# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
10,000 years ago, plants covered about 1/2 the earth's surface. Now they only cover less that 1/3. Many forests that have disappeared have regrown, but some are now lost forever. What happened to all...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
HCVF are the results of natural or semi-natural development of forest ecosystems, which could be driven by various disturbance mechanisms. However, some disturbances attributed to human agency (clearcutting, forest conversion) or even natural processes (stand-replacing fires) can lead to irreversible destruction of HCVF or particular high conservation value.

# data[].attributes.body
Thirty three percent of the country's land consists of forests. Climate change affects the growth of those forests and can impact their productivity. Warming from higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels can make growing seasons longer and cause some areas to experience more droughts. Warmer weather may also change the rate at which insect infestations, and cause destructive storms occur.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Value and Importance: - These forests are useful for humans in many ways. One way they are useful for us is that they are a very important source of timber for us, which helps support our economy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An ecology is a dense web of interaction and energy exchange, and to answer your question with any degree of rigour, we would need to understand the "start state" of the planet: mass, orbital [period, insolation (i.e. how much energy is available), details about the atmosphere and hydrosphere and much else besides.

Consider, for example if I threw Mars, Venus and Titan on the table. Each planet has wildly different conditions, and what would conceivably work on Mars will fail drastically on Venus or Titan.

In the most general case, what you will need is a broad and diverse "base" capable of collecting solar energy and converting it into feedstocks (much like plants convert solar energy, water and CO2 into Oxygen, starches and sugars). Already you see the issues; unless we know how much water, sunlight and atmospheric gasses are present, who do you calculate what is needed for the "base" of your ecology? The Atacama Desert of Chile, for example has plenty of sunlight, but has very limited water or fertile soil to support plant life, and it would take tens of thousands of years under these conditions to accumulate enough biomass to support any sort of large scale, vibrant ecology.

After the "base" is set, you can then use a general rule of thumb that each higher level of the ecology is 1/10 of the size of the lower level. A very simplified ecology would then be the amount of grasslands produces "x" biomass, which is fed on by .1X mass of herbivores, which is then preyed on by .01X mass of carnivores. The system is balanced by fungi and bacteria which break down the dead biomass and convert it back into organic matter in the soil, to restart the cycle. A more complete discussion is here.
very simplified model
Of course if you really want to get into the world building, then you can roll up your sleeves and look at this diagram:
http://www.pnas.org/content/100/4/1781/F1.expansion.html
So work out your starting assumptions (energy, water, atmosphere, temperature etc.) and then the rest can be worked out from there.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What keystone species would be necessary to create a sustainable ecosystem on a barren planet?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An ecology is a dense web of interaction and energy exchange, and to answer your question with any degree of rigour, we would need to understand the "start state" of the planet: mass, orbital [period, insolation (i.e. how much energy is available), details about the atmosphere and hydrosphere and much else besides.

# data[].attributes.body
One of the most popular predator in the Temperate Deciduous Forest is the Lynx. Also one of the animals that habitat the forest is the rabbit. The Lynx is the predator and the rabbit is the prey.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Snowshoe hare photo - Lepus americanus - G61724 | Arkive

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Snowshoe hare predated on by Canadian lynx - View amazing Snowshoe hare photos - Lepus americanus - on Arkive

# data[].attributes.body
The dogs supply protection and companionship and the humans provide food and shelter.  This is a Mutual relationship.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Humans and their pets have symbiotic relationships: we are rhinos and oxpeckers, clownfish and sea anemones. By and large we humans see ourselves as the dominant of the partnership. We do buy the food and carry around the crinkly plastic baggies after all. But just as there are times when a rhino wouldn't survive if his little bird friend didn't flit away when a predator approached, there are times when we would fall if not for our animals.

Most of us have heard the studies about how bonding with an animal will chemically improve our health. Simply being in the same room as our furry companion releases oxytocin in our brains - a chemical dubbed the companionship chemical by Neely Tucker on WNYC's Radiolab. Oxytocin makes us feel stable and connected to the world. In addition, pets are said to lower cholesterol, ease chronic pain, and boost the immune system. Who could say no to that? Pets benefit our health just by being there.

Over the eons humans have come to rely on our animals for more than just happy chemical stimulus. They are our allies. But when did it start? The oldest known domesticated dog, found in the Altai Mountains of Siberia, dates back 33,000 years.

Modern day dog lovers in therapy and wellness fields harken back to those early days of the human-canine bond by employing animals to rehabilitate people with substance abuse and social issues. While it's commonly accepted by rehabilitation specialists that having family support is vital to a patient's recovery, more and more programs are now seeing the benefit that a person's non-human family can have on recovery.

Wolf Connection, for example, pairs troubled youth with rescued wolves. One of the poignant aspects of the program is that the kids can draw parallels between their struggles and the struggles the wolves have faced to get to the sanctuary. Many were abandoned, mistreated, and neglected before being taken in. Canines, when not winning-over youth and recovering addicts, also work in other forms of social service: fighting crime, helping the blind, and alerting owners of an impending seizure, to name just a few.

Cats too are an ever-more-popular choice for companion animals. They're natural comforters and their purring can be especially calming to people with neurological disorders. Cat expert Franny Syufy recounts the story of Oscar, the cat who rules the third floor dementia ward of Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center:
Oscar has the almost mystical ability to sniff out patients who face imminent death, and he invariably stays with them until they have passed over. Often, Oscar will not leave a patient's bedside until someone arrives.
This anecdote reveals an aspect behind the successful symbiosis between humans and pets. We cannot ask our pets to provide the comfort and healing that they do, it's just who they are.

