United Nation Questions:

Iceland

Chapter 3: Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work? 1. Describe a typical food web for your country. Icelands food web wo ld !o as followed and as "ll strated: #hytoplankton $ %ooplankton$ &"crofa na $ '"sh Herb"(ores $ Carn"(ores )mn"(ores

*+ What type of gross and net primary productivity is found in your country? Icelands ,## and -## are relat"(ely h"!h d e to the"r cons"derably lar!e a. at"c en("ronment/ and !eo!raph"c locat"on0 s rro nded by water+ Th s/ Iceland conta"ns nearly a plethora of prod cers as well as ener!y0 sers+ 3+ Describe some producers herbivores carnivores omnivores decomposers and scavengers in your country. #rod cers: phytoplankton/ 1ooplankton/ plants+ Herb"(ores: &anatee/ whales/ # ff"ns/ sk as/ and k"tt"wakes and some a. at"c l"fe Carn"(ores: h mans/ sharks/ f"sh/ Art"c 'o2/ #olar 3ears/ )mn"(ores: the Iceland"c sheep/ cattle/ ch"cken/ !oat/ the st rdy Iceland"c horse/ and the Iceland"c 4heepdo! h mans/ m"ce/ rats/ rabb"ts/ re"ndeer+ Decomposers: #hytoplankton+ 4ca(en!ers: 3"rds/ "nsects 5+ What are some of the human based effects on the ma!or nutrient cycles in your country? Altho !h Iceland "s a !lobal leader "n s sta"nab"l"ty/ h mans st"ll affect the water cycle and the n"tro!en cycle by poll t"n! the water and c tt"n! down trees+ The "ntrod ct"on of domest"c farm an"mals and E ropean crops alon! w"th "ntrod ced spec"es of plants/ an"mals and "nsects accelerated the destr ct"on of !rassland+ 6ap"d deforestat"on accelerated so"l eros"on by e2pos"n! so"ls to w"nd and water+ As a res lt/ 789 of Icelands forest and 589 of "ts so"l ha(e d"sappeared/ and :39 of the modern land s rface "s c rrently affected by so"l eros"on+ ". #re there any types of research being used to study its ecosystems in your country? ;es/ Iceland places !reat emphas"s on effect"(e mana!ement of f"sher"es and on sc"ent"f"c research on all the components of the mar"ne ecosystem+ As one of the lar!est "slands "n the world/ the ocean no only hea("ly "mpacts the nat"on econom"cally/ b t also d"rectly thro !h health+ 4ome nat"onal f"sher"es research "nst"t tes employ do1ens of sc"ent"sts/ almost all tra"ned "n class"cal f"sher"es b"olo!y and b"olo!"cal oceano!raphy+ In <7=>/ the &ar"ne 6esearch Inst"t te was establ"shed to deal w"th en("ronmental cond"t"ons/ !eolo!y/ and the ecolo!y of al!ae/ 1ooplankton/ f"sh lar(ae and benthos+ The &ar"ne 6eso rces 4ect"on also ndertakes research on the e2plo"ted stocks of f"sh/ cr staceans/ moll scs and mar"ne mammals+ The '"sher"es Ad("sory 4ect"on scr t"n"1es stock assessments and prepares formal ad("ce on the total allowable catch ?TAC@ and s sta"nable f"sh"n! strate!"es for the !o(ernment+