1. 4.15 Ecosystem Energy Audit
By Caleb Rank, Temperate Forest Ecosystem

2. Abiotic and Biotic Factors
Producers
Plants
Consumers
Animals
Decomposers
Fungi
Bacteria
Sunlight
Temperature
Rain
Weather

3. Energy Pyramid Tertiary Consumers/Predators (Bears, Lions, Humans)
6 Kilocalories per square meter per year.
Secondary Consumers/Predators (Coyotes, Foxes, Birds, Insects)
60 Kilocalories per square meter per year.
Primary Consumers/Herbivores (Elk, Deer, Birds, Mice, Insects)
600 Kilocalories per square meter per year.
Primary Producers (Trees, Shrubs, Bushes, Grass)
6,000 Kilocalories per square meter per year.
As can be seen in the pyramid above, plants hold about 6,000 kilocalories of energy every year. But, as you go higher in the food chain 10% of that energy is lost with each level, which can be seen in the pyramid. It starts with 6,000 but then drops to 600 then to 60 then finally to 6 Kilocalories per square meter per year. This energy is lost in many ways such as body heat.

4. Key Stone Species
There are many keystone species in a forest below are just a few.
Mountain Lions really only appear in forests up in the mountains but they still have a large affect in the area that they live. They affect where other predators live so they don’t cross the lions path. And they affect were birds like vultures fly because they want to follow the lion and eat off of the left over prey.
Bears also have a big affect. Like lions they help keep populations of other animals in control and because they also eat berries, they distribute seeds all over the forest.
The humming bird also has an affect on forest ecosystems. They carry seeds and distribute them through out the forest. But, they also pollinate flowers, grass, and trees when they drink the nectar from the flowers.
Right now these keystone species aren’t in very much trouble, but Lions and bears are both slowly decreasing in population from hunting, and logging. But luckily, the government (along with many other conservation acts) are trying to stop hunting in some areas, and are decreasing or ceasing the amount of logging in most forests.

5. Forest’s Carrying Capacity
An ecosystems carrying capacity is when the number of deaths match the number of births and the amount of individuals in a community neither increases or decreases.
Although, there are events that happen to an ecosystem that can throw that balance off.
Those events could be due to weather, addition of more predators, and also disease. .

6. Current and Future Changes
Current Changes
Future Changes
Currently human activities are immensely impacting the forests carrying capacity and biodiversity.
Logging, hunting, and pollution from industry are affecting the climate and the amount of land that the animals that live in the forests. It is also effecting the populations of certain animals like deer.
Also currently there is an epidemic in most of the pine forests in the mountain from pine beetles. Normally the trees would be able to expel the beetles before they did any damage, but with the current drought the trees are too weak to fight back against this insect.
Currently many things are being done in the government to prevent logging and hunt in most forests and also much is being done to make our industries cleaner and not put so many toxins into the atmosphere.
Also there is much being do to stop the pine beetle epidemic. But sadly there isn’t much that can be done.

7. Human activities effect on Forests
Since Mankind's use of coal, oil, and natural gasses are putting toxic chemicals into the air, many ecosystems; whether they are desserts, tropical forests, or mountain forests; are being affected and are dying off and changing. Luckily today’s world has seen the damage and are trying to fix it. But fixing several decades of damage will not be that easy. Especially since about half of the world doesn’t want to change and wants to do the same stuff as we have been doing before. But scientists are currently developing new clean ways to make power for industries to run and produce their goods.

8. Bibliography Google Search Google Images Answers.com
National Geographic
Wikipedia
biotic-factor-in-an-ecosystem
factors-of-a-forest
ogy