Question

There is a decline in the elephant population in a specific area in Africa. You are an activist trying increase the elephant population. You are required to present a proposed solution to this problem. Create a proposal to solve this elephant problem. Please include the following: Background Information. (Describe the main biome where elephants are located; describe an ecosystem, and describe 4 other types of biomes) Name and discuss how elephants are threatened in Africa. (Research) Discuss how biodiversity can affect the increase and decline of the elephant population. Differentiate between the types of population growth models that can increase or decrease the elephant population. Discuss how community populations relate to your proposal.

Answer 1

Because of the length of this question, we cannot provide an in-depth answer to each part. However, we can still provide an overview that can help you start your research. This information is based on the facts of the World Wildlife Fund:

There are two main types of elephants in the world, African elephants and Asian elephants. African elephants are the largest of all species, and can be divided into savanna elephant and forest elephants. Therefore, these are the biomes in which these elephants exist (savanna and forest). Savannas are woodland-grasslands ecosystems that receive a lot of sun and are covered by sparse trees and grasses. Forests are wetter areas, with different levels of canopy and generally warm weather.

African elephants are threatened by two main factors. First, they are threatened by the activity of hunters and poachers who hunt them mainly for their tusks. The elephants, however, are also threatened by the loss of their habitat. The loss of territory forces them to enter into conflict with other groups, as their requirements for space, food and water are quite high.

One of the proposals that could help elephants would be dedicating a lot more space to their protection, and declaring this a protected natural reserve. Another strategy would be to provide better monitoring of these areas in order to decrease the risk of hunters.

Answer 2

Explanation:

The answer provided were sourced and summarised from various scientific articles as well as Wikipedia. Due to the depth of the information required from the question, further research should be done to exhaust the question asked and for a robust research paper.

The inclusion of all living things in a given habitat interacting with each other (biotic factors) as well as their non-living environment (abiotic factors) is called the ecosystem. The study of an ecosystem is called ecology. Examples include coral reef deserts, coniferous forest of taiga, tundra etc. Within an ecosystem, each organism has its own role which includes all its interaction with abiotic and biotic factors in the environment, this is referred to as an ecological niche. Based on their ecological contribution, each organism is categorised into methods of obtaining energy. Their categories include the autotrophs (they are the producers also called the photosynthetic organisms that manufacture their own food. They consist of green plants) and the heterotrophs (simply called the decomposers, they depend on the autotrophs for food).  

Different ecosystems are formed based on abiotic factors (rainfall, temperature etc) and the eco-interaction with living organism. This is known as a Biome and are the largest biotic units on earth because there can be various ecosystems within a biome. Unlike an ecosystem, living organisms in a biome do not have to interact and it is greatly influenced by climatic factors as well as latitudes. Biomes are categorised into two major groups by Kendeigh in 1961, namely; the terrestrial biomes (land-based) and the aquatic biomes (water based).

Terrestrial biomes are land based and include other sub-categories

• Chaparral Biome

• Temperate deciduous forest

• Alpine

• Tropical rainforest

• Tundra

• Grassland

• Desert

• Woodland

The aquatic biomes are water based and are further categorised into Freshwater, Marine, Wetlands, Coral reefs and Estuary Biomes.

Freshwater biomes contain low concentration of salt and includes the ponds, lakes, wetlands, rivers and streams. While the marine biome consists of water with high salt concentration and includes; the benthic, pelagic, abyssal, intertidal and neritic zones.  

The Biomes of Elephants  

Elephants belong to the terrestrial biome and are the largest mammal in the world. There are three recognised species namely; the African forest elephant, the African bush elephant and the Asian elephant. Their names are also based on their geographical distribution.  

Major threats to African elephants include the following;  

• illegal killing (also known as elephant poaching) either by hunters or for commercial trade,  

• increased loss of habitat which leads to disruption of ecosystems

• increased human population which leads to rapid depletion of land resources (also known as the human-elephant conflict)

• poverty which further provides an incentive for the sale of ivory

• human ignorance and greed  

• rise from the use of elephants for entertainment, as seen in the sudden rise of capture from the wild to the zoos.

• Climate change such as high temperatures which could in turn trigger droughts

Solutions

• Minimization of deforestation should be regulated. This would secure land space for elephants to roam and thrive.  

• Conservation of fodder for livestock to reduce competition between livestock and elephants and to also avoid encroachment. This can be achieved by land-use planning.

• Policies should be enforced to avoid killing elephants if crop raiding occurs. Other measures can be carried out instead of death sentences on the elephants.

• Law enforcement towards poachers