Learning Unit 1: Physical Environment

1. Learning Unit 1: Physical Environment

2. Disclaimer Please note that the following PowerPoint representation DOES NOTreplace the official Study Material. The purpose of this additional resource is to support, assist and enrich your learning experience

3. Learning Outcomes • Distinguish between the four spheres as described • Indicate the relationship between climate, location, amount of solar radiation and vegetation • Distinguish between the eight biomes on earth, and describe and indicate each on a world map

4. The four subsystems of the environment Pages 1, 547, 548, 550, 551 in Middleton

5. Biomes Pages 3-7 in Middleton

6. Tundra • Absence of trees • Vegetation: grasses, herbs, mosses, lichens, small woody plants adapted to a short summer growing season • Receives little precipitation and soils are nutrient poor. • Cold climate • Shallow soils are deeply frozen (permafrost) for much of the year • Animals hibernate or migrate in the colder season • Located north of the Arctic Circle

7. Coniferous forest (boreal forest/taiga) • Winters are very cold, summers are longer than in the tundra • Most of the trees are conifers – pine, fir and spruce • Trees are tall and have a narrow, pointy shape and needles can shed snow more easily than broad leaves. • Subject to periodic fires • Burn-regeneration cycle is important for deer, bears and insects • Soils are acidic

8. Temperate forest • Trees are deciduous • Occur almost exclusively in the northern hemisphere (northern Europe, eastern China, eastern and Midwest USA, small patches in South America and New Zealand) • Tall broadleaf tress • Climate is seasonal with abundant water supply during the growing season • Amphibians (salamanders and frogs) also occur here

9. Tropical rainforest • High amounts of rainfall and warm temperatures throughout the year • Trees are evergreen, broad-leaved and most are pollinated by animals • Many kinds of vines and epiphytes (ferns and orchids) are found here • Most of the nutrients are stored in the biomass and soils contain little organic matter • Display multi-layered canopy, with low levels of vegetation on the ground due to lack of light • Large biodiversity

10. Savanna • Savanna belts flank tropical rain forests in the African and South American tropics • Trees are widely spaced which allows grass to grow between them • Herds of grazing mammals occur here, along with large carnivores such as lions, jackals and hyenas • These mammals also provide food for large scavengers such as vultures • Climate is warm all year, with a dry season for several months during which fires occur • Fires maintain the openness of the savanna ecosystem and are important in nutrient cycling.

11. Temperate grassland • Great expanses of this biome are located in Eurasia (steppe), North America (prairie) and South America (pampa) with smaller patches in South Africa (veld). • Trees are absent • Vegetation is dominated by herbaceous plants, most are grasses • Climate is temperate, seasonal and dry • Soils are deep and rich in organic matter

12. Desert • Hyper-arid desert supports very little plant life, with some species adapted to high and variable temperatures • Daily temperature range is high due to lack of moisture and rainfall • Characterised by bare rock and sand dunes • Fog is an important source of moisture in coastal deserts • Sporadic and intense rain may promote rapid growth of annual plants and animals, which lie dormant for many years.

13. Chaparral (Mediterranean/ maquis) • Found around much of the Mediterranean Basin (maquis), California (chaparral), southern Australia (mallee), Chile (mattöral) and South Africa (fynbos). • Summers are hot and dry, winters are cool and moist. • Low evergreen trees and shrubs have thick bark and small, hard leaves to tolerate the climatic extremes • Soils are low in nutrients • During summer, the biome is exposed to fire, which is important for development and regeneration.