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CRITTERS OF NORTH IDAHO Getting acquainted with our flora and fauna

| April 17, 2018 1:00 AM

This new column will appear monthly in The Press.

By CHRISTIAN RYAN

Special to The Press

When you look at the deserts of Utah, the hot swamps of Florida, or the mountains, forests and lakes of North Idaho, it’s easy to see the landscape for what it is. A forest. A lake. A mountain. A river. Each region is full of animals and plants living out their lives in the wilderness. But take a closer look at these regions and you’ll see not just a random collection of organisms, but a functioning community.

Take a look at any collection of people, whether it is as small as a village or as large as a city. Instead of seeing random people doing random things with their lives, you’ll be quick to notice that everyone has a role to play to keep the community functional. There are people who govern, people who buy, sell and pay taxes, people who use money gained from taxes to repair roads, build new houses and other buildings, and there are people who protect citizens from individuals wanting to do them harm. As we’ve gotten used to the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we often take this sense of community for granted; but take a step back and you’ll see just how important it is for us.

Functioning communities aren’t unique to humans however, as the natural world also benefits from every organism fulfilling a specific role. We call these natural communities “ecosystems,” which Merriam Webster defines as: “the complex of a community of organisms and its environment functioning as an ecological unit.” Just like human communities, different animals and plants fill different roles in an ecosystem. One of the best ways to see this in action is to look at a food web. Are you familiar with a food chain, “a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food?” (Merriam Webster) A food web is similar, except that it connects multiple food chains to create a clearer picture of each organism’s role in the environment.

Let’s illustrate this point using the coniferous (or pine tree) forest ecosystem of North Idaho. There are five basic levels of a food web: Decomposer, Producer, Primary Consumer, Secondary Consumer and Tertiary Consumer.

Producers are organisms that produce their own energy. Plants like grass, ferns, shrubs, moss and trees are all producers because they use carbon dioxide and sunlight to create their own energy. These organisms provide homes and a food source for organisms of the next level of the food web: Primary Consumers.

Primary Consumers are the first organisms in the food web that consume other organisms to gain energy. Animals like deer, groundhogs, chipmunks and moose (or is it “meese”?) keep the growth of plants from overwhelming the ecosystem by consuming them. Primary Consumers are in turn eaten by the Secondary and Tertiary Consumers, creatures like foxes, fishers (a weasel-like mammal), skunks, woodpeckers, wolves and lynxes.

If it weren’t for Secondary and Tertiary Consumers, plant-eating deer, chipmunks and other animals would grow so numerous that they would eat all of the available food, causing extinction of both the plants they depend on and themselves. But the Tertiary and Secondary Consumers aren’t the end of the line, for when they die, the fifth level of the food web benefits. These are the Decomposers, and organisms that fill this level include worms, mushrooms and fungus. Their responsibility is to break down other animals and plants when they die, preventing filthy carcasses from overfilling the forest floor and bringing nutrients back into the soil. These nutrients provide growth for Producers and the cycle starts all over again.

In ecosystems all over the natural world, hosts of animals and plants are filling various roles to make their community run smoothly and efficiently as possible. Keep this in mind as we delve into the natural world and learn about the roles amazing animals and plants play in the world around us.

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Christian Ryan is a newcomer to North Idaho and an animal enthusiast. Email: animaladventures1314@gmail.com