In Your Own Words ~ Informational Essays pg#3

The Mini-Habitat of the Tree

At Hidden Villa there is a huge forest. In the middle of the forest the trees are bigger because those trees are closer to the river. The trees in the middle are as big as apartments. The big trees in the forest of Hidden Villa provide a habitat to many animals.

The mini-habitat of the tree helps the animals that live there survive. The animals can find protection in their habitat of a tree. They can hide in the shadows of the redwood trees or in the bark of the redwood trees. They can also hide in the bushes next to the redwood trees. The animals need to hide from their predators like the coyote. The mini-habitat of a tree also gives animals food. The animals need food because if they don’t eat they will die. Some of the animals’ food grows next to the redwood tree. For example, the butterfly eats the nectar from the trillium that is next to the tree. Other animals, like the woodpecker, finds its food inside the tree.

There are different kinds of food chains in the mini-habitat of a tree. A food chain transforms energy to a plant, then to an animal that eats an animal. First of all a food chain is a kind of cycle that goes over and over again. One animal eats another animal that eats another animal. The cycle never ends because the same animal eats the same thing. A food chain always starts with a plant because nothing besides the plant can get energy from the sun. The energy from the sun helps the leaves make sugar from water and carbon dioxide. Next in the food chain comes an herbivore, which is a plant-eater. For example in the mini-habitat of the tree, a butterfly is an herbivore because it drinks the nectar of the trillium. After the herbivore comes the carnivore, which is a meat eater. The last thing in a food chain is a decomposer. A decomposer is an animal that eats a dead animal. Then after eating the animal, the decomposer decomposes it into soil. For example, a worm is a decomposer that lives under the soil near the roots of a redwood tree.

The squirrel is an herbivore that lives in the mini-habitat of a tree. The squirrel lives in this mini-habitat for many reasons. One reason is if there is bad weather, the squirrel gets in the tree trunk and gets protection from the sun, rain and wind. Another reason is if a predator like the coyote attacks the squirrel, then the squirrel will quickly climb the tree. The squirrel is saved from the coyote because the coyote was made for running, not climbing. There are a couple of reasons why the squirrel’s role is important to the forest community. The squirrel affects the other animals by eating all the nuts from the trees. Then the other animals that eat nuts like mice and deer will have a harder time finding nuts. It also affects the trees by planting their seeds somewhere else. When squirrels save their nuts for winter sometimes they forget where they left them and these seeds will start to grow.

As you can see, the tree is a good habitat for many animals.

~ By Salvador

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