The document discusses several topics related to black bears including: - Their habitat in temperate, arctic, and subtropical zones - Mating and birthing cycles from May-July and January-February - Factors that affect birth and death rates such as food sources, climate, and human hunting - Black bears' role as omnivores in the food chain and food webs - Techniques for sampling black bear populations like trapping and tagging

1. Riparian Zone Retreat and population studies Mark Kradel, BIO 2, Pd. 5.

3. Black bear, Ursus Americanus Living in primarily old growth areas and at a decent elevation they are well protected. Usually located in temperate zones, they have been seen in arctic zones and subtropical zones of Florida and Mexico They are omnivores primarily feasting on berries and nuts they will eat fish and scavenge for carcass and garbage.

4. Factors which Affect Birth Rate of Assigned Animal Mating occurs May-July Birth is giving between January and February A female begins mating begging at age 3-8 She can produce 2-3 cubs per liter She will mate every other year Some limiting factors are her weight prior to birth the food source and the climate in which she is giving birth in

5. Factors Which Affect the Death Rate of the Black Bear The only natural predator the black bear has is human due to hunting and expanding communities into there habitat They live 25-30 years in the wild and in captivity have been known to live longer which is unusual for an animal in captivity There is the dog tick, winter tick, and the tapeworm all affect and harm the black bear

6. Food Chain of Black Bear Producer Autotroph Primary Consumer Omnivore Secondary Consumer Carnivore Tertiary Consumer Omnivore

7. Food web of Assigned Organism Draw and explain a possible food web for your researched animal. Include description of the trophic level(s) in which each organism is found. Herbivore Producer Omnivore Carnivore Carnivore Producer Carnivore Herbivore Herbivore Omnivore Producer

8. Population sampling of black bear The sampling techniques they use is trapping bears when they are nesciences and tattooing them and tagging them Also during bear seasons they collect figures on the harvest

9. Stream Quality Data & Analysis The graph represents very good stream conditions The organisms that we want to find in a healthy stream is class 1 because they are pollution intolerant and as u can see by the graph we have a lot of class 1 organism. The next one is class 2 and these organisms can deal with some pollution in the water. Finally class 3 is the pollution tolerant and means the stream is unhealthy and thankfully we found 0 Like I said before class 1 intolerant to pollution, class 2 can deal with some pollution and class 3 live in polluted streams and thankfully we found 0 class 3 and a lot of class 1 organisms If the stream was polluted and contained a lot of class 3 organismsh than 1st my animal wouldn’t be able to eat the fish and 2nd all the animals that feed on the organisms in the stream are eaten by my animal and if they cant feed on the organisms then they will die and subsequently so will my animal

10. Water Testing Data & Analysis The ideal range for powdermill run is a neutral pH with cooler temperatures because that holds the most dissolved oxygen and you want little to know phosphates and nitrates because if you have those your stream quality and life will die I really don’t think I would matter where my animal the black bear is located whether it be a marsh stream or mine runoff it could survive due to the fact that its an omnivore and is also a scavenger but the ideal place for its habitat to be is near a healthy stream or river Turbidity of the water affects the predator prey relationship and how much dissolved oxygen the fish are getting you want a low turbidity and cooler tempatures to sustain the ecosystem

11. Soil Testing & Analysis The importance of pH potash phosphorous and nitrogen is important for the nourishment of the plants and that in turn helps with the riparian ecosystem with photosynthesis and providing dissolved oxygen to the streams You want a neutral pH so it don’t kill the plants and a medium amount of potash phosphorous and nitrogen to provide enough nourishment to the land and the plant so it can live It could damage the ecosystem by either not getting enough nourishment to the plants and they can produce energy and the die and some animals and other things that depend on them die or there is to much chemical and the plants and soil can not absorb them quick enough and will release the harmful chemicals possibly into the stream killing the stream life.

12. Positive and Negative Factors it could effect it by not providing enough nourishment for the black bear whether it be meat or vegetation to fruits and berries It could kill of the plants if there are to many chemicals in them and seeing as my animal is an omnivore then it would kill the plants like the berries that they eat and also since some of the animals my black bear eats are herbivores then they to would die and cause my animal to be malnourished some things that effect the riparian zone are AMD and farmland runoff which can damage the healthiness of the stream along with human impact also some positve things are that there is settling ponds to deal with AMD and filter out some of the harmful things it is now a low for farmers to have a buffer so the animals can not go into the stream and also some farmers are using concrete watering troughs. This effects my organism because now there will be more food for it to live off of and thrive seeing as there only real natural enemy is humans.

13. Conclusion that colder stream water holds more dissolved oxygen and acutall life than warmer water stream quality and the organisms in it I would like to research stream quality further

14. Works Cited LEO EnviroSci Inquiry is brought to you by LEO and the SERVIT Group at Lehigh University Copyright ©2000-2004 LEO and the SERVIT Group at Lehigh University. All rights reserved. http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/envirosci/enviroissue/amd/links/science1.html U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey URL: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclerunoff.html Page Contact Information: Howard Perlman Page Last Modified: Wednesday, 31-Mar-2010 09:27:46 EDT !