Chapter 15: Our Living Planet

1. Chapter 15:Our Living Planet Section 15-1: Climate and Life

2. Introduction • What do you think is the difference between climate and weather? • Climate is an area’s typical long-term conditions while weather is varying short-term conditions.

3. Climate and Populations • Climate is the temperature range, the average annual precipitation (rain or snow), humidity, and the amount of sunshine that a particular region experiences. • Climate can affect the growth and stability of populations, as well as the structure of food webs and the flow of nutrients.

4. Climate and Populations • Climate patterns are caused by the sun’s energy interacting with air, water, and land. • Earth is the only planet with temperatures suitable for life as we know it because of our atmosphere, which acts like a natural thermostat.

5. Climate and Populations • CO2, water vapor, and other gases in the atmosphere allow the sun’s energy to get to the Earth’s surface, where it can be used • The gases also act as an insulator, keeping heat energy trapped by the greenhouse effect

6. Climate Zones • The sun’s energy also powers global winds and ocean currents, creating varying climate zones • The main climate zones are tropical regions, temperate regions, and polar regions

7. How Climate Varies • Sometimes, locations that are very distant have similar climates, while other locations that are very close to each other have very different climates • Climate can also vary an a very small scale – like moss growing on only the north side of trees – which is called a microclimate (conditions that vary over small distances)

8. Environments and Ecosystems • An environment is a combination of physical and biological factors that influence life. • Abiotic factors are the physical (nonliving) factors such as climate, the type of soil and its acidity, and the availability of nutrients. • Biotic factors (living) include all the living things with which an organism might interact.

9. Environments and Ecosystems • An ecosystem is a combination of the biotic and abiotic factors. • It is a collection of organisms interacting with each other and their environment. • It is like the biological street address for an organism, telling you what type of climate it likes and the types of neighbors it is likely to have.

10. Environments and Ecosystems • A niche is the full range of physical and biological conditions in which the organisms in a species can live and the way in which the organisms use those conditions. • The biotic factors of a niche identify other organisms that a species interacts with in any way, including the plants that an animal rests on or makes a home in, the prey it eats, the predators it may encounter, etc. • The niche of an organism also includes when it eats and how it finds food (abiotic)

11. Environments and Ecosystems • An organism’s habitat is the surroundings in which it lives and thrives, defined in terms of the plant community and abiotic factors. • Organisms can share a habitat and not actually compete with each other if they have different niches.