Jones.Alycia Biology Powerpoint

Riparian Zone RetreatRiparian Zone Retreatand Population Studiesand Population Studies

Alycia JonesAlycia Jones

Biology IIBiology II

Period 1Period 1

Niche of an American Frog (Bufo Americanus)

• Adult frogs are generally found anywhere that there is moisture such as forests, meadows, and gardens. They are mostly active during the nighttime.

• Frogs are predators and depend on many things to complete their diets. Some of the organisms they consume include: spiders, insects, earthworms, slugs, and snails. These make up most of the frogs’ diets, but they can/will eat about anything that will fit into their mouths.

• To catch their prey, the frogs will utilize their sticky tongues and wrap it around the prey. If it is larger, they will also use their arms to help stuff it into their mouths.

Niche of an American Frog (Bufo Americanus) Continued

• Predators of the American bullfrog include: snakes, owls, skunks, and raccoons.

• The bullfrogs are generally neutral-toned colors (browns and greens) to blend in with their surroundings. They also have paratiod glands, which release a foul toxic odor to keep away their prey. Other defenses that the frogs have include playing dead and puffing up their chests to appear larger than they truly are.

Factors which Affect Birth Rate of a Frog

• Mostly seen in the spring (March-July) when they are looking to breed

• They only breed once a year

• Gestation Period: 2-14 days, on average 8

• 4000-8000 eggs are laid in long streams in the water and hatch in about 3-12 days depending on the water temperature

• The mother provides nutrients for the young while they are still inside her body, but once they are laid, the become ignored

• The sexual maturity for males and females is reached at about 2-3 years

Factors Which Affect the Death Rate of Assigned Animal

• The frog has many predators such as various species of snakes, hawks, skunks, raccoons, and owls. They do not

share any symbiotic relationships.• The American Bullfrog are capable of living for about ten

years, but in the wild many die after a year or two when transforming from tadpoles into toadlets.

• A parasite that may harm the bullfrog is a chigger. They are tiny red mites that attach to the skin of the prey to feed

off of.• Over-population of the bullfrogs will result in less food

and shelter for the animals, but more bullfrogs will result in less insects.

Food Chain of an American Bullfrog

Producer

Autotroph

Primary Consumer

Herbivore

Secondary Consumer

CarnivoreTertiary Consumer

Carnivore

Food Web of American Bullfrog

Producer

Herbivore Omnivore

Decomposer

Carnivore

Omnivore Omnivore

Carnivore

Population Sampling Techniques• Mark Recapture – when a sample of an organism is collected and each

organism is marked, then another sample is taken and it is recorded how many of the organisms of the second sample have the marks on

them.

• Small Sample Representing a Whole – a small sample is taken from a large population and conclusions are made on the entire population

based on the data that is collected in the small sample.

• The one used most on frogs is mark-recapture because it is easier and they are a larger organism.

Stream Quality Data & AnalysisStream Quality Data & Analysis

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100125150175200225250275300325350375400425

Number ofOrganisms

Class IClass IIClass III

• This represents very good stream quality because there are mostly Class I organisms.

• Class I organisms can only live in good water quality, Class II can live in a range of water qualities, and Class III indicates poor water quality.

• Better water quality is good for the American frog because it uses the water to soak and swim in.

• If the water quality was poor, the frog could die because it could absorb some harmful bacteria and die (they do not drink water, they soak in it). It would also kill off some of the organisms that the frog uses for food.

Water Testing Data & AnalysisWater Testing Data & Analysis• When it comes to the ecosystem, nitrates are important to have

in the soil for plant growth, but are unwanted in the water. The same thing goes with phosphates. They are important to plant growth but are bad when found in the water. pH level is important to being able to tell if an environment is too acidic or alkaline. Oxygen is important to plant, human, and animal growth in the ecosystem. Without it our ecosystem would completely fail. Also the turbidity of water needs to be clear. If not, there gets to be too much buildup in the water which can collect on rocks, making them slippery, causing organisms to be unable to hold onto them. Finally, water temperature is important because if it’s too hot or cold, organisms won’t be able to survive and the number of them will diminish.

• The ideal ranges for each level include: Nitrates = 0, Phosphates = 0, Oxygen = 10+, and pH = 6.5-7.5. Having levels outside of theses ranges could result in poor water quality and poorly populated streams.

• If the American toad were close to the stream of Powdermill, it would flourish and be able to live a healthy life with an abundance of food around and healthy water to soak in. If it were by the mine it would be okay, except there isn’t enough oxygen so it could affect the food supply for the frog. Finally, it would do extremely poorly near the wastewater because the nitrate level is too high and the oxygen level is fairly low.

020406080

100120140160180 Stream

MarshMine

Soil Testing & AnalysisSoil Testing & Analysis

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2

4

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pH Potash

Phosphorus

Nitrogen

Riparian

School Site

• pH levels control how well plants utilize nutrients in the soil. Potash stimulates flowering and helps to make sugars for photosynthesis. Phosphorus is responsible for energy storage in ADP and ATP forms which allows nutrient transport across the cell wall and synthesis of proteins and nucleic acids, & nitrogen levels in the soil.

• Ideal ranges for each nutrient include:pH = 6-8Potash = Medium LevelsPhosphorus = Medium LevelsNitrogen = Medium Levels

• Having various ranges of these chemicals can have negative repercussions on the environment and on the organisms living in them and they could potentially die off.

Positive and Negative Factors• The current stream waters would positively affect the frog because it is healthy by

giving it possibilities to flourish, the marsh would negatively affect the frog because the waters are of poor quality and could be potentially harmful, and finally, the mine waters

wouldn’t exactly harm the frog, but they wouldn’t be very good for it either because even though it is of decent quality, it’s not of pristine quality.

•The riparian zone soil would be good for my organism because it is healthy and has good levels of pH, potash, nitrates, and phosphates which will allow the plant and

animal life to grow well.

• Positive factors that affect the American Toad would be things such as plants to provide food and shelter and insects and other organisms in the water to provide food.

Negative factors that may affect the toad would be things such as abandoned mine drainage and runoff, pollution, high turbidity in the water, and too high or too low of

temperatures in the water or the atmosphere. Sources of pollution may come from factories nearby, farm/bad land runoff, and even things such as garbage and gas from

cars. To preserve the riparian habitat things are being done like adding fences around the land nearby the stream and adding rocks around the edges to protect the water from

harmful runoff. More things such as these should be done to preserve the natural beauty of the habitat. The American Toad would be affected negatively by all of these factors.

His shelter and food supply would be damaged and the population could die down.

Conclusion

•I learned that even the tiniest thing in the ecosystem can affect something much larger so easily. I had no idea that something like a bug could affect

something such as a black bear. It was just mind boggling to me.

• I found it interesting to research the American Toad and learn about the way it lives and how many different organisms it consumes itself, as well as

the numerous organisms that are out to consume the frog.

• I would want to research something that would have to do with perhaps the different types of species all over the world and how they have adapted to

live in their environments.

Works Cited

•http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bufo_americanus.htmlAnimal Diversity WebBufo Americanus (American Toad)2008

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/american_toad.htmOrganism MenuNorthern American Toad

•http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=107&sid=f45d910a-fde7-4faf-bc20-3f99d37a1f9f%40sessionmgr108&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ani&AN=9500200460

EBSCOhostCommon Toad2009

http://go.grolier.com/Grolier EncyclopediaToad2009