Problem

(1) Trophic Cascades in theSerengeti. Watch Dr. Cox's video on "What Rinderpest eradication taught us about the Serengeti", which can be found in the Instructor Insights folder for this week. Then address the following questions: (a) How did eradication of Rinderpest from East Africa increase both the tree and giraffe populations in the Serengeti? (b) How did eradication of Rinderpest from East Africa increase the population of predator species in the Serengeti? (c) What does this tell us about ecosystems?

(2) Shrinking Red Knots. Read two of the following three articles: Briggs (2016); Dussault (2016); Zimmer (2016). (A) In your own words summarize the basic story that the articles have in common. (B) Of the two articles you read, which of them do you prefer? Why?

(3) Biomes. The term "biome" is described in the textbook. For this topic, describe the biome where you grew up (or where you currently live). Identify your location, the biome of the region, and describe the major characteristics of that biome. Add enough detail and commentary from your own experience, so that your answer is 125 words or more. If you're really ambitious, you could consider looking up the "ecoregion". The EPA maintains information about that.

References.

Cox, J. F. (2017). What Rinderpest eradication taught us about the Serengeti. [Video]

Briggs, H. (2016, May 13). Shrinking bird pays the bill for Arctic warming.

Dussault, J. (2016, May 12). Climate change chould be shrinking these arctic birds. The Christian Science Monitor.

Zimmer, C. (2016, May 12). Climate change and the case of the shrinking red knots. The New York Times.