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The Biosphere

The Biosphere. What is the Biosphere? . The biosphere is the portion of Earth that supports life. Climate . Average weather conditions Cloud cover, temperature, humidity, & wind Determined by:

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The Biosphere

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  1. The Biosphere

  2. What is the Biosphere? • The biosphere is the portion of Earth that supports life.

  3. Climate • Average weather conditions • Cloud cover, temperature, humidity, & wind • Determined by: • Solar radiation, Earth’s path around sun, distribution of land masses and seas, and land elevation • Humans are altering the climate

  4. Airborne Pollutants • Ozone thinning- -the use of CFCs is depleting ozone layer Cloud cover, temperature, humidity, & wind -more UV radiation is reaching Earth’s surface -this leads to cancer and increased temperatures

  5. Smog-an atmospheric condition in which winds cannot disperse airborne pollutants that have become trapped under a thermal conversion • Caused by the burning of fossil fuels

  6. Acid Rain- precipitation with high levels of sulfur and nitrogen oxides • Caused by the burning of fossil fuels • Effect-alters habitats and kills organisms

  7. What is a Biome? • A large, relatively distinct terrestrial region with characteristic • Climate • Soil • Plants • Animals • Interacting landscapes

  8. Terrestrial Biomes

  9. Using Precipitation And TemperatureTo Identify Biomes

  10. Arctic Tundra • Tundra • Northernmost biome • Frozen layer of subsoil (permafrost) • Low-growing vegetation adapted to extreme cold/short growing season • Plants include sedges, mosses, lichens, grasses and 400 varieties of flowers • Animals include caribou, musk ox, arctic hare, voles and lemmings are the principal herbivores, which enable a few carnivores like the arctic fox, snow owl, polar bear, and wolf to survive.

  11. Arctic Tundra

  12. Taiga • Taiga • Coniferous trees dominate the taiga, or boreal forest • Cold winters, short growing season, and acidic, mineral-poor soil • Belted Across North America and Eurasia • Plants include evergreen spruce, fir, pine, and the deciduous larch or tamarack • Animals includefur-bearing predators like the lynx and members of the weasel family (e.g., wolverine, fisher, pine martin, mink, ermine, and sable). Herbivores include the snowshoe hare, red squirrel, lemmings, and voles.

  13. Taiga

  14. Temperate Forests • Temperate Rain Forest • Large conifers • High precipitation 200 – 350 cm as rain and snow • Average temperatures 0oC to 20oC • Main stretch of this habitat is along the northwestern coast of North America from northern California though southern Alaska • Plants include Douglas fir and Western red cedar, Mountain hemlock, Western hemlock, Sitka spruce and Lodgepole pine • Animals include deer, bears, coyotes, slugs, grouse, etc.

  15. Temperate Rain Forest

  16. Temperate Rain Forest

  17. Temperate Forests • Temperate deciduous forest • Precipitation relatively high (30 to 60 inches a year) • Soils rich in organic matter • Broad-leaf trees that lose their leaves seasonally dominate • Average annual temperature in a deciduous forest is 50° F. • Four distinct seasons - spring, summer, autumn, and winter • Oaks, maples, hickory, elms • Eagles, black bear, deer, squirrels, coyotes

  18. Temperate Deciduous Forest

  19. Grasslands • Temperate grassland • Deep, mineral-rich soil • Moderate but uncertain precipitation • Well suited to growing grain crops • Chaparral • Thickets of small-leaf evergreens • Climate of wet, mild winters and dry summers

  20. Temperate Grassland

  21. Chaparral

  22. Significance Of Precipitation In Temperate Biomes

  23. Dry Biomes - Deserts • Desert • Cold deserts in temperate climates • Warm deserts in subtropical or tropical regions • Low levels of precipitation • Organisms with specialized water-conserving adaptations • Cactus, roadrunners, peccary, yuccas, Gila monster, kangaroo rat, bobcat, etc.

  24. Desert

  25. Tropical Biomes • Savanna • Tropical grassland • Widely scattered trees interspersed with grassy areas • Occurs in topical areas with low or seasonal rainfall • Giraffes, elephants, lions, hyenas, springbok • Acacia trees, elephant grass, baobab trees, Bermuda grass

  26. Savanna

  27. Tropical Biomes • Tropical rain forest • Mineral-poor soil • High rainfall evenly distributed throughout the year (50 to 260 inches ) • High species richness and high productivity • Average temperature between 20oC to 34oC

  28. Tropical Rain Forest

  29. The World’s Major Biomes

  30. Human Effect On Biomes Tundra • Oil exploration and military exercises result in long-lasting damage Taiga And Temperate Rain Forests • Clear-cut logging destructive (deforestation) Temperate and Deciduous Forests and Tropical Rain Forests • Removed by logging and development

  31. Other impacts of humans • Slash-and-burnis an agricultural technique which involves cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields • Urbanization • Monocropping is the high-yield agricultural practice of growing a single crop year after year on the same land, in the absence rotation through other crops. • Desertificationis a type of land degradation in which a relatively dry land region becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife

  32. Aquatic Biomes

  33. Aquatic Ecosystems Important environmental factors • Salinity • Amount of dissolved oxygen • Availability of light for photosynthesis

  34. Aquatic Life • Aquatic life divided into • Plankton • Free-floating organisms • Nekton • Strongly swimming organisms • Benthos • Bottom-dwelling organisms

  35. Freshwater Ecosystem • Freshwater ecosystems include: • Flowing-water ecosystems • Streams and rivers • Standing-water ecosystems • Ponds and lakes • Freshwater wetlands • Estuaries

  36. Features Of ATypical River

  37. Estuary • Estuaries • Coastal body of water with access to both the ocean and fresh water from rivers • Transition from land to sea; freshwater to salt water • Called bays, lagoons, inlets, or sounds • Shore birds, fish, crabs and lobsters, marine mammals, clams and other shellfish, marine worms, and sea birds

  38. Zonation In A Large Lake

  39. Thermal Stratification In A Temperate Lake

  40. Freshwater Swamp

  41. Marine Ecosystem • Marine environments • Intertidal zone • Shoreline between low and high tides • Benthic environment • The ocean floor • Neritic province • Open ocean from shoreline to depth of 200 meters • Oceanic province • Ocean deeper than 200 meters

  42. Zonation In The Ocean

  43. Seaweeds In A Rocky Intertidal Zone

  44. Sea Grass Bed

  45. Coral Reef Organisms

  46. Biogeography • Study of the geographic distribution of plants and animals • Each species originated from its center of origin • Alfred Wallace divided the Earth’s land areas into six major biogeographic realms

  47. Wallace’s Biogeographic Realms

  48. The Effects of El Nino and La Nina • El Nino-massive eastward flow of warm surface waters of the western Pacific that displaces cool water off South America • It disrupts global climates when it recurs • Lasts 6 to 18 months then La Nina occurs

  49. La Nina- cooler climatic events b/t ENSOs • the 1997-1998 pattern had a record breaking impact on primary productivity • Led to increase in algal blooms and a huge Cholera outbreak

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