RiparianRiparian Zone Retreat Zone Retreatand population studiesand population studies

Jake FrederickJake Frederick

BIO 2HBIO 2H

Pd.1Pd.1

Niche of Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)• Red foxes have a wide range of habitats

including forest, tundra, prairie, desert, mountains, farmlands, and urban areas. The foxes prefer mixed vegetation communities, such as edge habitats and mixed scrub and woodland.

• The red fox depends on rodents, insects, rabbits and fruit for food. Red foxes are eaten by coyote and wolves.

• When hunting the fox stands motionless, listening and watching intently for the prey it has detected. It then leaps high and brings the forelimbs straight down forcibly to pin the prey to the ground. Red fox eat between 0.5 and 1 kg of food each day. Red fox also store their food.

• Red foxes help to control the populations of their prey and disperse seeds from eating fruit.

Factors which Affect Birth Rates of Red Foxes

• Mating for Red foxes occurs in February through April.• They breed once yearly. • Gestation Period is 49-55 days.• One to nine offspring are born each pregnancy.• The mother stays in and around the den with the pups and

nurses them. The father brings food but doesn’t go inside the den.

• They reach sexual maturity at ten months.

Factors Which Affect the Death Rate of Assigned Animal

• Coyotes, eagles, wolves, mountain lions and bears will attack foxes. Humans hunt foxes for their fur and kill them as pests.

• 10-12 years in captivity and 3 years in the wild.• Internal parasites like tapeworms. • Overpopulation can cause mange outbreaks in the

species. Also the foxes will run out of food.

Food Chain

Producer

Autotroph

Primary Consumer

Omnivore

Secondary Consumer

Omnivore

Tertiary Consumer

Omnivore

Food web of Assigned Organism

Herbivore

Producer Omnivore

CarnivoreCarnivore

Producer

CarnivoreHerbivoreHerbivore

Omnivore

Producer

Population Sampling Techniques

• Simple random sampling is defining the population to be studied, determining the percentage of this population to be interviewed or studied, assigning each individual within the population a number and then using selected numbers from a table of numbers, giving each individual an equal chance to be selected.

• Stratified sampling involves identifying subgroups of the population representative of the percentages of the subgroups in the general population being studied, or to equal numbers of individuals within different subgroups for the purpose of comparing their responses to those of other subgroups.

• Population sampling techniques for foxes include the capture, mark and recapture method.

Stream Quality Data & AnalysisStream Quality Data & Analysis

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No. oforganisms

Class IClass IIClass III

• The graph represents pristine stream quality.

• The high number of class 1 and low number of class 3 say the stream is of good quality because class 1 organisms only survive in pristine waters.

• The fox benefits from the good stream quality because it can have good drinking water and more sources of food.

• The fox may get sick from drinking the bad water or may eat something else that drank the water and become ill. Other organisms may begin to die because of the poor water quality and less sources of food.

Water Testing Data & AnalysisWater Testing Data & Analysis• The Dissolved Oxygen determines what classes of

organisms will live in the stream like class 1 organisms can only live in over 10. The nitrates and phosphates show how much pollution is in the stream. The pH also determines what classes of organisms live in the stream. Most organisms survive in an average pH around 7.

• Dissolved Oxygen should be around 10 for class 1 organisms to survive. If lower than 10 there will be no Class 1 organisms. The Nitrates and Phosphate levels should be close to none. If any higher the stream would be polluted and organisms will die. The pH should be around seven because if the stream is too acidic or basic organisms can’t survive.

• The best habitat would be around the stream because it has the most diverse population and healthy water. In the mine and marsh the fox would struggle to find food and could get poisoned by the nitrates and phosphates or other organisms.

• The lower the temperature of the stream the higher dissolved oxygen thus more class 1 organisms. A high turbidity would lessen organisms vision and would then damper predator prey relationships. Also with all the debris in the water some organisms wouldn’t be able to hold onto rocks.

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Nitrate

Oxygen

pH Phosphates

StreamMarshMine

Soil Testing & AnalysisSoil Testing & Analysis

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pH Potash

Phosphorus

Nitrogen

Riparian

School Site

• Nitrogen, phosphorous, and nitrogen play a big role in plant growth and metabolism. The pH controls how the plants use the nutrients available in the soil.

• The ideal range of pH should be from 4-7.5-8. The ideal ranges of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potash should be medium levels in the soil.

• If the soil becomes too acidic or too basic it will not allow the plants to absorb nutrients, which will make the plants die and then organisms who eat the plants will die and organisms who eat those organisms will die.

Positive and Negative Factors

-The stream and the marsh would be able to support life of a fox, because of the clean water. On the other hand the mine waters would not be good for a fox because the water is polluted enough that the water would not be beneficial to it. -The soil conditions at the riparian zone are good for a fox. Since they have a trace of Phosphorous, Nitrogen, and Potash it will help plants grow and produce seeds, which will provide food for foxes. -The factors that positively affect the riparian ecosystem are the Class I organisms and the healthy levels of pH, Phosphorous, Nitrogen, and Potash. These factors keep the stream healthy and able to support life. The factors that negatively affect the riparian ecosystem are the possible manure run off from farmlands which will pollute the PA streams. Another source of pollution in PA streams are mines and certain fertilizers that will kill off organisms living in the stream. If these organisms die then it will effect a fox, because they eat organisms that eat those organisms.

Conclusion

• I learned that everything depends on everything else in an ecosystem.

• I found the different types of pollution interesting.

• I would like to research more animals in another habitat.

Works Cited

Fox, D. 2007. "Vulpes vulpes" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 15, 2010 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Vulpes_vulpes.html.

Henry, J. David. "Fox (animal)." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2010. Grolier Online. 13 May 2010 <http://gme.grolier.com/article?assetid=0110890-0>.

Glass-Godwin, Lenela. "Fox." Encyclopedia Americana. 2010. Grolier Online. 13 May. 2010 <http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0163920-00>.