SCIENCE is life

Trunk of a Palm tree A variety of plants and animals live on and sometimes in a palm tree. The plants are epiphytes most of which live in humus and dusts which collects in the leaf bases of a palm tree. The animals are there because of these epiphytes or of the palm tree itself. A palm tree maybe divided into three regions, the crown, trunk and aerial parts of the roots. The common epiphytes found on palm trees are orchids (Diaphanthe, Bulbophyllum) figs, ferns, mosses. The animals found here are small animals like insects and spiders. You can get a soft copy of this book by sending me mail. ukponifueko@gmail.com.

Transect This records the distribution of plants along a line and is useful for showing changes in the vegetation of places like hillside, a pond etc Procedure. Get a long measuring tape or length of string marked at convenient intervals using a marker pen. This is laid along the selected line and every plant which touches it is recorded. Plants that do not actually touch it are ignored. The string is attached to 2m rule held apart.

Exponential curve (J curve) Exponential growth occurs when population doubles in each generation i.e there is constant birth and death rates and age structure and there there is no immigration or emigration. The growth rates continues to accelerates hence the J curve.

Hygroscopic water This is the water present in an air dry soil held tightly by soil solids at a suction pressure greater than 3.1 bar. This type of water cannot be removed by evapouration and roots of higher plants. Only microbial activities have been found to take place here.

Pioneer communities Intermediate or transitory communities Climax communities

Dry season (scarcity of water) Birds, Z ebras and B uffaloes migrate to other regions that have more water. Their hoofed feet allow them to travel great distances. Elephant deal with this animal shortage of water by tearing away the bark of baobab trees to get the water found in the trunks .      

Soil formation is divided into three stages: Rock weathering Mineralization and humification Formation of organo mineral complex