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The Olympic Rainforst was home to the Native Americans and was discovered by the first European settlements in the 1500s. It is located in the state of Washington in the Olympic Peninsula.
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This rainforest holds moderate temperatures with a range of 140 to 167 inches of rain a year. Abiotic factors include the mountains, rivers, lakes, freezing rain, earthquakes, windstorms, fires.
http://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/temperate-rain-forests.htm -
This was the largest earthquake ever recorded in Washiington history with a magnitude of 6.8. This earthquake caused severe ground effects including huge landslides, massive fissures in the ground, and a 9-meter-high geyser.
http://assets.pnsn.org/legacy_news/PRESS_RELEASES/northcascades.html -
Salmon play a vital role in the ecosystem. They help support appoximately 137 different species. (41 mammals, 89 birds, 5 reptiles, 2 different amphibians).
http://www.cfr.washington.edu/classes.esrm.201su/student%20presentation%20example.pdf -
Extractive industrives, particularly logging, drastically resulted in the decline of elk herds and reduced the number of salmon.
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Species that struggled from the decline of salmon include
Black Bears
Bald Eagles
Caspian tern
Harlequin duck
River Otters, and more
http://www.cfr.washington.edu/classes.esrm.201su/student%20presentation%20example.pdf -
(Plants growing on other plants) cover the forests. This includes mosses, spike mosses, ferns and lichens festoon tree trunks and branches.
http://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/temperate-rain-forests.htm -
President Roosevelt created this monument to protect the calving grounds and summer range of elk hers native to the area.
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In 1913, the Elwha River Dam was constucted. Over years, the dam caused erosion on the riverbeds and affected salmon habitat. Secondary Succession
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Otters were hunted off to extinction off the coast by the early 1900s, but a reintroduction in 1969 and 1970 began a recovery that continues today.
http://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/animals.htm -
At this point, more shade-tolerant herbs and shrubes werew able to grow, and they created a thick understory to the forst.
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Teritiary Consumers Predators - 9 kilocalories per square meter per year
Secondary Consumer Predatiors- 90 kilocalories
Primary Consumers- 900 kilocalories
Primary Producers: Trees, shrubs, ferns, grasses, flowers- 9000 kilocalories -
The banana slug is the second largest terrestial speices in the world. It reaches up to 9 inches lone. The banana slug is a decomposer and recycles leaves, droppings, and plant material into soil humus. The slug is preyed upon by raccoons, garter snakes, ducks, geese, and salamanders.
http://assets.pnsn.org/legacy_news/PRESS_RELEASES/northcascades.html -
The Salmonberry shrub is native to the west coast of North America and is a close relative to the rasberry. This berry has many uses, and is is eaten by birds, rodents, and bears.
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Removal of the Elwha River Dam this is planned to restore the rivers ecosystem and increase spawning grounds of salmon. This will bring restoration to all of the speicies that relied on the salmon for food.
http://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/elwha-ecosystem-restoration.htm -
Brooke Packer
Kodi Hayes
Colton Shipley
Blake Zimmerman
http://rhttp://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/environmentalfactors. rainforests.pwnet.org/4teachers/background.php http://www.exploringnature.org/db/detail.php?dbID=44&detID=590 http://www.wildernessclassroom.com/a-closer-look-at-temperate-rainforests/ http://olympicsnationalpark.wikispaces.com/Food+web+and+Trophic+levels http://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/elwha-ecosystem-restoration.htm
