is, and why?
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  Quote Spartakus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Feb-2007 at 14:13
We must also note which of these ecosystems are threatened with destruction.
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  Quote vulkan02 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Feb-2007 at 16:27
All except urban.
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  Quote Knights Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Feb-2007 at 18:15
Originally posted by Spartakus

We must also note which of these ecosystems are threatened with destruction.

Let me see...I would say that all of the ecosystems listed are at a threat or suffering destruction to varying degrees. One exception might be the Deep Sea, which probably doesn't face a great threat right now, but in the future inevitably will. I couldn't pick out one which is the worst affected, but I would say that Rainforests, the Polar Zones and Wetlands are suffering the greatest. Surprisingly, deserts are also at great risk due to desertification and geographical/environmental issues such as that. The bottom line is that we are doing more harm than good.


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