Connection journal about food webs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Connection journal about food webs - Essay Example At the bottom of any food chain are producers. These are the food makers, that is, they have food production ability. These are primarily plants, which convert light energy into food through photosynthesis (Basic ecological concepts, 1). Next after producers are the primary consumers. These are the organism, low on the food chain, which depends on the producers for survival. These organisms include grazers, and herbivores. After primary consumers follow the secondary consumers. These organisms feed on the primary consumers. At the top of the food chain are the tertiary consumers that feed on the primary consumers in the food chain. They include carnivorous animals. In a food web, a delicate balance exists between organisms at the different levels (Basic ecological concepts, 1). The tertiary consumers at the top of the food chain cannot survive without the producers at the bottom. Likewise, the absence of secondary consumers would result in an imbalance of the food chain, with the death of tertiary consumers. The primary consumers would also increase at a high rate, which would put pressure on the producers, depleting them. Therefore, a balance of organisms at every level of the feeding chain is important and must be maintained. Just like the removal of a level, the increase or decrease of organisms in a level offsets the balance of the whole ecosystem. Removal of the producers kills the whole ecosystem. Increase in any other level of the food chain results in a decrease in the level below it, and a corresponding increase in the level above it due to increased consumers and food respectively. The highest level must be at minimum to have adequate food supply (Basic ecological concepts, 1). Further, the lowest level must be at all high to ensure adequate food supply to the system, forming an energy pyramid (Basic ecological concepts,

Assessment of Vital SIgns Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assessment of Vital SIgns - Essay Example After a brief interview, the patient reveals the cause of her short breath and explains she deliberately avoided the escalator on her way to the examination room and took a walk up the stairs (following the doctors’ advice to exercise some more). I allow her approximately 15 minutes to calm down then provide her with a gown and leave the room for her to change after instructing her to remove all her dressing except the briefs and put on the gown so that the opening is on the rear. The examination room is quiet, warm and well lit. All the measurements are taken with the patient seated down (McPhee & Papadakis, 2011). Since the patient has been allowed over 10 minutes to calm down and has not eaten or drank anything hot or cold, smoked, chewed gum in the last 10 minutes, I proceed to assess her temperature. I place a digital thermometer under her tongue to take an oral temperature and wait for it to beep before withdrawing it. I then note the patient’s temperature as indicated by the thermometer, part of the body from where it is taken and the time it was taken (McPhee, Papadakis, & Rabow, 2012). To find the patient’s pulse, I use my fingers (without the thumb) to press against the bony part of the patient’s wrist. Pressing the artery between the fingers and the wrist bone assists me to feel the pulse. Care is taken not to press too hard. Upon finding a pulse, I use a timer to count the number of beats that occur in a minute (since the pulse appears irregular). I then write down the heart rate, the irregularities observed and the time the pulse is taken (Crouch & Meurier, 2011). I then go on to assess the respiration without informing my patient since her knowledge of an on-going respiration assessment may inevitably cause her to alter her respiration and hence lead to erroneous conclusions. I count the