Environment

The main setting of my concept bundle is on an inhabitable moon on the out skirts of the solar system,in a far off galaxy. The environment and ecosystem are highly important as they directly effect several of the designs that I am creating, as well as making it a functioning inhabitable planet for both humans and the species that reside there. The Surface

The majority of the planets surface will be covered by these giant mushroom fungi. The development of the these fungi has created a sort of mushroom forest. I selected mushrooms for the main agriculture that the rest of the ecosystem relies upon because they can thrive in almost all enviroments and have a low requirement for sunlight. These lack of need of sunlight is significant as I want the upper atmosphere to be predominately covered in atmospheric gas that restrict sunlight from entering, but also creates a red orange shade to the planets sky and surface.

The mushrooms will hold a significant part the planets ecosystem, and a lot of the other plant life, just like in tropical rainforests will have evolved to depend on them. In the above image rainfall is captured in the up turned caps of the mushroom, this sustains the mushroom through the long periods without rainfall.

The above image gives a more detailed break down of the mushrooms structure. Naturally its life cycle is very similar to that of regular mushrooms, however I introduced a tap root system instead of traditional rooting system. I felt given the size of the mushrooms and their development to retain water, a tap root would provide better stability and dispersal for the water. Also though despite the tap root I do intend to have the mushrooms connected to other mushrooms via the root system, as with regular mushrooms.

This image breaks down the ecosytstem below the mushroom cover. As there is a thick layer of mushroom canopy, moisture and heat are trapped below the canopy creating the tropical environment. This also protects the lower layers from the light radiation that hits the moon though the atmospheric gas cover. This in turn creates a thermal layer below the canopy that maintains its own jet stream.

Here a slightly more detailed look at the upper atmosphere in relation to the mushroom forest and the planets surface.

As previously mentioned, the majority of the ecosystem will be dependant on the mushroom forest. The above pod plant lives below the mushrooms, and survives by collecting over spill rainwater from the mushroom caps. This in turn is then collected by the pod plants, and used in its own lifecycle.

Here a breakdown of the palnts internal workings. The plant itself functions just like a traditional plant, however requires less sunlight to blossom a, photosynthesis.

Here the lifecycle of the pod plant. Once pollinated, it closes itself up, similar to water lilys, where it gestates its seeds using up the water that it has collected. The outer shell drys and hardens, then to explode outwards spreading the plants seeds outward beneath the mushrooms, to grow and continue the plants life cycle.

A close up image of the closed pod. The outershell is similar to that of a pineapple, however the inside of the lips have barbs that prevent other animals from drinking the plants collected water supply.

The plant in relation to the size of a human.

This is a draft representation of the planets surface. In actuality the forest will be much more dense and thick, with tones of red and orange in the sky. The Atmosphere For the atmosphere, being on an alien planet I want the sky to be alien, for this I want a thick stormy cloud cover that impedes the night sky. To accurately create this effect, Im using graphical representations of jupiters surface as a base. Although the atmosphere will be less toxic and radio active.

This is a break down of Jupiters layers, and here you can see the active gaseous atmosphere. Taken from: sott.net

Here a graphical representation of the surface of Io one of Jupiters moons, taken from: members.wolfram.com

A close up picture of Jupiters outer atmosphere, also taken from: sott.net

Another picture of Jupiters atmosphere, this one focusing on the giant red storm that rages in its atmosphere. This image was taken from the national science geographic website. In developing the ecosystem, the features that make up the environment will have a direct effect on the animal life that thrive there. Final Colour Designs