The Value Of A Place

7 Pages 1835 Words

e. Apparently, the massive creature had fallen through the ice some time before and been trapped there, preserved by the frigid temperatures until a bear happened along and pulled the bison from the “freezer”. This, in turn, gave the closest wolf pack a chance for dinner. When they were finished dining, the ravens and eagles came to get their fill. A raven cannot eat unless one of the carnivores has already pierced the flesh of the animal. The raven’s beak is not designed to tear through the rough hide of an elk or bison. While the wolves are distracted, the coyotes are free to roam the nearby plains in search of grouse or mice or other such rodents which bury underground in winter. Everyone is fed, everyone is taken care of, and the cycles of Nature are preserved.
We have learned this semester of Biodiversity. Biodiversity is the food web, or food chain. The producers are at the bottom, creating the food for the elk or bison. They, in turn, are food for the wolves, bears and coyotes. When these carnivores die, their decaying carcasses seep back into the earth, the bacteria breaking...