Acting Locally
BIO/280
June 16, 2014
Steven Peck
Acting Locally
Aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems have been found to work together, such as a river system, aquatic, in a desert, terrestrial. The Nile River in the Sahara Desert is an example of a river within a desert. These ecosystem interactions play a significant role in history, and have significant value to the communities located around them. Over the years, species within the rivers and deserts have become endangered due to overexploitation, invasive species, habitat loss, and population growth.
Rivers within Deserts
Rivers are natural waterways that run in to a larger body of water, such as an ocean, lake, or larger river. They are usually freshwater rivers, and have a large variety of biodiversity. On the other hand, deserts are dry, barren land with little to no rain fall. They only get about 50cm of precipitation per year and deserts take up about one fifth of the Earth’s surface (Pullen, 2004). The high temperatures during the day make the living conditions very difficult for many species of both animals and plants. When these two ecosystems work together more species, communities, and civilizations can flourish.
Species
There are many different species of plants and animals located within the river and desert ecosystems. For example, the Nile River is home to many animals, such as the Loggerhead turtle. They are located throughout the Nile River from the desert areas of Egypt to the forest areas of southern Africa. The Loggerhead turtle is an endangered species due to humans damaging their nests, and overexploitation. The Nile is also the home to many different plants, such as Chamomile (as shown in Figure 1), and Papyrus (as shown in Figure 2) (Jones, 2013).
Figure 1: Chamomile (Jones, 2013) Figure 2: Papyrus (Jones, 2013)
The desert has very unique biodiversity that can withstand the harsh temperatures during the day and sometimes very cold temperatures at...