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build_a_world2010-11-02 03:01 pm
ailelie) wrote in build_a_world2010-11-02 03:01 pm
Entry tags:
November: Primary Challenge
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?
(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?