Ecosystems in Todmorden Mills Park - Assignment Example

Ecosystems in Todmorden Mills Park al Affiliation Ecosystems in Todmorden Mills Park Todmorden Mills Park The survival of the human race is greatly dependent on the ecosystem. One reason behind this is because life basics such as shelter, water and food stem from the ecosystem. While this is the case, the increasing human population and human activities are becoming a threat to the bionetwork. Therefore, environmental protection is vital as it reduces destruction of the bionetwork and also ensures that the same is restored to its original state for the overall purpose of survival of all. Management and stewardship of the ecosystem cannot be done without the knowledge of the structure, functions, species and the changes that occur within an ecosystem. In line with this argument, a description of the meadow and the woodland in Todmodern Mills Park helps in understanding the ecosystem, ecotone’s structure, function and the dynamics of the named ecosystems. Structure Meadow Structure (The dry meadow (Figure 2 part 7 To start with, Todmorden Mills Park has two meadows, the wet meadow and the dry meadow. The structure of the combinations of these meadows can be explained as a patch structure as artificial structures such as bridges and buildings separate the wet and the dry meadows. The meadows are also separated by water and forests among other natural environments (Todmorden Mills Wildflower Preserve, 2004). However, the most distinct of the two meadows is the dry meadow (Figure 2 part 7). The bridge and the parking lot in this meadow act as a barrier since it blocks the meadow from some of its part. It also blocks the meadow from the woodland and the marshy meadow. In terms of size, the meadow is large and is mostly positioned at the hilly part of the park. Apart from the bridge, the oxbow trial and the oxbow river lead to the upper side of the meadow. The view of the bridge and the parking lot as a barrier is the view from the microorganism and other animals that want to pass to the other part of the meadow. However, explaining the meadow from the human perspective makes it a corridor as the trial and the bridge helps in navigating through the meadow. Figure 2: Walking the Oxbow Trail (Todmorden Mills Wildflower Preserve, 2004). Structure of the Woodland Just like the meadows, which can be divided into different sections, the woodland in this park can be divided into upland woodland and lowland woodland as shown in Figure 2. All the woodlands assume a corridor structure as they act as barriers between structures. More specifically, the woodland structure covered by area 7, 2 and 1 is a barrier to some humans, animals and microorganisms. For example, the woodland creates a barrier between the marshy areas, the pond and the river oxbow. Therefore, aquatic animals in the marshes view the forest as a barrier. In addition, the woodland in the selected part do not link patches. Instead, they act as barriers to these patches. The only structure that tries to cut through the lowland forest is the path that leads to the river oxbow and to the upland meadow. This provides passage to humans meaning that the structure in the eyes of humans is that of a conduit. Apart from the woodland’s structure, another notable element of the woodland is its size. The selected woodland is large in terms of size. Each of the different patches of the woodland are big in size. Ecotone The ecotone of the upland meadow and the lowland woodland is the river oxbow. The river blocks the woodland from joining the meadow in the upland. The river also blocks the upland meadow from extending to the lower part where the lowland woodland is located. The same thing applies to the lowland woodland as it is hindered from extending to the uplands on the side of the meadow by the same meadow. Function The functions of meadows and woodlands in all ecosystems are fairly the same in all ecosystems. This means that the function of a meadow in this ecosystem is almost the same as the function of the meadow in another ecosystem. Therefore, it is highly expected that the functions of meadows and woodlands Meadow Generally, meadows have numerous functions with the main function being that of plant and wildlife function. Meadows also help in flood controls (National Park Service, 2014). The perfect function of a meadow in flood control is shown in Figure 3. Figure 3: Meadow Functions (National Park Service, 2014). Meadows help in controlling floods by storing flood waters. After storage, they then release small amount of water into the ecosystem by acting as natural flood reservoirs (National Park Service, 2014). The named role is easily identifiable in the Todmorden Mills Park lowland meadows. As seen earlier, most of these meadows and especially those in the lowlands are wet meadows. By holding flood waters in them, the wet meadows make it hard for water running from the slopes to cause