I am part of an Inquiry based learning class in my high school in British Columbia.

KEYSTONE SPECIES

A keystone species are plants and animals that play a special role in the ecosystem. Without them, the ecosystem will not function. There are two kinds of species, native and invasive species.

NATIVE SPECIES

Native species are animals that are from BC and that have not been introduced in our land.

INVASIVE SPECIES

Invasive species are animals that are not from BC and was or will be introduced in our land. They steal food and shelter and have the potential to harm people and our ecosystem.

BEES

Bees are a type of keystone species native to BC. The honey bees has been around for millions of years and are environmentally friendly and are vital as pollinators. The leader of the bees is the Queen bee. She makes 2500 eggs per day. Unfortunately, the bees' lifespan is 5 to 6 weeks. Bees can fly 25 kilometers hourly and they are the only insects that makes food for people to eat. It is estimated that 1100 honeybee stings are fatal and bees can't sleep at all. Sadly since 2006, Bees have been disappearing due to CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder). Neonicotinoids are a type of pesticide that harms honeybees and their colonies.

Bees are important because they keep our plants, trees and flowers alive by pollination. (IN HAWTHORNE PARK, THEY POLLINATE HAWTHORNE GARDENS AND ALSO THE FOREST.)

Bees live in hives.

They make honey not just for us but for themselves that costs double the millions of dollars.

If Bees were to go extinct then Flowers and Plants would die because they need pollination and there will be no honey left and there will be no animals because they eat flowers and plants and Herbivores will have no food and if there's no herbivores, then the Carnivores will have no food because they eat herbivores.

In English, no bees=no flowers=no herbivores=no carnivores=no earth.

COYOTES

Even though they are dangerous, they are still a keystone species. Sure, they eat animals, but the small animals were small predators. That's right. Coyotes keeps the small predator population in check. But if the coyotes are extinct, then small predators like rats will invade our homes and raid our food and then the humans will die due to starvation.

If the coyote die, then the birds will be eaten due to the small predator population.

Coyotes are a keystone species because they eat small predators like foxes, cats, opossums and raccoon

FUN FACTS ABOUT COYOTES

DID YOU KNOW... Coyotes live in deserts in Canada? DID YOU KNOW... Coyotes are neither carnivores nor herbivores but omnivores? DID YOU KNOW... Coyotes are really REALLY fast? They run 40 miles hourly. DID YOU KNOW... Male Coyotes go 100 miles every time their home is overpopulated

BALD EAGLE

The coyote is not the only one that keeps the small predator population in check, there is lots of animals, like the Bald Eagle The Bald Eagle swoops down and eats fish, rats, etc. It lives in all sorts of places. California, Florida, New Found land, Alaska, etc. Bald Eagles chase other bird predators like Osprey, Gulls, Ravens and Hawks.

FACTS ABOUT THE BALD EAGLE

The Bald Eagle is about 7 ft. tall. The Bald Eagle is not really bald, It called "Bald Eagle" because of it's white head, questioning people if The Bald Eagle is bald. The Bald Eagle live in all sorts of places, mostly at North America because they live in waterways, oceans, lakes, etc. The Bald Eagle can live up to 30-40 years, Native or Invasive. The Bald Eagle can swim, in fact, they are really good swimmers! The Bald Eagle's enemies are raccoon and owls but mostly poisoned food supply and less nest trees. The Female Bald Eagle can lay 1-3 eggs, but mostly 2 eggs.

Those are all the Keystone species that live in Hawthorne Park. Thanks for reading! ;)

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