User blog:Rora Raro/Future Ecosystems

This blog will be on the 12 ecosystems as shown in The Future Is Wild. It will start at 5 Million AD, and end at 200 Million AD.

5 Million AD
In 5 Million Years, there will be a second Ice Age. France and parts of Europe will be covered in ice, the Mediterranian Sea will close, becoming a salt desert. The Great Plains of the United States will become a cold desert, and the Amazon Jungle of South America will become a savanna similar to those of Africa.

North American Desert



The central region of the North American continent has become a vast desert. It's just as cold as the Gobi Desert (the wind chill can drop to -53°F) and is often hit by fierce sandstorms. Winds can reach speeds of 70 mph. The desert also gets snowfall in higher areas and meets tornadoes. The few plants that live in this bleak region are hardy and adaptable.

Inhabitants:
 * Spink (Subterranean quail that lives in underground colonies)
 * Deathgleaner (Giant predatory bat)
 * North American/Desert Rattleback (Armored rodent, related to its southern counterpart)

Amazon Grasslands



The Amazon basin was the most biodiverse region in the world, but now it has been mostly reduced to ranges of a savanna. The area receives very few rains, causing the Amazon river to dwindle. Bushfires are usual, ignited by lightning or sunlight. The temperature can reach 100°F or higher, the grass can grow to 6 ft in height, and stretches for 1,102,000 sq. miles

Inhabitants:
 * Babookari (Ground-dwelling descendant of the uakari)
 * Carakiller (Giant flightless caracara)
 * South American/Grassland Rattleback (Armored rodent, related to its northern counterpart)

North European Ice



A global Ice Age has stricken the world. One place that has been hit the hardest, is Northern Europe. Where Paris once stood, now are ice sheets (which can reach a depth of 2 miles) and tundra. The temperature can reach -75°F, and the wind chill at -175°F, there are very few plants, and trees barely grow.

Inhabitants:
 * Snowstalker (Large saber-toothed wolverine)
 * Shagrat (Sheep-sized rodent)
 * Gannetwhale (Walrus-sized flightless aquatic bird)

Mediterranean Basin



Today, the Mediterranean Sea is home to islands and is a popular vacation spot, but in 5 Million Years, it will close and become a salt desert. The area is about 2,000 meters below sea level. It consists of brine lakes and salt flats that turn into salty mush in the rare event that it rains.

Inhabitants:
 * Cryptile (Agamid lizard that catches flies with its frill)
 * Brine fly (Flies that feed on salt and bacteria)
 * Scrofa (Mediterranean descendant of the wild boar)
 * Gryken (Terrestrial mustelid that is descended from the pine marten)

100 Million AD
In 100 Million Years in the future, the ice will melt, and sea levels will rise, as well as the temperature. India will become a swamp, 7 or 100 times the size of the Everglades, Antartica will move close to the equator, and become a jungle, Australia will collide with Northern Asia, and create a mountain range, and where Europe once stood, now lies a shallow sea.

Bengal Swamp



Today Kolkata, India is one of the most populous places in India and serves as the capital of West Bengal, but in 100 Million Years, it will become a swamp. It will become large than that of the Everglades. The swamp consists of estuaries and tree groves. The humidity levels can reach from 43% to 99% and have caused the Himalayas to erode to small hills. The temperature can reach 102°F.

Inhabitants:
 * Toraton (Gigantic tortoise)
 * Swampus (Octopus that can survive on land)
 * Lurkfish (Predatory electric catfish)

Shallow Seas



The melting ice caps have caused sea levels to rise over 100 meters, flooding flat land and warming up the ocean. As a result, large reefs, bigger than the Great Barrier Reef, have formed. The Shallow Seas dominate Northern Europe and cover 75% of the Earth's surface, temperatures can reach 85°F. The depth is only 50 ft.

Inhabitants:
 * Ocean Phantom (Large colonial jellyfish that travels with the wind)
 * Spindletrooper (Sea spider that defends ocean phantoms from predators)
 * Reef glider (Free-swimming descendant of the sea slug)
 * Red algae (Algae that dominate the Shallow Seas)

Antarctic Forest



Today Antarctica is cold and barren, but 100 Million years ago, it was forest teeming with life. And in 100 Million AD, it will happen again. Antarctica has drifted north to the equator and is now a rich forest twice the size of the Amazon. It's home for many species of plants, birds, and insects.

