Shon

Makiki stream is a very forest-like area that contains many different ecosystems within it. I must also note that it is a very large area in comparison to what I thought it would be. Also, I found out that many people came here, and so I consider it a tourist site; or at least that’s what it seems like due to the fact that many people are inhabiting the area. While putting that aside, the stream includes many different abiotic factors, and biotic factors. Before I explain the living and non-living factors, I must say that Makiki Stream is definitely a place in which people hike. On my way of observations, I ran into various hikers who were using the physical feature as a hiking area. This of course, makes it a hiking area. Also, there are many cultivated plants, and areas where factors are man-made, which also makes it more like a tourist attraction. I must also add that the area that mainly surrounds the stream, is full of plant life that includes trees from banana trees, all the way to pine trees. For an example, this picture shows many different types of plant life.

There are also many animals in the area; however, they do indeed hide from humans. Amazingly, there are also many animals in the stream, which did not seem right because of how my partner and I had troubles finding animals in the stream. But indeed, we found out that there are many animals in the water; they include tadpoles, frogs, misquito fish, guppies, and swordtails.(We got this information from an info bulletin that looks like this, Along with the life in the water, it is observed by my group that the water does indeed contain chemicals that could cause leptospirosis, which is a disease from drinking contaminated water. Even with the chemicals, there are still various amounts of animal life in the stream. Aside from the stream, the area surrounding it also includes many abiotic factors; such as many rocks that are manmade, normal rocks that weren’t manmade, dirt, and so on. The rocks in my opinion as of now are very important to the area because of how they basically allow certain animals in the water to have a home and survive. They also serve an important role for the animals in the land. Of course, the important role is basically the same. Another crucial fact that makes the rocks an important abiotic factor is the fact that they have moss growing on them, which has to do with giving the moss a place to live in Makiki Stream. Here is a picture of many rocks with moss in the stream. As of now, I find it’s a good idea to continue my research of Makiki stream due to the fact that there is so much variety in the area. What I mean by this is that there is so much information that can be learned in this area just by looking at certain areas, and taking down some notes. Of course, a lot of the teachings from Biology are what allow these notes to be taken about certain things, and of course explained in terms of how it affects the ecosystem here. Along with the fact that there is much variety, I must also add that the area is very spacious which allows this variety to occur. This is why I find Makiki stream a great place to continue on with my research.

As the second part of the essay goes, I decide to describe the niches of four different animals inside of my ecosystem. The first animal’s niche that I will describe is the guppies. Although not much observation was made of them due to the fact that they were hiding, the fact that they did not show up obviously points out one important fact. The fact that the stream is covered by many rocks, and the fact that the rocks are also in the water proves that the guppies all hide under the rocks. Also, the fact that there are not many big fishes in the water basically gives the guppies a large chance in success. It should also be noted that there is much algae in the water which most likely means that the guppies eat from the algae, which is also another plus for them. The only prey that I would suspect the guppies have in the environment is the fishes; however, it did not seem like the fishes were eating the guppies when I was checking the environment out. Basically, the guppies have it easy within the Makiki Stream.

Another animal that I found quite interesting in the ecosystem was the mongoose. The fact that mongooses lived in Makiki Stream interested me because of how I did not see how it would survive. Sadly, even though the time spent on my research in the stream was decent, I was only to see one mongoose. After researching on the mongoose, I was able to find out that the mongoose’s exact name is the “Small Indian Mongoose.” Even though not much research was put on to it, I can take the assumption that the Mongoose does in fact take advantage of the rocks, just like many animals. Also, when I was done with my research of the mongooses, I had found out that they survived by eating many insects, and frogs, which would explain why they are still alive. As of now, I do not think the mongoose has any predators.

