Water, Soil, & Cover Flashcards
What are the 4 main components needed for wildlife survival?
- Food
- Water
- Cover
- Space
Summarize the importance of water to wildlife
Water availability is often manipulated to create valuable wildlife habitat (ex: duck habitat)
What are the main ways animals access water for their bodies?
How might water factor into competition?
Species that are better adapted to water stress will outcompete other species in dryer areas. The same holds true for species adapted to an overabundance of water in the reverse direction.
How might water act as cover for wildlife?
Grouse example: they conceal themselves completely under the snow for predator evasion and insulation (see chart for temps below surface)
It can benefit species like snowshoe hares, whose fur turns white in winter to help camouflage them. They are also more agile on snow that larger animals because of their low body weight and large flat feet.
It may disadvantage some larger animals because it is more difficult for them to move around in, and food availability becomes low during a snowy winter.
How does do water resources relate to wildlife reproduction?
Some entire groups of wildlife require water to be present for reproduction (ex: amphibians in vernal pools)
Many other species require at least some water component for nesting or brood rearing
Briefly summarize the relationship between rain and wildlife
What about flooding and wildlife?
Why does soil matter so much to wildlife?
- Soil quantity, quality, and type will all influence what vegetation can grow in that location
- Soil type, texture and compaction will influence its availability to fossorial species
- Quality and the presence of other organisms in the soil will also play a role
- Fossorial animals create their own little ecosystems and many species depend on these for food and cover
- Availability of nutrients within the soil plays a role in food quality and availability
- Species need to have certain conditions met within soil, including moisture levels to access food
- Also nutrients need to be unbound so other organism can take them up and work them through the food chain
- Mineral contents in soil can be the reason animals select certain locations (ex: Salt Licks with extremely high concentrations of sodium, calcium, or magnesium salts) -High levels of certain minerals are needed at specific times in a life cycle to meet nutritional needs
What is cover?
What are the 3 energetic strategies of temperature regulation?
What are endotherms and ectotherms?
Describe the thermal neutral zone
Describe the range of temperature regulation in an ectotherm, and what are the environmental factors they are adjusting for whenever they move around to manage their body temperature?
What’s the relationship between Basal Metabolic Rate and body mass?
What are the types of cover?
What is cover partitioning?
Similar species develop niche covers within an environment to allow for co-existence and reduction of competition