Inhabitants:
 * Roachcutter (Swift descendant of the tube-nosed birds)
 * Spitfire bird (Small bird that can spit a corrosive liquid)
 * False Spitfire bird (A bird that mimics the Spitfire bird)
 * Falconfly (Giant predatory wasp with modified front limbs)
 * Spitfire beetle (Beetle that works in groups to catch birds)
 * Spitfire tree (Flowering plant that produces chemicals)

Great Plateau 



Australia will collide with Northern Asia and North Americ, this will cause mountain ranges. Three times as high as the Himalayan mountains, it is one of the few places in this hothouse world that has snow and ice. The summers are faintly warm and the winters are bitterly cold (-30°F). Blizzards are common year-round (wind gusts at 100 mph). The area also has a large amount of ultraviolet light.

Inhabitants:
 * Great Blue Windrunner (Bluebird with four wings for flight)
 * Silver Spider (Large colonial spider)
 * Poggle (Last mammal on Earth)

200 Million AD
In 200 Million Years in the future, the continents of Earth will reunite once more, as they did in 200 Million BC. This one single massive continent is Pangea II. The world has recovered from a mass extinction that happened 100 Million years prior, this caused 90% of all species to be gone. Mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians are gone. Now only a few fish and invertebrates like mollusks and insects now dominate. NYC and the rest of the USA will be a vast desert, the Southern Ocean of Antarctica will part of a single massive ocean, France and Northern Europe will be a forest with near non-stop rain.

Central Desert



Where New York City once stood now lies a desert located in the center of Pangea II. There is very little rain (100 years can pass without it). This is because of the large mountains that border the coastline and block the oceanic moisture from reaching the desert. There is no vegetation. The only water that the desert has is at the underground rivers and the occasional oasis formed by the emergence of part of the cave system. The temperature is 120°F, it covers an area of 19,800,000 sq. miles.

Inhabitants:
 * Terabyte (Species of termite with specialized castes)
 * Garden worm (Worm that has formed a mutual relationship with algae)
 * Slickribbon (Subterranean predatory worm)
 * Gloomworm (Primitive bacteria-eating worm)

Global Ocean



There is only a single ocean on Earth, called the Global Ocean. Where Antarctica once stood, now lies an area of 129,443,784 sq. miles of water, with the center being 20,000 miles from the nearest coast, and waves that can reach a height of 100 ft.

Inhabitants:
 * Silverswimmer (Fish-like neotenous crustaceans)
 * Ocean Flish (Flying fish, related to its forest counterpart)
 * Rainbow squid (Large squid that changes colors for camouflage and display)
 * Sharkopath (Bioluminescent species of shark that hunts in packs)

Rainshadow Desert



On the east coast of Pangea II, there is an area covering 49,709 sq. miles called the Rainshadow Desert. This is where ocean flish land if they are caught in continual storms, called hypercanes with 250 mph (400 kph) winds.

Inhabitants:
 * Bumblebeetle (Beetle that depends on dead ocean flish to survive)
 * Grimworm (Larva of the bumblebeetle)
 * Desert hopper (Snail that uses its "foot" to hop)
 * Deathbottle (Carnivorous plant that traps prey with poisonous spikes)

Northern Forest



Where France once stood, now lies a forest that receives the most rainfall than any other place. Rainfall measures at 403 inches per year, trees can reach a height of 265 ft or higher, like the Redwoods of today. It's also large, covering 3,530 sq. miles, where Northern Europe once stood. The plants and animals of the northern forest are used to the constant moisture of rain.

Inhabitants:
 * Lichen tree (Large tree in a symbiotic relationship with the slithersucker)
 * Slithersucker (Giant slime mold)
 * Forest flish (Flying fish, related to its ocean counterpart)
 * Megasquid (Terrestrial squid that reaches sizes alike to that of the elephant)
 * Squibbon (Very intelligent, arboreal squid)