The next animal I would like to talk about is the frog, which is basically a grown up tadpole. Like mentioned earlier, the tadpoles do not have any specific predator, which allows them to become a frog. When they become frogs, I must say that after research of mongooses, I found out that they do indeed have a predator. That predator is obviously the mongoose, which would explain why frogs are not overpopulating the area, and the fact that the mongooses are not dying out. Beside those facts, it must be said that the frogs are indeed very hard to spot in Makiki Stream. My partner and I actually did not find any frogs, but we can infer that they live in the rocks within the stream because of how they usually live near water. Beside that, we also realized that there were many flies in the area of Makiki stream, which allowed us to infer that the prey of the frogs are mainly flies. As of now, more research must be done in order to find more information of the Frog’s niche.

The last animal I will be talking about is the dragonfly. This animal does indeed fit into Makiki Stream very well due to the fact that there is an aquatic area in which the dragonfly may lay its eggs. Another reason as to why the Dragonflies inhabit Makiki Stream is because of how there are prey that the dragonfly need. These prey include the ants that walk all over the stream, and the other smaller flies that fly around the stream, or the general location. The reason as to why the Dragonflies do not overpopulate Makiki stream is because of how like mentioned earlier, the Dragonflies are also a prey themselves to the Frogs. Also, there is a lot of random wood in Makiki stream, or platforms in which the Dragonflies are able to situate on. The reason as to why this is an important abiotic factor is due to the fact that many dragonflies tend to need spots in order to look out for prey. Basiscally, the Dragonflies have prey, they have predators, and they live in an area that is suited towards how they live.

Visit 2:

First, I would like to say that the assigned role that I have taken on my ecosystem in the abiotic, and somewhat biotic factors of the area near the water, and in it. One significant importance in the observation of the stream includes the fact that fishes tend to stay in only the more, “smooth,” and less current-like waters. I have noticed that the fishes, or mostly tadpoles in this case do not live anywhere near the rough waters; I believe it is due to the fact that the rough waters would cause significant chaos to the fish, however, the hypothesis I have just said is not proven. Also, another important thing about the stream is that there are plants growing from the inside of it, which mean that the fish obviously have something to eat. Even though some foods that they may eat are microscopic, the plants great in size most obviously serve a roll for bigger animals that live in the ecosystem, just like the frogs. Sadly, I have never seen a frog in the ecosystem yet. Aside from that, almost like any stream, the land in comparison to the elevation of the stream is greater in altitude. I believe this is because of erosion, and the falling of rocks into the stream area. While talking about rocks, I should include that the stream includes many rocks on top of the stream, along with many abundantly growing plants near the stream. One thing that amazed me when I was to closely look at the rocks is that the rocks near the less rough areas of the stream are a lot more smooth. The rocks near the current areas of the stream have a more rough texture to them. I can only infer that the rocks are being affected by the stream’s current; however, it doesn’t seem very likely at the same time because of how water usually doesn’t have the capability to cause holes in objects. Aside from that, I must add that a nice tourist sign had told me the stream has a catch-able disease called liptosperosis, which basically is a cause of pollution in the water. That led me to think about something, which was the fact that I could barely find any animal life in the water. I thought to myself, “Maybe liptosperosis is causing pressures to the animals in the water?” I came to the conclusion that it is a probable thought; however, nothing that I have observed yet can prove it as a fact. While on that subject, I should also add that I have thought the animals in the stream live under the rocks in the stream since the rocks are so abundant. That was a hypothesis of my first journal entry, but now I’m thinking that the aquatic animals may have even had more of an advantage because of how some rocks have holes in them. But this contradicts my fact about how the aquatic animals live near the smoother areas because of how the rocks with holes are found near the rougher areas. This raises many unanswered questions that may be answered in my third journal entry.

Like mentioned in the first part of this assignment, I believe one significant factor in causing natural selection inside the stream area of Makiki stream consists of the disease leptospirosis. To go more in depth of what exactly leptospirosis is, I must say that it is an infectious disease in which animals that are INFECTED BY POLLUTION create infected,”droppings,” which cause other animals In the environment to get affected by it. The symptoms of it are usually fever, or basic sickness and can cause kidney damage, and other serious problems. When animals in the water are affected by the pollution outside, they cause other animals to suffer in the stream which may be why I believe there are not as many abundant amount of species In the water compared to how it may have been before pollution occurred.

