Preeti Grover ENV 1020 Prof. Zarnoch Museum Assignment American Museum of Natural History Field Trip

Hall of Biodiversity 1. According to the information in hall, the disruption of ecosystem adversely affects food supplies and water quality and quantity. Damage to ecosystem can cause changes in disease ecology, leading to the emergence of rare and unknown diseases or the resurgence of diseases that were previously controlled. We also lost indicators of the ability of ecosystem to support life of all kinds, including human life, finally, living in a world lacking the beauty and tranquility inherent in diverse, intact ecosystems had profound effects on out mental health. 2. According to the information in the exhibit human population has exploded since the invention of agriculture and people are transforming the land for farming and the industrial revolution has increased the rate of expansion of cities, roads and manufacturing facilities. I agree that we need to preserve biodiversity as it makes up the structure of the ecosystem and habitats that support essential living resources, including wildlife, fisheries and forests. It also helps provide for basic human needs such as food, shelter and medicine. 3. Biome is a very large area on the earth’s surface with animals and plants adapting to their environment. Biomes are often defined by abiotic factors such as climate, geology, soils and vegetation. The nine Biomes are described in the Hall are Tropical Forests, Tropical Grassland and Savannas, Deserts, Island, Tundra, Temperate and Boreal Forests, Oceans, Freashwater Wetland, Rivers and Lakes, and Coral Reefs and Coastal Wetlands. 4. My favorite Biome is the Tropical Forests- Location- Near the equator in central and south America, parts of Africa and Asia. Characteristics: Hot, humid with equatorial climate and biggest biodiversity. Almost half of the world’s species (plants and animals) live there. The trees are mostly hardwood. Threats: 1. Ozone depletion at the north and South poles means stronger ultraviolet rays that will harm the tundra. 2. Oil spills can kill wildlife and significantly damage tundra ecosystem. 3. Buildings and Roads put heat and pressure on the permafrost, causing it to melt. Solutions: 1. Switch to alternative energy uses to minimize human-made global warming. 2. Establish protected areas and park reserves to restrict human influence. 3. Limit tourism and respect local cultures.

5. Threats to DZanga-Sangha is from commercial exploitation, illegal activities such as poaching and mining take place and also forest reserve is designed for multiple use where the pressure on the forest are intense. It also threatened by the human activities, overseas, corporation’s extracted timber and diamond, local people clear land for agriculture and use the forests for other basic needs. According to the exhibit, in the far southwestern corner of the central African Republican (CAR) between Cameroon and the Congo Republican lies a northern extension of the Congo Basin rainforest, the DS. Also to protect the ecosystem, the CAR govt. with support from the world wildlife fund us has established the D-Ndoki National park and DS dense forest reserve. The park is sheltered against human insects, and the forest reserve is a zone where limited use of the forest and the wildlife is allowed and it has legal protection from logging and hunting.

Felix M. Warburg Hall of New York State Environment 4. The chemical formula for water is H2O that contains two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen.

5. a) as the cold winter weather continues to cool the water, its temperature drops below 30 degree, so that the colder water is now the lightest and floats upon the surface and then its upper layer freezes at 32 degree so that an ice cover is formed which protects the lake from further stirring by the wind. b) Also as the weather becomes milder the upper water of the lake is warmed to more than 39 degree and again it becomes lighter than the colder water below

6. About 15000 years ago, in the Manhattan and the other 4 boroughs of New York city, American Indians practiced a primitive way of agriculture. Their principal crops, corns, beans and pumpkins required little or no equipment for their harvesting. The early farmers used hard tough woods for their relatively simple tools. 7. One method of soil conservation is the crop rotation in which several different crops grows in planned succession on the same field area one by another. It includes at least one soil conserving such as perennial hey. Soil conserving is important because it reduces the risk of soil erosion and run-off to nearby waters.

9. Humus is the organic component of soil that forms through the decomposition of leaves and other waste plant material by soil organisms. In the process of decay, complex carbohydrates and proteins are broken down into chemical substances which can be absorbed by the plant roots and then converted into food. Various organisms such as vertebrates, insects and fungi are instrumental in the process of decay. 10. Succession is the gradual change in composition, structure or architecture of vegetation over time. As one site succeeded each other as dominant powers the view of the landscape gradually changed from one rich resource to a complex geopolitical situation. 11. Wetlands are important because it provide economic, social and cultural benefits. It also reduces the negative impacts from storm damage and flooding and provides water purification, recharge groundwater and help stabilize the climate conditions. 12. The early farmers used hard, tough woods for their relatively simple tools. The plow, introduced from Europe, was sometimes tipped with metal to protect its point, and its sides were just beginning to develop a curve designed to turn the soil more efficiently. The harrow used to employ to break down the clods and the roller to even the seeds bed. 13. The settled agriculture became common in New York City in 1790 and according to the exhibit in hall it decline after 1870 when cultivating and harvesting was introduced and the other main reason was that farmers lost the top soil because of the rain on the steeper forests. 14. The soil plays an important role in the storage and distribution of the water that reaches to the trees. In the hydrological cycle water flows and runoff into the soil and storage of water in the soil is used in vegetation and the human activities. Human activities such as deforestation alter the water cycle and destroy the soil, which indirectly send back to human. 15. Preserve nature is a piece of land that is protected and managed in order to preserve a particular type of habitat and protect its endangered species. The ways we can preserve the land is by reducing the pollution on the earth as it is ruining our ecosystem and life cycle by affecting living and non living creatures.

The Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs 1. I chose to visit the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs that displays world’s largest collection of dinosaurs fossils that can be accessed through hundred of photos and renderings. The main attraction of the museum was Tyrannosaurs Rex (T-Rex), which was really huge and had a really long tail covering a large portion of the exhibit. 2. Yes. I would really go back to the museum again. There was many more exhibitions such as on marine life that I want to see.