November: Introduction

[ailelie]

Welcome to November at build_a_world. Last month we designed our playgrounds; this month we'll populate them.

All worlds, including those that exist entirely on constructed structures, are a collection of ecosystems. An ecosystem is an area, defined by the climate and physical environment, of flora and fauna and the relationships between them and the non-living resources also within that area. When designing a world, it is all too easy to name a single creature or plant here and there without thinking about the relationships between them. These relationships between flora, fauna, and the environment shape the creature's and its population's size. Understanding how the ecosystem works can make your world feel more real. (This is true for interactions between people as well. If you know what they want, what is wanted from them by whom, and the levels at which it all balances out, you've got the basics of your society, etc).

Another important aspect of an ecosystem, besides relationships, is balance. A balanced ecosystem serves all within it. If another species enters that balance and cannot contribute to it, the ecosystem will start to fail (the rate of this failure will depend upon the degree of intrusion). Suddenly the flora and fauna need to find other ways to find food, water, living space, etc. Generalist species may survive, but specialist ones will start dying off. The ecosystem will continue crashing until a new balance is achieved. By that point, the area may be irretrievably changed.

Considering that this is the month of NaNoWriMo and Yuletide and that many are still working on their playgrounds, this will be a relatively light month. The primary question is a list of four questions, one for each week this month. The secondary challenge is to create an energy pyramid for an area of your world.

November: Primary Challenge

[ailelie]

As stated in the introduction, this month's challenge is a list of four questions/tasks for you to think through and answer.

(1) Where are your ecosystems (Note: Climate and terrain will often define these)? What kinds of plants and animals are typical for those zones? Are there any isolated areas that might be sheltering unique and/or prehistoric creatures and plants? (Note: These questions still hold if your ecosystem is a space station with 'artificial' and 'greenhouse' climates.)

Wiki: Ecosystem
Wiki Portal: Ecology
Holly Lisle's Rollicking Rules of Ecosystems
Animal size
Animals by Biome
World Biomes (descriptions)
Energy Pyramids and Food Chains (with notes on creature and population size)


(2) Following off #1, list some common features for the plants and animals for each trophic level (main predator, secondary predators (smaller and larger), producer-eaters, and producers) in the areas of your world most important to you (save the information for other areas for later if you need them). This may help you avoid the 'rabbit with a funny name' trope. Later when you need an animal, you can steal a couple ideas from this list, allowing you to make unique flora/fauna that also looks like it could fit within your ecosystem. Also, since you have a list for each level, you already know where the creature fits within the ecosystem and how preyed up and populous it must also be.

(3) Where are your resources (they need not all be widely available in the same ecosystem. In fact, scarcity of one or more resource can lead to interesting adaptations)? Be sure to consider the below.

Water (drinking, cooking, farming)
Energy (light, fuel, food, nutrients)
Medicine
Air
Living space
Power (wealth, make-up, rarities, etc)
Supplies (cloth, tool, building materials, etc)

(4) How do the denizens of your ecosystem use/ration/adapt to the resources available to them? Who wants want? How do they get more when needed (creation, re-purposing, negotiation with other systems, invasion, etc)? Does everyone get what they want at a minimum cost?

November: Secondary Challenge

[ailelie]

Since the primary challenge is mostly thinking and writing, the secondary challenge this month will be a drawing or collage.

The task is to create an energy pyramid for one area of your world (unless your entire world is a single ecosystem).

You can look over examples here, here, and here. This list of 'rules' from Holly Lisle may also prove helpful.

If you cannot draw, then you can just list flora/fauna along with a brief description or you can create a collage with pictures collected from the net and so on. If your animals are all fantasy, then create them via collage as well.

The important things to remember with an energy pyramid is that the top is the largest and sparsest predator and the bottom are the tiny and very populous producers.