1. terrestrial systems Flashcards
what are the four mains aspects of ecology
- abundance
- distribution
- interactions
- patterns (phenology)
How to describe patterns
what and where questions
How to explain patterns
how and why questions
What are julian days and where are they used
Julian days are days of the year within the julian calendar (1-365 days) they are used in phenology graphs
what is phenology concerned with
cyclic, seasonal, periodic and time dependent patterns in nature (life cycles) related to environmental and climatic triggers and variations
what causes a phenology event
environmental trigger
what do phenology events cause
phenology events are growth stages, milestones
what is a shift in phenology
variations in climatic conditions eg higher temperatures early in the year
what is a biome
large biological community (all organisms) that has been shaped by its climate, they share common features due to the common climate.
How are biomes defined
by structure of the vegetation
10 major biomes
- Desert
- Grassland
- Island
- savanna
- Tropical Forest
- Temperate deciduous forest
- temperate evergreen forest
- tundra
- mountains
- wetlands
what are the major variables effecting biomes (7)
strongly determined by climate, temperature, precipitation, radiation and albedo, seasonality and soil and topography
what are the two variables that affect temperature
patterns with latitude and altidue this affects air temperature.
is there more change in longitude or altitude in air temperature
atilitide. 1 degree change for every 22m vertically vs 145km longitude
what is the relationship between precipitation and temperature with an example
this affects predominate vegetation structure therefore causing different biomes. example high p high t = evergreen forest. low p and high t = deserts
when looking at temperature (daily, monthly yearly) what three aspects must be considered that will effect the biome
mean, maxima and minima
what is seasonality and how does it affect biomes
seasonality is regular change that occurs in a calander year in relation to envrionmental variables eg precipitation dominance.
what is the effect of environmental change to a system
known as disturbance which can differ in scale and frequency, can change the composisiton of communities however systems usually return to orginal state after disturbance unless continous/ large
what are two methods of proxy climate change
- tree rings (width to record past climatic conditions)
2. ice cores (measure of gas bubbles co2 concentrations and other materials
what is the keeling curve
a station located in mauna loa (hawaii) that measures co2 concentrations since 1960s, showing rise in co2. sawtooth pattern reflects deciduous tree seasonality
4 main green house gas components
there are 43 gases CO2 N2O CH4 water vapour
in order of emissions list the 5 highest contributors of green house gases
- energy
- transport
- agriculture
- industry and products
- waste
how do we know the climate temp is increasing looking at temperatures
looking at anomiles divations from mean (since 1970s always been hotter)
how has rainfall anomalies changed since 1910
large events increasing causing higher risk of flooding