The Bosque Background Jobs in Biology Glossary Home

Common plants are the Rio Grande, or valley cottonwood, Russian olive, four-winged salt bush, willows and salt cedar. Animals include ducks, muskrats, beavers, skunks, roadrunners, and various mice and other mammals such as coyotes. The community of plants and animals and the physical and chemical environment with which it interacts is called an ecosystem. This ecosystem makes up the unique environment that is the bosque.

Many native cottonwood and willow areas have been taken over by newer immigrant plants such as Russian olives, Chinese elms, and tamarisk. These new plants do not rely on spring flooding for their reproduction. Dams and flood control structures do not allow the flooding that helps cottonwood seeds to grow. Cottonwood forests are dying. Today, new cottonwood trees are rare. Non-native plants or animals that are brought into an ecosystem by humans either accidentally or on purpose are called "introduced species."

The plants and animals that live in the bosque ultimately die and decompose and form the litter that supports the food web. Animals that feed on dead animals are called scavengers. The plants and animals that die decompose because bacteria and fungi feed on dead plants and animals resulting in simpler substances. Insects and other animals without backbones (invertebrates) feed on the litter. The connections between organisms in an ecosystem that shows what eats what is called the food web. The energy from sunlight is passed from producers (green plants) to consumers (animals that eat plants to animals that eat other animals). Decomposers are part of a community of plants and animals that eat dead plants, animals, or other organic matter.

There are some plants and animals that live on or in other plants or animals ard are called parasites. A flea or tick that lives on a coyote is a parasite. The coyote is called the host. A predator is an animal such as a coyote that devours other animals, such as birds, or small mammals, such as mice. The animals that are devoured are called the prey.

There are about 20 plants and animals in the bosque that are endangered or threatened with extinction. A plant or animal is called "endangered" if it is in danger of going extinct. The continued health of other species such as the Rio Grande Cottonwood is of concern. The variety of plants and animals in an ecosystem is called the biodiversity. Biodiversity is important for the continued health of an ecosystem. Sustainable development is linked to the health and diversity of the plants and animals.

Jobs in Biology
There are numerous jobs in the life sciences. One can work as a forester, ecologist, expert on sensitive species, including threatened and endangered species. The are life science jobs as teachers and in hospitals as medical technologists. The city, county, state, and Federal Government also have numerous jobs for people with training in biology.

Glossary

Biodiversity [Back]	The variability among living organisms from all sources, including land based and aquatic ecosystems, and the ecosystems of which they are part. These include diversity within between species, and of ecosystems. Diversity is the key to ensuring the continuance of life on Earth. It is also a fundamental requirement for adaptation and survival and continued evolution of species.
Consumers [Back]	These are plant eating animals or animals that eat other animals.
Decomposers [Back]	The organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break down dead plants and animals in the forest litter. Everything that lives in the bosque ultimately dies and decomposes.
Ecosystem [Back]	A community of plants and animals existing in an environment that supplies them with water, air, and other elements they need for life.
Environment [Back]	The complex set of physical, geographic, biological, social, cultural and political conditions that surround an individual or organism and that ultimately determines its form and nature of its survival.
Food web [Back]	The connections between organisms in an ecosystem that shows what eats what.
Host [Back]	A living plant or animal that provides food or lodging to a parasite.
Parasite [Back]	An organism that gains its nourishment at the expense of another.
Predator [Back]	An animal that devours or destroys other animals.
Prey [Back]	An animal taken by a predator as food.
Producers [Back]	These are plants such as the cottonwood that make their own food using energy from the sun.
Riparian areas [Back]	These are the green, vegetated areas on each side of streams and rivers. Both animals and people are drawn to the water, especially in arid regions of the West. These popular areas become quickly degraded when overused, resulting in erosion and water pollution. Communities must balance the uses of these fragile areas in order to protect them for future generations.
Scavenger [Back]	An animal that feeds on dead animals.
Sustainable development [Back]	Development that meets the needs of the people today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Watershed [Back]	The specific land area that drains water into a river system or other body of water.

Note:   Lesson plan for 5th grade students, the relationship between living things and their environment relates to APS Standard 1 Life Sciences Worksheet