| Assignment 4: | Ecology | | Jason Hall | 12/2/2012 |
SCI 110
Professor Brian Mccann

Assignment 4: Ecology

I live in the Common Wealth of Kentucky. Kentucky is part of the temperate deciduous forest biome. This biome is found primarily in eastern North America. The average amount of rainfall per year is between 30-40 inches and rainfall occurs throughout the year. The pre-dominate plants in the region are large trees which lose their leaves during the fall. These trees are deciduous, hence the name temperate deciduous forest biome. The climate in Scott County, Ky (the specific county where I live) is in zone 6 according to the Department of Agriculture’s plant hardiness zone map (USDA, 2012). This means that the vegetation natural to this region can live in temperatures between -10 and 105 degrees Fahrenheit. In Scott County, the amount of precipitation generally decreases in January and steadily increases until July, when it then remains relatively constant (Bush, 2011). Kentucky is made up of seven ecological regions, known as ecoregions. Scott County is part of the Inner Bluegrass ecoregion. The land in this region varies from nearly level to rolling hills. It also contains areas of deep, forested gorges along the Kentucky and Dix Rivers (EPA, 2012). The Inner Bluegrass is underlain with Limestone, which is used throughout the region. Thoroughbred horse farms, cattle grazing, tobacco and alfalfa are common land uses in this region. In fact, Lexington (very near Scott County) is known as the “Horse Capital of the World”. In Scott County, there are 221 native and non-native animal species, according to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (Schenk, 2011). Of the 221 species, 6 are listed as endangered or threatened by the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife. These species are; the Gray Bat, Icebox Cave Beetle, Arctic Peregrine Falcon, Vesper Sparrow, Tubercled Blossom, and Purple Cat’s Paw Pearlymussel (Schenk, 2012). Industrialization has already greatly affected the environment of all the animal species in Scott County. The Kentucky State Data Center projects that the citizen population will increase by 44% by 2050 (Cooper, 2012). This will likely increase the housing demand in the region. The increase in demand will cause pressure to the rural areas of the county as more land will be needed for housing. The demographics of human population have changed dramatically for Scott County. In the 1980’s the county grew as a typical satellite county to the much larger county of Fayette. This changed when Toyota Motor Manufacturing of America, chose Georgetown (the largest city in Scott County), as its location to build its first manufacturing plant outside of Japan. The plant began automobile production in 1988 (Hisle, 2011). From 1990 to 2000 Scott County showed the highest growth rate of any county in the state, increasing 34.7%. This increase has led to an increase in housing as well as industrial zoned land. In addition, Scott County has one high school, an alternative learning center, three middle schools and five elementary schools in order to teach the many children that populate this county.
One of the specific factors that distinguish Scott County’s ecology and environment is the climate changes due to greenhouse gases. Kentucky’s greenhouse gas emissions rose 34% from 1990-2005 while national emissions only rose 16% (Bush, 2011). The excess greenhouse gas is partly because of the high use of coal. Kentucky produces much of its own coal, because of the availability and the low cost; coal is one of the most used energy source in the state. Extra greenhouse gas does have a negative impact to include stronger, more frequent storms, with higher levels of precipitation. In addition, the time between these storms will decrease which could cause a higher likeliness of flooding in this region. Kentucky has some very interesting geology throughout the state. The Cincinnati Arch formation occurred when faults between Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio collided. The oldest layers pushed to the surface. Erosion and weathering have exposed layers of shale and limestone bedrock that once was buried deep below the ocean floor (Capitena, 2011). The Cincinnati Arch is the reason there is such a difference between the northern and southern parts of the state. Interestingly, Scott County is one of the counties that is almost split in half with two different ecological regions. Areas such as Natural Bridge to the northern part of the state show the beautiful limestone and karsts deposits. To the south of the state, there are many caves. In fact, one of the longest caves, Mammoth Cave is found in south/ central Kentucky. The ecosystem of Scott County has been relatively stable with the exception of the extreme population growth since the 1990’s. I don’t believe that this growth has been any more extreme than in many other parts of the world. I believe that global warming has affected Scott County, and because it is a lower lying region, it is prone to flooding. This may happen more frequently in the future. This however, will begin to happen in all parts of the world, not just Scott County. In the end, the ecosystem of Scott County is something that I believe will be relatively stable, at least in the foreseeable future.

References:
Bush, E. (2011). Climate. In Scott County: Looking Forward 2011. Lexington: University of Kentucky
Capitina. (2011). Geology + Soils. In Scott County: Looking Forward 2011. Lexington: University of Kentucky
Cooper. (2011). Landscape Challenge. In Scott County: Looking Forward 2011. Lexington: University of Kentucky
EPA (2012). Ecoregions of Kentucky: EPA. The Encyclopedia of Earth. Retrieved from http://www.eoearth.org/article/Ecoregions_of_Kentucky_%28EPA%29
Hisl, M. (2011). Demographics. In Scott County: Looking Forward 2011. Lexington: University of Kentucky
Schenk, B. (2011). Fauna. In Scott County: Looking Forward 2011. Lexington: University of Kentucky
USDA (2012). USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Agricultural Research Service. Retrieved from http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/