A kangaroos diet consists of a varity of grasses and scrub bushes. If our food supply were to disappear, we would also disappear. This is called a limiting factor, which is something that prevents a population from growing. For a kangaroo, our limiting factors are seasonal wildfires, farmers, loss of food, loss of habitat and predators. We are hunted by both the farmers, because we drink from their water supplies and eat their crops. We live in a desert like biome, where we get less than 30" of rain a year, which is also a limiting factor.
In Australia, there are many different types of animal and plant species. Some are native species, the ones that were the original plants of the biome. Some are invasive, or non-native. The Maderia Vine, native to the rainforest in South America, has has traveled and slowly started to take over in the scrub forest. The vine is extremly strong and thick; eventually, the host will die off due to loss of food sources. The Red Imported Fire Ant has also been on the move, being introduced to Australia in 2001. This ant not only inflicts physical pain but also have a tendancy to build giant mounds. As they build the mounds, they also damage tree and scrub roots, causing the plants to die off. The ants also like to build their nests near crops, and slowly the crops will die. They reproduce quickly and although humans are trying to exterminate them, they are too quick.
The carrying capicity or the amount of life a biome is able to pertain. In the chaparral, the carrying capicity holds mostly herbivores. In order to calculate the carring capicity of an area, you would need to figure out the rate that an animal eats, the rate a plant grows, the amount of animals in an area and the amount of plants in an area. With this information, you can eventually figure it out! As a kangaroo, there isn't much need for math and, I haven't ever wanted to figure it out! Hehe.
I know that this may be a tad bit boring, but this part of my biome, my life!
-Hallie the 'Roo
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