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Learn how floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes impact ecosystems. Discover the environmental effects, ecosystem changes, and wildlife impacts of these natural disasters.
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Floods • Flooding happens during heavy rains, when rivers overflow, when ocean waves come onshore, when snow melts too fast or when dams or levees break. • Flooding may be only a few inches of water or it may cover a house to the rooftop.
Floods • Floods that happen very quickly are called flashfloods. • Flooding is the most common of all natural hazards. • It can happen in every U.S. state and territory.
Environmental Impact of Floods • Floods are important in maintaining ecosystem habitats and soil fertility. • Human attempts at managing flood prone areas disrupt the natural flood cycle.
Effects of Floods • Floods destroy drainage systems causing raw sewage to spill out into bodies of water. • Buildings can be destroyed which can lead to many toxic materials such as paint, pesticide and gasoline being released into the rivers, lakes, bays, and ocean, killing marine life. • Floods cause significant amounts of erosion to coasts, leading to more frequent flooding if not repaired. • Floods positively impact the environment by spreading sediment containing nutrients to topsoil.
Effects of a Flood on the Ecosystem • Plants • On dry land, plant life can benefit from the sudden appearance of a large quantity of flood water. • Water stored underground will be replenished by the floodwater, while soil above ground will be able to soak up the water. • Plants will be able to receive water as a result. • The nutrients carried by the flood water can also revive deprived plants and aid in the germination of seeds.
Effects of a Flood on the Ecosystem • Plants Continued • Food water may prove a new lease on life for an area. • The soil is likely to be more fertile, leading to a suitable area in which to grow crops.
What is a hurricane • An intense, rotating oceanic weather system that possesses maximum sustained winds exceeding 74 mph. • It forms and intensifies over tropical oceanic regions. • Hurricanes are generally smaller than storms in mid-latitudes. • At the ocean’s surface, the air spirals inward in a counterclockwise direction. • This cyclonic circulation becomes weaker with height, eventually turning into clockwise outflow near the top of the storm.
How Hurricanes Affect the Ecosystem • Aquatic Ecosystems • Sediment erosion and deposition often affect oyster beds and coral reefs. • Saltwater intrusion in freshwater lakes and streams causes massive fish kills and affects the lakeside habitat.
How Hurricanes Affect the Ecosystem • The hurricane floodwater often carries many toxic substances (Heavy metals, pesticides, ammonia, phosphate, untreated sewage) • These substance can cause degradation of water quality, phytoplankton blooms, a decrease in dissolved oxygen and harm to many organisms. • Hurricanes have minimal effect on oceanic ecosystems since the contaminants tend to be flushed out by tidal flows.
How Hurricanes Affect the Ecosystem • Terrestrial (land) Ecosystems • Coastal wetlands and barrier islands take the brunt of the storm surge. • Many barrier islands end up shifted or eroded below sea level.
How Hurricanes Affect the Ecosystem • Saltwater interference from storm surge also changes the wetland ecosystems by killing plants that are critical to feeding and nesting many animals.
Tornadoes • A tornado is a violent rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. • The most violent tornadoes can have winds up to 300 mph.
Tornadoes Effect on Ecosystems • Important plant life of the area are damaged by high winds. • Vegetation is uprooted. • Trees can be pulled out of the ground and carried to another location. • This can cause a loss of species of organisms could also affect the interaction between plants and animals.
Tornadoes Effect on Ecosystems • The loss of plants caused by a tornado can allow new species or invasive species of plants to grow in the cleared area. • This loss of vegetation could also lead to soil erosion.
Droughts Affect the environment in many different ways. Plants and animals depend on water, just like people. When a drought occurs, their food supply can shrink and their habitat can be damaged. Sometimes the damage is only temporary and their habitat and food supply return to normal when the drought is over. But sometimes drought's impact on the environment can last a long time, maybe forever.
Examples of environmental impacts due to Drought include: • Lack of food and drinking water for wild animals • Migration of wildlife • Loss of wetlands • More wildfires • Poor soil quality • Wind and water erosion of soils
Meanders are curves found in the middle and lower course of a river caused by erosion and deposition and the change in speed of watercauses the meanders. However, the geology of the land means a river will rarely flow in a straight path so this is why it will meander. Combination of the erosion and deposition helps expand the size of the meander. Eventually this can lead to the formation of an oxbow lake. River flow movement Pool Riffle Erosion on outside Deposition on inside Inside bend As the meanders have migrated downstream, meander size has increased Outside bend (river cliff can be created)
Sources • http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/socasp/weather1/myers.html • http://www.fema.gov/kids/floods.htm • http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/socasp/weather1/myers.html • http://www.ehow.com/list_7494478_effects-flood-ecosystem.html • http://www.uwex.edu/ces/ag/issues/effectsoffloodingonplants.html • http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/floods/pdf/animals.pdf • http://www.ehow.com/list_7494478_effects-flood-ecosystem.html • http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5170460_do-hurricanes-affect-ecosystem_.html • http://www.comet.ucar.edu/nsflab/web/hurricane/311.htm • http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-tornado.htm • http://www.wisteme.com/question.view?targetAction=viewQuestionTab&id=7397
