Question

Nothern coniferous forest Biome assignment! ! Describe the following - Outline specific relationships at least two ( parasitism, competition, predation, mutualism, commensalism,etc) and explain how does this relationships contribute to population dynamics within the ecosystem. Please provide with citation. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Coniferous forests are terrestrial biomes that are found in the temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters.The rainfall is adequate to sustain the ecology,they are characterised by short summers and long winters. The are alsoreferred to as the boreal forests or the Taiga .The tiaga recieves between 10 and 40 inches of rain per year and has a short growing season. Winters are cold and short, while summers tend to be cool.

The tiaga forests are characterised by the presence of spruce, fir, hemlock, and pine. These trees have thick protective leaves and bark, as well as needlelike (evergreen) leaves can withstand the accumulated snow. They have limited understorey plants and the forest floor is covered by low-lying mosses and lichens. common plants are Conifers, alders, birch and willow and the animals are wolves, grizzly bears, moose, and caribou. Few species are dominant but  when compared to temperate and tropical biomes diversity is low.

Several relationships are seen between the members existing in the community soe of the examples are

Symbiosis : In this kind of relationship, both the organisms are benefited this is best studied in the realtionship between the fungi and conifers. The fungi colonize the roots and  produce minerals that are helpful to the tree, and the tree produces food, like carbohydrates helpful to the fungi . similarly the Western Tananger bird lives in a tree, but does not harm the tree.

Mutualism: It is a relationship in which one or both organisms benefit from the relationship. Lichens are a combination of algae and fungi that form a mutualistic relationship beneficial to both of them.the  algae makes food for the fungi through photosynthesis While the fungi provides structure, water, sun protection, and mineral nutrients to the algae.

Another example of mutualism in the coniferous forest is the relationship between the Clark's Nutcracker bird, and the Whitebark Pine. The Whitebark Pine has wingless seeds that have no way of dispersing seeds. The Clark's Nutcracker collects seeds for food from the pine, and disperses the seeds by storing them in the ground for the winter  with the help of the Clark's Nutcracker the seeds are dispersed The Clack's Nutcracker gains food and the Whitebark Pine is able to spread and grow new trees.(source boandseth.weebly.com/community-interactions).

Predator Prey relationship common plants in a coniferous forest.An example of predator prey relationship is the lynx and the snowshoe hare. The lynx is the snowshoe hares predator and the lynx is the hares prey.

(source:"Community Interactions." Coniferous Forest. Web. 9 Nov. 2015., Snowshoe hare
Lynx By: Sydney Shinopulos and Sara Almonte ).