ITH
SCI/256
December 23, 2013
Dr. Santek
The Ecosystem Structure, Function, and Change of Oak Mountain State Park
Alabama is home some twenty state parks. They consist of natural springs, natural pockets, caverns, mountains, forests, waterfalls, and more. This essay will describe the major structural and functional dynamics of the Oak Mountain State Park ecosystem as well as discuss human affects to Oak Mountain’s cycling of matter, how knowledge of ecosystems can help in the management of this ecosystem, and the implications of specie interactions on the ecosystem.
Oak Mountain State Park is located just south of Birmingham Alabama. It has 9,940 acres and has over 50 miles of trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding. Oak Mountain’s ecosystem structure consists of different populations of species. Oak Mountain has two 85 acre lakes that house different populations of fish. It has a dense forest of long needle pines as well as other types of trees that provide a home to over a hundred different species of birds. Oak Mountain is also home to a number of mammals, reptiles, arachnids, insects, and plants too. All of these populations of species ultimately make up the community and the biotic factors of Oak Mountain’s ecosystem. The abiotic factors of Oak Mountain’s ecosystem are the temperature, water, soil composition, and sunlight. The average temperature in 2013 for Oak Mountain State Park was a high of 74 degrees and the low of 51 degrees. The average rainfall for Oak Mountain was 4.78 inches in 2013. The average sunlight for Oak Mountain in 2013 was 12.04 hours of sunlight a day. The average Humidity in 2013 was 76 percent. All of these biotic and abiotic factors are the major structural dynamics of Oak Mountain’s ecosystem. The functional dynamics of the ecosystem found in Oak Mountain State Park are to cycle energy, carbon, water, nitrogen, and phosphorus. The