Some variations in a tadpole, even though I have not seen this one, include the fact that most tadpoles eat during the night. This most likely explains why I haven’t really seen many tadpoles. Along with that, I know that the tadpoles have a greater chance to survive during the night due to the fact that most of the predators of the tadpoles are asleep while the tadpole is able to, “eat without being eaten.” Along with this, I can easily infer from my visits that the tadpoles live underneath the rocks. With this being said, I can make the thought that darker tadpoles survive better in this ecosystem. They are so camoflauged in their environment that I could not see them at first, only the little disturbances they had made in the water. Basically, tadpoles with darker colors survive more abundantly in Makiki Stream, along with the ones who are nocturnal.

Another organism that has a good heritable variation in the ecosystem are frogs. Amazingly, the frogs are one of the animals I still have not seen in the ecosystem. I notice that they don’t stay near the water near the tadpoles, because if they did, I would have spotted one. One thing I can infer about the frogs is that they have a green-like skin. The fact that I have not seen one anywhere in the ecosystem of Makiki Stream either insists that there are none, or they are very camoflauged. Like mentioned before, the tourist sign helped me find out that there are frogs in the ecosystem, so I can make the inference that the frogs are just so well camoflauged. I’m sure that a green skin most obviously is more common in Makiki stream compared to any other color because of how it fits in so well with the environment. Also, like the tadpoles, they could also mainly be nocturnal. This is actually a better inference in my opinion because of how the tadpoles are nocturnal, and tadpoles turn into frogs. Because of this, and the fact that they are so camoflauged, they are not seen very commonly.

Birds are also heard in my ecosystem a lot, but not commonly seen. To narrow the categories of birds, I must say that I am most definitely sure that the Makiki stream ecosystem contains parakeets. These parakeets are flightless, and are able to go into high altitudes, which is why people do not commonly see them. The parakeets start chirping in Makiki Stream during the time when the sun is to set. I noticed that the parakeets profusely chirp, and I know that birds usually do this when the sun sets. I can infer that they do this in order to communicate to other birds to come back to their nest, or to look for a mate. Beside that, like mentioned earlier, my ecosystem greatly consists of camoflauge, or the ability not to be seen. These parakeets are an avid example of this principle because of how they are all bunched up in high altitudes in Makiki Stream, so no humans may interfere with them. Along with that, they are very green, which blends into their tree environments very well. This is also not just for Makiki Stream, but also for most of Hawaii because of how it is so luscious here.

Visit #3. Some other important things that I have noticed in Makiki Stream is that the fish near the calmer waters are very hard to spot; however, it is very obvious that they are there because of the water splashes. I believe the reason as to this is either because of natural selection, which resulted in great amounts of camouflage; or they naturally adapted to the surroundings in order to move fast enough to the point where the human eye is incapable to watch the movement in normal speed. Also along with this, I have realized that the calmer waters are generally deeper than the rougher waters. The fact of this is important because of how it relates to my experiment that I will be doing. Getting back to my old statement of fish being near the calmer waters In Makiki Stream, I infer it is most obviously because of how the aquatic creatures do not like the current. As of the moment, I am not completely sure on this, and because of this I decide to choose my next experiment to carefully observe the number of aquatic creatures that I can spot in the calmer waters in comparison to the rougher waters. This is my only completely valid experiment because of how there are many variables that mess up my other hypothesis because of how many things contradict them. However, in this experiment, the deeper waters with noticeably greater amounts of aquatic life are usually near calmer waters with a lot of plant life, and so this is a more accurate hypothesis compared to the others.

Another testable hypotheses I had was involving to see if more aquatic life lived near the more lush areas within the stream in which I mean the areas with more plant life. I disposed of this hypothesis because of how there are almost no fish near some of the lush areas that are full of currents. And because aquatic animals do not usually like currents, it is something that makes this a bit too difficult because of more than one variation is included within this hypothesis. With that in mind, I must also add that I have realized that many lush areas near the stream are at calmer waters in comparison to the rough waters; however there some lush areas within rough waters, but not too many. I also realized that in a great portion of rough current-like waters, there are more dead and decomposed plants and material in the water, along with small aquatic life present. This is a decent hypothesis to check; however, the fact that there are lush areas near rough waters, and I basically know that rough areas have almost no aquatic life insists that this is a contradicting hypothesis.

