PLANET ZIMBABy Isabella ElizondoP2

WELCOME TO PLANET ZIMBA!

Info on our wonderful planet!

Day length: you will now be able to make use of more time! The normal day length in planet Zimba is 27 hours.

Year length: the year length is much much longer, as the orbit around the planet’s sun is bigger. The year length holds 420 days, with 60 weeks.

Precipitation: as far as savannas go, the ecosystem in this planet is very fertile, with lots of rain (around 50.8-127 cm a year)

Temperature: thankfully the weather’s nice! This planet has a very hot temperature almost year-round, with temperatures at aproximatley 38º, and dropping down to -8º.

Sunlight: there is a very probable chance that you will get a sunburn in this planet! Lots of sunlight is received on planet Zimba so bring a hat and sunscreen!

Geography

Almost all of the land mass on planet Zimba is made up of miles and miles of savanna. A savanna is a biome (type of ecosystem) where most of it is taken up by grasses. The land is mostly flat with a few hills here and there. There are exactly three major rivers crisscrossing through the land in Zimba. Those rivers make one big lake, and many small rivers. In the months of late summer, fall and winter the rivers dry a little, while in spring and early summer they grow. The savanna in Zimba does not have many trees, but does have a few of them sprinkled here and there. There is only one major rain forest at the very hart of the land where two of the three rivers connect, but the parts where humans will be taken to live is on the savanna.

Scientific Biotic Factors Names

Plants:Waxy caps = Hygrophorus favodiscusBlue Grama = Bouteloua gracilisBuffalo Grass = Bouteloua dactyloidesBig bluestem = Andropogon gerardiiLittle bluestem = Schizachyrium scopariumSwitchgrass = Panicum virgatum L. Purple coneflower = Echina Cea PurpureaSakeroot = Liatris

Animals:Zebra = Equus QuaggaGiraffe = Giraffa camelopardalisSlender horned gazelle = Gazella leptocerosEuropean harvest mouse = Micromys minutusTermite = Macrotermes sp.American bison = Bison bisonAardvark = Orycteropus aferLion = Panthera leoStriped hyena = Hyaena hyaenaEarthworm = Lumbricus terrestrisBeetle = Heteronychus aratorEgret = Casmerodius albusHumans = Homo Sapien

African Savannah Animals

Aardvark

Termites

Striped HyenaEuropean Harvest Mouse

Buffalo

ZebraLion

Giraffe

Long Horned Gazelle

Earthworm

Beetle

Egret

African Savannah Plants

Blue Grama Big bluestem Buffalo Grass

Switch grassLittle Bluestem Purple Coneflower

Snakeroot

Waxy Cap Fungi

Food Web

1st level consumers

2nd level consumers

3rd level

consumers

4th level

consumers

Scavenger

Producers

(Eats everything after its dead)

Decomposers

Biotic things

Symbiotic Relationships

For a species to survive in an ecosystem there has to be a balance between interactions with all animals. We cannot just breed the animals ourselves because then the ecosystem would collapse when the animals are depending on us and not doing the small everyday things that make a savanna prosper.

Interactions

There are three types of interactions:

Mutualism

Commensalism

Parasitism

(can be same species or different)Mutualism: When two organisms (same species or different) help each other

Commensalism: When one organism benefits from an interaction, while the other one stays the same.

Parasitism: When one organism is harmed. The organism harmed is the host wile the one harming is the parasite.

Interactions

Some examples of the interactions some of these animals will be making are:

Mutualism:

A bird on a buffalo eating the ticks of it, benefits both sides because the bird gains a meal, and the buffalo gets rid of its ticks.

Commensalism:

The egret follows around cattle. When the cattle moves, it scares off many insects and sends them flying. The egret then eats them off the air. The one benefiting is the egret, while the cattle is not affected in any way.

Parasitism:

Ticks on a lion are an example of parasitism because the ticks get a meal off the lion, while the lion is harmed with the bite,

Interactions

Some other types of interactions are:

Predator

Pray

Competition

- Example:

A European field mouse is considered pray when it is eaten by an ostrich.

The pray is the one being eaten, while the predator is the one hunting/killing/eating the other.

A gazelle can also be considered pray when the lion is hunting it. the gazelle does not necessarily need to be killed to be the pray (it survives) but the lion is the predator because it hunts the gazelle to eat it.

In competition:

A pack of hyenas can be competing against a few lions for the right to claim their territory.

They both want the territory, but only one can have it, so they compete by fighting.

Sources

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/blue_grama-grass.htm

http://conservationgardenpark.org/plants/496/buffalo-grass/

http://seasonsflow.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/the-life-death-and-rebirth-of-ohios-prairies/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/3345023/American-switch-grass-How-to-grow.html

http://www.eeob.iastate.edu/research/iowagrasses/ornamental/SchizScopaOr.html

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/wildseed../purpleconeflower.html

http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/photos/13-plants-that-could-kill-you/white-snakeroot

http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=bogr2

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=BODA2

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ANGE

http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SCSC

http://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/zebra

Sources http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=pavi2

http://www.animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/giraffe/

http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/bison/bison.htm

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/animal-bytes/animalia/eumetazoa/coelomates/deuterostomes/chordata/craniata/mammalia/artiodactyla/slender-horned-gazelle.htm

http://www.waza.org/en/zoo/choose-a-species/invertebrates/insects-and-millipedes/macrotermes-sp.

http://www.opengroup.org/austin/aardvark/aardvark.html

http://www.waza.org/en/zoo/visit-the-zoo/rodents-and-hares/micromys-minutus

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/animal-bytes/animalia/eumetazoa/coelomates/deuterostomes/chordata/craniata/mammalia/carnivora/african-lion.htm

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/10274/0

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_Earthworm_scientific_name#slide2

http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/plants/field-crops-and-pastures/broadacre-field-crops/integrated-pest-management/a-z-insect-pest-list/african-black-beetle

Sources

http://www.timberhilloaksavanna.com/fungi/oak-savanna-fungi-the-waxy-caps/

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE_IMG&where-namesoup=Glutinous+Waxy+Cap&rel-namesoup=matchphrase&title_tag=Glutinous+Waxy+Cap

http://www.timberhilloaksavanna.com/fungi/oak-savanna-fungi-the-waxy-caps/

http://www.pitchcare.com.au/magazine/heteronychus-arator.html

http://www.grahamowengallery.com/egrets/pages/Egret_dancing_with_fish_jpg.htm

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/the-lion-king/images/27847303/title/simbas-kingdom-photo