We don't make outrageous demands of one another; rather, we're allowed to be generous with each other. Extra belly rubs all around.

About the Author: Brooke Faulkner is a writer and animal lover in Portland, Oregon. Every time she walks around her neighborhood, her goal is to pet a rogue kitty. She rarely fails.

About The Author

Guest Contributor

Interested in guest blogging for Trupanion? Send an e-mail to socialmedia@trupanion.com with a brief bio and topic ideas. Learn more here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Service Animals: Symbiosis in Action - The Trupanion Blog

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Humans and their pets have symbiotic relationships: we are rhinos and oxpeckers, clownfish and sea anemones. By and large we humans see ourselves as the dominant of the partnership. We do buy the food and carry around the crinkly plastic baggies after all.

# data[].attributes.body
In the ocean, certain species, like shrimps and gobies, will clean fish. They remove parasites, dead tissue, and mucous. This is a Mutual relationship

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Generally speaking, it's not normal for one creature to crawl into the mouth of another. But in the underwater world, it's just another day at the office for this cleaner shrimp. Symbiotic relationships between marine creatures are fascinating to observe, and for some animals necessary to survive. Here are three examples of symbiotic sea life that you might see on your next dive:
Porcelain crabs, anemone fish and anemones
Sea anemones have powerful stinging tentacles that are toxic to most sea creatures, but not all. Anemones have developed a type of symbiotic relationship, known as mutualism, with two animals: porcelain crabs and anemone fish. Mutualism describes a relationship in which both organisms benefit each other. For the porcelain crab and the anemone fish (sometimes referred to as Nemo), the anemone provides shelter and protection. In return, the porcelain crab and anemone fish then keep anemones clean, and the anemone fish also helps lure prey to the anemone to make food easier to catch.
Barnacles and whales
Barnacles and whales have a different type of symbiotic relationship that is known as commensalism. Commensalism describes a situation where only one species benefits from the relationship without causing any significant harm to the other. In the case of barnacles and whales, it's the barnacles that benefit from the relationship. Barnacles feed by attaching themselves to a whale's belly or back, allowing the species to then eat microorganisms as the whale swims.
Cleaning stations
When certain marine creatures need a proper deep clean, they head to "cleaning stations." Cleaning stations represent another form of mutualism, and describe the sites where fish like certain wrasse, gobies and shrimps provide a service to other fish by removing dead skin and parasites. This prevents the host animal from becoming sick and allows the cleaner fish to get the nutrients they need.

We hope you've enjoyed reading about different types of symbiotic relationships underwater. To learn more, talkto your local PADI Dive Center or Resort about taking the PADI Underwater Naturalist Specialty course.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Generally speaking, it's not normal for one creature to crawl into the mouth of another. But in the underwater world, it's just another day at the office for this cleaner shrimp. Symbiotic relationships between marine creatures are fascinating to observe, and for some animals necessary to survive.

# data[].attributes.body
The relationship between cattle egrets and cattle.  The cattle egret will eat insects that have been disturbed when the cattle forage. This is a commensaliam relationship.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Cow Sorrounded By Cattle Egrets/cow Birds. Stock Photo - Image of symbiosis, ralationship: 70734244

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Cow sorrounded by cattle egrets/cow birds.. Photo about symbiosis, ralationship, life, bird, nature, agriculturalavian, tick, wildlife, grazer, partners, animals, domestic - 70734244

# data[].attributes.body
There aremany types of animals in the temperate deciduous forest such as white-tailed deers, snowy owl, and black bears.

The black bear is an animal that is well adapted for the temperate deciduous forest biome. It has a heavy coat made of many layers of fur to deal with the winter cold.

Black bears have long claws that help them to climb trees.This is an essential adaptation because black bears often live in hollowed trees.

Most of their diet is composed of plant material, so their long claws are useful to get their food from trees and shrubs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
K-Selected Species in Temperate Deciduous Forest

Characteristics: density-dependent: fewer offspring for better chance of survival, high energy investment in offspring, large young

Examples: American Black Bear, Red Fox, White Tailed Deer

R-Selected Species in Temperate Deciduous Forest

Characteristics: density-independent: many offspring for better chance of survival, low energy investment in offspring, small young

Examples: White Tailed Squirrel, Eastern Chipmunk, Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
K-Selected Species in Temperate Deciduous Forest Characteristics: density-dependent: fewer offspring for better chance of survival, high energy investment in offspring, large young Examples: American Black Bear, Red Fox, White Tailed Deer R-Selected Species in Temperate Deciduous Forest Characteristics: density-independent: many offspring for better chance of survival, low energy investment in offspring, small young Examples: White Tailed Squirrel, Eastern Chipmunk, Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa)

# data[].attributes.body
The deciduous forest has a great variety of plants. Most have three levels of plants. Lichen, moss, ferns, wildflowers and other small plants can be found on the forest floor.

The fern plant has adapted to the changing climate of the temperate biome by being able to survive better in dry air and soil. They are tough against drought and insufficient water supply.

The fern plant has adapted to being a primary source of food for animals and to constant battering through storms and infrequent fires that it can survive and regrow through all of these things as long as the rhizomes are safe .

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Producers in the Deciduous forests are: trees, and flowers/plants.

# data[].attributes.body
This biome could be found in many places such as United States, Canada, Europe, parts of Russia, China, and Japan.

The average climate of the deciduous forest is about 50 degrees F. The average annual temperature is 30 - 60 inches (75 - 150 cm).

The deciduous forest has landforms such as mountains, valleys, rolling hills, and flat plateaus.