Louisa's+Arnold+Arboretum+Forest+Ecosystem

__**Introduction**__
In the following sentences, I will explain and describe the wonderful thing called the forest ecosystem. My name is Louisa, and I go to the [|Amigos School] in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We have gone to many ecosystems on field trips and experienced the amazing biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) things in each. I felt I learned the most when I went to the [|Arnold Arboretum], a forest ecosystem. So, I am writing this wiki to teach the world about the organisms in this ecosystem. When you are done reading this wiki, you will be amazed at everything that can live in a single area and how every organism depends on another.

__**Abiotic Life**__
It was an extraordinary day, when we got to see our first real [|ecosystem].We took the school bus to the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, MA. As you can imagine, soil is a very important abiotic part of the forest ecosystem. Many of the biotic things depend on it. There were many rocks of various sizes hidden in the soil. As we walked along the paths, I saw a few little streams. We live in a temperate zone, so, naturally, it was not very hot or cold. When we got to the arboretum, there was a light breeze. It was 73 degrees, and a bit cloudy, so we were afraid it would rain. With the time we had before it started to sprinkle, our teacher gave us loupes, hand lenses, books, and other identification keys to study the ecosystem. The sun shone brightly over the forest and its inhabitants for a memorable amount of time before the ugly clouds came and made the forest ecosystem world a darker place. There were few artificial things at the arboretum. They were, wooden bridges, asphalt roads, identification tags for the trees, stonewalls, flags, a gate and a few other things.

__**Biotic Life**__
We went to the arboretum looking for a pyramid. Ha, ha! In a forest ecosystem, there are not only abiotic things, but biotic things too. These biotic things are actually living organisms, which form a food web and energy pyramid. The sun is on the base of the pyramid. All energy starts with the sun. The producers, which go on the next level of the energy pyramid are, grass, red berries the size of your fingernail, and clover, a green plant with 3 leaves that is usually known as a weed. There are also ferns, which look like fans made out of many, many fronds. Trees, another producer were towering over us while wildflowers, which with their various colors form one of the bright parts of the area were scattered below us. Next there was vegetable matter, which is basically just any kind of plant, vegetable, fruit, etc… Lichen is partly a producer.

The next level of the energy pyramid is the primary consumers, or herbivores. One of these is bees, insects with wings and a yellow and black body, who are best known for stinging people and making honey. Also, there are crickets, rabbits, butterflies, other insects, moths, flies, mice, squirrels, turkeys, chipmunks, and maybe deer.

The next level of the pyramid is secondary consumers, or omnivores. This level consists of groundhogs, turtles, robins, raccoons, frogs, and opossums. Skunk, a mammal that's black and white who's best known for creating a horrible stench is an omnivore too. Though there are no bears at the arboretum, they are still part of some forest ecosystems.

The last level of the pyramid is tertiary consumers, or carnivores. These are snakes, owls, red tailed hawks, weasels, coyotes, and maybe red foxes. Spiders, tiny arachnids with eight legs are carnivores too. Most spiders are known for poisoning people or making webs. Bobcats were not at the arboretum, but they are still part of some forest ecosystems.

There are decomposers on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th levels of the pyramid, since decomposers get energy from any dead organisms. On some pyramids, however, the decomposers are on a level between the sun and producers. These decomposers are round worms who have long wriggling bodies the color of soil, snails, slimy things that look like slugs in a shell, and mushrooms, a type of fungi that grows above ground level. Finally, there are bacteria, fungi, moss, and mold. Lichen is partly a decomposer.

This pyramid gets narrower as it gets higher because the organisms lose the sun’s energy as it gets past from one organism to another. You can see heat coming out of the pyramid to show how the energy gets lost as it goes up the pyramid.

**__Conclusion__**
My topic is the forest ecosystem at the Arnold Arboretum. Here I learned the importance of one single tree – so many things depend on it. I also learned that there are much more organisms than I had originally thought. There are animals in the soil that you can’t see. There are organisms in the trees. Also I learned how important it is not to litter – not even apple cores – although they decompose. It ruins the beautiful ecosystem. Next time you go to a forest don’t play – observe!!

Click here to see the History and Geography of the Arnold Arboretum in spanish.