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Ecosystem its found in:
The island of Sumatra in Indonesia is the home to the Sumatran tiger. Sumatra is a part of the Sunda Island. The type of ecosystem that the Sumatran tiger thrives in is a lowland rain forest. It filled with lush plants and trees and many diverse lively species. There are native organisms such as the Sumatran orangutan, rhino, and elephant. While there is all other organism available such as various types of birds and mammals such as the clouded leporid and more. It has a forest canopy that provides shade for the species in the ecosystem. Since it is a rainforest, receives a ton of rain annually. This leads to it have many streams and water spots through out its territory as well as the weather being tropical.
(Wikramanayake, nd)
(Free World Maps, 2021)
This map shows that location of Sumatra. Sumatra is the stronghold to the only place in Indonesia where the last of tiger species in Indonesia thrive. The Sumatran tiger, since the Java and Bali tiger have been extinct. The location of Sumatra by observing the map is to the north-west of Australia, while being south-east to India. In the area of Indonesia Sumatra is south of Java.
(Worldpress, 2022)
This map shows the Sunda Island of Sumatra it is located upon the equator range. The island of Sumatra is the only island which this species roams. The grey shaded areas are where the organism is present, while black indicates the tiger is absent from sight in the area. The white is where it was not evaluated. By observing this map, it is clear that the organism is spaced throughout the island.
Features of the Ecosystem
Features of an ecosystem include all it abiotic and biotic components. Abiotic and biotic features are what creates an ecosystem that is diverse to others. Abiotic features include all the non-living components that make up an ecosystem. While biotic features are opposed to abiotic factors being the living components that are seen in an ecosystem.
In the Sumatran rainforest abiotic features include the climate. The climate upon Sumatra is extremely tropical, ranging from this is due to Sumatra location being right next to the equator. This leads to the weather being humid to it raining the next minutes. Though Sumatra has a wet and dry season like all tropical climate areas. May to September is when the dry season happens though the wet is harder to define as regular annual forecast. These features in Sumatra weather leads to the rainforest being quite wet as the wet season is hard to accurately determine. This means that in the dry it might rain in sheets. This means that organism living in the rainforest must be able to adapt to a ton of water. Though Sumatra can also get very hot and humid at times. So, organism must be able to thrive in both weathers. (TripAdvisor, nd)
This also leads to another major abiotic factor of the ecosystem. The water availability of the rainforest is not that much compared to a marine biome. Though since it is a rainforest biome the level of water availability is by far more than a normal forest biome. This means that the organisms flourishing here will need to be able to adapt to either staying away from water or else adapt to swim in the water.
While for biotic features; the living components of the ecosystem plants make up most of it. They are utilised in many ways to keep the ecosystem in balance. For instance, plants are known are autotrophs this means that they create their own energy. Because of this Herbivores, organisms that consume only plants or anything that is not meat consume then to get their energy. The organism is then consumed by another. This is called a food chain. Autotrophs are always at the start of these.
(Anon., 2022)
Another way that plants have been major biotic factors of the Sumatran tiger’s ecosystem is by providing shade to the organisms. By observing the imagine above of a Sumatran rainforest we can see that there is a countless number of trees. The trees have large branches of leaves which provide shade as well as shelter to birds. This allows organism to not feel too humid in their natural habitat. It also limits the type of plant that will grow there. Coral will only grow in marine biomes where there is a ton of water like in the ocean. While as cactus will grow in a desert biome. This is because different plants require different things. So, you won’t find any lot of cactus in the Sumatran rainforest because it is too wet for them to thrive.
Features that allow the organism to survive in that ecosystem:
The Sumatran Tiger has many features that differ it from other tiger species. Though, while these features do help to distinguish it from other organism, they also play a major role in aiding the Sumatran tiger to adapt to the rainforests of Sumatra. These features allow the tiger to survive its ecosystem. Features that help the organism to thrive in the Sumatran lowland rainforests include
Its teeth. The Sumatran tiger’s teeth structure include. They all have various jobs to allow the tiger to bite, hold and slice their prey. Like all carnivorous species the Sumatran tiger has 4 special long, sharp, and pointy top and bottom. These are called canine teeth. They are utilised by the tiger to chop upon their prey to kill it. They top canine teeth can be up to 3 inches in size. The teeth in between the canine teeth are known as the incisors. There job is to tear flesh off of bone and feathers off of a bird. (Sieverson, 2020)
The claws of the Sumatran tiger are utilised to grasp and hold upon the terrain of its ecosystem as well as its prey. Each paw included four of these claws with one particular claw called a dewclaw. Its located further back and does not touch the ground when walking. They can be up to 4 inches in length and are curved. Being curved allows the organism to hold large prey such as water buffalos and climb trees easier. The use of a dewclaw is for the Sumatran tiger to be able to grasp upon their prey and aid in climbing. The claws are retraced when not in use, this is so they are to remain sharp and to tread quietly upon prey. (Sea World Park and Entertainment, 2022)
The Sumatran tiger has a white spot upon the back of its ear. The use of this spot is to give the effect of a pair of ‘fake eyes. This is to ward of anything that would try to hunt it. (Animal Diversity Web, 2019)
Why it won't survive in another ecosystem:
The Sumatran tiger is adapted to its own ecosystem, as it provides all its necessities that it needs to survive. Though due to Indonesia growing population they require more money for it to do sufficient for their residents. Since Indonesia is leading in palm oil. Forest in Sumatra have been clears to plan more. This has resulted in organism leaving their home. This has affected the Sumatra tiger since it cannot adapt to living with the the palm oil plants. This is since factors for its ecosystem are not present here.
For instances, the Sumatran tiger utilised it fur for protection as well as for warmth. It blends into the lowland rainforest biomes its ecosystem has, though the palm oil plants don’t have this so it wouldn’t be able to camouflage. This will make it an easier target for poaching as it can’t camouflage within leaves anymore.
Another reason include that it won’t provide it prey the feature they need to survive. For instance, there might not be algae or rivers for the fish to swim in. If there were since it will be human monitored, they might kill the fish or else the tiger when seen. Another example includes orangutans, palm trees don’t have branches, so they won’t supply it with any resting stop. This means that the Sumatran tiger will stave since its prey won’t be there. This would result in it becoming extinct.
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