Emma+H

= Unit One, final project. =

1.1 Biomes contain similar biotic and abiotic aspects. The Gulf of Mexico is a salt water aquatic biome which contains many biotic species such as coral which is starting to die because of the resent catastrophic oil spill within the last 4 months. Everyday about 5000 barrels of oil, making it the worst oil spill in history. All attempts to dispose, burn or contain the oil have proven to be unsuccessful. Wildlife has a very hard time adapting to this unnatural event structurally, chemically and behaviour wise.

What is a biome? The largest division of the biosphere, which includes large regions with similar biotic and abiotic components. There are 9 different types of biomes; Boreal forest, Tundra, Tropical rainforest, Temperate Rainforest, Desert, Permanent Ice, Grassland, Aquatic and Temperate Deciduous Forest

1.2 An ecosystem is the community in with organisms interact and compete for resources such as, food, sunlight, water or habitat. Due to the oil spill, the competition for these has increased and cause many species to die. Every organism plays a role, or niche, within an ecosystem. The water in the Gulf is affected by the oil spill because when the oil is released it contaminates the water which is very harmful to marine wild life. The oil spill is polluting not only our waters but also our air by releasing harmful chemicals which both humans and animals are ingesting. The oil spill prevents something called photosynthesis, which is a process where plants and other organisms turn sunlight into chemical energy. The oil covers the surface of the water, preventing sunlight from getting to the plants.



2.1

The oil spill is causing the food chain to be effected because eat trophic level is being effected in different ways. Every organism contributes to the ecosystem in two ways. The first is that it obtains food energy from the ecosystem. The second is that it contributes energy to the ecosystem. Each organism belongs to a trophic level, whether it be the first which contains primary producers (plants), second trophic level which contains primary consumers (herbivores), third trophic level which contains secondary consumers (carnivores) and the fourth trophic level which contains tertiary consumers (top carnivores)



2.2

The carbon cycle is the most effected by the oil spill. The carbon cycle is the cycle in which carbon is moved through the biosphere. The oil spill is limiting the chemical nutrients that are required to sustain a healthy ecosystem. The carbon cycle is the most essential cycle for the aquatic environment in the gulf. With the leaked oil in the Gulf of Mexico made up of 85% carbon, it has a major impact on the cycling of carbon in the environment.

2.3

The oil spill will have a dangerous effect on many natural processes such as Bioaccumulation, Biomagnification and Bioremediation. Bioaccumulation the gradual build up of chemicals in an organism. Chemicals can enter the organism through food, skin contact or respiration. If the chemical intake is too much for the organism, it can have a permanent impact on the organism, or even death. Biomagnification is the process in which primary, secondary and tertiary consumers are effected because food is eaten and chemicals build up from the food in the organisms body. Even low amounts of certain chemicals can be fatal. Bioremediation is when micro-organisms or plants help clean unwanted chemicals (oil) out of the ecosystem. But if these organisms are affected, then bioremediation cannot happen until human efforts are made to clean the oil up.



3.1

Changes in the ecosystem occur naturally. Changes take place within different types of organisms over time. This process is called ecological succession. There are two types of ecological succession, although only one is affected by the oil spill. The First - Primary Succession occurs with areas where there is no soil. Places such as where lava flow is, or glaciation. The Second - Secondary Succession happens in places in which soil did exist and was once the home of living organisms. As the oil spill reaches land, the soil and land will be effected by the oil as engulfs the land forcing organisms to move, or suffocate.

3.2

Humans use many, if not most, of the worlds resources such as fishing, deforestation and oil drilling. Due to human activity in oil dripping, many ecosystems and habitats will be lost. The oil spill will never fully be cleaned up off of our planet because of how great the spill is. Without human efforts to clean the spill up, it could possibly kill or harm all of the Gulf of Mexico's habitat.



3.3

The oil spill will affect native species to the area. Clean up efforts could potentially cause great harm by intorducing an invasive species to the ecosystem. These invasive species could possibly put an end to the native species of the area.

I think this method of project work has its postive and negitive sides. The positive is that we can do our work easily and correct it as we go, as in see how it looks finished and still go back and edit. I personally dont like doing this type of project because i tend to forget about it. And if my computer isnt working properly then i have no chance at finishing it on time. I do however think you should continue to use this with your other classes because its a good way for us to see how well everyone else is doing and we can also use this as a study guide for our final.
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__Bibliography:__**

BC science 10 text book. McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. published in 2008

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