The Fish and the Forest
Author: Scott M. Gende & Thomas P. Quinn
A: List the major ideas, concepts, or key points- point by point
B: Summarize the AUTHOR'S main point or idea- at LEAST 1-2 paragraphs
Believe it or not, bears are able to provide nutrients in the forest by the left over salmon they leave. Bears need nutrients during hibernation, so one of the species they go to are salmon. Salmon is very high in nutrients. When bears hunt for there food, they don't eat it right away because they don't want to be interfered, so they go out to the forest or into the stream before eating. When bears eat salmon, they only consume 25% of it with the highest fat content. The other 75% is then left on the ground where it later decomposes providing nutrients to plants and animals. Bears are able to fertilize the forest by leaving carcasses behind. With more bears we start to lose, the more nutrients the forest starts to lose.
C: Write a reaction paragraph to the article stating your own thoughts on the topic,using specific citations from the article to support your views
After reading this article I've learned that bears have a big impact on our environment. I never knew that the nutrients that the plants and animals in the forest get, are provided by the fish bears leave behind. I was also surprised that bears only eat 25% of the fish, and don't eat it on the spot since there afraid of other bears interfering. Bears are so important that sometimes helicopters and trucks will dump salmon just to provide nutrients. I would have guessed that the extinction of bears wouldn't have made any difference in our ecosystem, but I was wrong. Without bears there wouldn't be anything to provide nutrients to our forest. We should keep in mind, that salmon and bears are very important, and how are ecosystem would be unbalanced, if any were to be extinct.
So what?:
Says Who?:
What if...? Bears became extinct:
What does this remind me of?:
This reminds me of Tragedy of the Commons because like us bears need fish for food and nutrients, but if the fish population were to be extinct, bears would go hungry and wouldn't be able to provide nutrients to the forest
- Bears fertilize the forests by discarding partially eaten salmon carcasses
- Bears only eat 25% of each captured Salmon, selectively eating only the parts highest in fat content, such as eggs
- After the bears eat the small portion of the fish the rest of the carcass is abandoned
- The nutrients within the carcass are available to the plants and animals who wouldn't have gotten these nutrients
- To avoid interference bears carry their catch to the stream bank or into the stream side forest before eating
- Bears kill more salmon than they eat
- Bears have a bigger impact on the environment then we think
- In some areas that are low in salmon, have helicopters or trucks dumping salmon to provide nutrients
- Survival of bears depend on amount of fat deposited in late summer and fall
- With bears carrying the salmon to the stream side or forest and eating it there and leaving the carcass they help bring nutrients to plants that don't have access to it
B: Summarize the AUTHOR'S main point or idea- at LEAST 1-2 paragraphs
Believe it or not, bears are able to provide nutrients in the forest by the left over salmon they leave. Bears need nutrients during hibernation, so one of the species they go to are salmon. Salmon is very high in nutrients. When bears hunt for there food, they don't eat it right away because they don't want to be interfered, so they go out to the forest or into the stream before eating. When bears eat salmon, they only consume 25% of it with the highest fat content. The other 75% is then left on the ground where it later decomposes providing nutrients to plants and animals. Bears are able to fertilize the forest by leaving carcasses behind. With more bears we start to lose, the more nutrients the forest starts to lose.
C: Write a reaction paragraph to the article stating your own thoughts on the topic,using specific citations from the article to support your views
After reading this article I've learned that bears have a big impact on our environment. I never knew that the nutrients that the plants and animals in the forest get, are provided by the fish bears leave behind. I was also surprised that bears only eat 25% of the fish, and don't eat it on the spot since there afraid of other bears interfering. Bears are so important that sometimes helicopters and trucks will dump salmon just to provide nutrients. I would have guessed that the extinction of bears wouldn't have made any difference in our ecosystem, but I was wrong. Without bears there wouldn't be anything to provide nutrients to our forest. We should keep in mind, that salmon and bears are very important, and how are ecosystem would be unbalanced, if any were to be extinct.
So what?:
- Bears provide nutrients to our forest
- Salmon provide nutrients
- Bears leave behind left over salmon
- These nutrients provide for the plants and animals
Says Who?:
- Researchers
- Scientists
- Authors: Scott M. Gende & Thomas P. Quinn
What if...? Bears became extinct:
- There wouldn't be anything providing nutrients to the forest
- Plants & animals wouldn't receive any nutrients
- Some species would be extinct
What does this remind me of?:
This reminds me of Tragedy of the Commons because like us bears need fish for food and nutrients, but if the fish population were to be extinct, bears would go hungry and wouldn't be able to provide nutrients to the forest