Blueboxinthesky

General Differences

Edworthy Park is a north-facing slope while Nosehill is a south- facing slope. The slope in Edworthy is generally much steeper than that of Nosehill. Edworthy Park is located right next to the Bow River where as Nosehill do not have a major, year long body of water. It is observed that the vegetation in Edworthy consist primarily of a mix of coniferous, deciduous trees as well as an abundance of wild grass, moss and wild flowers. Although the Nosehill micro ecosystem consists of all of these vegetation, the predominant species are wild grasses and flowers; available trees are few in numbers, isolated pockets and very sparsely populated.

Microecosystem	Direction of Slope	Steepness of Slope	Temperature	Annual Temperature Variation	Humidity	Primary producers in the area	Climax Community
Nosehill Park	South Facing	Less Steep	Higher	More	Very dry	Mostly grass, flowers with some trees	Desert
Edworthy Park	North Facing	Very Steep	Lower	Less	Relatively more humid	Many coniferous, deciduous trees, moss, flowers and tall grass	Coniferous forest

Slopes

The slopes in Edworthy are considerably steeper. The steeper the slope, the faster the rate of erosion indicating that only plants with deep, firm roots can grow in the Edworthy ecosystem. Thus, large trees are found in Edworthy in more numbers than in Nosehill while tall grasses are not as abundant as they are in Nosehill. The steeper slope in Edworthy compared to Nosehill means that plants with long, strong, sturdy vegetation will grow better in this environment. Since deciduous trees grow best in areas with a thick layer of topsoil and wild grass have relatively thin, short roots, the Edworthy ecosystem may eventually become a coniferous forest.

Surface Area

The surface area of the ground in Edworthy park generally are covered by large trees on top as well as grass and moss on the ground level where as the surface of Nosehill is covered by mostly tall grasses while in winter, the ground is simply bare, thus Edworthy Park is more insulated than Nosehill. Rate of evaporation/sublimation of moisture/snow are much slower in Edworthy and quicker in Nosehill. Nosehill is a drier, more temperature-varying ecosystem than Edworthy Park.

Temperature

Nosehill is hotter during the summer and colder during winter. Since Nosehill retains less moisture, and water has a very high specific heat capacity compared to air or ice, temperature variations are going to be greater in this park. Since Nosehill is south- facing, this area receives more direct sunlight as well as warm winds coming from the south. Edworthy is a north facing slope, thus it doesn’t receive direct sun light and receives generally cold winds coming from the north. Nosehill is most likely warmer than Edworthy Park when south winds blow and when the Sun is present. Edworthy Park has much more moisture than Nosehill because it is conveniently located by the Bow River. With more water, deciduous and coniferous trees are more suited to this area than Nosehill (which is relatively dry as a result of a lack of major bodies of water). This explains why trees occur in more numbers and are denser in Edworthy than Nosehill Park. Because Edworthy contains more moisture than Nosehill, this also means that Edworthy can retain/hold more thermal energy than Nosehill. Temperature variations in Edworthy are thus less than it is in Nosehill. Edworthy Park has much more moisture than Nosehill because it is located by the Bow River. With more water, deciduous and coniferous trees are more suited to this area than Nosehill (which is relatively dry as a result of a lack of major bodies of water). This explains why trees occur in more numbers and are denser in Edworthy than Nosehill Park. Because Edworthy contains more moisture than Nosehill, this also means that Edworthy can retain/hold more thermal energy than Nosehill. Temperature variations in Edworthy are thus less than in Nosehill.