The last hypothesis that I had for my area is the observation of depth of water in comparison to current speed and aquatic diversity within the specified area. Basically, I was going to see if rougher waters were near small depth waters. And if this was true, then that would mean the odds are that aquatic animals would not want to live or stay anywhere near these waters mainly because of the annoying current they would have to withstand along with the small space in which they have the ability to roam. This actually is a good hypothesis in my opinion; however, testing three variables would consume great amounts of time that is not at hand along with having to check the current speed, which is a very hard thing to do without good equipment.

Part #2 This is an energy pyramid in which the plant life is at the bottom, which are algae. The algae have 100% of their energy. The dragonfly larvae is the first level consumer of this pyramid in which they receive 10% of the energy. The guppies are the second level consumer of htis energy pyramid, in which they receive 1% of the energy. The swordtails are the fourth level consumers in which they consume 0.1% of the energy. The sparrows are the 5th level consumers, in which they receive 0.01% of the energy. And the fifth level consumer is the mongoose, in which it receives 0.01% of the energy

Visit #4, part 1 While at Makiki stream, I have noticed that everything that I have reported from earlier visits seems to match up to the information in which my senses have received in this visit. The observations that I have become accustomed to within my focused role of water is the scarcity of life seen in many parts of the stream; the fact that there are many rocks near the water; the fact that there is a lot of vegation near the water; and the fact calmer waters seem to have more life in them. Beside those facts, one important observation that is quite, “obvious,” if you’ve been to the area is the fact that there are abundant amounts of misquitos near the water area. This is most likely because of how the larvae have a good place to live. Beside that, one other thing that I have just noticed is the diverse plant life near the water. I did know that there was a lot of plant life near the water before; however, until now, I did not realize how many different species there are near the water. This is probably due to the fact that the stream opens many different niches to the plants and animals near the stream.

Beside the observations that I have made, I also conducted my experiment within the visit. My experiment that I chose to do within this visit was to see if there are more aquatic consumers in the calmer waters than in the rougher waters of the stream. The procedure I ended up doing was very simple, all I had to do was to see if there was a small amount of life near the calm waters, and if there was no life in the rougher waters. I found this a convenient way to test my experiment because of how there is very insignificant life within the stream that is visible, like mentioned earlier. Because of this, I looked for small amounts of life within the calmer waters, which I did by looking for, “plops in the water.” I ended up finding some; however, very small amounts. I then went over to an area with rougher waters. When I came to the area, I didn’t see any life, so instead of giving up and calling it a day, I actually went up close to the water. I ended up staring for about 5 minutes, and I saw no evidence of life in the current-like water. Also, when I state, “current-like waters,” and, “rough,” waters, I do not mean the areas where the current is so strong that it is very obvious to know that there is no life there. When I say,”rough,” and ,”current-like”, I mean that the water that I am observing is slightly being affected by the current.

After I realized that my experiment was a success, and that I was right about it, I made conclusions on why aquatic life is located near calmer waters. I came to simple and easy conclusions stating that fish, and other aquatic consumers most obviously like staying near waters where they won’t be, “swept away.” And rough, current-like waters most obviously are annoying waters to have to deal with. I then put myself into the, “shoes,”of a fish and asked myself, “Would I want to stay near waters where I would have to fight the currents 24/7 or live in calm waters where I can be free to roam.” The conclusion was that I would want to live near calm and, “nice,” waters. Beside that, I also thought of salmon and how they survive in streams. I realized that salmon have a lot more mass, and are more adapted to surviving current waters. Thinking of this lead me to the thought that the fish are too small and fragile in order to fight the current waters, and so they live in calm waters, which is one of my other conclusions.