Name: Reticulated Giraffe
Scientific Name: Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata Interdependence: According to blankparkzoo.com, giraffes live in herds. As you can see in picture A, these herds consist of many giraffes- up to about forty animals in a single herd. Giraffes are usually found in savannas, especially those that have acacia trees as this is the type of plant they typically eat. However, because of their height, giraffes can adapt to many different types of woodlands with tall plants to eat from. There are few predators to the reticulated giraffe, however one common predator would be a lion. According to bioweb.uwlax.edu, while adults aren’t killed too often thanks to their tall stature, half the number of a mother’s calves will be killed in a year. Another predator to giraffes is the crocodile, which often attacks only the calves when they are drinking from a body of water as the adults are very tall and intimidating. Flow of Energy: The food chain that includes giraffes is shown in picture B. As you can see, the leaves and plant life that giraffes consume are at the bottom. This plant life again often includes leaves from the acacia tree. Giraffes are next, in the middle of the chain,or, a pyramid. Lions are then at the top at they are known to be the giraffe’s biggest and most dangerous predator. The nutrient cycle is very important to giraffes because they are herbivores. Therefore, without the nutrient cycle, giraffes could not survive because plants would not be able to grow. Succession: Succession is defined by britannica.com as “the process by which the structure of a biological community evolves over time”. The two types of succession, primary and secondary, make many different species of environments-many species with lots of variation. This effects the environment as it changes how the ecosystem looks and its contents as well. The changes are often due to species in the environment, and then the changes in the environment then change the species. Changes have somewhat affected giraffes over time, however, it has been said that giraffes get their long necks from needing to reach higher when lower food is scarce. This theory has little evidence to back it up and many articles have shown studies that longer necks are preferred in sexual selection and therefore are more often the males that females choose to reproduce with. Human Impact: According to Peter Williams, a contributor on eHow.com, the population of the reticulated giraffe has unfortunately been dwindling. Often times people will hunt the animal for not only the hair and skin, but its’ meat as well. Many woodland habitats that are home to these giraffes have been destroyed as well. This leaves the giraffes homeless and without a place to go, the giraffes are often not able to survive which is taking a toll on this subspecies’ population. Plant Adaptions: As the savanna, where many reticulated giraffes live, is very hot and dry, plant life often has to adapt to droughts. According to pugentsound.edu, savannas have large variations of different types of vegetation. Many types of trees have different types of growth that depend on the rainfall, but the roots can still grow and thrive on little amounts of water which is definitely something a reticulated giraffe would have to depend on. Other trees in the savanna have also grown fire-resistant bark as annual fires are prevalent. There are also many other plants in the savanna, bulbs for example, which have organs that store water during the dry season. Physical and Behavioral Adaptions: Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s theory, as seen in Picture C, described the evolution of giraffes as the species needing to reach higher for food, as it was scarce on the ground, and so they basically stretched their necks and overtime they grew larger to reach higher. However, this theory again has little proof. A number of theories have been created for why the giraffe’s neck is so large and the most logical would have to be that longer necks are more desirable in sexual selection of giraffes. Since the longer necks are more favorable, they mate and the longer necks are passed down. Whichever theory is the correct one, it is important to remember that the current sizes of giraffe necks are from decades of evolution and could not have been reached in a single giraffe’s lifetime-especially as giraffes live only about twenty-five years. |
Picture APicture BPicture C |