live in Durango, CO, which is a mountainous area located in the southwestern part of the state. I referenced figures 18.33 in chapter 18 of the textbook to find out that a part of Colorado would fall into the grassland biome. I also referenced figure 18.35 to find out that a large part of Colorado has a coniferous forest biome. (Simon, Dickey, Reece, & Hogan, 2016). Although both of these figures do not show state lines, I used my knowledge of the states in the US to figure out that these biomes exist in Colorado. I also know this information is correct because I can look around and see that there are coniferous forests around my house and that there are grasslands leading up to the mountain bases and in areas of high agriculture. These biomes that exist in my area, tell me that the climate in southwestern colorado is a highly elevated area that has warm summers and pretty cold winters. In both the grassland area and the coniferous forest areas, the areas are dry and cold.
The grassland biome is home to bison, wild horses, grasshoppers, and birds that nest on the ground. (Simon, Dickey, Reece, & Hogan, 2016). The grassland biome has soil that is rich in nutrients which makes great soil for agriculture. This explains why the area I live in has a lot of farms with crops and cattle and horses. The coniferous biome is home to evergreens, elk, moose, bears, wolves, and migrating birds. (Simon, Dickey, Reece, & Hogan, 2016). These animals can endure and live in the colder climates that are present in this area because they have adapted to changes. For example, “The conical shape of many conifers prevents too much snow from accumulating on their branches and breaking them” (Simon, dickey, reeces, & Hogan, 2016, p. 389).
The local biomes of this area influence daily lifes of not just animals just people as well. In winter, people have to dress in layers, get different tires, buy applicances to clear snow, drive in storms or snowy roads. All of these behaviors are things that people do in order to adapt to the winter season and climate in these types of biomes. Animals such as bears, hibernate in the winter in order to escape the cold and “sleep through the winter” because the food is scarce in the winter. Biomes and climates have a huge impact on the types of living things in their boundaries. (Simon, dickey, reeces, & Hogan, 2016).
An invasive species is a species that is introduced into an area but are non-native to that area. Therefore, they compete with the organisms in the area that are native for resources and they end up disrupting the balance in that specific ecosystem. The problems with invasive species is that they can become natural predators and spread quickly, this means they could end up taking over an area. They can also cause or carry diseases that would harm the native species that live in that area. (Invasive Species, n.d).
An invasive species that is present in my area are Noxious weeds such as Dalmation Toadflax. Noxious weeds are plants that cause problems in agriculture by affecting crops and livestock. These noxious weeds can be spread by natural factors or by human or animal activity. Each weed can produce an abundacne of seeds which, when spread around, can grow and reproduce at a tremendous rate. There is an article posted in the Colorado Department of Agriculture about a way that Colorado has dedided to handle this problem. The answer is beetles. The beetles showed a huge impact on eating their way trough these weeds in other areas. (“Little Beetles,” 2016). For this reason, the state of Colorado has tried to capture these beetles, breed them, and produce as many as they can in order to send them to the affected areas.
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