Climate and Terrestrial Biodiversity

1. Climate and Terrestrial Biodiversity Chapter 7

2. Core Case Study: Connections between Wind, Climate, and Biomes • Wind • Indirect form of solar energy • Circulates • Heat • Moisture • Plant nutrients • Soil particles • Long-lived air pollutants

3. Dust Blown from West Africa to the Amazonian Rain Forests

4. 7-1 What Factors Influence Climate? • Concept 7-1 An area's climate is determined mostly by solar radiation, the earth’s rotation, global patterns of air and water movement, gases in the atmosphere, and the earth’s surface features.

5. The Earth Has Many Different Climates (1) • Weather • Climate • Air circulation in lower atmosphere due to • Uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun • Rotation of the earth on its axis • Properties of air, water, and land

6. The Earth Has Many Different Climates (2) • Currents • Prevailing winds • Earth’s rotation • Redistribution of heat from the sun • Link between air circulation, ocean currents, and biomes

7. Natural Capital: Generalized Map of the Earth’s Current Climate Zones

8. Energy Transfer by Convection in the Atmosphere

9. Global Air Circulation, Ocean Currents, and Biomes

10. Global Air Circulation

11. Flow of Energy to and from the Earth

12. Greenhouse Gases Warm the Lower Atmosphere • Greenhouse gases • H2O • CO2 • CH4 • N2O • Greenhouse effect • Human-enhanced global warming

13. The Earth’s Surface Features Affect Local Climates • Heat absorption by land and water • Effect of • Mountains • Rain shadow effect • Cities • Microclimates

14. Rain Shadow Effect

15. 7-2 How Does Climate Affect the Nature and Locations of Biomes? • Concept 7-2 Differences in average annual precipitation and temperature lead to the formation of tropical, temperate, and cold deserts, grasslands, and forests, and largely determine their locations.

16. Climate Affects Where Organisms Can Live • Major biomes • Latitude and elevation • Annual precipitation • Temperature

17. The Earth’s Major Biomes

18. Generalized Effects of Elevation and Latitude on Climate and Biomes

19. Elevation Mountain ice and snow Tundra (herbs, lichens, mosses) Coniferous Forest Deciduous Forest Latitude Tropical Forest Coniferous Forest Tundra (herbs, lichens, mosses) Deciduous Forest Tropical Forest Polar ice and snow Stepped Art Fig. 7-9, p. 147

20. Natural Capital: Average Precipitation and Average Temperature as Limiting Factors

21. Science Focus: Staying Alive in the Desert • Plant adaptations • Animal strategies and adaptations

22. There Are Three Major Types of Deserts • Tropical deserts • Temperate deserts • Cold deserts • Fragile ecosystem • Slow plant growth • Low species diversity • Slow nutrient recycling • Lack of water

23. Climate Graphs of Three Types of Deserts

24. There Are Three Major Types of Grasslands (1) • Tropical • Temperate • Cold (arctic tundra)

25. There Are Three Major Types of Grasslands (2) • Tropical • Savanna • Grazing animals • Browsing animals • Temperate • Tall-grass prairies • Short-grass prairies

26. There Are Three Major Types of Grasslands (3) • Arctic tundra: fragile biome • Adaptations of plants and animals • Permafrost • Alpine tundra

27. Climate Graphs of Tropical, Temperate, and Cold Grasslands

28. Monoculture Crop Replacing Biologically Diverse Temperate Grassland

29. Temperate Shrubland: Nice Climate, Risky Place to Live • Chaparral • Near the sea: nice climate • Prone to fires in the dry season

30. Chaparral Vegetation in Utah, U.S.

31. There Are Three Major Types of Forests (1) • Tropical • Temperate • Cold • Northern coniferous and boreal

32. There Are Three Major Types of Forests (2) • Tropical rain forests • Temperature and moisture • Stratification of specialized plant and animal niches • Little wind: significance • Rapid recycling of scarce soil nutrients • Impact of human activities

33. There Are Three Major Types of Forests (3) • Temperate deciduous forests • Temperature and moisture • Broad-leaf trees • Slow rate of decomposition: significance • Impact of human activities

34. There Are Three Major Types of Forests (4) • Evergreen coniferous forests: boreal and taigas • Temperature and moisture • Few species of cone: bearing trees • Slow decomposition: significance • Coastal coniferous forest • Temperate rain forests

35. Climate Graphs of Tropical, Temperate, and Cold Forests

36. Ocelot Harpy eagle Blue and gold macaw Squirrel monkeys Climbing monstera palm Katydid Green tree snake Slaty-tailed trogon Tree frog Ants Bacteria Bromeliad Fungi Producer to primary consumer Primary to secondary consumer Secondary to higher-level consumer All producers and consumers to decomposers Fig. 7-16, p. 155

37. Stratification of Specialized Plant and Animal Niches in a Tropical Rain Forest

38. Temperate Rain Forest in Washington State, U.S.

39. Mountains Play Important Ecological Roles • Majority of the world’s forests • Habitats for endemic species • Help regulate the earth’s climate • Can affect sea levels • Major storehouses of water • Role in hydrologic cycle

40. Mount Rainier National Park in Washington State, U.S.

41. 7-3 How Have We Affected the Word’s Terrestrial Ecosystems? • Concept 7-3 In many areas, human activities are impairing ecological and economic services provided by the earth’s deserts, grasslands, forests, and mountains.

42. Humans Have Disturbed Most of the Earth’s Lands • Deserts • Grasslands • Forests • Mountains

43. NATURAL CAPITAL DEGRADATION Major Human Impacts on Terrestrial Ecosystems Mountains Forests Grasslands Deserts Clearing for agriculture, livestock grazing, timber, and urban development Conversion to cropland Agriculture Timber extraction Release of CO2 to atmosphere from burning grassland Mineral extraction Hydroelectric dams and reservoirs Soil salinization from irrigation Conversion of diverse forests to tree plantations Increasing tourism Overgrazing by livestock Urban air pollution Depletion of groundwater Increased ultraviolet radiation from ozone depletion Damage from off-road vehicles Oil production and off-road vehicles in arctic tundra Land disturbance and pollution from mineral extraction Soil damage from off-road vehicles Pollution of forest streams Large desert cities Soil destruction by off-road vehicles Stepped Art Fig. 7-20, p. 158