Abiotic Factors

Nosehill is a south facing slope while Edworthy is a north facing slope. The temperature in Nosehill is most likely higher in Nosehill as a result of more light energy from the Sun. Edworthy is also situated very close to a significant body of water, the bow river, while Nosehill is not situated to any big, continuous bodies of water. The more moisture/water in Edworthy makes this park a more suitable area for trees to grow. Nosehill remained a grassland prior to 1900s could be because of the huge bison populations that used to roam in this area. When plants constantly get trampled by the bison, the grass and flowers species can grow and reproduce very quickly. The trampling doesn’t affect these species as much as trees since trees take a long time to grow and reproduce very slowly. In other words, grasses can grow back much faster than trees after being trampled, thus Nosehill remained a grassland prior to the 1900s. After the 1900s, western settlers came to the Great Plains and killed off all the bison. Overall, Edworthy Park is a mixed forest micro ecosystem, but Nosehill is largely still grassland.

Exposition to Dangers

Edworthy Park would be disturbed the most if a fire occurred because secondary succession in Edworthy will mainly consist of trees. Trees take a long time, decades; to grow back where as the tall grass in Nosehill will be able to grow back in latest, one year. Nosehill gets more wind at ground level since it doesn’t have the shelter of an abundance of trees to cover the ground like Edworthy Park does. With more wind at ground level, evaporation/sublimation rates would increase and snow cover on the ground would decrease.

Producers

Edworthy Park definitely has a greater number of different producers per area. Edworthy Park has more trees as well as flowers, shrubs, mosses that were not seen in the Nosehill micro ecosystem. Nosehill is consisted of mainly grass and low shrubs with less trees and moss species.

Slope

Due to the very steep, north facing slope in Edworthy, the climax community in this park will be consisting of coniferous trees. This is because the steep slope erodes soil very quickly; low top soil layer is not ideal for deciduous trees. Grasses cannot compete with coniferous trees since the soil, temperature and moisture conditions discussed earlier are more suitable for coniferous trees. Because of the inevitable trend of global warming as well as the dry conditions in Nosehill Park, this area will become a desert ecosystem eventually: cacti and desert plants will take over.

Nose Hill Grassland Interactions and Symbiotic Relationships

Nose Hill Park has a variety of secondary consumers including hawks, eagles and coyotes, which take part in predation as predators who hunt primary consumers (their prey) for food. Two notable primary consumers in this grassland ecosystem include the white tail deer and the pocket gopher which are herbivores and feed on producers. Producers in the grassland constitute of mostly short grasses (about 2ft tall) and small shrubs (about 3-4ft). These small shrubs and grasses interact with small birds and furred animals through commensalism by providing them shelter. The Nose Hill grassland also features a diverse ecology of common insects including grasshoppers, spiders, ants, earthworms and various flies and other winged insects. Detritivores such as earthworms and flies contribute to the decomposition process by breaking down the deceased animal carcasses. Lice are a common ectoparasite (parasites that live on the surface of their hosts) and can be found in their hosts’ fur in deer and coyotes as well as on feathers of wood duck, hawks and eagles. They spend their entire life cycle on their host and although they cause an increased poor state of health, there is no evidence showing the direct effect lice have on the mortality rate of coyote, deer or in birds. Aphids are another common parasite found attached to plant stems and feed on the plant’s sap from the phloem. Aphids are “farmed” by certain ant species that make use of aphid waste which is high in carbohydrate content. In return, the ants protect the soft-bodied aphids from predators exhibiting the symbiotic relationship of mutualism. The leafhopper is also another parasite that feeds on phloem sap. Leafhoppers however, not only suck phloem sap but also prey on the aphids. The competition of leafhoppers and aphids for plant sap is known as interspecific competition. The leafhoppers preying on the aphids help reduce the interspecific competition they face. Pocket gophers are particularly destructive in their behavioural patterns in that the mounds of dirt they deposit on the surface as they tunnel underground cover up vegetation, killing them. Although the mounds created by pocket gophers on Nose Hill are no larger than 0.5m in most cases, mounds are known to be commonly found as wide as 20m in diameter. This behaviour allows secondary succession to occur on the mounds of fresh soil. The hoverfly is a harmless insect although its black and yellow stripes can be misleading to resemble wasps and serves to scare off predators. This mimicry (called Batesian mimicry) protects the hoverfly while the wasp remains unaffected, another display of commensalism.