The Maltese Islands are a group of small and low islands that are aligned in a North West – South East direction in the central Mediterranean Sea. The Islands occupy an area of 316km². They are situated on a shallow shelf, the Malta – Ragusa rise and towards the south to the African coasts of Tripoli and Libya. The Sicilian Channel reaches the depth of not more than 200m and the majority is less than 90m. The Malta channel which is the sea between Malta and the North part of Africa is deeper with some places reaching more than 1000m. The Maltese archipelago consists of three inhabited islands which are Malta, Gozo, and Comino. There are also a number of inhabited islets around the Maltese islands that are Cominotto, Filfla, St Paul’s Islands, Fungus Rock, and a few minor rocks. The climate of the Maltese islands is typically Mediterranean defined as being extra-tropical. This has a profound effect on the vegetation that is developed on the island and determines which species grow in a specific area. Climate also has a direct effect on the landscape since it effects both deposition and erosion. The Maltese flora is composed of about 25,000 different species. Given their position in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, the Maltese islands provide a very good example of the range and variety of Mediterranean vegetation.
The islands are composed mainly of marine sedimentary rock, mostly limestone from the Oligo – Miocene age. Some minor quaternary deposits are also found in original terrestrial. In Malta we have five (5) main rock types in a basic layer – cake arrangement. The oldest exposed layer is the Lower Coralline Limestone and is about 140m thick. This layer started to be laid about 30 to 25 million years ago. Globigerina L...
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...e north-western coast of Malta. Landslides. 10 Issue 5, pp. 611 - 622.
N/A. (N/A). Product Specification - Maltese Islands. Available: www.agric.gov.mt/file.aspx?f=1132. Last accessed 29th Dec 2013.
N/A. (N/A). Soil Definition. Available: http://www.mepa.org.mt/soil-definition. Last accessed 29th Dec 2013.
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Schembri, P.J. (1997). The Maltese Islands: Climate, Vegetation and Landscape. GeoJournal. 41 (2), pp. 115 - 125.
Schembri, P.J. (1993). Physical Geography and Ecology of the Maltese Islands: A Brief Overview. Options Méditerranéenees. B (7), pp. 28-39.
Madagascar is one of the most diverse areas of land that has undergone evolution totally independent from surrounding continents. The plant and animal species located on the island are all endemic to the island, meaning all are native species. The amount of diversity is very high compared to that of other continents and the species found here cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Currently all organisms located on this island are in danger, even the humans. Much damage has already been done, yet each year the land seems to die even more. Many species are dying off rapidly and drastic measures will have to be taken to stop all of these species from becoming extinct.
It describes it as a coastal Mediterranean type of ecosystem, which is a rare mixture of vegetation and climate that can only be found in 5 other places in the world. The waters surrounding the islands contain a mix of nutrient-rich cool currents and warm coastal seawater, which enhances photosynthesis and the proliferation of sea life. Records of extinct species like the pygmy mammoth and giant deer mouse are evident on the islands as well. This website contains many photos demonstrating the abundance of organisms on the channel islands, and also has links to its marine resources, coastal resources, terrestrial resources, and ecological resources. Although there is no credited literature citations and known author, the website seems actively maintained by the National Park Service, which is a reliable government agency. It was also recently updated, and contains seemingly unbiased and objective
In certain areas of Atlantic maritime the soil is better for vegetation, it helps the farmers a lot in the Atlantic maritime region because there is a lot of
Fernández‐Chacón, A., Stefanescu, C., Genovart, M., Nichols, J. D., Hines, J. E., Páramo, F.,& Oro, D. 2014. Determinants of extinction‐colonization dynamics in Mediterranean butterflies: the role of landscape, climate and local habitat features. Journal of Animal Ecology, 83(1), 276-285.
Singer, M.J., and Munns, D.N., 1996, Soils: An Introduction: Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 480p.
Africa has a regular coastline characterized by few indentations. Because of the smooth coastline, natural harbors were non-existent. Today, however, there are important coastal cities, such as Lagos and Dakar. With the exception of the Mediterranean coast, most of the coastline is low-lying , generally narrow and rising sharply to high elevations. The African climate and topography varies greatly. Although temperatures are usually high, due to being so close to the equator, rainfall, soil quality and elevations are of various degrees. Because most of the African continent has not been covered by water for millions of years, soils have developed according to their weathering e...
What do these areas contain which makes them so important that they need to be protected? There is a vast amount of vegetation ...
Singer, Michael J. and Munns, Donald N., 1996, Soils: An Introduction, Prentice-Hall Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ
Oceanic islands and other groups are very essential to biologists. A good number of portions of the evolutionary histories occurred on oceanic islands. But the importance of an island hasn’t urged the research in island biogeography. Instead it is the awareness that an island is a typical example for graphic entities ranging in size, from very small resident portions, to continental scale or even global scale. Because islands are evidently apart from other bodies of land, the information of the island contributed to the awareness that most formations of species are due to an occurrence of a geographical barrier. Island isolation is important to ecologists, because it gives them reasons to believe that any species encountered on an island is inhabiting that particular island. As a result, issues in the structure and function of the community are attacked in an island setting; any encountered species is believed to be inhabiting that particular area.
The country of Greece, also known as the Hellenic Republic, is called Hellas or Ellada by natives. This Mediterranean country in southeast Europe is approximately 50, 942 sq. miles and contains about 9,000 miles of coastline which includes the islands of the country. While the total number of islands is not concrete due to discrepancies over the qualifications to count each body of land surrounded by water as an island, the number of inhabited islands is 227. Greece has many interesting geographical features, such as its overall mountainous landscape which makes up 80% of the country, with its highest point, and possibly most famous geographical feature being Mount Olympus which reaches 9,570 ft. (2917 meters). The country of Greece ranges in absolute location with its northern-most occurring at N 41° 44' 33’’ and its southern-most point at N 34° 32' 33” on the island of Cyprus. The Cyprus also hold the most eastward point of the country at E 34° 38' 3” while its most western point is at E 20° 20' 30”. Greece is bordered by the countries of Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey. Likew...
Hydrometer test is needed as more than 10 % of soil sample passes the 63 µ m sieve (BS 1377-2:1990). It covers the quantitative determination of the particle size distribution in a soil from coarse sand size to clay size. Particles settle under gravity during testing (Head, 1984). The results of hydrometer analysis can be referred to Appendix C1. The calibrations which used in the hydrometer analysis and water viscosity are shown in Appendix C2 and Appendix C3.
Biodiversity depends on many factors, and great differences in faunal species occur between different countries. This essay focuses on comparing and contrasting the organisms that were found in Sea Point Co. Dublin, Glandalough, Co. Wicklow and Bolonia, Spain. Numerous organisms were found in one country but not the other, such as the Mantodea (Praying Mantis) which was present in Spain but not in Ireland. The abundance of species varied significantly which could be seen in the Plecoptera (Stoneflies) which had higher numbers in Ireland rather than Bolonia. There are many reasons for the differences between Irish and Spanish marine, terrestrial and freshwater fauna, both biotic and abiotic. Factors such as faunal relationships, sunlight, temperature, water chemistry and soil will all be investigated in the paragraphs to follow as they play a major role in species survival and distribution.
Agriculture also leads to soil erosion, both through rainfall and wind. This soil can damage the aquatic ecosystems it ends up in, an...
Soil is the most important non-renewable resource on any farm. Healthy soil is key to a good
...nimals thrive on the island under the care of the “Spaniards,” and influence the ecology and soils of the island here after.