ECOSYSTEM

ECOSYSTEM

Paper details

Course Project
This assignment will tie together all the concepts presented throughout this course and be worth up to 150 points, depending on the quality of your work and the amount of details.
You may turn in a research paper (any length, as long as you’ve covered all the subtopics in your topic) or a PowerPoint presentation (with maps, images, and text).
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Word of caution: do not plagiarize!
“Plagiarism is the act of taking another person’s writing, conversation, song, or even idea and passing it off as your own. This includes information from web pages, books, songs, television shows, email messages, interviews, articles, artworks or any other medium. Whenever you paraphrase, summarize, or take words, phrases, or sentences from another person’s work, it is necessary to indicate the source of the information within your paper using an internal citation. It is not enough to just list the source in a bibliography at the end of your paper. Failing to properly quote, cite or acknowledge someone else’s words or ideas with an internal citation is plagiarism.” http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/plag/whatisplag.php

 
Always paraphrase with your own words or use direct quotes (do not use more than two direct quotes) and assign credit to the original author. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and will be treated as such. Any student violating the student code of conduct or engaging in academic dishonesty will (1) receive an F grade (or WF if withdrawing) for this course, and (2) be subject to university misconduct procedures – no exceptions. As you are required to follow a code of conduct, so am I required by the university to follow procedures relating to questions of student conduct.
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You may choose what to research, but you must adhere to the guidelines listed below:
Pick an ECOSYSTEM anywhere on the planet!
(For example, my research focuses on a riparian ecosystem in the semi-arid Southwest of the U.S. that is critically endangered from human activities (dams and reservoirs). In an otherwise hot and dry climate of a desert biome, it provides important moist, shady habitats for many semi-aquatic and nesting bird species, such as the critically endangered southwestern willow flycatcher. The southwestern willow flycatcher occupies a predator niche as an insectivore and serves as an indicator species for ecosystem quality. With its hydrophytic plant communities and histosols, the riparian environment depends on inputs from the Colorado River, which exemplifies an exotic, deeply entrenched meander in a dramatic landscape carved by fluvial processes and tectonic uplift….etc, etc, etc).
Discuss and describe it by the following:
A. Geographic location (5 points)
1. Absolute location
2. Relative location

1. Climate (45 points)
   1. Annual temperature and annual temperature range
   2. Annual precipitation
   3. Factors influencing temperature and precipitation
   4. Extreme weather events?
   5. Climate classification
   C. Landforms and the landforming processes (past and/or present) (25 points)
   1. Geology of the area (type/s of rock, rock forming process/es)
   2. Tectonic activity
   3. Weathering and erosion processes
   4. Topography and prominent features of the surrounding area and of the ecosystem
   D. Drainage patterns and stream systems (25 points)
   1. Structural controls
   2. Type of drainage pattern/s
   3. Stream capacity, stream discharge, and stream velocity
   4. Flood recurrence interval and factors influencing floods and flood stages, if any
   E. Biome (5 points)
   1. Classification of biome to which the ecosystem belongs
   2. Dominant plant and animal species upon which it was classified
   F. Ecosystem characteristics, productivity, and services (10 points)
   G. Habitat/s (5 points)
   H. Plant and animal communities (dominate types) (5 points)
   I. Food web and food chains (5 points)
   J. An example of at least one animal and its niche (bonus for niche intraspecific adaptations) (5 points)
   K. An example of symbiotic relationships (mutualism and parasitism, if any) (5 points)
   L. Human-Land relationships (human activities, goods and resources, human affect on the ecosystem) (5 points)
   M. Ecosystem status (stable/unstable, high/poor quality, threatened/endangered), threats, risks, and conservation strategies, if any (5 points)
   The more details and explanations you provide, the more likely you will receive full credit for the assignment.
   Papers must be a minimum of 5 pages. Point reductions will also occur if papers are not well-written, do not follow the elements of style for academic theme papers, and contain grammatical and spelling errors. You have a 3-mistake allowance without penalty; however, each mistake thereafter will receive a deductions.
   PowerPoint presentations will take less time than papers but must contain visuals (maps and images to accompany your text). A PowerPoint presentation must be informative and visually pleasing: background, color, text and image arrangement, limited amount of text per slide, clear communication of idea, etc. Grammatical and spelling errors will also result in a reduction of points.