erosion. The named function can be illustrated by the fact that the river oxbow is not wide enough as most rivers in areas that encounter flood. This means that the meadows are able to hold water as illustrated in Figure 3 and then release the water in small quantities to the river and other parts of the ecosystem. Meadows also help in improving the quality of water since they have an ability to trap sediments. This happens through the controlling of the flood velocity, which causes the meadows to trap water. Other elements such as toxic organic substances, heavy metals and other similar substances are also removed in the process. The process also leads to decomposition of nutrients and chemical breakdowns. Some of the nutrients that are broken down in the process include phosphorus and nitrogen among other concentrated substances. Meadows also help in recharging the groundwater. This happens as water percolates in the water table, which is located beneath the meadow especially the lowland meadow. Because of their ability to hold water, meadows are good habitats for aquatic and other animals. Aquatic invertebrates and amphibians are found in such habitats as meadows especially the wet meadows. Meadows are also important to terrestrial animals since they provide cover, water and food to these animals. Other roles of the same ecosystem include air flows, nutrient and species flow. A Picture Showing the Functions of Meadows in Todmorden Mills Park (Burgin, 2014). Woodlands Woodlands, on the other hand have different functions, which include waste treatment, soil formation, supporting of habitats and nutrient regulations. Woodlands also help in water supply and provision of shelter and shade to plants and animals. The woodland also supports other activities such as soil formation and also helps in regulating the quality of air. Woodland also helps in improving the cultural heritage of the park as most of its importance is highly dependent on the woodland and no other structures such as the swamp. Because of this reason, the people who live nearby together with government support have engaged in serious plans of increasing the amount of trees in this area. Based on the size and the thickness of the forest in the park, there is no doubt that the woodland acts as a source of air circulation. Differential cooling occurs in the woodland since the size of the forest is not the same in different areas. For example, the part covered earlier, which is near the bridge has scattered trees and shrubs. On the other hand, the part near the slope has denser trees. This means that the former has more sunlight and air circulation than the latter. However, in terms of complexity, the part near the slope and further away from the human structure is richer. Therefore, the cooling in this place is more pronounced and better than near the human structure. The major cooling system witnessed in the woodland is evapotranspiration, which is brought by a combination of short and high ratio wavelength. Trees and plants in the woodlands help in evapotranspiration and water is change from its state to vapor in order to cool the system. Therefore, there is no doubt that experiences in the dense wood and experiences near the park would not be the same in terms of air freshness, richness and coolness. Ecotone As seen earlier, the woodland and the meadows meet at the river oxbow. With the woodland being on the top area of the land and the meadow being at the lowlands, the two can work together to bring composite functions. For example, both can help in reducing soil erosion. The woodlands reduce the speed of water running down the slope while the wet meadow holds the water and releases the water to the ecosystem in smaller amounts. In addition, nutrients washed down from the valley are trapped in the watery meadows to avoid complete loss of nutrients through erosion. The two biomes can also help the aquatic and the terrestrial animals living in this area. For example, animals living on the woodland can use the water in the meadows while aquatic animals such as amphibians living in the meadows can use the food presented to them by the woodland. Dynamic According to Berger & Thoreau (2000), changes that take place in the ecosystem are caused by various factors such as human activities (Berger & Thoreau, 2000). This means that dynamism such as succession and global warming are mostly caused by human activities. Therefore, dynamic changes in the woodlands and the meadows in Todmodern Mills Park can be understood by first understanding the human activities that leads to these changes. Dynamism in the Woodlands and Meadows (Prove, presence of newer and old species) Figure 5: Canada Anemone (Bream, 2014). The plant presented in Figure 5 is a native plant found in the park. Without succession, it is highly expected that such plants would be the most in the park. However, this is not the case as humans through their activities, have introduced