PLANET ZIMBA
By Isabella Elizondo
P2
WELCOME TO
PLANET ZIMBA!
Info on our wonderful
planet!
 Day length: you will now be able to make use of more time! The
normal day length in planet Zimba is 27 hours.
 Year length: the year length is much much longer, as the orbit
around the planet’s sun is bigger. The year length holds 420 days,
with 60 weeks.
 Precipitation: as far as savannas go, the ecosystem in this planet is
very fertile, with lots of rain (around 50.8-127 cm a year)
 Temperature: thankfully the weather’s nice! This planet has a very
hot temperature almost year-round, with temperatures at
aproximatley 38º, and dropping down to -8º.
 Sunlight: there is a very probable chance that you will get a
sunburn in this planet! Lots of sunlight is received on planet Zimba
so bring a hat and sunscreen!
Geography
 Almost all of the land mass on planet Zimba is made up of
miles and miles of savanna. A savanna is a biome (type of
ecosystem) where most of it is taken up by grasses. The
land is mostly flat with a few hills here and there. There
are exactly three major rivers crisscrossing through the
land in Zimba. Those rivers make one big lake, and many
small rivers. In the months of late summer, fall and winter
the rivers dry a little, while in spring and early summer
they grow. The savanna in Zimba does not have many
trees, but does have a few of them sprinkled here and
there. There is only one major rain forest at the very hart of
the land where two of the three rivers connect, but the
parts where humans will be taken to live is on the savanna.
Scientific Biotic Factors Names
Animals:
Zebra = Equus Quagga
Giraffe = Giraffa camelopardalis
Slender horned gazelle = Gazella leptoceros
European harvest mouse = Micromys minutus
Termite = Macrotermes sp.
Plants:
American bison = Bison bison
Waxy caps = Hygrophorus favodiscus
Aardvark = Orycteropus afer
Blue Grama = Bouteloua gracilis
Lion = Panthera leo
Buffalo Grass = Bouteloua dactyloides
Striped hyena = Hyaena hyaena
Earthworm = Lumbricus terrestris Big bluestem = Andropogon gerardii
Little bluestem = Schizachyrium
Beetle = Heteronychus arator
scoparium
Egret = Casmerodius albus
Switchgrass = Panicum virgatum L.
Humans = Homo Sapien
Purple coneflower = Echina Cea Purpurea
Sakeroot = Liatris
African Savannah Animals
Lion
Zebra
Aardvark
Beetle
Termites
Striped Hyena
European Harvest Mouse Earthworm
African Savannah Plants
Blue Grama
Big bluestem
Little Bluestem
Buffalo Grass
Purple Coneflower
Switch grass
Snakeroot
Waxy Cap Fungi
nd
2
level consumers
st
1 level consumers
Producers
Decomposers
Biotic things
Symbiotic Relationships
For a species to survive in an ecosystem
there has to be a balance between
interactions with all animals. We cannot
just breed the animals ourselves because
then the ecosystem would collapse
when the animals are depending on us
and not doing the small everyday things
that make a savanna prosper.
Interactions
There are three types of interactions:
 Mutualism
 Commensalism
 Parasitism
(can be same species or different)
Mutualism: When two organisms (same
species or different) help each other
Commensalism: When one organism benefits
from an interaction, while the other one stays
the same.
Parasitism: When one organism is harmed.
The organism harmed is the host wile the one
harming is the parasite.
Interactions
Some examples of the interactions some of these animals will
be making are:
 Mutualism:
A bird on a buffalo eating the ticks of it, benefits both sides because the bird
gains a meal, and the buffalo gets rid of its ticks.
 Commensalism:
The egret follows around cattle. When the cattle moves, it scares off many
insects and sends them flying. The egret then eats them off the air. The one
benefiting is the egret, while the cattle is not affected in any way.
 Parasitism:
Ticks on a lion are an example of parasitism because the ticks get a meal off
the lion, while the lion is harmed with the bite,
Interactions
Some other types of interactions are:
 Predator
- Example:
 Pray

 Competition
The pray is the one being eaten, while the predator is the one
hunting/killing/eating the other.

A European field mouse is considered pray when it is eaten by an
ostrich.
A gazelle can also be considered pray when the lion is hunting it. the
gazelle does not necessarily need to be killed to be the pray (it survives)
but the lion is the predator because it hunts the gazelle to eat it.
In competition:

A pack of hyenas can be competing against a few lions for the right to
claim their territory.
They both want the territory, but only one can have it, so they compete by
fighting.
Sources

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/blue_grama-grass.htm

http://conservationgardenpark.org/plants/496/buffalo-grass/

http://seasonsflow.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/the-life-death-and-rebirth-of-ohios-prairies/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/3345023/American-switch-grass-How-to-grow.html

http://www.eeob.iastate.edu/research/iowagrasses/ornamental/SchizScopaOr.html

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/wildseed../purpleconeflower.html

http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/photos/13-plants-that-could-kill-you/whitesnakeroot

http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=bogr2

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=BODA2

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ANGE

http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SCSC

http://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/zebra
Sources

http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=pavi2

http://www.animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/giraffe/

http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/bison/bison.htm

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/animalbytes/animalia/eumetazoa/coelomates/deuterostomes/chordata/craniata/mammalia/artiodactyla/slenderhorned-gazelle.htm

http://www.waza.org/en/zoo/choose-a-species/invertebrates/insects-and-millipedes/macrotermes-sp.

http://www.opengroup.org/austin/aardvark/aardvark.html

http://www.waza.org/en/zoo/visit-the-zoo/rodents-and-hares/micromys-minutus

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/animalbytes/animalia/eumetazoa/coelomates/deuterostomes/chordata/craniata/mammalia/carnivora/african-lion.htm

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/10274/0

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_Earthworm_scientific_name#slide2

http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/plants/field-crops-and-pastures/broadacre-field-crops/integrated-pestmanagement/a-z-insect-pest-list/african-black-beetle
Sources
 http://www.timberhilloaksavanna.com/fungi/oak-savanna-fungithe-waxy-caps/
 http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE_IMG
&where-namesoup=Glutinous+Waxy+Cap&relnamesoup=matchphrase&title_tag=Glutinous+Waxy+Cap
 http://www.timberhilloaksavanna.com/fungi/oak-savanna-fungithe-waxy-caps/
 http://www.pitchcare.com.au/magazine/heteronychus-arator.html
 http://www.grahamowengallery.com/egrets/pages/Egret_dancing
_with_fish_jpg.htm
 http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/the-lionking/images/27847303/title/simbas-kingdom-photo