SZ Tale 10 - Tundra

Last project for our zoo training before we finally become full fledged hatchlings... and mine is on Tundra. Shall share with you some parts of the presentation

Introduction

• Comes from the Finnish word tunturi, meaning treeless plain.
• Separated into 2 types: Arctic Tundra, Alpine Tundra
• Youngest ( 10000 years ago )
• Coldest of the biomes ( -40°C to 18°C )
• Simplest ( species and food chain )
• Darkest and brightest ( 24 hour darkness , 24 hour sunshine )
• Least inhabited by humans
• Most delicate ( first to reflect any change )

Food Web


The tundra food web is simple with a few numbers of tundra plants and animals. With fewer species, it is easy to disrupt this simplified equilibrium; the disappearance of one species could affect the entire ecosystem. Because of constant immigration and emigration, the population continually oscillates.

Undesirable Human Activities

1. Mining and drilling
   Popular in arctic tundra areas because they tend to be rich in mineral resources
2. Oil drilling
   Oil pollutes the ground and water and kills animals that come in contact with it. No plants or animals will return to an area where an oil spill has occurred for decades or even longer.
3. Global Warming
   Arctic tundra's winter will be shortened, melting snow cover and parts of the permafrost, which will result in the flooding of some coastal areas. Tundra being the most fragile biome it will be the first to reflect any change in the earth.

Need for Conservation - People
Livelihood of native (Inuit aka eskimo) affected. The inuit still inhabit these arctic regions. They survive by living off tundra animals.


Source: Greenlandholiday

Need for Conservation - Environment
The low production of the terrestrial ecosystems makes the Arctic tundra particularly sensitive to land degradation and erosion. Annual melting of the topsoil above the permafrost layer combined with damage to the vegetation cover by human activities can lead to erosion. This process is further exacerbated by slow vegetation regrowth.

Conservation Message

NLB Garden Walk

I love the library...
I love the nature..
Thus I cannot ... miss this NLB garden walk at all

NLB Garden walk tours are conducted every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month (except Public Holidays) from 4 pm to 5.30 pm in the National Library (near Bugis MRT).

I was there at the 1st Saturday of Sept mugging my zoo test when the guide came and advertise the tour. Thus I made up my mind to come back 2 weeks later to join the tour.

On that day, I thought it started at 4.30 pm and was taking my own sweet time to reach there. Luckily the moment I stepped into the library, they were just gathering. And they even gave some souvenirs to us, the participants. Considering the tour is free, it came as a shock to me. What impressed me more is the guide (I followed the English guide), because of how well prepared she is. I went to this walk partly to see how other guides conduct their tour (having been so impressed by the botanical garden tour guide) and I learnt a lot from her.

She started the tour by giving us each a list of the plants we can find in NLB and some books we can reference from. Afterall we are in the library so of course must publicise the books and encourage us to borrow haha. Then she started the touring around level 1.

Peacock Plant, Prayer Plant

I like this plant for its unique feature of being in a prayer position when the sun sets due to a knot in its stem, allowing it to "open" and "close". It is sensitive to sunlight, and its pattern is quite special. Oh and one can see such plant in the zoo too haha...

Young Frond

New leaves typically expand by the unrolling of a tight spiral called a crozier or fiddlehead. This uncurling of the leaf is termed circinate vernation. (Source: Wiki)

Giant Fish Tail Palm

I like this palm alot. Looks like fish tail right?

Taking a look at the view from the top... about the 5th level of NLB.. supposedly it should be a nice view but guess my camera was unable to capture it...


Umbrella Tree, Octopus Tree

Another cute plant ... seems like you can hide from the rain with this tree.

Bamboo

I always like the view at B1 with the bamboo trees outside. Now that I'm taking it top down, it looks just as lovely. At this point, the guys were all sharing the uses of bamboo... Oh ya they mentioned about bamboo flowers every 35-50 years and the flowers will attract the rats. This will cause the rat population to rise and rat infestation to happen where there might be a shortage in food after all the flowers are eaten. One of nature at work's phenomenon. Hmm you can read more about it here.

Sweet Paddle Plan, Sweet Prayer Plant

Similar to the prayer plant, it will "open" and "close" by the availability of light.

Peppermint

Always like peppermint plant... that minty feel...

Windowleaf Plant, Swiss Cheese Plant

Another plant that left a deep impression on me. Such holes allowed sunlight and rainwater through which will help those plants below it. And these natural holes are supposed to keep insects from eating it. The mentality is that when the insects see holes, they will feel that someone has eaten it and will not want to feast on it. Haha good disguise. More about it here.

Plants in your purse

The tour guide ended the tour by saying we carry plants in our purse too. I'm impressed by the laminated notes she made and the "props" (e.g. a bottle of figs - oh and she also mentioned the story of the wasp and fig which I heard in botanical garden then) she brought. She was also very nice.. came and tell me I can take a photo of this.. and was patiently holding it still for me to capture the shot. Really thank you so much. Unfortunately I did not catch her name then.

(Extra info about the National Library from the souvenir given)

The journey begins with Sir Stamford Raffles (1823), who had a vision to instill a library within the Singapore Institution so as to "collect the scattered literature and traditions of the country". The vision became a reality in 1844 with the establishment of a private library called the Singapore Library. The institution eventually evolved to an icon Singapore fondly remembered as the Stamford Road "red brick" building.

SZ Tale 09 - Fragile Forest Animals

While studying for the test and re-test, I fell in love with some animals/insects....

Tree kangaroo

Source: www.greenexpander.com

"They are solitary (except during breeding) and tend to ignore one another even when sharing the same tree."

• Found exclusively in the Huon Peninsula of Papua New Guinea and the nearby island of Umboi
• Endangered

Sidenote: A friend asked me for the difference between a kangaroo and a wallaby... Other than the fact that wallabies are smaller than kangaroos, there should be no other differences.

Tree Nymph or Rice Paper

Source: iodid.com

• Have only 4 legs as their forelegs are poorly developed some species forelegs have been reduced to a hairy cushion
• Caterpillar advertises their distasteful nature but using black and white stripes.
• Chrysalis of the butterfly is golden in colour, which represents sunlit dew drops hanging on the leaves in the morning.
• They are called Rice Paper butterflies as they float like a piece of paper in the wind.

Lucas's short-nosed fruit bat

Source: britannica.com

Unlike some bats, they do not echolocate. They rely on vision and olfaction to navigate and locate food.

Sidenote: Always am fascinated by bats since I wrote an article on them in my first homepage... sadly I lost the homepage already...

Love the habitats too...
The multi-storeyed rainforest of emergents, canopy, epiphytes, climbers, understory and forest floor
The strange looking mangrove which I came to love after understanding it better. I guess their first impression which includes their pungent smell puts people off. Human are so quick to judge hmm...
And I miss the coral reef... was taken out from the zoo.. wonder when they will bring it back.  No notes on it except that its survival is closely linked with the mangrove

Corals, which are combi-plant animal, depend on crystal clear water to photosynthesis and grow. Mangroves also neutralize nitrates and phosphates which would poison coral reefs. In return, the coral growth prevents huge waves from attacking the mangroves.

Sidenote: On 1st Oct, watched a documentary on coral reef in Kusu Island, talking about mutualism, communalism, and parasitism by Ms Glenda Chong. Very informative.. and makes me tempted to go to the Kusu Isle now... Hmm..

Anyway a lot of people had been asking me about my voluntary in the zoo.. well you can read more about it here @ www.szdocent.org
and my station is Fragile Forest! =D