The Fraser Fir (Abies fraseri) is a keystone species of the Spruce-Fir forests because the definition of a keystone species is “A keystone species is a plant or animal that plays a unique and crucial role in the way an ecosystem functions. Without keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether.” Given that the fraser fir is one of the dominant plant species in their environment without them the landscape and habitats of many animals would change. The fraser fir is the only fir endemic to the southern Appalachian Mountains. If all of the fraser firs were to vanish many species that use them as homes would be pushed out of their habitats of simply die off, animals such as the Carolina Flying Squirrel. A large factor in identifying the kind of fir forest is the kind of firs that inhabit the area, without the fraiser fir you cannot identify and area of the south appalachian mountains as a spruce fir forest, because of this you can see without the fraiser firs, the ecosystem that is the spruce-fir forest could not exist, thus fitting the definition of a keystone species. The absence of fraser firs in this ecosystem drastically changes the kind of inhabitants of the land as well as the landscape, this is why a Fraiser fir is the Keystone species of the spruce fir forests.
Fraser Firs are K-selected species. They produce many offspring through pollination, and they don’t and can’t care for them for obvious reasons.
Seed germination: 66%
Birth rate: 46%
The mountain forests also provides important ecosystem services, such are protection against natural hazards, carbon sequestration, and plant and animal biodiversity. This is really important since most of the spices are really sensative to their enverment
Type-I Survivorship curve for Fraser Fir (trees in general)
Growth Curve of Fraser Fir (trees in general)
The Diagram above is a interconnected food web that shows the aquatic mountain bog ecosystem and terrestrial spruce fir ecosystem.
*Key*
-Arrows lined with Red are terrestrial only interactions of energy transfer
-Arrows lined with Blue are aquatic only interactions of energy transfer.
-Arrows lined with Purple are interactions between the aquatic mountain bog ecosystem and the terrestrial spruce fir ecosystem.
-Producers: organisms that make their own nutrients (anything that performs photosynthesis)
-Primary/Secondary/Tertiary-Consumers: are organisms that consume other organisms to sustain themselves. Consumers are ranked in three catigories, which are based on the consumer's diet. (Consumers can be multiple exist in multiple levels. Example: Skunks eat berries, roots, insects and smaller rodents. making it both a secondary and primary consumer.)
--Primary: Animals that consume producers or decomposers.
--Secondary: Animals that consume Primary consumers.
--Tertiary: Animal that consumes secondary consumers.
-Decomposer: Organisms that consume dead producers and consumers, then decomposes the organism back into the environment.
All animals within the food web have a degrees of separation between each other. Some animals, like the Beaver, are primary consumers and are the key to the success of the ecosystem. Primary consumers are hunted by secondary and tertiary animals. many secondary and tertiary consumers hunt across multiple ecosystems. Ecosystems are interconnected, this interconnectedness is a balance that is delicate. The balance is easily shifted with the increase of human interaction.