other plants as seen in Figure 6. Figure 6: Cynanchum Rossicum (Bream, 2013). Figure 7: Picea Glauca (White Spruce) Another evidence of sucession in the woodlands is the lack of large presence of Picea Glauca (White Spruce). In most cases, the plant is present in areas with less cultivation and human exploitation. However, the fact that only a few of such species are present means that they have been replaced by other faster growing and dominant plants. Figure 8: Acer Saccharinum (Silver Marple) The most dominant species in this area is Acer Saccharinum (Silver Marple). The fact that the tree is everywhere shows some serious succession as it has taken over the other plants. Apart from the earlier named plants species, other plants that have started growing in this area. For example, biologists have noted the presence of Cynanchum Rossicum although it is not in large numbers. The plant is a highly invasive plant and its presence in the area no matter how little it is might indicate some future succession as more of it might grow. This might be increased by the fact that the plant flowers and has some root characteristics that produces Rhizomes in order to increase faster and invade an area within the shortest time possible. However, its increase in the area is still uncertain based on the fact that other plants exists and might compete to reduce its increase. Ecotone The ecotone of the woodlands and the meadow in terms of species is well captured in figure 9. The woodlands is visible with species such as the white spruce and the silver marple. The meadow starts with lesser plants as seen in the figure. Figure 9: Ecotone (Woodland and meadow species) When explaining about this succession, Bream (2013) notes that volunteers are working hard in order to restore the native plants in this park. The presence of volunteers and their quest is enough to show that succession has already occurred and those who value native plants are working hard to prevent this succession. Bream notes that change has occurred on both plants and animals. Bream explains the exact changes in the meadows. She argues that instead of native plants in this part, all there is are flowers such as lilies and blooms. In most cases, flowers do not naturally glow in the meadows. Instead, they are cultivated by man in order to increase the aesthetic value of the land or for sale. The new animal communities noted in this area include dogs and birds such as oxeye birds, which are not native birds. The type of succession happening in Todmorden Mills Park is secondary succession. Such type of succession takes place in an ecosystem that has already been disturbed and colonized. As seen earlier, buildings in Todmorden Mills Park were made of wood. This means that habitat was already destroyed in order to obtain wood used in building trees. In order to fill the destroyed areas, new plant species were introduced. In addition, destruction through habitation by humans has led to the succession of some animals in this area by introducing domestic animals. Conclusion In conclusion, a description of the meadow and the woodland of Todmodern Mills Park helps in understanding the ecosystem, ecotone’s structure, function and the dynamics of the named ecosystems. For example, the meadows and the woodland structures in this park have been arranged in distinct ways such as patches and in matrix structure. On the other hand, an explanation of dynamics of this ecosystem shows that the method of succession of the woodlands and the meadows is secondary succession as succession occurs because of destruction of the natural habitat. Lastly, a look at the species found in this area shows different native species such as dog-strangling vine and Canada Anemone among other species. References Todmorden Mills Wildflower Preserve (2004). Walking the Oxbow Trail. Retrieved on Nov 8, 2014 from: http://www.hopscotch.ca/tmwp/trail/ Lindenmayer, D. (2010). Temperate woodland conservation and management. Collingwood, Vic.: CSIRO Pub. National Park Service. (2014). Meadow functions. Retrieved on Nov 8, 2014 from: http://www.nps.gov/yose/naturescience/meadow-functions.htm Burgin, J. (2014). Todmorden Mills Park. Retrieved on Nov 8, 2014 from: http://ilovetoronto.com/toronto-neighbourhoods/riverdale-real-estate Berger, M., & Thoreau, H. (2000).Thoreaus late career and the dispersion of seeds: The saunterers synoptic vision. Rochester, NY: Camden House. Bream, M. (2014). Paradise at the Todmorden Mills Wildflower Preserve. Retrieved on Nov 8, 2014 from: http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2014/06/13/paradise_at_the_todmorden_mills_wildflower_preserve.html Bream, M. (2013). Wild in the City: Todmorden Mills Wildflower preserve an oasis of tranquility in Toronto. Retrieved on Nov 8, 2014 from: http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2013/07/21/wild_in_the_city_todmorden_mills_wildflower_preserve_an_oasis_of_tranquility_in_toronto.html Read More