How to Build a Weather Ecosystem
Preparing a weather ecosystem sounds like a complicated project, but zoos recreate environments to house the animals in natural, comfortable surroundings for many years. People can create weather ecosystems on their own by making a terrarium that requires little maintenance and mimics the chosen ecosystem. You'll have to decide which ecosystem you would like to create in a terrarium. Two ecosystems that lend themselves to containers are desert or tropical systems. The desert ecosystem does not require a cover, since these ecosystems are dry, while a tropical environment needs to be fully contained to precipitate the water..
Things You'll Need
- Glass terrarium or fish tank
- Vinegar
- Fish tank charcoal
- Potting soil
- Rocks
- Plants
- Cover
Instructions
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Wash the terrarium with soap and water and rinse thoroughly, adding a little vinegar to the last rinse. The vinegar removes any soap residue, which can hurt plants.
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Place a 1/4-inch layer of charcoal on the bottom of the tank. The charcoal provides drainage for the ecosystem and reduces the chance of mold growing in the soil. Add enough potting soil to cover the root zone of the plants that you want to use. If you are building a desert ecosystem, use cactus-potting soil, which contains more sand and grit and less organic matter. If you bought small plants that are likely to grow, add more potting soil. It's best to use potting soil mixtures instead of garden soil to reduce the risk of bacterial or viral growth in the terrarium.
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Place the plants for your terrarium inside, tamping down the soil around the plants to secure them. If you are planting cacti, use care when taking the plants out of their pots so you don't get stickers in your fingers. Leather gardening gloves may keep the stickers at bay, or you can use succulents that thrive in dry conditions. Elephant food is an easy succulent to grow in containers and available in many parts of the country.
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Place rocks and other materials indigenous to your weather ecosystem inside the terrarium. Rocks are more common in desert ecosystems, as well as a gravel ground cover. Moss is good for a tropical ground cover, as are pieces of driftwood that replicate decaying plant matter.
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Water the terrarium with distilled water. Tap water contains many chemicals that could be harmful to plants over time. Since you are emulating an ecosystem, the water inside the container will condense on the cover, creating rainfall. It may take a while to get the level of moisture correct inside the terrarium and you may have to experiment, removing the lid and letting the ecosystem lose humidity or adding more water. A desert ecosystem needs to be dry, although the plants need some water to survive.
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References
- Photo Credit Ryan McVay/Lifesize/Getty Images
